we had a pasta party last night!
in celebration of a few family october birthdays, most of us (aside from my fam in california, my SIL and my nephew, jake) gathered together at my parents’ house for a pasta extravaganza.
rewind four hours… that’s when i got to my parents’ house to start cooking. i had a lot of work to do! i arrived around 2 o’clock and we ate at 6 o’clock. you better believe i filled every last minute with some sort of cooking. luckily my sous (sue!) chef, momma b, stepped in to help with the prep.
i started my cooking with dessert first. marshall requested bread pudding, which came as no surprise since that’s what i made for his family birthday celebration last year. instead of using that same recipe, i used it as a guide and ended up with an adapted recipe for roasted pear bread pudding. recipe coming soon!
once the bread pudding was in the oven, i got to work on the three pasta sauces. yes—three. my mom and i are always making way too much of everything, so three sauces instead of one just made sense. why have one when you can have three?
the first sauce i made was a classic marinara meat sauce. i used marshall’s recipe which is pretty simple yet tastes like it would be more complicated than it really is.
i started by sautéing a pound of ground beef with one diced red onion and two cloves of garlic. once the meat was browned through, i added two (14.5 oz) cans of tomato sauce and three (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes. i also added a ton of fresh basil from the farmers market. i finished the sauce off with salt, pepper and trader joe’s 21 seasoning salute. that’s it!
i put the marinara in a crock pot to keep warm while i whipped up the next sauce: pumpkin sage with turkey sausage. i made a savory pumpkin pasta sauce once before back in 2009. i used the same recipe as a guide and only tweaked it a bit. i will be posting the recipe i ended up with soon—mainly because my sister really wants it!
the third and final sauce was a white lemon and chive sauce with shrimp—and lots of heavy cream. marshall and i picked fresh shrimp up from the fish market on saturday and i was the lucky one to take their legs off and remove the poop shoot. oh—what—that’s not the the way you refer to deveining the shrimp? you’re no fun.
for this sauce, i sautéed a half of a yellow onion and two cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil. i added a cup of white wine and a cup of broth to the pan and brought the mixture to a boil. i threw in about a quarter cup of fresh chives and a cup of heavy cream. i brought it to a boil again and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. it needed to be a bit thicker, so i dissolved a tablespoon of cornstarch in water and then added it to the pan. that did the trick! after deveining and dicing the shrimp (into 3 pieces per shrimp,) i added it to the mixture and let the shrimp cook through. this was the very last thing i did before we ate because i didn’t want the shrimp to get overcooked and rubbery.
sometime between the pumpkin sauce prep and the shrimp sauce prep, momma b got home and worked on a green salad, steamed asparagus and garlic bread.
marshall and my mom prepped two kinds of noodles: farfalle and thin spaghetti.
everyone arrived just as everything came together. my dad said a blessing and then it was pasta madness. instead of putting everything on the table, we grabbed our plates and served ourselves pasta right from the colanders and sauce right from the pans. much easier this way, folks.
i eat marinara sauce nearly once a week, so i went for the other two sauces. it’s a good thing, too, because dinner tonight is leftover marinara!
the meal was a hit. it was fun to have various options and once everyone decided which sauce they liked best, seconds were definitely in order. i think thirds might have actually been consumed!
all that pasta in our bellies didn’t stop us from dessert. there’s a separate stomach for that, don’t you know? we did hang out for, oh, ten minutes before our dessert stomachs started to growl…
grey + marsh. nieces and nephews are the closest we get to babies ;)
greyson’s face kills me in this shot.
my niece izzy has her first loose tooth!
dude. she’s STRONG. she carries around her little bro like it’s nothing.
except something tells me she’d have a harder time lifting her cousin ben.. he’s slightly bigger than greyson (and is only a month older.)
they are so cute together.
my mom and suni cleared the kitchen a bit so there was room on the stove for me to whip up the sugary, buttery sauce for the bread pudding.
marshall requested a dessert side dish—vanilla nielsens custard. smart boy.
i warmed the roasted pear bread pudding so it could be served hot, topped with bubbling sauce and a scoop of creamy vanilla custard.
i think everyone would agree, it was dessert perfection.
retiring to the couches was a requirement after all that delicious food.
thanks for a fun night, family! love you all and missed the ones that couldn’t make it.
