Hot Chicken Casserole

This recipe is truly an oldie, but a goodie. It belongs to the Husband's side of the family and he's been eating it for years. It's absolutely the definition of comfort food and has really become a treat for us since we're eating healthier these days.

Hot Chicken Casserole

2 chicken breasts
1 small package of spaghetti
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped onion
½ stick of butter
¾ pound Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 can Rotel
½ t salt
½ t pepper

Boil the chicken breasts until done. Shred the chicken. Using the same water, cook a small package of spaghetti noodles. Let it cook down but leave it a bit soupy.

Brown the chopped bell pepper and onion in butter in a medium skillet. Mix pepper and onions, noodles in remaining liquid, shredded chicken, Velveeta, Rotel, salt and pepper in a large casserole dish.

Cook at 200˚ for 2 hours covered, stirring occasionally.

Who doesn't love a dish smothered in Velveeta? No one I know. If you don't cook with Velveeta in the South, people look at you funny. Now I sure don't use ¾ lb of the stuff as the recipe suggests, but I can assure you the cheese level is sufficient. This recipe also makes a ton - I cook it in a 2 ½ quart baking dish and it comes to the very top. Leftovers heat very well and last for a few days, so you have to not mind eating the same thing over and over again for a short time. Freezing does weird things to the texture of pasta in my experience, so I don't know if I would do that. It's also important to stir it about every 20-30 minutes so the top doesn't get crunchy and everything melts well.

Yes, I forgot to wipe the plate before I photographed it. I once had a kitchen manager who insisted all plates went out clean and would personally inspect them. I guess it makes for a good impression. And yes, this is a fairly monochromatic dish thanks to all that cheese. You can see some of the green peppers and the tomatoes from the Rotel, but everything else is the color of Velveeta. Again with the onion, I don't use a whole one. I'm good on about two or three slices, finely diced. I do use a whole green pepper, though, but it's going to be on the smaller side than some of those behemoth peppers. As for the cooking time, I have been known to cheat and raise the temperature to 300˚ and cook for only one hour. It still turns out fine. Just remember to stir it occasionally. So there you have it - a down home, creamy, cheesy, comfort food. Should you attempt to pass this off as a family recipe of your very own, I won't take offense.

Dinner Party!

Wow, I have come a long way. I'm not necessarily talking about the beginning of my marriage when I flat out could not cook, but even since the beginning of this blog. I've tackled so many cooking methods and ingredients, successes and failures, and I'm no worse for wear. I guess that confidence kind of got to me. And so it happened about a month ago when the Husband had an open weekend where he didn't have to work and we were left with deciding what to do. We talked about taking a little two-day trip somewhere, we talked about driving to a basketball game, and then the Husband said a few little words that lit a fire in me.

"How about hosting a dinner party?"

At first it sounded nice, but a little crazy. I had been talking about hosting a dinner party for a few years. But every time I got the opportunity, I either let it pass with no action or something else came up (much to my relief) and I just put the thought in the back of my mind. Truth be told, I was afraid. Afraid, she says! What's the big deal - you invite your good friends over, cook a great meal, throw in some delightful conversation, and the evening is a resounding success. The part that I was afraid of was the "cook a great meal" part. I couldn't even cook for myself and the Husband some nights - how was I going to manage cooking for eight other people and make sure it tasted good?

But then that confidence crept up inside me again. I knew I cooked some amazing dishes for this blog, and I was starting to get more comfortable with my abilities and pushing any limitations to see if I could get to the next level. A dinner party was, in effect, the next level. I knew what had to be done. I emailed our friends and invited them over before I had a chance to chicken out. I was locked in! I had to do it! Maybe I should have just done that sooner, but this timing was going to work out well. The Husband and I tossed around a lot of ideas for the meal and we finally came up with a great menu:

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce
Mixed Greens Salad
Cauliflower Casserole
Roasted Zucchini
Chocolate Mousse

The gnocchi was an all around hit every time I made it, so that was a good choice. Everyone likes pasta and this gave everyone the chance to try something most of them probably hadn't eaten before. The Cauliflower Casserole came from my Aunt, who passed it along to my Dad, who cooked it as part of Christmas dinner last year. The Husband, my brother and I all turned our noses up at the name, confident that nary a bite would pass our lips. But, being the grownups we are, we tried it. And we all really liked it! And so did our guests, as evidenced by one of our friends literally scraping the bottom of the baking dish with the serving spoon. The Roasted Zucchini came from Southern Living and was also a hit - I only wish I had made more. And finally, the Chocolate Mousse came from a Betty Crocker Cookbook that my Dad gave me and the Husband for our first Christmas.

