Stuffed Shells

Reader's Choice! I hope by now you know that I love responding to your comments and answering your questions and requests... If you didn't know that, well, here's proof!! 

Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine

Check them out they are awesome! http://veganbros.com/

Shout out to the super cute @veganbros as this recipe was created with Matt in mind! Sorry Phil, but I know you don't like mushrooms. Matt's got a nut allergy and has had issues in the past with creamy pasta sauces containing nuts, so this one's for you babe!

#Crowdpleaser am I right?

Based on the reaction I got from social media after I posted this picture, I knew I had to share this recipe!

National Nutrition Month: Mushroom Filling for Ravioli/Tortellini

This month is National Nutrition Month® which was started by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as an annual campaign to educate and inform everyone about nutrition.  This year the theme of National Nutrition Month ® is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle”.  

In my opinion (and I know there’s a lot of talk about this as well) one of the healthiest things you can do is eat more veggies.  Check out meatlessmonday.com to read about the benefits that eating veg once a week can provide!

But, going meatless doesn't mean you have to sacrifice taste or go hungry! 

If you follow my blog you’d know that I received a 3-piece pasta attachment for my Kitchen-Aid for Christmas and it has been an adventure to knock out different types of noodles, pasta and even dumplings with it! Well this recipe has been a long time coming and finally I have the chance to not only sit down and relax, but to also to have enough peace to be able to string words together to create sentences. 

My most recent creation with my pasta attachment: Tortellini and Ravioli! 

I based the filling for these off of my "Grown-up Mac No Cheese" recipe. Mushrooms and some cashew cream make for a meaty and creamy filling that is sure to satisfy everyone on your Meatless Monday. There are so many ways to top the tortellini or ravioli... I'll give you a couple ideas at the end of the recipe, which starts now!!

1 recipe of pasta dough

2 1/2 cups mushrooms finely chopped (Equal to about 8 oz of whole mushrooms)

1 cup finely chopped onion 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup water

Salt and Pepper

Make pasta dough and let it rest.

In the meantime, sauté the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in the olive oil until the most of the water has evaporated.

In a blender, purée the raw cashews and water until smooth.  Be careful not to blend for too long or the mixture will be too thick!

Pour cashew cream into mushroom mixture and cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the cashew cream thickens enough to just start to hold the mixture together. (about 5 minutes) 

Transfer into a bowl and let it cool while you prep the pasta.

Roll out pasta dough in sheets (I rolled mine out to a 5 on my pasta sheeter). 

For Tortellini: Take a sheet of pasta dough rolled out to the 5 setting and cut into 2"x2" squares.  Put a teaspoon of mushroom filling in the center of the square. Fold corner D to corner A (see diagram at the left). Make sure when sealing, you seal pasta as close to filling as possible so there is no air inside the pasta! Use a little bit of water if the pasta isn't sticking enough.

        

              

To fold the into the tortellini shape, wrap corners B and C around your finger.  Fold A down to the center of the filling on the opposite side from where you've wrapped B&C together.  

Cook in boiling water for about 4 minutes or until they float to the top. 

For Ravioli: (without pan)  After you have rolled the pasta out into sheets, cut the sheet into an even amount of squares. Using a teaspoon fill the center of half with the filling. Brush around the filling with a little water and place the remaining squares on top. Press down around the seal to push out any air bubbles.
(with pan) Flour pan heavily lay one sheet of pasta on pan. Press into indentations slightly and place a teaspoon into the indentations and lay another sheet of pasta on top. Use a rolling pin to seal the ravioli and turn out of the pan.

Cook in boiling water for about 5 minutes or until they float to the top.

**Tortellini and Ravioli can also be frozen! Before cooking, place on a sheet pan and freeze. Store in a freezer container for up to three months. Cook until the float to the top.

For toppings, a simple red sauce is always nice. Or try something different, like tossing in garlic infused olive oil with halved cherry tomatoes and some chopped basil. Or maybe some olive oil and Earth Balance with garlic, shallots, peas, and sherry. 


Try it, let me know how eating meatless goes for you!

Homemade Pasta

I have always loved the idea of the Italian family tradition of Sunday Dinner.  Family coming together to learn about each other, laugh/cry, (probably argue if they are like my family and like to challenge each other) and most importantly: EAT!!  Hours and hours would go into preparing the feast.  It's like Thanksgiving every weekend!  I know you are thinking to yourself, “This chick is nuts! Thanksgiving every weekend!? I don’t have time for that!” I get it. But…

"Sitting down for family meals has been in decline in America
for decades..." Russo is right, look how old this pic is!

I heard an NPR "Special Series: Kitchen Window" piece by Susan Russo a while ago about Sunday Dinners and had to look it up for this post: "Who's got six hours to make dinner? We're too busy. But then I think, weren't our mothers busy, too? How did they do it? In some ways, life seemed better then..." Russo goes on in her Sunday Dinners piece, “Sitting down for family meals has been in decline in America for decades. According to surveys, however, that's beginning to change. This is good. Studies show that children who eat meals with their families are less likely to have behavioral problems, more likely to do well in school, and more likely to have a healthier diet. Not to mention that treasured childhood memories are irreplaceable.”  ...Despite my friends affectionate nickname of "Mom" I do not have any children of my own. I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of kids and families in my life as a nanny/babysitter, ballet teacher, and sign language interpreter.  I’ve had the chance to see the differences in “my kiddos” who have parents willing to make time for them and those who don’t. 

