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Crockpot Pork Shoulder

March 11, 2011 By 2 Comments

I don’t use my crockpot enough. I don’t know why, because I’ve always had success with any recipe I’ve tried, so it’s nothing there’s been anything to deter me. More likely than not it’s laziness; even though crockpot cooking is easy, it still involves a level of commitment to preparing things well in advance which I sometimes lack. I got a nice 3.5 qt crockpot for Christmas and it’s the perfect size for myself and my husband, so I really should start utilizing it more.

I had an abundance of apples from my Boston Organics delivery, so I decided to use them in a savory application with some onions and a pork shoulder. This was such an easy dish to put together: I got it ready after I made dinner one night and my husband turned on the crockpot in the morning. It cooked for about 9 hours total and it was so good. The pork was tender and infused with a wonderful apple flavor and the onions were a golden brown and so sweet.

Crockpot Pork Shoulder

3lb pork shoulder, bone in
2 apples, sliced in eighths
2 onions, sliced in thick rings
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
salt and pepper to taste

Place one layer of apples and onions on the bottom of the crockpot and then arrange the pork on top of those. Scatter the rest of the apples and onions around the pork shoulder and add in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours, drain liquids off and serve the pork along with the apples and onions.

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Mediterranean Nachos

December 23, 2010 By 1 Comment

One night a month or two ago, my husband and I got some take out with one of our friends. We got it from this great El Salvadorean restaurant that’s close to our old apartment, and it’s good enough that every once in awhile we actually drive over there to pick up the food, since we’re now out of their delivery range. And for people who don’t like leaving their house, this says a lot about the quality of food. The main reason we go to this place is the amazing plate of nachos they make. It’s full of perfectly cooked beef, crema, tomatoes, lettuce, guac and salsa, on top of warm and crispy chips. It’s basically perfect. We started talking about other nachos we like and we were lamenting the lack of Mediterranean nachos in most establishments. Clearly, we had to rectify that.

A few weekends ago I got all of the ingredients ready and we started the process of making our nachos. For the sake of this recipe and my pride, I made my own pita chips. You are more than welcome to skip this step as I don’t think it’s 100% necessary. They were good, but I feel like store bought would’ve been just as good and possibly a bit of a time saver, since we were in the kitchen for quite awhile.

Mediterranean Nachos
8 small pita pockets, cut into quarters
1 medium-large cucumber, chopped
2 tomatoes, seeds removed, diced
1lb ground lamb
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon better than bouillon
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup tabouleh
1/2 cup feta
1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice
1/2 cup tzatziki
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Take the pita bread quarters, toss them with the olive oil and make sure they’re all coated. You can add salt and pepper to them, but don’t make the same mistake I did in forgetting that other components to this are salty as well. Bake the pita quarters for about 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and store in air-tight container until ready to use.

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Once ready, add the lamb and cook until nicely browned. Drain off the fat from the pan, add in the Better Than Bouillon, water, paprika and cinnamon. Let that cook together for a few minutes until all of the flavors are absorbed by the lamb and the lamb is still moist – you don’t want all of the water to evaporate. Take off the heat and set aside.

Take out a baking pan and layer your nachos however you’d like: we went with a structure of chips, meat, cheese, repeat. While originally I was going to just use crumbled feta, we decided we needed to have a cheese that would melt well, so we added in some chedder-jack but any cheese will work well. Bake that in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and everything is heated through.

While the nachos are baking, mix together the tabouleh, tomatoes and cucumbers. Once the nachos are out of the oven, plate them and use the tabouleh mixture as a salsa and sprinkle it over the top. Top this with a healthy dollop (or three) of tzatziki and you’re done.

I’m not gonna lie: these were amazing. All the flavors we were wanted were in there and the meat was seasoned perfectly. Our chips ended up being more chewy than crispy, but even with that they were still great.

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Thanksgiving Tacos!