We did some major prep work for this event. I even wrote out a to-do list that started three days in advance of the party, from grocery shopping to cutting up veggies the night before to starting the gnocchi dough that morning. I was ready. For the gnocchi, I knew I would have to at least double the recipe I was used to making. There were going to be ten of us and a lot of big appetites. I eventually tripled the dough and the sauce just to make sure I had enough, and as it turned out that was way too much. I would have been okay with doubling it. I made the dough that morning and let it rest, as directed. About two hours before guests were to arrive I pulled out the dough to get it rolled out and cut into the little gnocchi pillows. But when I scooped the dough onto the floured cutting board, my blood ran cold. The dough was way too wet, gooey almost, and completely unable to be shaped. My first thought was one of panic, but thankfully my next thought was somewhat more rational. I grabbed the flour and added more to my dough, stirring away. Still runny. More flour. Getting better. More flour. Finally I had some dough I could work with. Crisis averted, but still something I had not planned.

When we moved from the salad course to the main course, we took a little longer than anticipated to actually get the gnocchi cooked and plated and on the table, but our guests were very gracious and kept the conversation flowing while the Husband and I worked our tails off in the kitchen trying to get the gnocchi wrapped up. All in all, we had a wonderful time with our wonderful friends, and all were very complimentary. One friend, in fact, really put a smile on my face when she said, "I didn't realize you could cook like this!" Neither did I. But now I do.

Cauliflower Casserole

Ingredients
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 8-oz carton sour cream
1 C shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 C crushed corn flakes cereal
1/4 C finely chopped green pepper
1/4 C finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 t salt
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika to taste

Place cauliflower florets into saucepan with a small amount of water; cover and cook for five minute and drain.

Combine the cauliflower, sour cream, cheddar cheese, corn flakes, peppers and salt. Transfer to a greased 2-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake uncovered in 325° oven for 30-35 minutes, stirring often.

I think the main reason this recipe turned out so well, despite the cauliflower, is because of all the cheese and sour cream. It's probably not all that healthy, but it's a show stopper. When steaming the cauliflower, I used an actual steamer as opposed to boiling it as stated in the recipe. I also could have used a larger head of cauliflower because once everything was dumped into the baking dish, it looked a little sparse. Our guests confirmed that after the dish was scraped clean and I swear I saw some pleading eyes begging for more.

Finally, the chocolate mousse. A little goes a long way with this item. It's so rich and delicious and just the perfect ending to a great meal. I served it in wine glasses and I meant to rim the glasses with sugar but I totally forgot. It still turned out perfect.

After our guests left and the kitchen had been totally covered up with dirty dishes and hand towels and empty wine bottles (we're a drinkin' bunch), I just felt such a sense of accomplishment and relief. We did it, and we did it up nice. Our friends were happy and full and I pushed another limitation and did something I didn't think I could do. Excuse the cliche, but I kind of felt like a kitchen rock star. It felt good.

Lasagna

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Well, I guess this qualifies me as insane. But this time, I beat Einstein and I got the different results I have been seeking since the beginning of lasagna-making time.

Lasagna

1 package lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef
3 C spaghetti sauce
1 ½ C water
½ C Parmesan cheese
1/4C chopped parsley
½ t salt
2 C mozzarella cheese
15 oz ricotta
2 eggs
¼ t pepper

Heat oven to 350. In a three quart saucepan, brown meat. Add spaghetti sauce and water, simmer 10 minutes. In a bowl, stir together ricotta, half of the mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour about one cup sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 inch dish. Arrange three uncooked pasta pieces over sauce, cover with about 1 cup of sauce. Spread half of the cheese filling over the sauce. Repeat layers of lasagna noodles, sauce and cheese filling. Top with a layer of noodles and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving. 10-12 servings.

