Pancetta Stuffed Shells with Asiago Cheese and Spinach

Here is another one I found on the Everyday Italian. This one is absolutely spectacular!! It's not hard to make. About 1/2 hour prep and 1/2 hour baking. It is a very rich dish and a little goes a long way on the palette.

Another family favourite has been born from this recipe.

Pancetta Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

Shells:

1 (12oz) package jumbo shells pasta (I use 1 box Lancia)

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ lb thick cut pancetta (about ¾ inch cubes)

2 pounds frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I use about 2 packages)

1 (15 oz) container of whole milk ricotta

1 cup grated asiago cheese

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Sauce:

1 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup cream

2 cups grated asiago cheese plus ¼ cup

¼ cup chopped parsley

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

For the shells:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain Pasta.

Warm Olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl. Add the spinach, ricotta cheese, asiago cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Stuff the shells in a large, buttered baking dish. This recipe will fill this dish plus a small dish

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to very low and add the 2 cups of asiago cheese, parsley and pepper. Stir until the cheese is dissolved. Pour the sauce over the shells. Top with remaining ¼ cup asiago cheese. Here is an illustration of it ready to go in the oven. I have a small ladle that I spoon the sauce over each shell and then distribute until the sauce has been spread between the two dishes.

Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Strawberry Margarita Frozen Pie

****Edited note. I tasted this today. It was delish. Light but filling. The 9"springform pan was perfect and this desert could easily serve 10-12.

A cool summer treat was in order today. I had an abundance of strawberries and wanted to do something different from the ordinary strawberry shortcake routine (which is always yummy and simple). I ended up making strawberry shortcake for the kids however as this recipe includes tequila.

I haven't actually tasted this one yet. I'll post my review of the flavours tomorrow (or later tonight if I can't resist a taste later into the night).

I found this recipe at Women's Day but changed it up a little bit as usual. It called for marscapone cheese but I substituted cream cheese as I had no marscapone kicking around and the grocer closes early on Sundays. Best part?? Only about 250 calories per serving based on 8 servings

Base/Crust

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter melted

Prepare crust in a food processor. Pulse the pretzels until they are crumbs, add sugar and pulse once or twice. Slowly pour the melted butter into the processor and pulse a few times while pouring until well combined. Place in a greased 10" pie shell or springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing the next step.

Filling:

1 container (16 oz) strawberries, hulled and sliced.

2 tsp sugar

1 can eagle brand condensed (not evaporated) milk, chilled. (For Canadian measurement use 1 and 1/3 can of eagle brand (410ml)

8 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup plus 2 tsp tequila

1 tbsp lime zest

2 tbsp lime juice

1 cup prepared whipping cream

To prepare filling. Puree the strawberries keeping 3/4 cup of thinly sliced strawberries with sugar separate and put aside.

Once pureed in either a food processor or mixer add cream cheese and combine until smooth. Add the condensed milk, mix until smooth. Add tequila, lime zest and lime juice, continue to mix until smooth. Fold in the strawberries you put aside. Fold in the whip cream until combined.

Pour into pie shell or springform pan and place in the freezer uncovered for 4 hours. Cover airtight for another 2 hours. Garnish with strawberries and lime. Remove from freezer and place in the fridge for about 15 minutes prior to serving for easier cutting.

Steak Diane

This recipe has become a massive favorite in our home. I have changed it slightly to account for budget and a large family. In general. I triple this recipe for our family. I also use thin steak slice cutlets. I can easily feed our family for under $20 for the entire meal using the thin steaks and while using tenderloin is delicious, so is it's less expensive counterpart.

I found this recipe in my South Beach Recipe book and not only is it delicious, it is heart healthy. Using the recipe as stated with tenderloin the nutritional at a glance is as follows.

Per serving: 397 calories, 21g fat, 5g saturated fat, 32g protein, 28g carbohydrate, 7g dietary fiber, 43mg cholesterol, 266 mg sodium.

Ingredients

4 center cut beef tenderloin medallions

Salt

Coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 cup 1 tablespoon margarine

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

1/4 cup mushroom caps sliced 1/8" thick (I always go heavier on the mushrooms, at least a cup worth even when I don't increase the recipe for family)

1/8 teaspoon minced garlic (I use 1/4tsp)

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon fresh chives

Pound the steaks until they reach approx 1/2" thick. Dry with paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper (I omit the salt)

In a large chafing dish over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the margarine. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook each steak for two minutes on each side. Remove to plate.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons margarine. Add the shallots, mushrooms, garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Whisk the worcestershire sauce and mustard together and add to the mixture, ensuring it's well combined. Return the steaks to the pan and cook until desired doneness. Place the steaks on warm serving plates. Add the lemon juice, parsley and chives to the pan and mix thoroughly. Cook for 30 seconds or until just warm. Pour the sauce evenly over the steaks.