Qs~
1. what’s your favorite sauce to put on noodles? how about your favorite noodle shape?
2. if cake was not an option, what would be your birthday dessert request?
xo. janetha g.
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Only you can look that cute with your hair in a wad on the top of your head.
My coronary artery just closed off looking at the photo of the butter. But my tummy smiled :-) And that is cute kid overload, not to mention that Marshall looks like a natural ;-)
Am I really the first comment? That NEVER happens! (Probably 2nd or 3rd by now haha)
when I saw the pics of the roasted pear bread pudding and custard come across my instagram, I have been STALKING your blog ever since hoping you’d post a recipe. Girl. I love bread pudding and that is the best looking B.P. Ive seen in ages. I need to make it. I will continue to wait and stalk the recipe…
:)
That dessert does look like absolute perfection! Yum :)
Just wrote my comment and then saw your comment… So I checked out you blog, and found a gooey nutty dessert… Those pecan-maple sticky buns looks AMAZING!!! So weird how that happened!
Yummy, each dish got better and better!!!
Sweet family, J! That’s how my family was a few years ago all the cute kids are growing up, but are still just as fun as they were then!!
I would choose peach cobbler or some sort of gooey nutty dessert!!
I love pesto sauce. It’s definitely my favorite and my favorite shape would have to be the bow-tie pasta (I will horribly misspell its real name). I guess if I had to have a dessert other than cake, it would be frozen yogurt. Typical blogger. ;)
I am definitely a marinara girl! I will put it on everything!
My motto is “everything is better with marinara!” :)
I really love a good ol’ chunky tomato-vegetable sauce for pasta (with eggplant, please!).
I also like to make a creamy pesto with silken tofu or cottage cheese :)
Favorite pasta shape? Orecchiete, farfalle, and fusilli are always fun!
That bread pudding looks amazing! I have 4 pears that are on their last leg and I definitely need to make something with them. Bread pudding sounds great!
And hello, different sauces is amazing!! Great to switch things up!
You are so flippin’ cute with your Gigi knot!
I want your family to adopt me. Can’t one of your sisters marry one of my brothers or something?
All I want for dinner this week is everything y’all ate…you got my attention! :)
Oh gosh Izzy is BEAUTIFUL!
I used to love alfredo sauce but then I found out how bad it was; sad day. ;) Now, I love marinara sauce. The kiddos are so cute! BTW, your hair looks cute in the bun. ;)
My birthday is Wednesday! I’ll be having pumpkin bread pudding with maple ice cream for dessert. My favorite!
I would love to try your tweaked pumpkin recipe, I’m definitely on a pumpkin kick:)
What a delicious celebration! I love a very simple, quick olive oil, garlic, tomato, basil sauce. My favorite pasta shape always changes for some reason. Right now it’s spaghetti.
My favorite dessert is creme brulee, and I would gladly choose if over cake!
Holy yum! Pasta and dessert are my only two weaknesses! I make a tomato-based sauce sometimes with lots of vegetables and chicken and desperately try to convince myself there are noodles in there! I love spaghetti noodles – it’s the most fun :)
Your sauces look SO good!! My favorites are pesto and alfredo. My favorite pasta would have to be penne. With long noodles, it’s inevitable that I get sauce all over my face. Ha.
If cake wasn’t an option for my birthday, I’d definitely go with a big chocolate chip cookie pie (aka pizookie). In fact, I’d choose it even if I had cake as an option!
Wow, the pumpkin-safe sauce sounds amazing though as a vegetarian I’d maybe put some beans in there instead of turkey. I don’t know if I have a favorite sauce though, depends in my mood.
As for dessert(the important part of every nutritious meal), think it would be okay to have a birthday bowl of cookie dough? I’m really not kidding on this one…
marinara w/cavatappi
chocolate covered pb bars :)
I almost ALWAYS just want traditional birthday cake with ice cream. Lemon cake, however, has been my favorite as of late. But really, anything will do : )
Wow that looks AMAZING. Now I know to ask for a pasta party for my next birthday!! The shrimp pasta sauce is definitely on my “to-make” list!!