I’ve had this recipe for a few years now. The very first time I made it, the dish turned out great. With that success under my belt, I gave it another try a few months later. The result was a colossal failure. It was way too watery and it absolutely fell apart when you cut into it, just totally inedible. I was shocked and dismayed, but I persevered and tried again. Another disaster. By now the husband is questioning my sanity. Tried again, despite his pleas to never go near the recipe again. Another watery disaster. Completely defeated, I shelved the recipe indefinitely and satiated my lasagna cravings by ordering the dish at restaurants where trained professionals could create the pasta/meat/cheese masterpiece that I was destined to never produce.

So when I was compiling the list of recipes for this project, I found my long lost lasagna recipe and decided to give it another try. I’ve listed the ingredients above just the way the original recipe was written, and when I took a second look at the ingredient list I suddenly understood why my lasagna recipe was lacking. The whole problem was that its cup runneth over – this time with water. The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of water to mix in with the sauce! It struck me that this was the reason for the problems. Sure you use uncooked noodles in the recipe, but there is no way this much water is required to ensure they are fully cooked and pliable when everything comes out of the oven. So I scrapped the water and voila – a lasagna that is neither watery nor dry and noodles that are completely cooked.

As usual, I made a few changes. I didn’t have any ground beef on hand so I didn’t use any. Meatless lasagna is just as good as the alternative. I also halved the recipe since I am just cooking for myself, and I added feta cheese to the ricotta mixture. The flavor of the feta really didn’t come through all that much, as I didn’t use a whole lot. I also used my fresh herbs from my little herb garden – parsley and oregano.

Here’s a tip – the recipe calls for a piece of aluminum foil to cover the dish before it goes into the oven. In my case, the fully assembled lasagna came up to the very top of the dish, including the mozzarella cheese, so in order to keep the cheese from sticking to the aluminum foil I sprayed the underside of the foil with a little Pam, and then put the foil down on top of the dish. That way when you take the foil off after it’s been cooking for 45 minutes, you don’t also pull all the cheese off with it. You’re welcome.


When I checked it after 45 minutes of cooking, I stuck a fork in various parts to check the doneness of the noodles. They were still kind of resistant, and I immediately regretted not adding just a little water to the sauce mix. But it was way too late for that now, so I put it back in the oven for the required 15 minutes and crossed my fingers. When it came out, the sauce was bubbling like a pent up volcano and the cheese had a nice browning around the edges. I let it cool for a few minutes and then cut a slice, noticing the noodles had definitely softened up in that last 15 minutes. Thank goodness.




The taste was good, but not earth shattering. It tasted like lasagna, and it was better than some places I’ve eaten lasagna as of late. I would cook it again. But the main thing is that it actually turned out well and was distinguishable as lasagna, not a watery mess. Huge accomplishment.

Basil, Sage, Cheese and Tomatoes with Rice – High Summer Risotto

Risotto, you evil temptress of the night. You appear to be easily conquered, at least on paper, but you are devilish in your culinary trickery. Your tasteful sophistication and Italian background lured me in, but I was caught in your snares within minutes of diving into your menacing cuisine. Oh, risotto, you have won this battle, but mark my dying words, you most certainly have not won the war.

BASIL, SAGE, CHEESE AND TOMATOES WITH RICE - HIGH SUMMER RISOTTO

Tuscany
Preparation - Medium/Difficult
Serves 8

1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped basil, plus 2 T slivered basil leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 T finely chopped sage
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cups Arborio, carnaroli, or vialone nano rice
salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped perfectly ripe, sweet, fresh tomatoes
1 cup hot chicken stock, or more if necessary
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Toscano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

In a large heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, sweat the onion with the finely chopped basil (the slivered basil will be added later), parsley, and sage in the oil until the vegetables are very soft. Do not let them brown. Mix the rice into the vegetables and add salt and pepper. Stir slowly and when rice starts to turn opaque pour in the wine.