November 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Now, some of you may think I’m a freak, but: I don’t really like turkey. Dark meat is okay, but white meat does absolutely nothing for me. And it’s not even like I’m being served dry, over-cooked turkey; my mother-in-law does a great job at cooking turkey and keeping it moist, but even so I’m still not a fan. So a year or two ago, when faced with a mountain of leftovers and no bread to make a delicious sandwich filled with sides and minimal turkey, I came up with the perfect solution — THANKSGIVING TACOS.

I know we’re a little over the top with our love of tacos at Casa Shenanigans but this is seriously good/genius. It’s also not really a recipe per se, but it’s something we enjoy and I think everyone else should too. There’s no wrong or right way to do this, but basic idea is layering different sides with turkey on a tortilla, then cheese, then heating it up. Like so:

Butternut squash is spread over half of the tortilla, with shredded turkey on top of it. You can really do whatever you’d like on this taco, as long as it is somewhat spreadable. My husband prefers to have turnips and carrots with his, but I prefer the sweeter base to mine. Then, add stuffing (or mashed potatoes) and top with cheese.

You can either heat it up in the microwave or oven/toaster oven until the cheese is nice and melty and everything is heated through. It doesn’t look particularly pretty when it’s done, but it’s good. The only thing that would’ve made mine better was having leftover cranberry sauce in there between the squash and turkey.

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Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. Mmm.

April 22, 2010 By 2 Comments

My husband is currently complaining about the movie Julie & Julia. I, too, have a few complaints about that movie, but mine are mostly related to the fact that I could have done entirely without the “Julie” segments of the movie and had the whole thing focused on the fabulous Julia Child. Her relationship with her husband, her passion for cooking and everything about her is just imbued with such joie de vivre, whereas the parts of the movie that focus on Julie are so lackluster and you can’t help but feel annoyed with her over and over again. And maybe that’s the point; although the Julie “character” [this is in quotes because I don't think the real life Julie Powell is as cute and cuddly as Amy Adams] is dull as dishwater and whiny and very “me, me, me”, I also think she’s very representative of a whole generation of people out there who equally felt adrift in life and without any passions to guide them.

I’ll admit I’ve felt that way, and I’m ashamed to also admit that I finally started this blog after I read Julie Powell’s book. It’s something I had wanted to do for a few years but never got up the gumption to do it; finally, I just did and I am pretty pleased with the results. Plus, it’s forced me to rediscover my passion of writing and it allows me to futz around with my fancy camera and hope for the best. It’s got a little of something for everyone!

But the biggest reason I’m so happy I started this blog? I probably would have missed out on some pretty awesome food. Case in point is what I made for poker this week: pulled barbecue chicken sandwiches. It’s something that’s really simple, but the combination of the home made barbecue sauce and the tender, slow cooked chicken made for one of the best poker night dinners I’ve made in a really long time. Which was certainly attested to several times as I was told over and over how good it was. The fact that some people had four sandwiches was also a tip off.

I got the sauce recipe from allrecipes.com and it was amazing. I know I use a lot of superlatives, but for real: this barbecue sauce is tangy, sweet, smoky, with just the slightest kick to it. It’s a perfect fit for so many things.

Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup bourbon whiskey
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the onion, garlic and whiskey. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 8 – 10 minutes or until onion is translucent. Mix in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer about 25 – 30 minutes or until thickened. This makes about 4 cups.

Now, the original instructions say that you can strain the sauce before letting it cool and sit overnight. I, however, was in no mood for that and used my immersion blender on it. The onions were perfectly blended into the sauce and it actually thickened it up enough that next time I’d probably cut back on the tomato paste. Because oh yes, there will be a next time.

I let the sauce sit overnight, and then the next day I put 2.5lbs of frozen chicken breasts into the slow cooker along with all of the barbecue sauce and set it to cook on low for 8 hours. When I came home, the whole apartment [and everything in it, including our cat Paul] smelled like the barbecue sauce. And then? THIS:

A pulled barbecue chicken sandwich. The stuff dreams are made of, if your dreams are filled with juicy, shredded meat with just the right amount of sauce that tantalizingly lingers on your taste buds. Yeah, seriously, it’s that good.