Okay… Okay… Enough with my opinion on spending time with your kids. I just know that personally I’ve noticed changes in my own attitude and spirit when I get to spend time with my family and friends and when I don’t.  And let’s be honest, what brings people together better than food?  Italian-American Family’s may be on to something… And amongst family and friends, who doesn’t love PASTA?!

Tah-dah! We are finally to the food portion of this post. (Apologies, I’ve just not had the motivation to actually sit down and write recently, so now that I’m feeling it, I’ve got a lot to say) Plus... For Christmas, I got the Kitchen-Aid attachments to make homemade pasta! Let the games begin!

I’ve written before about how much I love to make “family dinners” for my friends. A chance for everyone to get together in a chill atmosphere where we can all just be our (goofy) selves, eat good food, laugh really hard, and not have to worry about anything, except maybe eating too much!  This recipe is dedicated to my friends, as many of them have stood by me through some of the lowest and hardest points in my life.  I love you all (“Big”, Mark, “Favorite”, Kevin, Cody, Jane, Stepher, Jerry, Christine & Shawn, Waymire, and anyone else I’m unintentionally forgetting).  I hope to get to share this pasta with all of you some day! :-) 

2 cups AP flour

1 tsp Salt

2 TBS Olive Oil

1/2-3/4 cup Hot Water

In a large mixing bowl (or your Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment instructions in parentheses) combine the flour and the salt.  Make a "well"-- a dent/hole in the center of the flour-- and add the olive oil.  Pour in 1/2 cup of water and stir with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour into the liquid. (Turn on mixer on the lowest setting)/

Add additional water if necessary to make the dough stiff and pliable, but NOT STICKY!

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes, until smooth. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest UNREFRIGERATED for 15 minutes. 

I cut my disk into 6 wedges (so the pasta strands don't get too long/hard to manage).

Take a wedge, roll it into a ball and flatten into a small disk. Make sure to keep the dough you're not using wrapped completely in plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out. 

Follow the instructions on the guide that came with your attachments to roll out the dough.  Remember: Smallest number first and work your way up.  

I like roll out spaghetti to a 3 before cutting, fettuccine to a 4 before cutting (with the fettuccine attachment), and 5-6 for angel hair (cut with the spaghetti attachment) or ravioli (no extra attachment necessary)! 

From here, you have 2 options.  Put in a pot of salted (as my man Mario Batali says "to the level of the sea) boiling water for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain and top with your choice of topping. 

ORRRRR: Put it on a drying rack as seen here. Dry for at least an hour before storing in an air-tight container.  When you're ready, cook in salted boiling water for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Annnnnnnd Voila! My finished fettuccine with the sauce and veggies from my "Grown Up Mac No Cheese" topped with fresh cracked pepper and some nutmeg. Once you and your family (and friends) TASTE THIS! You'll never go back to store bought pasta! 

Drunken Noodles

AHHHH THIS IS MY 100th BLOG POST!!! 

SO GLAD IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS!

That said... 
I wish I could go to a Thai restaurant and order Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles).  Unfortunately the sauce has a combination of oyster and fish sauces.  A far cry from vegan friendly…

Quick side story: If you live in, near, around or visit Seattle, WA look up a Thai restaurant called Araya’s Place.  It’s a completely vegan Thai restaurant!!! They have “Drunken Mushrooms”, which is like drunken noodles but with a vegan mushroom “oyster” sauce.  If you go get it… LET ME KNOW! I’m willing to travel cross-country to eat it! (my bank account might not be yet… but I’ll get there)

Okay well here’s a great drunken noodles recipe that I encourage you to try.  It’s supposed to be quite spicy… but adjust it to your taste.

Sauce:

2 tablespoons vegan oyster sauce

2 tablespoons vegan fish sauce

2 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon Maggi or Golden Mountain sauce (optional, can sub in soy sauce)

1 teaspoon sambal (Thai chili-garlic paste) or hot red pepper flakes

Juice of half a lime

Mix all of the ingredients and set aside.

Pad Kee Mao

7 ounces (about half a package) wide rice noodles

3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Thai chilies, seeded and thinly sliced

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 head broccoli, trimmed into florets (don’t use the stem)

2 cups chopped Napa cabbage

1/2 to 1 ounce fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 to 1 ounce fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Half a lime, cut into wedges, for serving.

 For the noodles: Soak noodles in cold water for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Drain most of water from pot, adding just enough cool water so that noodles stay warm but do not continue to cook.

  Place a large wok or skillet over high heat. When pan is hot, add oil. Add garlic, chilies and onion, and sauté to let flavors infuse oil, about 1 minute. Add broccoli and cabbage, and stir-fry until cabbage starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.

 Add basil, cilantro and scallion tops. Drain noodles and add to pan. Add sauce, and toss until mixed and well-heated, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot, with lime wedges for squeezing over noodles.

**A few side notes**

1. The pad kee mao at my local Thai restaurant has cherry/grape tomatoes, bell pepper, carrots, and mushrooms. You can definitely play with whatever veggies you like.  (I like zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, baby corn, bell pepper… but I try to limit myself to 3-4 veggies at a time or there is too many veggies!)

2. If you can’t find Thai chilies (aka bird’s eye chilies)… you can sub in (depending on your spice level) serranos, for less heat, or a habanero/scotch bonnet for lots more heat.  The Scoville scale rates Thai Chilies at 50,000-100,000 Scoville heat units,  Serranos at 10,000-23,000, and habanero/scotch bonnets at 100,000-350,000.  BE VERY CAREFUL!!!! or see below

3.  You could play with the spice on your own by using cayenne pepper, sriracha sauce, sambal (Thai chili-garlic paste), or red pepper flakes.

That’s all I’ve got for you for now!