One of my favorite dishes! Easier to make then you'd think. With the aide of a 'make shift' pastry bag (just fill a gallon bag with the filling, twist at the top and force filling to one lower corner, snip off lower corner and use just like a pastry bag!) Serve with a nice side salad and you have a full meal... ~Enjoy! Diane
Four Cheese Stuffed Shells Ingredients: 1/2 Box Barilla Jumbo Shells 1 24 oz jar of your favorite Marinara Sauce 1 1/3 Cup Ricotta cheese 8 oz Mascarpone cheese 1 Cup Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, shredded & divided 1 8 oz package Mozzarella cheese, shredded & divided 4 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped salt & black pepper to taste 2 Tbs Water Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F 2. Cook Jumbo shells in boiling water 9 minutes, Drain and cool on a sheet pan or large plate, . Set aside. 3. Mix together ricotta, mascarpone, half of the Parmigiano Reggiano, half the mozzarella, parsley, salt & pepper. Fill the cooled shells. 4. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish; add half the sauce and water. Arrange the shells (opening up), cover with remaining sauce and cheeses. 5. Bake covered in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes. (if preferred ~ Uncover for final 5 minutes and turn broiler on medium until cheese is golden and melted.) *note: I had 2 cups of cooked Italian meat filling from making a previous recipe so, I scattered that meat on top of shells before adding cheese. You can use a marinara with meat if preferred as well...
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This wonderful casserole has fantastic flavors all throughout - the fennel adds the perfect touch. ~Enjoy! Diane
Penne & Meatball Bake with Fennel Ingredients: 3/4 lbs (12-oz.) cooked Penne pasta 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced 1 medium-size fennel bulb, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 (24-oz.) jar marinara sauce *I use Aiello's or *my own homemade sauce (click here) 1/4 cup orange juice 1 (12-oz.) packages frozen 1/2oz" Italian meatballs, thawed *or make mine (click here) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup fresh basil, chopped 2 cups fresh shredded mozzarella Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare Penne pasta according to package directions. Once cooked & drained, add a bit of butter to prevent noodles from sticking. Transfer to a lightly greased/buttered 13- x 9-inch baking dish. (the baking dish I used was a 12 x 8 oval) If you are making my meatballs, make into 1/2 oz rounds for this recipe. If you are using frozen meatballs from the store, make sure to thaw and use the smaller 1/2 oz meatballs if possible or even the minis - if preferred. Once thawed, place meatballs in and around pasta in baking dish. 2. Sauté onion and fennel bulb in hot oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and fennel seeds, and saute 1 minute. Stir in marinara sauce and the orange juice, bring to medium heat then lower and simmer covered: 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from heat, and stir in basil, and salt to taste. Transfer to baking dish, stirring into cooked pasta & meatballs, top with cheese and bake uncovered. 3. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Broil the final 3-4 minutes to brown the cheese on top if preferred. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home I kept seeing this dish everywhere - from Williams Sonoma to Martha Stewart & Pinterest. I make a similar dish cooking my pasta in a broth that creates its own sauce but, has far less ingredients...then I noticed a friend and fellow food blogger: Michaela over at "An Affair from the Heart" gave it a whirl and thought "ok - I must try this one!" We love it - just as easy to make as it is to eat! Thanks Michaela!
~Enjoy! Diane {One Pot} Pasta with Chicken INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Recipe Adapted from: An Affair from the Heart "Italian Wonder Pot" Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Seeing all the posts for the "One Pot Pasta" had me think back to my own pasta dish I make using 'one pot.' I've never shared this recipe but, we love this dish and its made in one pot - even better for clean up! A lot like the flavor of an Alfredo too. Use the thinnest noodles so that they cook in time as the broth will reduce. When I use a fatter/thicker noodle - I tend to add an extra cup of broth to extend cooking time but, angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti work great in this too.