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Only communists don't like chili!

February 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

I’ve been making this chili for about ten years now. Over the years I’ve refined the recipe and the process to the point where I can pretty much make it in my sleep. I think I meant to blog about it one other time but forgot to take pictures before everyone at poker night got to it. Last night I made it for poker again, and will now share the wonders of this chili with you.

Well… maybe I don’t always make it the same way. Last night after everyone left, the husband said the chili was good and asked if it was for the blog. I thanked him and said yes it was, to which he replied he thought so, because I put whole chili peppers in there instead of diced and it seemed more bloggy. This was an adorable [and true] observation on his part, and it reminded me of what a good decision I made in keeping him around six years ago. Which was actually pretty easy: I just had to buy him a meatball sub and he was all mine!

And now that I’ve made everyone want to vomit with our cuteness, on to the food!

Chili of Doom

1 1/2 lb ground sirloin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes, with juice
8 oz beef broth
8 oz dark beer
12 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 chili peppers, whole
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large stockpot. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant; add in the ground sirloin and brown the meat. Add in all remaining ingredients except the tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about two hours over medium-low heat. Before serving, remove the chili peppers and stir in the tomato paste. Serve garnished with cheese and/or sour cream. Serves 6 – 8.

I have to say, this is pretty awesome chili. It’s not the hottest chili on the block, but it’s got a nice, smoky heat to it and has plenty of savory flavor. All the sweet ingredients add a nice depth of flavor, particularly the cocoa powder which is such a great pairing with any dish containing chilies. I tripled the recipe for yesterday’s poker game and there was nothing left at the end of the night. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!

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The weather outside is weather…

February 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

And what weather it is. Goddamn New England. I don’t understand why our weather is such absolute crap; cold one minute, warm-ish the next but only enough to melt some ice, then cold again to make more godforsaken ice. Jesus. I should probably stop being blasphemous, seeing as how it’s Ash Wednesday and my poor mother-in-law is probably horrified. Especially since this week’s blog is about a recipe she gave me.

As part of the delicious Christmas dinner she cooked for us, she made Venus de Milo soup. I had never heard of it before, but it’s one of my husband’s favorites. And since he is her favorite son, she made it for the holiday [note: I'm sure she loves both of her delightful sons equally]. It’s an extreme comfort food; a rich, meaty broth peppered with diced vegetables and pasta, topped with Parmesan cheese. How can you go wrong?

Not a lot of pictures for this one – you know how I feel about soup and it’s unattractiveness.

Venus de Milo Soup
1 pound ground beef or sirloin
48 oz chicken broth
1 pkg. onion soup mix
2 large ribs celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1/2 an onion, diced*
1/2 cup orzo
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese for topping
* this is not in the original recipe, but I can’t help adding unnecessary steps.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, brown meat. Add in the Worcestershire sauce, celery, carrots and onions and let vegetables soften. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the onion soup mix and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Add orzo, cook an additional 8 – 10 minutes. Season again with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce if necessary. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

That’s it; a bunch of simple ingredients, but they come together really well. I’ve also looked at various website and have seen other variations on this soup – different vegetables, adding in diced tomatoes, different broths, etc. There’s a million ways you can prepare this, but I’m pretty sure all of them are going to be tasty.

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Wait, who's in the Super Bowl again?

February 4, 2010 By 2 Comments

This post is brought to you by a dear Food Shenanigans friend, Tim Gager.

Super Bowl Party — it’s about friends and food. Some people like the commercials, some get into the game. And beer? That’s basic, Heineken? Pabst? It doesn’t matter much unless you’re Dennis Hopper:

For the past twenty years I’ve had a party for the Super Bowl, unless the Patriots (my team) are playing, then I go to other people’s parties so I don’t miss any of the game. My get-togethers started humbly with only beer and hard liquor. Years II to III, featured such treats as Jenos Pizza Rolls and Wieners in Wrappers. If I were old enough my party for the Jets-Colts would have looked like this:

I guarantee it.

