simple spinach & ricotta stuffed shells

Ahh!  It's finals week and I'm craving carbs and italian food!

I thought I'd prepare my favorite stuffed shells dish and share the recipe with you all.  It's super simple and super tasty.  It's also great for ovo-lacto vegetarians (vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy products).

INGREDIENTS

16 jumbo pasta shells (only need 12 but cook extra shells to allow for any that break)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

3 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped

12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 large egg

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

1/2 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp fresh italian basil, whole or finely chopped for serving

Extra parmesan for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

1.) Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions.

2.) Drain pasta, coat with a bit of olive oil, and set aside.

3.) Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute.

4.) Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 2-3 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 mins.  This would be a good time to begin preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

5.) Add ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, italian seasoning, salt & pepper to the spinach.  Combine thoroughly.

6.) Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.

7.) Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes.

8.) Remove the foil, sprinkle with mozzarella, and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes.

9.) Serve warm with chopped italian basil and/or a dusting of parmesan.

mànmàn chī,

....................................

let's chat on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/nowandjenn

'like' my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/NowJenn

see what i'm pinning:

http://www.pinterest.com/nowandjenn

follow me on instagram:

@cutiepiecook (my recipe collection)

@ohmylish (food & restaurant reviews)

@nowandjenn (beauty, fashion, lifestyle)

asparagus & mushroom risotto (+truffle oil)

I really enjoy rice dishes, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that asparagus and mushroom risotto is frequently prepared in my kitchen.  I am Asian after all.  Asians love rice.

This recipe is fairly simple and straightforward.  All it requires is a bit of prep work and some love.  

2 Tbsp oil (I use grapeseed oil)

2 cloves of garlic

1 bunch of asparagus

1 box of mushrooms (8oz - button, cremini, portobello...etc.)

Salt and pepper to taste

-------------------------

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp oil 

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup arborio rice (yields ~3 cups cooked)

2 cans of 14oz chicken broth or vegetable broth

-------------------------

Infused white truffle oil (Buying truffle oil: examine label and make sure it's white truffle EXTRACT.  White truffle essence or white truffle aroma is synthetic and not worth your money!)
Parmesan cheese (freshly grated is best)

1.) Blanch the asparagus spears for 1-4 minutes, depending on the girth of the spears.  This is to soften the texture of the vegetable before fully cooking it.  Click here for how to: blanch asparagus.  My asparagus stalks were really thin, so one minute was enough.

2.) Cut the spears into one inch, bite size pieces.

3.) In a large pan, sauté the oil, garlic, and mushroom for 5 minutes.  Add asparagus and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Sauté for another 5 minutes and set aside.

4.) In a pot, saute onion in butter and oil for about 3 minutes.

5.) Add rice and stir for about 2 minutes.

6.) Add 1/2 can of broth and continue stirring until liquid is absorbed.  This is where the love comes in.  Be prepared to stir a lot!  It'll help the risotto develop a creamy consistency and keep it from burning.

7.) Gradually stir in 1/2 cans of broth until you have no more broth left or until the rice reaches your desired consistency.  Keep stirring!  At the end, the rice should be fully cooked through and look creamy in texture.

8.) Add rice to the asparagus and mushroom mixture.  Combine, taste, and serve.  Add additional salt and pepper here if need be.

9.) (Optional) Just to add a bit of richness and luxury, I drizzle my bowl of risotto with some white truffle infused oil.  Two words: NEXT LEVEL.  

10.) (Optional) You can also grate some parmesan cheese over it, but I think it's ohmylish enough without it.

mànmàn chī,

....................................

let's chat on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/nowandjenn

'like' my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/NowJenn

see what i'm pinning:

http://www.pinterest.com/nowandjenn

follow me on instagram:

@cutiepiecook (my recipe collection)

@ohmylish (food & restaurant reviews)

@nowandjenn (beauty, fashion, lifestyle)

classic margherita pizza

With tomato season coming to an end, I'm finding any and every excuse to incorporate this fruitable (fruit commonly mistaken for a vegetable) into all my meals.  One of my favorite quick and easy meals to make is the classic Margherita pizza.  I just love how simple and distinct the flavor profile is for this pizza.  The divine combination of tomato, basil, and garlic work wonderfully in unison to complement each other.

Though I wish I could make this totally from scratch, I just don't have time for all that during a hectic school week.  My schedule usually leaves me feeling crunched for time which always has me searching for short cuts in my cooking.

My shortcut in this case was to use store bought, ready-made thin crust cheese pizza.  It provides a blank canvas for a multitude of different ingredients.  My favorites being tomato, sweet italian basil, and garlic.

Today, I used fresh vine tomatoes from the farmer's market and home-grown sweet italian basil.  The garlic was store bought.  First, I roughly minced the garlic and sprinkled that on the cheese pizza.  Next, I sliced the tomatoes to my preferred thickness (about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch) and distributed them evenly across the pizza.  I also sprinkled the pizza with some italian seasoning here.

(pre-oven) Margherita pizza in the works...

[[TIP]] You must sandwich the garlic between the cheese and the tomatoes for two reasons: 1) The garlic oils being released during mincing and heating in the oven are purposely trapped in between to allow maximum seepage into the cheese, pizza sauce, and tomatoes. 2) It keeps the garlic from burning in the oven.  Also, if you're not a big fan of large slices of tomato, you can dice the tomatoes instead.

My thriving basil plants!

The rest of the steps are as follows:  Bake the pizza for the recommended time or close to your desired doneness.  Turn off the oven and take the pizza out.  Rough chop some sweet italian basil and sprinkle it on top of the pizza.  Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil on the pizza as well.  I usually throw the pizza back in the warm oven for another minute or two to warm up the basil and extra virgin olive oil.  And voila, dinner is served in a matter of 15-20 minutes!  Yum!!

What are your favorite pizzas and pizza recipes?!  Sound off in the comments below!  I would love to try a new recipe :)

mànmàn chī,

....................................

let's chat on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/nowandjenn

'like' my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/NowJenn

see what i'm pinning:

http://www.pinterest.com/nowandjenn

follow me on instagram:

@cutiepiecook (my recipe collection)

@ohmylish (food & restaurant reviews)

@nowandjenn (beauty, fashion, lifestyle)