{One Pot} Creamy Garlic Pasta Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic - minced 2 Tbsp butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 3-4 cups chicken stock 1/2 lbs pasta noodles *angel hair or thin spaghetti work best 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 3/4 cup heavy cream 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley *you can throw in 1 cup shredded, pan-seared chicken at the end or cooked shrimp for extra protein Directions: In a pot, add olive oil and bring to med-low heat. Add garlic and stir, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted. Add salt, pepper and chicken stock to pot. Raise heat to High and let it come to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reduce heat to medium and mix in parmesean cheese until melted, stir in heave cream just until warmed thru. Turn off heat add parsley. Serve. *Tip: no heavy cream? use Milk and add 1 Tbs butter, warm in microwave together in a bowl...before adding to pasta in pot. *Tip: Pasta? use a thin noodle (like angel hair, something that cooks in under 7 mins as chicken stock will start to cook off.) *Tip: Sauce too thick - add a touch more chicken stock *Tip: Sauce to thin - add a Tbs of corn starch until desired thickness is reached. *Tip: No fresh Parmesan? you can use grated/canned just use 3/4 Cup. It just won't taste as good as fresh parmesan. *Tip: Great as a side dish OR place a nice grilled chicken breast or grilled shrimp on top of pasta as a main course. Recipe and Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Oh Noodles! Yummy, slurp-y, soft, buttery, liquid induced, tomato soaked or creamy...its all good! Show me a 'food coma' by having me make and eat pasta! I love pasta (if that isn't clear!) No need to be fancy here either - making fresh pasta is your choice - go slow and make dough like "grandma" by hand, speed things along with a mixer and dough hook, or zip to the finish line using a food processor...I've tried them all and really don't have a preference...they all produced great pasta! You can also roll the dough by hand with a rolling pin and cut with a knife or pizza cutter, or squeeze through a pasta maker (which flattens the dough and lets you grab and stretch as you turn the crank) and let the pasta maker cut your noodle shapes too...its all up to you! I admit - it was super easy to throw ingredients in a food processor until a dough ball forms (a la Chef Viviani style) but, you still get your hands and surfaces covered with flour, its just an evil necessity in this process...flour keeps your noodles from sticking to each other, your hands, and the rollers, cutters. I will share my quick recipe - one I caught from Chef Viviani which uses a Cuisinart. ~Enjoy! Diane Homemade Pasta Ingredients: 3 eggs 2-3 cups all purpose flour (*add slow) 1/8 tsp salt & pepper each 1/2 tsp olive oil Place everything but, flour into Food Processor. Whirl for 3-8 seconds. Add in 1 1/2 cups of flour and pulse a few more seconds until a dough starts to form, add in more flour (1/2 cups at a time) and pulse until dough starts pulling together into a large ball, when dough is ready - it should NOT be sticky to the touch (if it is, you need to keep incorporating more flour) Once dough is soft to touch and non-stick, set out onto a floured working surface. knead dough just enough to form into a long rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and run each half thru pasta maker - one at a time. Most pasta makers have roller settings (the largest setting meaning the rollers are the farthest apart) I make 3 passes with my dough when making Fettuccine before moving the now 'long pressed sheet of dough' through the pasta cutter part of my machine...Once cut, I bundle loosely and sprinkle with more flour so there is no sticking together! When all done, I lay finished noodles flat in a straight line on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkled with flour until ready to cook (I leave out in open air until cook time, as long as its no more then 4 hours away.) Prepare your favorite sauce and boil your noodles in salted water: approximate times for cooking pasta in boiling, lightly salted water: Fresh pasta, no drying or freezing; 2 to 3 minutes Fresh pasta, air dried; 4 to 7 minutes ..."Be sure to have your sauce, toppings, salads, and sides ready at the table before you drop the pasta into the water... Cooked pasta waits for no one..." Yields: enough to compliment one commercial sized jar of tomato sauce. Recipe by: Chef Viviani Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |