Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-Off - Mac & Cheese Edition

Chef Thompson, Chef Feswick, Chef Farrell, and Chef Gomes with their mac & cheese creations. Photo courtesy of DDB PR. 

I have a weakness for both cheese and puns, so it would come as no surprise that even though I'm not always the biggest fan of media events, I couldn't help but reply with an enthusiastic "YES!" when invited to attend the Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-Off last month. The competition, which was apart of the Toronto Food & Drink Market, pitted four top chefs, each from different parts of Canada, against one another to create the ultimate Canadian mac and cheese. 

With last years winner of the Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-Off, Chef Andrew Farrell, participating once again, as well as a Top Chef Canada participant, Chef Nicole Gomes, in the competition, the stakes were high for who would receive the coveted Cheese Grater Award. Former Second City member and current home economist Mairlyn Smith was our host for the afternoon, guiding us through the competition as we watched first Chef Andrew Farrell (2 Doors Down Food & Wine - Halifax, NS) and Chef Thompson Tran (The Wooden Boat - Port Moody, BC) go head-to-head with only 30-minutes to make their mac and cheese, followed by Chef Nicole Gomes (Nicole Gourmet - Calgary , AB) and Chef Alexandra Feswick (The Drake Hotel - Toronto, ON). 

Chef Nicole Gomes and Chef Alexandra Feswick working on their mac & cheese.

It was great to get to see the chefs in action and hear all about the inspiration behind each of their dishes. While the chefs scurried around the kitchen, we were introduced to the judges of the competition, Afrim Pristine (owner of the Cheese Boutique, which Mairlyn Smith so lovingly called "like a sex shop but for cheese"), Vanessa Simmons (Cheese Sommelier at Savvy Company), Georgs Kolesnikovs (of cheeselover.ca and the Great Canadian Cheese Festival), and Rita DeMontis (Sun Media Food Editor). It was clear to see the judges passion for Canadian cheese as they told us all about their favourite Canadian cheeses, what they love about Canadian cheese, and what they would be looking for in the ultimate mac and cheese. 

So what is it that makes Canadian cheese so great? Afrim Pristine had the best response to that question, talking about the amazing versatility and extremely wide variety of fantastic cheese that we produce here in Canada. Sure there are other parts of the world that produce great cheese, but often it's only a select few cheeses that they produce, while here in Canada we produce around 1000 types of 100% Canadian cheese! It was only fitting to compete for the ultimate mac and cheese seeing as Canadian's eat more mac and cheese per person than any other country in the world! I guess we really love our cheese! Unsurprisingly, when I asked the judges what their number one mac and cheese faux pas would be, they all agreed "not enough cheese!" They also commented on their distaste for runny sauce, not enough variety of cheese (a great mac and cheese should have more than one type of cheese), soggy noodles, and cheese not being the main flavour of the dish. 

Chef Nicole Gome's Apple Beer Mac & Cheese

With those things in mind, the chefs confidently brought their final mac and cheese creations up to the judges to critique. Chef Andrew Farrell created a Smoky Cauli-Power Mac & Cheese with a cauliflower sauce, aged cheddar cheese and blue cheese, and topped with crispy roasted cauliflower, cremini mushrooms, and panko breadcrumbs. Chef Thompson Tran created a Cod You Believe It's Shmoked Mac n' Cheese with smoked BC black cod (to highlight BC's abundance of fresh sustainable seafood), truffle oil, serrano chili peppers, chopped cabbage, tarragon, and Emmental and aged cheddar. Chef Nicole Gomes created an Apple Beer Mac & Cheese with strong IPA beer, grated golden delicious apples, a crispy panko topping, and five different Canadian cheeses, which included Black River Medium Cheddar, Muenster, Gunn's Hill Five Brothers, Sylvan Star Smoked Gouda, and Raclette. Chef Alexandra Feswick created a Nutty Home-Style Mac & Cheese with Jerusalem artichokes, beech mushrooms, a crispy panko, sage, Alpindon cheese, and hazelnut topping, as well as four other cheeses in the sauce, which included aged cheddar, Niagara Gold, Blue d'Elizabeth, and more Alpindon.

Though all of the chefs final dishes no doubt wowed the judges (I was conveniently sitting right next to them and was eavesdropping the whole time!) there could be only one winner. With her focus on comfort, her wide variety of Canadian cheese, and fantastic flavour and texture, Chef Alexandra Feswick's Nutty Home-Style Mac & Cheese was the winner of the competition! Being a newbie-fan to Jerusalem artichokes, I personally had a soft spot for Chef Feswick's mac and cheese, and was hoping she would win. Though Chef Feswick's mac and cheese was my favourite of the day, the other three followed very close behind! 

Chef Alexandra Feswick with her winning mac & cheese creation. Photo courtesy of DDB PR.

What I really loved about all four dishes was how imaginative they each were, featuring unusual ingredients that you often wouldn't find in mac and cheese. I love seeing these unusual and gourmet flavours in mac and cheese like this because it's such a great way of inspiring parents to look beyond the traditional mac and cheese. Adding these bold and unfamiliar flavours to something that is very familiar with childen, mac and cheese, is such a great way to introduce new flavours to your kids! You may not be able to get your child to eat something like black cod or Jerusalem artichokes, but I bet you'll have a way better chance when you hide them in their favourite cheesy pasta dish! 

As I stated previously, I don't always love media events, but I was so glad that I attended this one! I felt like I really learned a lot from all of the chefs and judges, not only about mac and cheese, but Canadian cheese in general. I walked away with so much new knowledge, a folder full of all of the participating chefs mac and cheese recipes, and a package of squeaky Cheese Boutique cheese curds for my own enjoyment! My love affair with cheese continues on...

To check out all four mac and cheese recipes from the competition visit dairygoodness.ca.

Listening To:

Nothing but Beyoncé Lemonade for the next month

Orecchiette Pugliese

Being a quote-unquote "foodie" I like to have a lot of variety in the type of foods that I eat. I get bored quite easily with dishes and have been known to say that I have "overdosed" on a particular dish after having it one too many times within a short period of time. Despite my, let's call it "fickle" palate, when it comes to the food that I consume at work, it's all about routine and repetition. 

Pretty much every single time that I have a shift at the restaurant I will order myself a big ol' bowl of either Funghi Risotto or Orecchiette Pugliese. It may be the fact that there are only so many dishes that I can quickly wolf down at work while standing in a small corner of a hidden server station, without having to use more than one utensil, and that I can easily digest, or it may be because they're just so damn good that I have no problem eating them on a near-daily basis. I'd say it's likely a combination of all of the above, but the fact that our Funghi Risotto and Orecchiette Pugliese are just so knock-your-socks-off delicious certainly makes it easy to consume almost every day.

Although I look forward to going into work just for our risotto and orecchiette, and despite the fact that I already eat it way more times in a week than I care to admit, I still find myself craving both dishes on my days off at home. Being such a simple dish, I have tried to recreate the orecchiette from work several times at home, but each time something was slightly off. I would never follow a recipe, simply winging it with the ingredients that I knew were present in the dish, which always seemed to result in a dry, oily, and quite bland bowl of pasta. With such an incredibly simple dish, it's easy for things to go wrong. You really have to have the highest quality ingredients in order to get the optimal flavour, as well as be spot on in your execution and quantities of ingredients. 

Desperate for my homemade orecchiette to be just as fantastic as the one from work, I finally gave in and started working with the very same recipe we use at the restaurant. Though I was fortunate enough to get an exact copy of the specs that our chefs use in the kitchen, lucky for you our Executive Chef Doug Neigel's recipe for Mercatto's Orecchiette Pugliese was featured in the Toronto Cooks cookbook for you to enjoy! 

This is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes thanks to its simplicity and perfect balance of flavours and textures. I love the way the rich and salty fennel sausage plays off of the bitter and crunchy rapini, and that bit of heat that lingers on the tongue from the razer-thin slices of fresh hot peppers. In my opinion its the Padano cheese that ties the whole dish together, which I both toss in and grate on top with reckless abandon (the chefs all know I always order my orecchiette with a request for "CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE" typed into the chit). 

TIPS FOR COOKING ORECCHIETTE PUGLIESE:

Undercook Your Pasta - In order to achieve the best results with this dish I recommend undercooking your pasta, taking it out even before it reaches al dente. Remember that your pasta will continue to cook when you toss it together with the other ingredients, so ensuring that it's still fairly tough when taken out of the boiling water will save you in the end. 

Keep Your Rapini Crisp - Just like you don't want mushy noodles you also don't want mushy rapini. When boiling your rapini, you are literally dropping it into the heavily salted water, and then taking it straight out. Fifteen seconds in the boiling water and straight into an ice bath is all you need to get tender, yet still crunchy rapini. To reduce any chewiness in the rapini, I like to peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler to remove any of fibrous strands. 

Use The Best Sausage - I also recommend finding the absolute best fennel sausage you can get your hands on! It's the flavour of the sausage that will really permeate into the whole dish, giving it it's addictive flavour. Though the fennel sausage I buy at my local market isn't quite as good as  the one used in Mercatto's kitchen, I add in some extra fennel seed and dried chilli flakes to amp up the flavour. 

Season Every Step - Lastly, it's super important to season every step of the way in order to get that great hit of flavour when ready to serve. Season your pasta water well as well as the water to boil the rapini. Also, be sure to season your rapini and when you sauté it in the pan and, if needed, add additional seasoning to your sausage. This will all help to build the flavour naturally. 

Check out Chef Doug Neigel's recipe for Orecchiette Pugliese featured on Style At Home.

Listening To:

David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

Cacio e Pepe

It's 6:30 pm on a Wednesday, you just got home, the fridge is empty and you're hungry. What do you do? Prior to my trip to Italy this summer I would have always answered that question by quickly replying "make Ina Garten's Agio e Olio!" but since getting to experience the epitome of simple Italian classic dishes, Cacio e Pepe, in Rome I've added a new quick and easy weeknight pasta to my repertoire! Even when it may appear that the fridge is empty and there's nothing to make, I always make sure that my cupboards and fridge are stocked just enough to be able to throw together a tasty pasta on the fly. In order to keep myself prepared come the mid-week hunger freakout I always make sure to have good quality pasta, peppercorns, olive oil, garlic, and Parmigiano-Reggiano and/or Pecorino cheese on hand. Truly, that is all you need to whip together a fantastic pasta dinner! 

Though in theory cacio e pepe is simpler than aglio e olio (there are less steps and less ingredients), it is the simplicity of ingredients and preparation that actually makes cacio e pepe trickier to master than it's olive oil sister. With only pasta water, fresh cracked pepper, butter, and cheese, the trick to mastering cacio e pepe is all about finesse in preparation and quality of ingredients. I know, quality ingredients means pricey ingredients, but it is in instances like this where the quality of your ingredients truly makes all the difference. With so few ingredients, you really have to use the best in order to get the most flavour, so make friends with your local cheesemonger (get out of the grocery store and visit a gourmet cheese shop or a farmers market for your cheese!) and get yourself a big ol' hunk of parm. In terms of finesse, the way to achieve great results with this pasta is making sure everything is prepped ahead of time, ensuring your pasta is nice and al dente (you want it to have a nice bite), and serving it all up at the exact right moment. The exact right moment is when you have just enough sauce to coat your pasta with a little bit left in the bowl. Don't second guess yourself. If you think it's done, take it off the heat right away! If you take an extra 30-seconds to consider whether your pasta is done, your sauce may have dissipated and your noodles may have over-cooked. Trust your gut! 

With such a simple recipe and such high standards after having an insanely good take on cacio e pepe at Flavio Al Velavevodetto in Rome, I still feel as though I have not perfected my cacio e pepe quite yet. Though it's always delicious and leaves me feeling satiated and comforted, my cacio e pepe is not quite as creamy as the perfect one that I had the pleasure of devouring in Rome. What is my cacio e pepe missing? I still don't have a clue, but I welcome any advice or tricks that you may have to achieving that wonderfully creamy result that I'm dreaming of. Give the dish a try and let me know how it went on Twitter: @thisgingerrose. What did you like about the recipe? Where did you struggle? I want to know! Let's chat! 

Notes: 

• I like to freshly crack my peppercorns for this dish right before I make it in a mortar and pestle. I highly recommend you do the same for the best flavour!
• Have everything prepped and in its place before you get anything going on the stove. Crack your pepper, grate your cheeses, set the table, etc. It all goes very quickly as soon as your pasta comes out of the water. 
• I like to use Molisana dry pasta as a good-quality, yet reasonably priced pasta that I can get at the grocery store. 