But, damn, I’ve grown up. Invited this year is Michelle (writer of Food Shenanigans!) and her husband Dave along with six other people I love. I’ve already fantasized that after the party Michelle’ll just post “I quit, Tim’s too good” on her blog. Maybe she’ll say something nice after. [Ed. Note: This is certainly possible, but my ego likely won't allow it!]

This year here is the menu:

Robert Duvall’s Mother’s Crab Cakes.

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat, jumbo, lump or back-fin
2 heaping tablespoons mayonnaise
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 small onion, grated
1/2 tablespoon mustard powder
18 Ritz crackers, crumbled
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except the crackers. Add crackers crumbs in as close to sautéing as possible so that they crab cakes don’t get too moist from the other ingredients. Form into patties the size of hamburger patties.
2. Sauté in frying pan over medium-to-high heat in butter, 10 minutes per side. Make sure that it’s crispy outside but moist and juicy inside.
3. A simple tartar sauce to accompany the crab cakes can be made by mixing mayonnaise, grated onion and lemon juice.

These are the best crab cakes. I cannot order crab cakes out at any restaurants anymore because honestly, they are not as good as these. I also have a lot of really nice positive associations involving cooking these as a main course. (Yes, they got me laid). For a twist shake a few drips of chipotle tabasco in the tartar sauce.

Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Timothy Gager’s crusty Twist

24 lg. sea scallops (about 2 lbs.)
12 slices bacon
Chopped Almonds
Seasoned pepper
Melted Butter

Rinse scallops with running cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Cut each bacon slice crosswise in half; wrap each half around a scallop, securing with a toothpick. Sprinkle scallops lightly with seasoned pepper. Chop almonds using a food processor or hit them with a hammer inside a zip-lock bag.

Preheat broiler. Place scallops on rack in broiling pan, with bacon facing the heating element. Broil 8 to 10 minutes until scallops turn opaque throughout, using tongs to turn scallops frequently so bacon will brown evenly on all sides. Submerge bacon wrapped scallops in butter and roll in almond pieces.

When I cook I know what ingredients go well together. Crusting the usual scallops wrapped in bacon is just enough extra care that people will say, “Oh, wow.” The scallops I’m going to use are fresh off the boat from Mitura Fishing Corporation. Fresh Scallops, no poisons or salt water baths which distributor of scallops use to plump them up. Only the best and freshest come from The Halina M [pictured on right].

Elizabeth Rawlin’s Lasagna for Idiots

Sauce

brown:
1 lb Italian sausage
4-5 cloves fresh garlic or about 1/3 cup minced from a jar
1 onion

add to:
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
3 8-oz cans tomato sauce
~2 tbsp oregano
~1 tbsp basil
2 bay leaves or about 2 tsp crushed
~1 tsp sugar
1 cup water
pepper

simmer for at least 2 hours uncovered

cheese filling:
16-oz tub ricotta
~1 tbsp oregano
~1 tsp salt
~2 tsp pepper

2 8-oz packages Sargento six-cheese Italian blend (or a whole lot of mozzarella and about a third as much parmesan)

1 pkg lasagna noodles (no-boil is the best)

layer:

sauce
noodles
ricotta
sauce
cheese
noodles
ricotta
sauce
cheese
noodles
ricotta
sauce
cheese

325 for 45 minutes uncovered; let stand 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Timothy Gager’s Meat or Vegetarian Chili

Half a Butternut Squash or One pound of ground beef and One pound of cooked steak
One can kidney beans drained
One large can of whole tomatoes
Two medium green peppers
Two medium to large onions
½ tablespoon of ground black pepper
¼ tablespoon of chili powder.

If using meat: Brown the meat, drain. Then add canned tomatoes, drained kidney beans, large chopped onions and peppers, cooked steak pepper and chili powder. Simmer for 90 minutes.

For vegetarian: don’t use or add the meat. Duh. Add the squash fifteen minutes before serving. If you add it too early it will break into tiny or become invisible and overwhelm the chili.

