I am always on the look out for recipes that will work with whatever we currently have growing in the garden. While I was getting my haircut the other day, I came across this recipe. We have a lot of green beans in the garden right now- I especially love the purple green beans that turn green as you cook them. They are so beautiful and flavorful!

I normally don’t follow recipes very well, and today was no exception. The recipe in the magazine had asparagus and I wanted to use green beans. It also called for tarragon, and I wanted to use basil and parsley, so I basically completely changed it to make it work for us. Below is the modified recipe.

I have been noticing a bunch of cookie recipes with brown butter and I have been intrigued- in fact I have a brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe just waiting to be tried. So back to the pasta – It all cooks very quickly, which is awesome especially if you are gone all day and forget to take something out of the freezer. We served ours with cooked chicken, but it was hearty enough without meat. The only thing I would have done differently was double the recipe. We ate it all, we didn’t leave any leftovers! Try it, you won’t be sorry. If you need any purple green beans, come over and we can get them out of the garden.

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic.

Add the green beans, season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until the green beans start to soften.

Increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking and tossing, until the butter turns golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Add the cooked tortellini…

and toss again…

and then add the fresh basil and parsley…

and freshly grated Parmesan cheese and give it one more good stir before serving.

Enjoy!

Brown Butter Tortellini with Toasted Garlic and Green Beans

1 lb. cheese tortellini
6 T butter
8 ounces of fresh green beans, cut into segments
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1 T fresh basil
1 T fresh parsley
Grated Parmesan

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the green beans and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until the green beans start to soften. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking and tossing, until the butter turns golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the cooked tortellini and toss again and then add the fresh basil and parsley and freshly grated Parmesan cheese and give it one more good stir before serving. Enjoy!

tags: main dish, dinner, pasta, tortellini, green beans, garlic, butter, herbs, Parmesan cheese

Chicken pot pie doesn’t really seem like a food you would make during the summer, but Alex was coming home for a few days and I am always trying to fatten him up. So this seemed like the perfect dinner to serve my poor, skinny college boy.

I started making this recipe, or a form of this recipe many, many years ago. When I started making it, the recipe called for all canned stuff. Canned chicken, cream of potato soup, frozen veggies and store-bought pot pie crust. I switched a few of the things around to make it a bit heartier and maybe a bit healthier. The other day when I made it, we had some home grown potatoes, so that made it extra yummy!

While this recipe has a lot of steps, it really comes together quite quickly and you can clean everything up and pull together the rest of the meal while the pot pie is baking.

Preheat oven to 350* Unroll the bottom piecrust and place into an ungreased pie plate, forming to the edge of the pie plate as needed.

Pour frozen peas into strainer.

In a large pot of boiling water, boil potatoes until just beginning to soften,

and then add the carrots and cook for about 10 minutes, but not quite fully cooked, because they will finish cooking in the oven. Pour potatoes and carrots into the strainer with the frozen peas and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan. Once heated, add the chicken, season with pepper, and cook until no longer pink in the middle. I sometimes have leftover chicken to use, or I just cook some up for the recipe. I love using the frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces. They defrost and cook up in no time and I always stock up when they are on sale.

Remove chicken from pan…

and cook minced garlic, celery and onion until soft and fragrant.

In a large bowl, mix cooked chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas, celery and onion.

Then add cream of chicken soup and mix well. You can also use your own gravy if you have it available rather than the cream of whatever soup. Pour everything into pie shell…

and cover with second pie crust, crimping edges. Cut air vents.

Place in oven (if pie is really full, cook on cookie sheet so it doesn’t bubble over into your oven), and cook at 350* for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 roll-out piecrusts

2 cups cubed potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 Tablespoons oil

2 cups cubed chicken

pepper to taste

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 can cream of chicken soup (or potato, celery etc.)

1- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas

Preheat oven to 350*

Unroll the bottom piecrust and place into an ungreased pie plate, forming to the edge of the pie plate as needed.

Pour frozen peas into strainer. In a large pot of boiling water, boil potatoes until just beginning to soften, and then add the carrots and cook for about 10 minutes, but not quite fully cooked yet, because they will finish cooking in the oven. Pour potatoes and carrots into the strainer with the frozen peas and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan. Once heated, add the chicken, season with pepper, and cook until no longer pink in the middle. Remove chicken from pan and cook minced garlic, celery and onion until soft and fragrant.

In a large bowl, mix cooked chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas, celery and onion. Then add cream of chicken soup and mix well.

Pour everything into pie shell, and cover with second pie crust, crimping edges. Cut air vents.

Place in oven (if pie is really full, cook on cookie sheet so it doesn’t bubble over into your oven), and cook at 350* for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.