Your family seems so fun! What a great celebration, J! And WAY TO GO on all that cooking – WOW! The pumpkin sauce really looks good…maybe that’d be my favorite if I could try it. ;) Birthday dessert for me means anything with ice cream…an ice cream cake would probably be my favorite choice! Drooling for one now… ;)
I’m obsessed with marinara! My favorite pasta shape is a tie between shells or penne. If I had to pick something that wasn’t cake for dessert I would probably pick bread pudding that was loaded with pecans and raisins! :)
hands down angel hair!! although I am not a HUGE pasta fan in general, I do love the texture of angel hair pasta!
favorite sauce is definately a traditional but chunky tomato sauce! i jus tmade some tonight!!
favorite dessert besides cake would be key lime PIE!
Oh my gawssssh, bread pudding, bread pudding, bread pudding! I love plain old macaroni and cheese! That is my favorite noodle and cheesy sauce, amen!
I’d like a huge pint of homemade ice cream. Like Pumpkin Brownie Ice Cream for my birthday then.
You went all out! That bread pudding looks amazing. And I love that picture of your nephew. so cute.
I’ll go for a question answer…if cake weren’t an option, I’d pick Oreo Mud Pie. Or a sweetened condensed Lemon Pie.
oh my gosh. That bread pudding! and vanilla custard. When I come to Utah (one of these days) I need to find vanilla custard. YUM!
Favorite sauce on noodles? I love alfredo. It’s so creamy and delicious but RICH so I have it once a year. The tummyache is usually worth it.
Dessert? I am a fan of cheesecake. Or ice cream cake (the ones made of JUST ice cream.)
Hmmm I think there is a small square of bread pudding left…….maybe I should finish it off so it doesn’t spoil!
The dinner was stellar – thanks Neef! And family absolutely the best – yes love you all and missed the ones that were away!!
I like penne pasta and cream based sauce once in a blue moon but usually marinara weekly!!
Tiramisu…….next up on the menu pleeeeease, pretty please :)
xoxo
what an awesome family gathering. i bet you and momma b never stopped chitchatting the whole time you were food prepping, am i right?!
being an auntie (and uncle!) is the best – all the fun and and hugs and then you go home and sleep soundly.
sounds like a wonderful menu. i have not head bread pudding in ages! i would choose apple crisp instead of cake. in fact, i HAVE chosen apple crisp as a bday dessert (heavy on the topping!)
The babies are adorable!!! Too cute. I like plain old red sauce! Everything looks yummy. I would totally pick froyo over a cake :)
pumpkin sage with turkey sausage? I’m on my way…
nice meals and fun party!
If I could choose a birthday “cake” I would ask for a huge pile of exotic fruit and an even bigger chocolate fountain to dip them in.
My favorite pasta is tagliatelle and I love a nice marinara with lots of seafood with it!!
Your niece and nephews are SO cute! Your niece looks like you! What a great dinner. I would have to have a little of everything. And that dessert? I can’t wait for the recipe.
1. what’s your favorite sauce to put on noodles? how about your favorite noodle shape? MARINARA! I love orzo.
2. if cake was not an option, what would be your birthday dessert request? I’m not a cake girl- crisp, crumble or just graham cracker crust!
I made homemade alfredo last night (used fat-free half and half but it was still pretty fatty, whatever, it tasted amazing) with chicken and mushrooms over penne.
favorite sauce is probably anything cheesy and bad for me, over penne.
As for birthday dessert… I had a Nutella strudel the other day that was freaking amazing.
Also: I totally feel you on babies. I have 15 nieces and nephews and while I love them, I am happy to give them back.
Can’t wait to see the recipe for that pumpkin sage sauce, sounds so good!
Ooooh Janetha- everything in this post looks so delicious! I love the idea of giving options for the pastas/sauces, but for me- that means i would just have to eat everything! Given the choice though, I pick marinara 10 out of 10 times. But, if pumpkin was an option, that might be a tough choice.