Timothy Gager is the author of eight books of fiction and poetry. He loves to cook and will often have multiple foodgasms. He lives on www.timothygager.com

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Nothing says fall like squash!

December 1, 2009 By 1 Comment

Especially squash stuffed with sausage.

Man, Kevin Smith is a terrible actor. I totally get the fact that he’s in his own movies – I mean, he’s the boss of them, right? But why is he in Live Free and Die Hard? Actually, now that I’m thinking of it, how is Justin Long a working actor?! Or, the better question is, why am I still watching this movie? I DON’T KNOW.

What I do know, is that this dinner was particularly tasty. I am big on stuffing things with other things [I won't even make the obvious joke], and I feel like squash and sausage is a combination that works incredibly well together. Clearly the rest of the internet agrees with me, as there were eleventy billion stuffed squash recipes that came up in my Google search. And which one did I go with, you ask? Well, none of them! Mostly because I printed out a recipe and left it on my desk at work that night.

This is a near impossible dish to ruin; you’re taking something that is delicious on its own [squash] and stuffing something else delicious [sausage] into it. I’m pretty sure that’s a recipe for success every time. Not only that, but the finished product is not only attractive, but it is essentially its own serving platter. I really can’t think of a way you can go wrong here. Unless you don’t make it.

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage

2 acorn squash, halved and seeded
1 lb sausage, cooked and crumbled (your choice; I used sweet Italian)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Coat the inside of each of the squash halves with butter, then season with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 – 40 minutes, or until tender.

While the squash is roasting, heat the oil in a pan and then add the diced onions. Cook slowly, on medium-low heat, until starting to caramelize. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant and then remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs, the cooked and crumbled sausage, and onions and garlic with remaining oil. Add in the beaten egg, the seasonings, and cheddar cheese.

Pile all of that into each of the acorn halves. I’m not gonna lie, you’re going to have leftover stuffing. The smart thing to do would be to either increase the squash or scale back on the meat/panko ratios, but what I did was just cooked it in a separate pan so that husband could eat it later. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, until the stuffing is golden brown.

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Nothing says appetizing like "pig vag".

October 25, 2009 By 2 Comments

009That’s what our friend Squallie called this particular dish while in its preparation stages. While it’s not the most enticing of descriptions [and if it is enticing to you, we here at Food Shenanigans do not condone bestiality and are now judging you] it is fairly apt, as evidenced by the photo on the right. Granted, it doesn’t look anything special now, but man, when this was done, it was good. I had been wanting to make pork chops for awhile now, and my husband wanted me to make them like his mother did, with stuffing. Of course, he had no idea how they were stuffed or with what, so I started looking at various recipes and throwing out ideas at him. When I said the magical combination of cornbread, chorizo and cheddar cheese, he was sold. The idea came courtesy of Eggs to the Apples and the execution was mostly mine as I forgot to print out the recipe and didn’t feel like looking it up when I got home that night.

The idea is pretty simple and you can really use whatever you’d like for your own recipe. I went with a pared down version of the original, as I didn’t think I could convince the husband that he wanted to eat cooked dried cranberries and I couldn’t find fresh sage at the grocery store. Below is the recipe I ended up going with, and approximate measurements as .. it was late, and I was hungry.

4 thick pork chops, split in the center so that you have a pocket for the stuffing
2 cups of cornbread, cubed
3 chorizo links, casing removed and diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 T vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Start the chorizo cooking in one pan. In another pan, heat the two tablespoons of oil. Season the pork chops with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sear on each side for 2- 3 minutes, until starting to caramelize [the inside will be raw, but will finish cooking in the oven].

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Once the chorizo is cooked through and starting to brown up a little, remove it from the heat and add it to the cubed cornbread, along with two tablespoons of the rendered fat from the chorizo. Mix that up, adding however much of the chicken broth will be needed to make the stuffing come together and be moist enough to go in the oven for 8 minutes and not completely dry out. Once the chorizo, cornbread and broth are mixed together evenly, add in the cheddar cheese and give it one last mix.