As soon as most of the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add about half the tomatoes to the dish, stirring to mix well. Continue to cook the rice, stirring frequently; as the liquid in the tomatoes is absorbed, add hot chicken stock, 1/4 cup at a time. (You may not need all the chicken stock to finish the risotto.) The risotto is cooked when the grains of rice are still separate and slightly resistant to the bite but bathed in a thick sauce.

At this point remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the cheese, the remaining tomatoes, the slivered basil, and minced garlic. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes, then serve immediately.

So what I'm really trying to say in the above soliloquy is that when a recipe says "Difficult," they're usually not kidding. But I had two other recipes I thought would be difficult - this one and this one - and they still turned out really well. So while I didn't think this risotto would be a breeze, I certainly didn't think it would be as ornery as it actually turned out. It wasn't a colossal failure like other recipes, but it definitely needs some fine tuning.

It actually started well. I put this recipe into thirds since I was only cooking for myself, so I broke down the measurements and was ready to rock. I have had only one other run in with risotto and I knew the liquid would make or break the dish, so I made sure to have a whole can of chicken stock, plus additional white wine. I felt I had covered all my bases.

What I didn't anticipate was that my risotto had every intention of soaking up every last drop of liquid I had in the house. I used an entire 15 oz can of chicken broth, and at least 1/2 cup of white wine, plus some tap water. I know, blasphemy. But I was desperate. Even after adding in all of that liquid and standing over the risotto constantly stirring for an hour, the grains were still more than "slightly resistant to the bite," and they were not "bathed in a thick sauce." I had more white wine to use, but I didn't want that flavor to overwhelm the dish, so that's when I turned to the tap water (so shameful). I think I eventually could have reached the risotto promised land, but I didn't have the desire to wait it out. I finally added the cheese, tomatoes, basil and garlic and plated it up.




The grains were still dense, but I could get the general taste of the dish. It was pretty rich and I can't imagine eating a whole lot by itself. It would be a great side dish. If I had one more can of chicken stock I think I could have pulled it off, but for some reason I only had that one can. I usually have army rations of the stuff in our pantry, but it just was not meant to be. But again, with some modifications and more liquid, this has a real shot of being something nice.

Pasta with Broccoli Raab, Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Pine Nuts

Unlike most of the other recipes I've made so far, I actually stayed pretty close to the measurements on this particular recipe. With the exception of substituting a regular broccoli crown for broccoli raab, this was created to the letter. Yes, real butter and extra goat cheese. I don't think this was very healthy, but it really hit the spot.

Pasta with Broccoli Raab, Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Pine Nuts

1 T extra virgin olive oil
3 C broccoli raab cut into small pieces
2-4 minced garlic cloves
¼ to ½ t crushed red pepper flakes
Salt/ground pepper
1 ½ C canned chicken broth
1 t chopped fresh thyme
4 T unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 oz creamy goat cheese, crumbled
¾ lb dried bowtie or orecchiette pasta
4 T thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes
2 T pine nuts, toasted in a small skillet over low heat until golden, 3-4 minutes


Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil. Meanwhile in a 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli raab, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring frequently until bring green and tender crisp, 2-3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper and then transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Still over medium-high heat, add the chicken broth to the pan and stir and scrape to deglaze the pan deposits. Add the thyme. Bring the liquid to a boil and continue boiling briskly until it reduces to half its original volume, 7-10 minutes. Add the goat cheese and butter and stir until the goat cheese melts. Cover and keep warm.

As soon as the stockpot of water comes to a full boil, add a little salt to the water. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the pan of sauce along with the broccoli raab and the sun dried tomatoes. Heat mixture thoroughly, season to taste. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

This was a pretty indulgent dish. The sauce came together nicely, especially after deglazing and letting the stock boil down. I cooked the pasta right alongside everything else so it all came together at the same time - kind of rare for me. Usually everything gets done at different times and I have to cover everything or stick it in the oven to stay warm, but not this time. It also helps to have all of your ingredients out and pre-measured before you start. Chop the broccoli, measure out the chicken broth, measure out the butter and goat cheese - stuff like that. It just helps things move along better.