I love bread pudding- I would pick that over cake any day. But, I’m a cobbler/crisp girl all the way- doesn’t matter what kind. Pick a fruit, any fruit, it works for me (with vanilla ice cream of course).
I make my marinara almost the exact same way! Except I omit the onion (i’m one of those weirdos that doesn’t like onion lol), and add a can of tomato paste to thicken it, and also a dash of red wine, which gives it a nice richness…otherwise, exactly the same as yours…it’s delicious, and definitely a staple at my house too :) I like to use whole wheat pasta, especially rotini or spaghetti noodles.
If I couldn’t have cake, I would probably take most forms of chocolate dessert with ice cream as a welcome substitute.
oh my goodness,i want to come to your next pasta feast! i’m so impressed and I can’t wait for that bread pudding recipe!
Um, I want to come over for pasta night, haha!
My favorite pasta sauce. Geez. I like homemade marinara, but I think that pumpkin sage turkey sauce sounds amazing! My favorite shape ever is wagon wheels because my mom used to make them with butter cheese & a splash of milk tinted different colors with food coloring when I was a kid. It’s probably not cool to give your kids food coloring nowadays, but I’m totally doing it for my future bebes! I can never find wagon wheels though, so probably cavatappi or farfalle.
My family’s birthday tradition is ice cream cake (made with hollowed out angel food cake and filled with the birthday person’s ice cream flavor of choice, then put back together and frosted with whipped cream, but I think that’s considered cake, so probably…homemade ice cream!
A pasta bar is such a good idea for a get-together! I would have never thought of it. I think the shrimp one sounds to die for!
I love your hair all piled up like that… super cute!! :)
What a great way to have a pasta party. LOVE the options! My favorite is tomato basil sauce, with a lot of spinach and mushrooms! YUM! Pasta wise, I LOVE the thin spaghetti.
For dessert, if there wasn’t cake … I’d like either bread pudding or bananas foster.
I’m 1/2 Italian and I think it might be a law that you have to be a good cook, which I like to think that I am. My favorite sauce I’ve made was a Bolognese sauce from my Alice Waters cookbook. It’s unlike the normal run of them mill Bolognese sauce. You cube up a skirt steak into small bites and cook it in a milk and tomato paste sauce for a long time. It’s SOOO good but I haven’t made it in a long time. If I would have been old enough to remember my grandfather’s sauce, it would totally be that though, but I was 7 when he passed away…
If I couldn’t have cake (which is my downfall!) I guess I would have chocolate mousse for dessert. A dark chocolate mousse.
Those sauces look incredible! Marshall is smart for requesting that custard too:) Love that picture of your nephew! Good call to leave the food in the pans!
Oh wow–what an amazing night! ANd such a good idea to have a pasta party….might need to take this idea soon ;)
i like the corkscrewy pasta. fusilli??
Also, my dessert of choice would be a homemade nectarine pie (my Dad makes THE BEST pies – and nectarine is the best) with homemade ice cream. Yummmm…….
Love the little italy theme! Your cream sauce looks like perfection. I tend not to make cream sauce at home since I could devour the entire pan in one sitting so yeah…..none of that for me. I’m Italian and grew up on a lot of Italian food but for some reason, I was never a huge fan of marinara sauce. Whenever I make pasta I prefer to toss with extra virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and parmesan cheese.
this post made me hungry, those sauces look so delish! i love the pics. two of my faves are angel hair pasta and rigatoni (if thats the right name for the spiral noodles!) and homemade pesto or marinara with cheese on top…mmm i think i will have to go make some pasta when i get home. and plan a pasta party!
You look so cute in that picture! Everything looks delicious! I love all of the different sauces that you made. Everyone had their own variety of pasta and sauce they would want to eat. I like that idea!
My favorite pasta is rigatoni or the spiral noodles, I think they are called fucilli. My favorite sauce is vodka sauce for sure! Yum :)
that shrimp and white sauce looks amazing! I love a really good pesto or a white sauce that isn’t too heavy (because otherwise it’ll hurt my poor belly).
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