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Stuff as much as you can fit into the pocket in each of the chops. I overstuffed mine, but that’s only because I realized I made way too much stuffing. Luckily, the extra stuffing didn’t go to waste, as the husband ate it immediately upon finding it on the counter. Bake in the oven for about 7 – 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops. Cover with foil and let them rest for a few minutes after coming out of the oven.

These were delicious! Well, I have to admit, it’s really the stuffing that was delicious. Pork chops aren’t my favorite by any means, so the stuffing was really the reason I made them. There’s some sort of crazy magical chemistry that must have happened while in the oven, because the stuffing just worked so perfectly. The spicy and sweet chorizo complemented the sweet cornbread so well, and cheese just makes everything better. I feel like I’ll try to shove this stuffing into anything I can get my hands on. And… sorry for that image. Here’s another picture, that’ll make it better:

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Stuffed shells are technically Italian food.

October 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The best thing I read at work this week was an email exchange between two of my favorite co-workers, in regards to a work dinner we had tonight.

Co-worker 1: mmmmmmmmmm veal.
Co-worker 2: yes yes but which kind of veal?
Co-worker 1: the most tortured kind they got.

This is amusing to me on a couple of levels: a) co-worker 1, up until about two or three months ago, was a vegetarian for years and years and is now some sort of hardcore meat eater, and b) veal makes everyone react like that! Well, maybe not exactly like that, but veal is one of those meats that makes people either kinda squeamish or drool with the thought of the tender, tender meat melting in your mouth if it’s prepared properly. Me, I’m not so much with the veal love, but my husband is – which brings to me to my point [see, you knew I'd get to it eventually]: the stuffed shells I made recently were made completely with veal, instead of my usual go to of a mixture of pork, beef and veal.

In continuing with my bastardization of foods from a variety of countries, I bring to you “Stuffed Shells alla Michelle” [see, because I italicized it, you're supposed to assume that it's in another language]. I’ve been making stuffed shells for years because it’s always a crowd-pleaser and it’s a pretty easy dish. Since this time I made my own sauce to accompany it instead of slopping on some store bought stuff [don't hate], I decided the dish was now worthy of it’s own entry. Plus, wtf, it’s been two weeks? We’re slacking.

059Sauce:

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 carrots, peeled and grated finely
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 – 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon kosher salt

The sauce is the easy part, and for some reason, I feel like this is some of the best sauce I’ve made, yet it was so incredibly simple. First cook the diced onions in the olive oil, just until they start to caramelize. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Dump in the tomatoes, and mix to combine. Add in the carrots, to cut the acidity of the tomatoes; depending on how acidic the tomatoes are will determine if you add in the teaspoon of sugar.

Next add in the salt, and then lastly slowly add in the cayenne pepper to your tastes. Now, this is where the husband and I differ [I say that like it's our only difference - ha!]: I like some spice to my food, but he doesn’t. If I had only done a teaspoon of the cayenne, I feel like it would have added some depth of flavor and a bit of a bite. Two teaspoons was a noticeable flavor and one I felt was welcome, given the heaviness of the stuffed shells. Either way, add it slowly and see how you want it to be. You can also omit the cayenne and add in your fresh or dried herb of your choice – basil, thyme, rosemary, etc. It’s a good base that you can build on as you go along.

Stuffed Shells:

1/2 box of large pasta shells
3/4 – 1lb ground meat of choice (veal, in this case)
1/2 – 3/4 cup of ricotta
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the shells according to the package directions. Brown the meat, seasoned with salt and pepper. Drain and cool the shells. Mix the meat with the ricotta, until you have a rich and creamy mixture of the two; adjust seasonings. Stuff about 1.5 tablespoons of meat and ricotta mixture into each shell.

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To get the dish ready for baking, you need to cover the bottom of a 7×11 pan with sauce. Lay the shells in the pan open side up and line up evenly. Once all of the shells are in the pan, drizzle more sauce over the top, and finish off with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Cook in an oven pre-heated to 350 for about 35 – 40 minutes.

Thank me later.

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