The sauce covered much better than how it looks in the picture. It was very creamy, especially with the butter and cheese, and the flavors were really top notch. It coated the pasta and wasn't too overwhelming. I did catch a few spicy bites due to the red pepper flakes, but I did add a few extras in there. I'm a sucker for red pepper flakes.

The husband is not a fan of broccoli - yet. He did eat a raw piece of it a few weekends ago and lived to tell the tale, but I don't foresee him eating a huge hunk of it in the near future. I'm still holding out hope, though. If you're not a broccoli fan, that could easily be substituted for red/yellow/orange sweet pepper strips, snow peas, zucchini chunks, eggplant or almost any other vegetable. This is a pretty adaptable meal, and one I would love to make again.

Extra Recipe #2 - Savory Seafood Penne

I get recipes from a lot of different places. In fact, to compile the original list of recipes for this blog I searched far and wide on the 'Net to look for new and interesting foods to cook. You just never know what's out there. The Husband's healthy eating quest has now added Men's Health magazine to our list of recipe archives. Everything we've eaten has turned out really well, and I have decided there is one single solitary reason for this: the recipes are made for dudes, by dudes. Mario Batali and Wolfgang Puck aside, most guys don't do much cooking. That either resides with their female counterpart if they're married or co-habitating, or they subsist on take-out and mom's leftovers. A man's crowning achievement in the kitchen sometimes results in a pile of Velveeta nachos with a jalapeno garnish. He's overjoyed at what he has accomplished while you, his dutiful wife/girlfriend/women of his harem, are aghast that one would consider routinely defiling their body with such a greasy mess and angry that dinner plans now most certainly do not include a romantic trip to Chez Frou Frou.

Oh, who am I kidding. I love nachos. Furthermore, that was a gross generalization of men which is unfair considering the Husband's kitchen ability. I can entrust him with just about anything in the kitchen and he can whip it up.

So what I'm saying is that Men's Health almost has to make their recipes fool proof for those men out there who don't know the difference between a rolling pin and hole in the ground. And the hilarious thing about this magazine is that they even include pictures of the ingredients! When it says, "1 cup chopped tomatoes," you will see a picture of a tomato right above that instruction. Same for shrimp, pesto, Gorgonzola, and spinach, which all go into this recipe.

Savory Seafood Penne

2 oz Barilla Plus penne pasta
14 medium precooked, peeled shrimp
2 tbsp crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3 cups chopped baby spinach
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
3 tbsp ready-made pesto

Directions
1.If you're using frozen shrimp, defrost them by running warm water over them. Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain and transfer it to a large bowl. Add the shrimp, cheese, spinach, tomato, walnuts, and pesto, stirring well to help wilt the spinach and mix in the pesto.

And that is all there is to it! Boil the pasta and then throw everything in a big bowl together. Can't be any more straightforward than that - love it! And it turned out really well. A few things I did differently: I made my own pesto when it calls for jarred stuff. I really prefer to know exactly what goes into my pesto - basil, pine nuts, parm, garlic, olive oil - and what I make probably has less fat than store bought pesto. Also, shocker, but I eyeballed a lot of the ingredients. I didn't exactly measure out the cheese or the spinach or the pesto. Don't act like you're surprised. If you've read any of my other posts you know that's pretty much common place for me. Finally, there is no mention of par boiling the shrimp. It calls for precooked, frozen shrimp, which is what I used, but I still wanted mine to have a little more doneness to them, and I didn't trust the hot pasta to cook the shrimp enough to my liking. So when I drained the pasta, I reserved the pasta water and dropped the thawed shrimp in there for about two minutes, stirring often. They pinked up and curled so I knew they were done. Throw it all into a bowl, toss well, and voila.