This meal is very easy to make and can be ready in as little as 15 minutes when using the thin steaks. Add perhaps another 5-10 for tenderloin. It is a definate keeper!!! I usually return my thin steaks to the pan after I've added the lemon juice, chives and parsley. I'll simmer it for a minute or two to let the flavour infuse fully.

Lamb Souvlaki

I love Lamb Souvlaki. I`ve not yet found a fantastic recipe that makes me think I`m sitting on the Danforth but this one has sufficed in our family. It`s quite good. The secret is to let the meat marinate for several hours in the fridge to allow the flavours to infuse into the meat. I don`t really measure this so I`m kind of winging it here.

Ingredients.

1 Leg of Lamb Roast
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Shallot, finely diced
1-2 cloves of finely diced garlic
1 tablespoon Greek oregano
1 tablespoon rosemary

Trim excess fat from the lamb roast and cut the lamb into 1 1/2 inch – 2 inch cubes. Place in an airtight container and mix in all the other ingredients. Mix well and cover. Place in the fridge for several hours (about 5-6). Heat up the bbq and grill turning periodically for approx 10-15 minutes until meat.

Serve with rice and vegetables with Tzatziki on the side for dipping. MMMMM

Graduation Cake 2009

Today is my son's graduation from Middle school. Plans for this cake went somewhat sideways and we lost power for several hours. So much for more fondant to embellish it.

I don't do the parent volunteer thing at school so my contribution is baking.

This cake is a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. Hats and scrolls were made from the remainder of fondant from the cell phone cake on Monday. A bit quick of an icing job but I'm really pressed for time on this one.

I Was supposed to make a wicked cool cake today. Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

That didn't happen. I did make a cake, but not the one intended.

Today is my son's 14th birthday. I was supposed to make a really neat cake with a watchtower and dead trees from the video game Oblivion. I had it all planned out.

As all things in life, somethings don't go as planned. To see the events that transpired feel free to visit my main blog, but it runs quickly like this.

My son got a cell phone a few months ago as an early birthday and grad gift. He wiped out last week and killed his phone. Can't be mad at that, it was a complete accident and I was more concerned about his injuries. We gave him our other son's old phone and reactivated it under his number. He was disappointed he broke his phone but happy to have anything even though it wasn't as fancy or anything.

Last night he lost his phone. It fell out of his pocket at the theatre where my daughter was performing. He was beside himself but also knew he was on the hook for this one. Today we were going into his birthday with no present and no phone!!!

I called security and the box office this morning and his phone was turned in. The twisted side of me decided it would be funny to switch the Oblivion cake to a cell phone cake. Being the big meanie that I am I quickly whipped together a cell phone design...piped in Don't Break Me, Don't Lose Me, on the sides. It was funny. So instead of this really cool cake I planned we got a mediocre cell phone. It may look mediocre but dang it's good!!

My grandmother used to make this recipe and said it was from the depression when eggs and milk were at shortage. (Why mayonnaisse was available with an egg shortage is still a mystery to me). This is a delightfully moist flavourful cake however and it was one of my favorites growing up. Easy peasy to make.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
4 tbsp sifted cocoa

2 tsp soda
1 cup cold water
1 cup mayonnaise (or salad drsg) (I use 1/2 the fat Hellmans and it still works great)
1 tsp vanilla

1. Cream mayo, sugar, water & vanilla together.
2. In a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa and baking soda.
3. Gradually add mayonnaise mixture to flour mixture.
4. Beat well.
5. Pour into a greased 8” or 9” square cake pan.
6. Bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes.

Ice with a regular buttercream icing. The cake is not too sweet and a dense moist delight. I used marshmallow fondant for the numbers and screen. It's a simple cake but I was under the gun so not as well planned as others.

By the way...my son was delighted when he unwrapped his new old phone after I retreived it from the box office this evening.

Roman Chicken

I haven't made too many brand new entrees this week so decided tonight to try another one off the Food Network. I knew ingredients I had on hand and landed once again on Giada DeLaurentis' recipe. So far we have batted 100 on anything I've made from her. My husband just bought me her first cookbook, so I made the entree from the website and the side dish from the book "Everyday Italian".

The entree turned out very well. The combination of flavours was excellent. A light dish. I made it with wild mushroom risotto on the side. I think next time I will do this with some plain rice. Both dishes were excellent but I think a simple risotto or plain rice would be better. The blending of fresh herbs, tomato and capers with the chicken was refreshing on the palatte.

An easy recipe to make in about 40 minutes. For the record I eliminated the chicken stock from this recipe, and didn't miss it. I also used boneless chicken breasts as I already had it in the fridge. A final change was I simmered uncovered to allow the liquids to reduce a little better.

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breast halves, with ribs
2 skinless chicken thighs, with bones
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
3 ounces prosciutto, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons capers
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions
Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and prosciutto and cook until the peppers have browned and the prosciutto is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, wine, and herbs. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.
If serving immediately, add the capers and the parsley. Stir to combine and serve. If making ahead of time, transfer the chicken and sauce to a storage container, cool, and refrigerate. The next day, reheat the chicken to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the capers and the parsley and serve.