Recipe slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

kosher salt

1 lb dry pasta (such as spaghetti, tonnarelli, chittara)

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and divided

2 tsp black peppercorns, freshly cracked

1 1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated

2/3 cup Pecorino, finely grated

Directions:

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until very al dente (the pasta will continue to cook in the sauce). Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta water. 
2. Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet set to medium heat, toast the pepper for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add 4 Tbsp butter and melt while whisking. Whisk together in pan for 1-minute. 
3. Add 1-cup reserved pasta water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5-minutes. 
4. Add pasta and remaining butter and mix together with tongs. Reduce heat to low and add Parmigiano-Reggiano, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. 
5. Remove pan from heat and add pecorino. Stir and toss until cheese has melted, and the sauce has coated the pasta. Add more pasta water if the pasta seems dry. 
6. Serve immediately in warmed pasta bowls topped with additional grated Parmigano and a drizzle of good-quality olive oil (optional).

Listening To:

Adele - Hello 

Ina Knows Best: The Ultimate Aglio E Olio

It's 6:00 pm on a Wednesday and there's nothing to make for dinner! This may sound alarming for some, or perhaps may just be a warning to the lacklustre meal that is surely ahead, but to me it means that I'm in store for a delicious and satisfying dinner that will take minimal effort, and leave me with a full belly, leftovers for lunch, a smile on my face, and olive oil running down my chin. I'm talking about the beauty in the simplicity of Aglio E Olio, which translates to "garlic and oil" referring to the Italian quickie-meal, pasta (generally spaghetti) with garlic and olive oil. 

For something so incredibly simple, it's amazing how much of an impression this dish can make. My boyfriend, Chris, and his friends for one, adore this dish with such passion that I don't think there has been a gathering where the suggestion of making it hasn't come up. I've lost count of the number of times they have disputed who makes the best aglio e olio, or what little detail makes their aglio e olio stand out, because with a dish this straightforward it really is all in the details! 

Despite everyone thinking that their aglio e olio is the best, I have to give the top award to my dear lovely Ina Garten, because well, Ina knows best! When Chris first came across this recipe we were skeptical whether the method made any sense. It seemed incredibly strange to firstly, begin the whole process by cooking the pasta, secondly, to cook the garlic in so much pasta water (1 1/2 cups!). We were imagining noodles drowning in bland garlic water. How dare I distrust my dear future-best-friend, Ina! I should have known that Ina always knows best! Of course Ina's take on aglio e olio was absolutely fantastic, and quickly became my boyfriend and I's go-to dinner! The addition of the pasta water, reduced to enhance the flavour of the garlic, prevented us from feeling like we had to douse our pasta in cups of olive oil to impart flavour, as well as helping the olive oil and garlic sauce to stick to the noodles, thanks to the starch in the cooking water. 

Although Ina's recipe is great on it's own, I would suggest rendering down some pancetta or better yet, sopressata, at the beginning of cooking. Set meat aside after cooking and toss it in again at the end of cooking to reheat. That spicy, salty bite does wonders for this dish! Another great tip is to make some homemade garlic breadcrumbs to garnish the pasta to give a little bit of crunch to each bite. 

Check out Ina's recipe for Aglio E Olio here!

Listening To:
Caribou - Dive

Market Inspired: Garlic Scape Pesto

Strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, tomatoes, apples; We are all familiar with the basic go-to finds that most people gravitate toward at an Ontario market, but it's the lesser known produce, the black sheep of the market if you will, that has really been getting my attention as of late. Now that the market has been open for almost one month, I've had the opportunity to purchase goods from almost every single vendor featured at the sip & Savour Ontario Farm & Artisan Market, many of which have been those very basics that I just listed. Of course all of them were incredibly delicious, and completely incomparable to the flavourless variety that gets shipped in from miles and miles away to our supermarkets. Though despite how delicious my fresh market finds were, it wasn't anything I hadn't had before.  

It was last week at Pete's Fresh Organics stand, as I was just about to hand over a $5 bill for a bag of beautiful farm-grown lettuce, that I saw them. I had been seeing the words "garlic scapes" slowly trickling into my Twitter and Facebook feeds, as all of my foodie friends and acquaintances proclaimed their desire at obtaining these mysterious, curly, chive-like greens while they still remained during their very short season. The more those two words kept appearing seemingly everywhere I looked, the more it felt like everyone was apart of a club that I wasn't included in. With my last five-dollars in my hand, I put down the bag of lettuce and began inspecting this mysterious find. They looked like chives to me, but curly and much harder in texture. I knew they were coveted, but what in the world do you even do with garlic scapes?

When surrounded by farmers and foodies alike, it came as no surprise that the moment the question "what do I do with garlic scapes?" left my lips, a response was enthusiastically tossed back at me from the lovely girl manning the Monforte Dairy stand. With a smile so wide, and a wild eagerness in her voice, I knew I could trust her when she suggested I make garlic scape pesto. 

