Baked Shells Casserole

This dish is for those who love the classic Italian dish, stuffed shells but don't like the extra work that goes into stuffing the shells. I had been planning on making this dish for quite some time and finally got around to it this week. Be aware the prep in this dish is quite lengthy and should be taken into consideration when beginning. I started late in the evening and let me tell you we were eating quite late that night...Opps. I made a few amendments to the recipe to suit our tastes (and what we had on hand in the house). I left out the carrot, fennel seed, and only used 1 box of spinach (which was plenty in my eyes). I used red wine, oregano, and mozzarella cheese as opposed to parmigiano-reggiano (worked just fine). I really liked how the sauce turned out in this recipe and might use it again in future adventures.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
1 large finely chopped, divided
1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano or marjoram, half a palmful
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/3 palmful
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed by pressing under flat of your knife
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, 5 to 6 sprigs
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white or red wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 28-ounce cans Italian crushed tomatoes
1 pound medium or large shell pasta (not extra-large stuffing shells)
2 boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in clean towel
Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 teaspoon
2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus some to pass at table
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

Preparation:

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 3/4 of finely chopped onion and the carrot. Season with salt, pepper, oregano or marjoram, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds and thyme, and gently sauté 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in parsley, stir, then add wine and reduce a minute. Add stock and tomatoes, bring sauce up to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer sauce 45 minutes.

After sauce has been simmering for 30 minutes, preheat oven to 375˚F.

Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt water and cook pasta 5 minutes.

While pasta water comes to a boil, heat remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO in a small skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic and onion and sauté to soften, 5 minutes. Add spinach, pulling it apart and separating it as you add it to pan. Stir to combine well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off heat.

Drain undercooked pasta and return it to the hot pot. Add spinach mixture to pot along with ricotta and grated Parm. Stir to combine, adjust salt and pepper then add eggs and stir.

Pour a thin layer of marinara sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Fill dish with pasta then top with another thin layer of red sauce. Save remaining sauce to pass at table. Bake 30 minutes until bubbly.

Serve casserole directly from casserole dish, passing extra sauce and cheese at the table.

Fall Fun

These past couple of weeks have been busy, but a good busy! Fall is my favorite time of the year! Let's start at the beginning. September 24th was my 28th birthday! :) We celebrated by heading to the apple farm that weekend. It was the perfect day for apple picking. My big story from that day was the LARGE spider Sam had on his leg for only God knows how long! We had been out in the raspberry picking area for a little while and then meandered back to the store to stand in line for apple donuts (yum!). After standing in line for over 1/2hr the guy behind us pointed it out to us...after he took a picture of it!





This past weekend was my brother's wedding! I now officially have 2 sister-in-laws with the name Jennifer! :) It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. The weather was unseasonably warm for October. My daughter stood up in the wedding as a Jr. bridesmaid, she looked so pretty!






We all had Monday off of work and school so we headed out to the pumpkin farm. We ran into a boy Claire went to preschool through 3rd grade with...and whom she's had the biggest crush on for all these years. I was very cute to see them so bashfully excited to see each other.

Yesterday on my day off I had a dentist appointment (yay?) and stopped in at Michael's on my way home to buy some materials for a fall decoration. I made a cute wreath for our front door. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Maple Walnut Chicken Thighs with Cheddar Apple Rice

I made this recipe the other day. The over all taste of it was great, however the original recipe only cooks the chicken in the skillet for 10 mins. Being naive I followed it blindly believing RR couldn't steer me wrong. Oh boy did she ever. The chicken was very undercooked (as any sane person would expect). So we ended up warming the chicken in the microwave for a few minutes each piece and it cooked it the rest of the way through. So should I make this again in the future (which I probably will as it was very yummy) I plan to bake the chicken in the oven after browning it in the skillet. So as you will see I have added the baking the chicken direction into this recipe for your convenience.

Ingredients:
1 cup walnut halves
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups long grain white rice
2 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
1 Honeycrisp, Gala or Golden Delicious apple, peeled, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, packed
1/4 cup fresh dill, packed
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1 brick sharp white cheddar cheese (6 ounces), cut into small, 1/4 inch cubes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dark maple syrup

Preparation:
Heat oven to 325°F. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast until well toasted and fragrant, 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, one turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken dry and season liberally with salt and black pepper. Add to the skillet and cook, turning once, until browned, about 10 minutes. Reserve grease.

(Increase oven heat to 375 degrees. Bake chicken on baking sheet in oven for 30mins.)

Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet and add the vinegar. Cook, scraping up the pan drippings, then add the remaining 1/4 cup chicken stock, maple syrup and black pepper to taste. Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and walnuts and spoon with the sauce. Loosely cover the pan with foil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Cheddar-Apple Rice:

In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the rice and toast for a minute or two. Add 2 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apple and simmer for 8 minutes.

While the rice cooks, using a food processor, pulse 1/4 cup chicken stock, the parsley, dill and 1/4 teaspoon salt until finely chopped. Stir into the rice during the last minute of cooking. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for 1-2 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Transfer to a serving dish and stir in the cheese.

Serve the chicken, sauce and nuts with the rice alongside.

Pumpkin Cookies

This past Thursday was my mom's birthday, so as a nice treat I made some yummy pumpkin cookies to help bring in the fall season. They turned out very delicious! I made the glaze as per the recipe, however, I felt it was too sweet and would have preferred a cream cheese frosting instead.


Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoons nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter (softened)
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze-
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon butter (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin puree, egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients until well combined. Drop on a cookie sheet by the tablespoon-fuls. Flatten slightly.
Step 3: Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool.
Step 4: While cookies are cooling to make the glaze – Combine confectioner’s sugar, milk, butter and vanilla. Mix well.
Step 5: Drizzle glaze onto cookies with a fork.
(Makes 36 servings)