I've been pretty impressed with the recipes that have come from Men's Health magazine. I'll try to post some in the near future. If this streak continues, they'll have a better succession rate than Southern Living's recipes.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Basil, Olives, and Fresh Mozzarella

This dish made me think of summer. It's light, doesn't require lots of cooking time and would be perfect with fresh ingredients from the farmer's market. It was really a hit. We did add a few extra items, which I'll get to, but the recipe in its original state would be so good for a light, summer dinner.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Basil, Olives, and Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients
2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes (about 6), chopped
3/4 pound salted fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch cubes, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup halved and pitted black olives
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes with the mozzarella, basil, olives, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 12 minutes. Drain, add to the tomato mixture, and toss.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour the oil over the pasta and toss again.

Like I mentioned above, we added a few extra ingredients to increase the bulk and protein in this dish. First we did whole wheat pasta to get the good, healthy grains. We added some shrimp, thawed from the freezer, and some sliced and pan-cooked prosciutto. Maybe we're just conditioned to seeing large portions, but I don't think the original recipe would have filled us up for dinner. Maybe I'm wrong. Either way, the extra goodies tasted great and were a nice addition.

Tomato, mozzarella and basil mixture.

For the prosciutto, I found it sliced in the local grocery store. I chopped up two thin slices and cook them in a pan with a little olive oil along with the oil and garlic in the last step of the directions. Oh, and the olive oil. We halved this recipe, and even then we most certainly didn't use the whole amount of olive oil to pour over the pasta in the last step. That's a lot of olive oil, and I can understand using that if you need to slick up your insides to get rid of a hairball or something, but I don't think normal people (myself and the Husband) need that much oil floating around in our dinners. We did a fraction of that, and while we didn't have much of a sauce, it still was fine.


Another thing we did was attempt to warm the pasta for a few minutes before we ate. We drained the pasta, added the tomato mixture, along with the mozzarella, and put it on low heat while the prosciutto-garlic mixture cooked. In retrospect, we should have reconsidered what happens to cheese when you heat it up - it melts. And gets really stringy, mozzarella especially. So when we removed it from the heat we did have hot pasta, but we also had a mass of melted cheese goo in the bottom of the pan. Not quite what was supposed to happen. Maybe next time we'll just prep everything faster.


But even with the melty cheese, it was really good. See for yourself.

Finished product, including shrimp and prosciutto.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

For a quick dinner in, nothing beats this recipe. It comes together in almost no time, you use minimal ingredients and the taste is really fresh and simple. Plus, in the summer you can sub fresh tomatoes for the canned variety and the taste is completely different. It's lighter and has less sodium, fat and calories (I imagine) than using tomatoes from a can.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 lb. med. shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking Spray
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups diced plum tomatoes
3/4 cup finely crumbled feta
4 cup hot cooked angel hair pasta
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley


Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add oregano through garlic. Saute 3 min. Spoon shrimp mixture into 11x7 baking dish-coating w/ cooking spray. Add wine to skillet-cook until reduced to 1/4 cup. Stir in tomatoes and pour over shrimp. Sprinkle w/ cheese and bake 10 min. Serve over angel hair pasta and sprinkle w/ parsley.

This is an easy dish with not many steps. Plus, once you get out the white wine for deglazing you may as well pour some for yourself. I add more feta than what it calls for because I love that stuff. Also, I eyeball the shrimp and spices (are you noticing a theme here with all of my recipes?). It seriously only takes a max of ten minutes to get this from the pan to the oven. While the shrimp mixture is in the oven, you boil the pasta and drain it just as the shrimp is ready.

Going into the oven

While the shrimp mixture bakes, it creates this delicious reduction in the bottom of the dish that really adds flavor to the pasta, because by itself it can be a little bland. A little more wine and cheese and tomatoes can easily fix that.

All plated up!

The husband is a big proponent of this recipe and again, it is really fast to put together. I almost always have the items on hand that it takes to make it and it's a good, light dish for the summer.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce

This was another one of those "What the hell am I thinking" kind of recipes. It looks very intimidating, it's a totally unfamiliar cooking concept, and it requires a certain exactness in measurements that I simply don't seem to possess. But yet again, here I am staring down a recipe I am determined to make and I am not about to let anything stop me.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce
8 restaurant servings

For gnocchi:
• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 pound ricotta cheese
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces all-purpose flour – by weight – plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

For sauce:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, small dice
• 2 stalks celery, small dice
• 1 carrot, small dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

DIRECTIONS
For sauce:
Heat olive oil in large sauté pan until it just begins to smoke. Add pork and beef and sauté until golden brown and cooked through. Break large chunks with a wooden spoon. Remove cooked meat with a slotted spoon and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of liquid left behind.