The following day I could think of nothing other than lugging out my food processor to whirr up a big batch of garlic scape pesto. I hadn't a clue if I would even like the flavour of it, but was so excited at the prospect of discovering a new taste, that I simply could not get those whimsical looking greens out of my mind. With pizza on the menu for Friday nights dinner, I knew that would be the perfect opportunity for me to get to utilize my big bag of garlic scapes (that, by the way, only cost me $2). 

After a quick Google search on how to go about making the pesto, I learned that the whole garlic scape may be consumed, but the pointed tip after the pale yellow bulb is quite fibrous, and is recommended to be removed. I speedily chopped up my scapes, tossed them into the bowl of the food processor with some grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and lightly toasted pine nuts, and whirred away! That smell. I can't believe we live in the year 2014, and we still don't have smellovision. I wish I could convey to you the intensity of that spicy, fresh, zingy smell that wafted out from my food processor bowl. Heavenly. Although I was so taken by the smell of my newly-made pesto, and a quick taste told me it was delicious, I was still a little skeptical that it would actually be good spread on pizza. 

We divided up the pizza dough in half, and one of the halves into quarters so that we could make three different pizzas, one with classic tomato sauce, and two different varieties featuring the garlic scape pesto as the base. That first bite sent waves of both bliss and regret. Bliss at the taste of this intense new flavour that had previously been missing from my life, and regret at not having spread the pesto on all of the pizza dough. It was so incredibly delicious. The only upside to not using all of the pesto that evening? Leftovers to toss into pasta! 

The next time you visit your local farmers market, ask around. What's new? What's interesting? What's different? Don't be afraid of new finds. The answers to all of your mystery ingredient questions are literally at your fingertips, and you may be surprised at what new favourite dishes you may come up with thanks to taking a chance on something out-of-the-ordinary! Garlic scape season is incredibly short, so keep your eyes peeled and get them while you can! 

* The pointed tip after the pale yellow bulb of the garlic scape is very fibrous, and should be removed. Also remove any flowers that may remain.

Tip: When adding to pasta, add extra olive oil and some of the starchy pasta water.

Ingredients:
about 20-30 garlic scapes, trimmed*
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
about 1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to season

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor toss in the garlic scapes, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and the olive oil and blend until finely chopped, but still slightly chunky. Taste and season with salt and pepper and additional olive oil, if needed. Keep in fridge until ready to use for up to 1-week or freeze. 

What did I put on my garlic scape pizza?

Pizza #1: Spread the garlic scapes evenly over the rolled out dough (I like a really thin crust for this pizza). Sprinkle over grated Mozzarella cheese, thinly-sliced zucchini, and Serrano ham.

Pizza #2: Spread the garlic scapes evenly over thinly-rolled out dough. Sprinkle over grated Mozzarella cheese, thinly-sliced zucchini, and sliced tomatoes.

Listening To:

Disclosure - Latch ft. Sam Smith

Butternut Squash Cannelloni

Another great month participating in the Dairy Goodness Great Cream Challenge completed! I had such a fun time coming up with my Butternut Squash Cannelloni recipe for the May Stuffed Pasta Challenge, inspired by an old Leftover Lovin' recipe that I made back in 2011. While the Leftover Lovin' recipe was all about using up whatever was left in the fridge and creating a serving for one, my Dairy Goodness challenge recipe amped up the original recipe with a knock-your-socks-off, almost-too-easy-to-be-true creamy white sauce, and a savory and sweet butternut squash filling that keeps you coming back for more! 

Although my Butternut Squash Cannelloni certainly wasn't the most photogenic of dishes (resulting in my sad number of votes), I was so so happy with how the taste turned out! Although I didn't win the challenge this month, I don't see myself as a loser because I came out of this challenge with a new favourite crowd-pleasing dish that I look forward to serving to my family and friends for years to come!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

* Filling can be made in advance.

