Spring Shells and Cheese

Dear creators of Tastespotting,

I love you. Although I dislike that anytime I visit your page, hunger consumes me and I am immediately in need of making/eating everything that I see. Nevertheless, thank you for putting every wonderful foodblogger's recipes smack dab in front of me. every day. Also, thank you for making it so easy to search for a specific item that I want to use that evening and coming up with wonderful options. You have made my life so much more delicious and satisifying, and I am forever indebted towards you because of it.

Sincerely,
-Karri

So yes. I went on taste spotting, typed in "Shells" and came up with a slew of wonderful recipes but then there was this one...

There was this recipe that looked so utterly delicious and then I went to this food blog's page and not only fell in love with the recipe but became an immediate fan of the two guys behind it...probably because they too were based in DC. I secretly wanted to meet them and become friends but that's a little stalkerish and crazy, so I just to make this delicious recipe and call it a day.

Adapted From: http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2010/05/spring-shells-and-cheese.html

Ingredients

• 2 pounds medium zucchini
• Kosher salt I used regular salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg * I used regular nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups whole milk * I only used about 2-3 cups and I am also certain that you could have used heavy cream as your base
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 bay leaves * Omitted these (but probably would just give it more flavor)
• Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 pound medium pasta shells
• 4 shallots, minced * I just used one small white onion
• 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
• 4 ounces gruyere cheese, grated (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 4 ounces baby spinach

Directions

1) Grate the zucchini into a colander using the large holes of a box grater. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt, then place in the sink to drain, about 15 minutes. Squeeze out the excess liquid.

2) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, nutmeg, cayenne, 2 teaspoons salt, and black pepper to taste and mix with a wooden spoon to make a paste.

4) Cook, stirring, until the paste puffs slightly, about 3 minutes.

5) Slowly whisk in the milk, then add the thyme, and lemon zest and bring to a boil, stirring.

6) Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Strain into a bowl.

7) Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

8) Drain and add to the sauce.

9) Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat.

10) Add the onions and cook until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.

11) Add the zucchini and cook, stirring, until almost tender, about 4 minutes.

12) Add the zucchini mixture to the pasta along with the egg yolks and all but 3 tablespoons of both cheeses; stir to combine, then add the spinach.

13) Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and sprinkle with the reserved cheeses. Bake until browned on top and heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.

14) Enjoy and Share!

It appears that there are a lot of steps but it really is not that time consuming. I definitely recommend this for a group of buds getting together for a potluck style evening dinner. No formalities needed just an appetite required. Oh and did I mention that the leftovers are maybe better then the original? Yeah, that just happened.

Lemony Chickpea Stirfry

oh hey heidi. you are the bomb. for real. the bomb. thank you for giving this veggiegirl so much inspiration and so many delicious (and easy) recipes.

this is another delicious veggie venture recipe from the kitchen of heidi swanson of 101 cookbooks, to my kitchen and to hopefully your kitchen. I love when good, fresh and tasty food is quick and easy. that is honestly the key to a really satisfying meal. after my first successful attempt and making a tofu-infused dish, i thought I would try again and heidi featured the most wonderful recipe including some of my staple ingredients.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon ghee or extra-virgin olive oil (most definitely used evoo)
fine grain sea salt ( definitely used regular salt)
1 small onion or a couple shallots, sliced (onionnnn)
1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, if you don't want to cook up a pot of dried chickpeas)
8 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 cup of chopped kale* I used Spinach
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions

1) Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, and chickpeas.

2) Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty.

3) Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so.

4) Stir in the spinach and cook for one minute more.

5) Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside.

6) In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes.

7) Add the chickpea mixture back to the skillet, and remove from heat.

8) Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt and pepper if needed.

9) Enjoy and Share!

whole-wheat pasta salad with grilled zucchini and olives

for good buddy of BOOF, ea’s farewell party, I decided to conjure up a nice little summer pasta salad. i usually default to pasta salad for most summer soirees primarily because 1) they are easy to make and 2) who doesn’t like pasta salad?
i had some ricotta in the fridge that i needed to use before it went bad, so I did a little pasta and ricotta search on epicurious and found this quick and easy recipe.



Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil (preferably extra-virgin) plus additional for brushing zucchini
1 1/2 pounds zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/3-inch-thick slices
1 pound whole-wheat penne or other tubular pasta
2/3 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, chopped coarse* I didn’t chop mine, just added them whole.
6 ounces ricotta salata or feta cheese, diced
1 1/2 cups whole small or torn large fresh basil leaves* Ehh, i just used dried basil.

Directions
1) In a large bowl gently stir together tomatoes, onion, garlic paste, vinegar, and 1/4 cup oil

2) Brush one side of zucchini slices lightly with additional oil and season with salt and pepper.

3) Heat a well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderate heat until hot and grill zucchini, oiled sides down, in batches, brushing tops with more oil before turning, 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until just tender but not soft. Transfer zucchini as grilled to a small bowl.* If you have a grill, that’s an even better option. :-)

4) In a pot of salted boiling water cook pasta until just tender and drain well.

5) Add hot pasta to tomato mixture and toss well.

6) Cool pasta slightly and stir in zucchini, olives, ricotta, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

7) Enjoy and Share!
Additional Notes: Serve pasta warm or at room temperature.



Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Whole-Wheat-Pasta-Salad-with-Grilled-Zucchini-and-Olives-12252#ixzz0rSIibSIY

lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza

ahh yes. more pizza. but another delicious veggieventure!
it was literally the last possible day that i could use my delicious pre-made whole wheat pizza dough from TJ’s, so i was scavenging through my favorite sites for a quick, easy and delicious pizza recipe.
i came upon this recipe for a lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza on smittenkitchen and instantly decided that this would be made. this would be it. with my new found obsession with goat cheese, my longtime love affair with squash and my marriage to pizza, i was anxious to get home and whip this up. usually, i have both zucchini and summer squash in my fridge, however, i only had zucchini in my fridge but it just subtracted from the color but not the deliciousness of this pizza.


Ingredients:
1 or 2 Zucchini/Summer Squash
1/3 cup of Goat cheese (roughly)
1 lemon
1 pizza dough (make your own, go to TJ’s, Boboli or Pillsbury will also do)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper


Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450
2) Spread cornstarch and olive oil on your baking pan (or just use a pizza stone if you have one)
3) Pre-bake dough for about 8-10 minutes (not a necessary step, you can just bake it all at the end but I found that spreading would be easier on a partially baked crust).
4) While my dough was baking, in a small bowl, I stirred together the goat cheese, juice from half the lemon, and salt and pepper. I also cut up my zucchini into thin slices.
5) Take dough out of the oven and spread the mixture on the pizza dough.
6) Top the goat cheese with my zucchini slices and squeezed the juice from the other half of my lemon on top. I also topped it with some olive oil.
7) Bake for another 4-6 minutes until cheese melts and zucchini browns a little. (or bake 10-15 minutes..if you did not pre-bake your dough).
8) Enjoy & Share!
Notes: This recipe could easily be topped with chicken if you are not a veg like me. :-)