Return pan to heat and when it just begins to smoke add vegetables and sauté until golden brown. Remove vegetables from pan and pour off remaining liquid.

Return pan to heat and add red wine, scraping bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking wine until it reduces to a syrupy consistency.

Add chicken stock, tomato sauce, and tomato paste to pan and bring to a simmer. Add meat and vegetables and bay leaf to pan and return to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and let mixture slowly simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until liquid has reduced to a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

For gnocchi:
Peel the potatoes and simmer until they can be easily pierced with a small knife. Remove the potatoes from water and let them cool for 5 minutes. While still warm, pass the potatoes through a ricer and let cool for 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in a medium-size bowl, mix ricotta, egg yolks, salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. (If the ricotta is too soft or watery, line a colander with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Set the bowl in the refrigerator and let it drain for 1 hour.)

Add the potato to the ricotta mixture and gently mix by hand. Be careful not to overwork. Add the flour in two portions, mixing by hand and being careful not to overwork. Let the dough rest for 1 hour before portioning.

When ready, dust a clean work surface with flour and divide the dough into 4 portions. Gently roll the dough from the center outwards, stretching to create one long, ropelike piece. The dough should be about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.

With a bench scraper, cut the gnocchi into individual pieces approximately 1 inch long. Remove gnocchi to a baking tray dusted with flour. To cook, bring 2 quarts water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add 8 to 10 pieces of gnocchi and cook until all the gnocchi begin to float. Warm 3 to 4 ounces Bolognese sauce in a sauté pan.

Quickly remove from boiling water and add gnocchi to the pan with warm Bolognese sauce. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Finished product


Just, wow. I had no idea I could cook something like this. The pot stickers were awe-inspiring enough, but this was just off the charts. From start to finish, it took about two hours to complete the meal, from the gnocchi dough having to sit for an hour to putting the sauce together. But man, it was worth it! For starters, I am never purchasing store-bought gnocchi ever again. Ever. I mean it. This was kind of time consuming, but the taste is one meeelion times better than that Target brand stuff I bought. Light, fluffy, doughy - all good things. I didn't have a gnocchi board:

... but I managed fine. These are mainly used to make ridges to trap the sauce, but this sauce was so meaty and had so little liquid that it couldn't help but cling to the gnocchi.

And the sauce - wow. First of all, I halved the amount of beef and pork and kept the other measurements for the sauce pretty much the same. I added more of the liquid, like chicken broth, tomato sauce/puree, red wine and tomato paste. However, I simmered it on the stove without a lid so all of that liquid evaporated and we were left with just meat. We got it a little more soupy right before we served it, but it tasted wonderful.

I also made the full amount of gnocchi and froze the extras before I cooked them. When cooking the gnocchi, there was no time table on how long to let them cook before they were ready. I found that it only took about four minutes before they started to rise to the top of the water. I wanted to keep cooking them for fear of them tasting under done, but they were so good.

This is another winner, and it will forever have a place in my recipe box. This would be a good company recipe to make for a dinner party or another big event. The trick would be getting the gnocchi to cook and keep them warm until everyone has a serving, but we covered the individual bowls with foil and that did the trick.

Tip: To freeze leftover gnocchi, place them individually on a large cookie sheet and place in the freezer. When they harden, put them in a Ziploc bag and seal tight. If you just throw them in a bag all together, they'll freeze into a gnocchi blob and will be very hard to thaw and cook properly. They thawed nicely in the bag overnight in the fridge.

Update: A week or two later, I thawed the leftover frozen gnocchi to have for another dinner. The gnocchi held their shape, but they didn't taste as good as when they were fresh. They also seemed a bit more doughy than when they were fresh. They weren't bad, but they're better the first time around.