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium chunks

1 large shallot, quartered

1 garlic clove, pureed 

2 tbsp butter, melted

2 leaves sage, very finely chopped

3/4 cup Ricotta cheese

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

salt and white pepper to season

1 egg

1 1/2 cups dry pressed cottage cheese

1 cup 5% cream

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

salt and white pepper to season

1-360g package fresh lasagna sheets

olive oil, for drizzling as needed

1 1/2 cups tomato passata (or tomato purée)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Lightly grease a medium baking sheet and add squash and shallots. Top with garlic and butter and toss to evenly coat. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from oven and cool.
2. Place squash and shallot mixture in the bowl of a food processor. Add sage, ricotta, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Taste again and season once more if needed. Add the egg and blend to combine. Pour filling in a bowl and set aside*.
3. In the bowl of a food processor, add the dry pressed cottage cheese, cream and 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Blend until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Cook pasta sheets for 1-2 minutes in boiling salted water. Remove pasta sheets from water one at a time and place on a baking sheet. To prevent sticking, drizzle each sheet of pasta lightly with olive oil before adding the next one on top.
5. Preheat oven to 350º. In a medium-large baking dish, pour in a thin layer of the passata and spread evenly with a spoon to cover the dish. 
6. Cut the pasta sheets down the centre width-wise so you have about 12 rectangles. Working one at a time, place about 1/3 cup butternut squash filling down the length of one side of the rectangle, and gently roll up. Place in the baking dish seam side down and repeat with remaining pasta sheets, placing each rolled cannelloni next to each other.
7. Spread a layer of tomato passata over the cannelloni so that they are all coated in an even layer. Spoon the white cream sauce in dollops over the passata-topped cannelloni. Bake until heated through for 20-30 minutes. 
8. Plate and drizzle with remaining cream sauce and serve immediately.

Listening To:
Max Frost - Nice and Slow

VOTE! Dairy Goodness Stuffed Pasta Challenge: Butternut Squash Cannelloni

Heeere we go again! I've enjoyed taking part in the Dairy Goodness Cream Challenge so much over the past few years, I decided to go out on a limb and compete in three challenges this year! For my second challenge I had to create a stuffed pasta recipe featuring the key ingredient, cream! From the moment I was confirmed to take part in the stuffed pasta challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to make, Butternut Squash Cannelloni! 

A few years ago I came up with a super quick version of a butternut squash cannelloni inspired by a whole bunch of leftovers in the fridge that needed to be used up, including roasted butternut squash, lasagna sheets, tomato sauce, and cottage cheese. That quick butternut squash cannelloni recipe was so simple and delicious, it's stayed with me all these years. As much as that quickie cannelloni was tasty, I wanted to take it up a notch with the addition of fresh cream, which I knew would transform this dish, giving it an even creamier flavour and texture. Although cannelloni seems like it would be very time consuming and requires many steps, this cannelloni recipe is actually very simple thanks to a no-cook cream sauce and a little day-prior prep. To save time the day of serving, I like to roast and puree my butternut squash and whirr up my cream sauce the day before, so all I have to do is assemble and bake for a comforting and delicious homemade stuffed pasta dinner that I would be proud to serve my friends and family. 

Please take a moment to check out my recipe and VOTE for a chance to win an 11-piece stainless steel Paderno cookware set! I was fortunate enough to win the Comforting Mac & Cheese Challenge this year with my French Onion Mac & Cheese recipe and received the gorgeous Paderno set, so I can vouch for how incredible the cookware set really is! Thanks to my new Paderno set I feel like I have so much more control over cooking my product, making the time I spend in my kitchen all the more enjoyable. 

Click here to VOTE for my Butternut Squash Cannelloni! 

Listening To:

Fleet Foxes - Battery Kinzie

VOTE! The Great Cream Challenge: French Onion Mac & Cheese

Let the voting begin!!

It's that time again, folks! It's time for the Real Cream Anyday Magic Great Cream Challenge! After participating in the challenge for three years now, and winning the Creamy Seafood Challenge last year with my Creamy Clam & Vegetable Chowder, I feel more excited than ever to be able to participate in three of the themes represented in the challenge this year. The first of my three challenges that I will embark on has gotta be one of the best comfort foods this earth has ever seen, the childhood favourite that no one can seem to really shake, Comforting Mac & Cheese. 

