Stuffed shells with sauce

I wanted to cook one more time before I dove back into perfecting my foam and working on expungements.

As I was ambling around the grocery store yesterday morning, I paused before I grabbed the shells. Hmm. Manicotti? Shells? Manicotti? Shells? I furrowed my brow and opted for the shells. I decided to save my piping bags and energy for next weekend. But just as a note, the below recipe applies to either. Same concept of filling yummy pasta with cheese.

::gathering my raw materials::



Ingredients:

- 10-12 jumbo shells, boiled (al dente, since you're gonna be baking them)

- 12 oz of yummy cheese - for this i used:
ricotta, gorgonzola, mozzarella, and asiago

- 1 cup meat or pasta sauce - for this i used:
1/2 lb ground lean sirloin, red/orange/yellow peppers chopped,
chopped onions, garlic, and basil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a medium pot, boil 10-12 jumbo shells for about 10-12 minutes. The idea is to not overboil them, and to keep them slightly chewy. They're going to be baked later on, and will absorb more moisture later on in the oven.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, work on your sauce. I browned some ground sirloin with chopped onions, peppers, garlic, tomato, and basil. Add your sauce, throw a lid, (or if you've got a franken-kitchen like me, an upside down pie tin) and let simmer on low heat.




Onto the cheese. This isn't hard really, and entirely up to you how you want to jazz it up. Start off with ricotta (it's nice, mild in flavor, and you can add all sorts of yummies to heighten the flavor, while maintaining a creamy texture.)

I added some crumbled gorgonzola, shredded asiago, pepper, dried oregano, and a little leftover chopped basil. Mixed it all up with a wooden spoon, and had a nice pastey cheese mixture.


I also sliced up the last ball of mozzarella I had from a previous recipe, but I set aside to add later.

Once your pasta is done, throw them in a strainer, and rinse with cold water. When cool enough, grab a spoon and carefully open up the shell. Now stuff it! I threw in a slice of mozzarella along with the ricotta filling.



Repeat this process until you've filled all your shells. Arrange in a baking pan.


Pour some of your sauce onto the shells, and top off with grated cheese if desired. Pop into the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until cheese melts and it's nice and bubbly. I didn't worry about my shells drying out, because there was a lot of moisture from the cheese and the sauce.


When done, remove from heat and cool. Serve, and add more sauce and shredded cheese if desired. = D


Simple dish, just more time, since it's more of an "assembly" type dish. = )

margherita pizza

ah, nothing like the simplicity of a thin crusted pizza, topped with a fresh roma tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil. more importantly, baked...on a clay tile. = D

so, i don't own a pizza stone. i don't have the heart to fork over $30 at target to buy theirs. so i did the next best thing. i bought an 88 cent, non-glazed clay tile from home depot.

= )

yeah, i'm cheap. say it.

the good news? a very tasty, thin crusted pizza.

the bad? my clay tile broke after it cooled.

but i was only out 88 cents, so i'm not bawling.


Anyway....so here's a little history on margherita pizza. disclaimer: i pulled this from the interwebs, so the story might vary slightly, from source to source:

In June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan chef Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita," a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag. He was the first to add cheese (thank youuu wikipedia).


::Gathering my raw materials::




Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12" uncooked NY Style dough crust
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced
6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh shredded asiago cheese (or any other awesome hard cheese of your liking)

Pizza dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water (105F)
4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons of olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal


Directions:

Preheat your stone in the oven at 450 degrees for about an hour. You want to make sure the stone is nice and hot for baking.




Combine 2 Tbls. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl. Allow to marinate while making dough.




For the dough:


In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in water. Add oil and flour and stir with heavy spoon for 1 minute.


Turn out to a lightly floured surface and press into a circle.
Sprinkle yeast evenly over dough and knead for 12 minutes.


Place dough ball on lightly floured surface, and lightly flour the top. Use fingertips to evenly flatten out the dough ball. Work from the edges to the center press dough into a 12" circle. Place both hands within the shell edge and stretch with fingertips and palms maintaining an even pressure. Or, use a lightly floured rolling pin to stretch to desired shape.



Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
Top with cheese, then tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil.



Alright, so this is the part where it's important to have a pizza peel and semolina or corn meal. whatever you use to slide the pizza onto the hot stone/tile...you want to make sure it really slides. i only had flour, and when i was transferring my uncooked pizza onto my stone...it didn't exactly slide, so some of the toppings tumbled off before the entire pizza made it onto my stone. = ) needless to say, glad i had a pair of tongs handy. Ahem...but anyway...

Bake in preheated 450F oven on pizza stone for 8−12 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Remove from oven and top with asiago cheese and basil.

Cool on a wire rack for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.




So there you have it. I would strongly recommend you buy the stone--i was more curious to experiment, and was pleased with the results of the pizza. i didn't remove the tile from the oven until after it cooled. however, upon returning downstairs to clean, i found the tile had other ideas...



i was only out 88 cents for the tile, so a cheap experiment with successful (edible) results. = )

Side dish - potatoes au gratin

I'm definitely a meat and potatoes type girl. Or even just potatoes. Or even potatoes with garlic, cheese, and onion.

this post was inspired by a bbq that i had with some co workers a few weeks ago--we had the meat. the pasta salad. the chips. so i thought, why not potatoes?

i prowled around the interwebs for a recipe, as i've never made potatoes au gratin--au gratin just meaning topped with grated cheese or bread crumbs. simple enough.

::gathering my raw materials::



Ingredients:

- 4-6 small red potatoes, thinly cut (i use read, because i hate peeling potatoes, and these have thin skins)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1 cup grated cheese (the sharper, the better)

- 1 cup heavy cream (or milk, if you want to cut back fat and calories)

- 1 tbsp flour

- 1 tbsp butter

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Very carefully, slice your potatoes as thinly as possible--makes the cook time quicker. Try to get them about 1/4 inch or thinner. Set aside.


Chop your onion and garlic and toss with your potatoes. In a medium skillet, heat about 1 tsbp olive oil and cook your potatoes with the onion and garlic.




Add salt and pepper. Allow the potatoes to brown slightly, but you don't have to worry about cooking them all the way through, since they're going to be baked. Remove from heat.

In a saucepan, melt your butter and flour, making a simple roux. Add your heavy cream and stir. Add salt, pepper, and whatever other seasonings you enjoy. Remove from heat.



In a deep baking pan or casserole dish, arrange a layer of potatoes and then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Repeat this until all your potatoes and cheese have been used.


Finish by pouring the heavy cream mixture on top of the potatoes and cheese. Top with bread crumbs or extra shredded cheese if desired.



Put in the oven for about 45-60 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, and enjoy when it's cool enough to dig in.



There's lots of ways you can jazz up this dish. I put bacon bits on top once, and breadcrumbs another time. As usual, I encourage creativity. = )