When I first began brainstorming what type of mac & cheese recipe I would make for the challenge, I started by writing down all of my favourite ways to enjoy cheese, and let me tell you, that list was mighty long! After writing out two full foolscap pages full of mouthwatering ways to indulge in cheese, there was one dish that kept coming back to my mind, French Onion Soup. I would say that french onion soup, with its rich and warming beef broth, and sinfully cheesy crouton topping, is right up there with mac & cheese as one of the most comforting dishes on the planet. With hybrid dishes already a predicted food trend for 2014, I could just tell that I was onto something, developing a recipe for French Onion Mac & Cheese. I took a very basic standby recipe for mac & cheese and amped it up by introducing the flavours and textures that I love in a great french onion soup. Thinly sliced onions are slowly caramelized with fresh thyme, deglazed with dry red wine and stirred into the thick and creamy béchamel sauce, infused with savoury beef broth. The caramelized onion-laden cheese and noodle mixture is served up in individual soup bowls, and topped with a crispy Canadian Gruyere cheese and crouton topping to resemble a bowl of classic french onion soup. Do I have your attention yet? I've gotta say, my French Onion Mac & Cheese tasted just as wonderful as it sounds! I knew I had a dish I would be very proud to enter into the competition and share with my fellow readers and home cooks. I can't wait for you to try out my French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese in your own home! 

Please head over to The Great Cream Challenge site to check out the other recipes in the challenge and vote on your favourite (mine of course!) for a chance to win a Paderno stainless steel cookware set! 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Listening To:

Metric - Hardwire 

Beet & Sweet Potato Ravioli

I have known Danielle from Baked Soap Co. and Sweet & Splendid Bakeshop for years now, but it wasn't until we got together for a macaron making day that we realized just how much we have in common. I love finding interesting new people to share my love of cooking with, and it seemed Danielle shared that same love. Before hugging each other goodbye after she had taught me to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons in her home, we promised that we would get together again soon for a pasta making day. While Danielle is a natural when it comes to baking and had many things to teach me, I seem to be the more comfortable 'Danielle' when it comes to cooking! I invited Danielle into my home for a lesson on how to make fresh, homemade pasta. Two passionate Danielle's in the kitchen may sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but it turned out to be a fantastic experience, with incredibly delicious results! 

Wanting to make things a little more interesting, and make the production more suited to two people, we decided to make ravioli. Because I had made ravioli in the past, I wanted to take things a step further and experiment with making a type of pasta that I was not yet familiar with, beet pasta! To be honest, I didn't care at all if the beets added any additional flavour to the pasta sheets, it was the stunning ruby red colour I was after! That shocking bright red is beautiful in the pasta, but note that if you don't want your fingertips stained that same red, you probably want to buy yourself some latex gloves when peeling the beets and kneading the dough. I, on the other hand, embrace those red fingertips as marks of honor!

Although we made up the recipe for our orange sweet potato filling (I was all about colour that week!), we found a recipe for Beet Pasta by Martha Stewart that we decided to follow...even though we rarely trust Martha recipes, and we both believe that Martha secretly leaves out one ingredient in each recipe to make sure no one can live up to her success. Despite our mutual trust issues with Martha Stewart recipes, and the fact that we were short on time and only rested out dough for about 40-minutes, the pasta turned out fantastic! We crated a very simple filling featuring roasted sweet potatoes, fresh ricotta, salt and pepper, and topped our little red pasta pockets in an olive and walnut oil mixture and lightly toasted pine nuts. Before digging in, Danielle asked if I had any good balsamic vinegar to lightly drizzle over her serving. I have to say, I thought it was a bit of a strange request at first, thinking that the filling should shine through on its own, but after trying my first bite, I realized that a very light drizzle of really good quality, aged balsamic vinegar was exactly what our pasta needed! The vinegar cut through the sweetness of the filling, adding another dimension to the final dish. By the end of our ravioli-making-mission, as we sprawled out on the couch, eating the fruits of our labour, we were smiling ear-to-ear, so incredibly proud of the dish we had created together. After having so much success we would be crazy to stop there. We are currently planning our next cooking day together, this time taking on Mexican cuisine by making fried fish tacos, a recipe that Danielle has experience with making! I can't wait to get in the kitchen with my new foodie buddy again and tell you all about our tasty results! 

* To save on time and energy roast sweet potatoes and beets at the same time!

Ingredients:
Filling
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup ricotta
olive oil, for roasting & cooking
salt and pepper, to taste

Pasta
2 medium-sized beets (equals 2 cups pureed), trimmed
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
2 egg yolks, separated (one for dough, one for assembly)
1 tsp salt

Topping
pine nuts, toasted
olive oil
walnut oil
parmesano reggiano, grated
good quality, aged balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Filling

1. *Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on baking sheet flesh-side down. Bake at 375º for about 30-minutes, or until tender when inserted into the centre with a fork.  Let cool.
2. Once sweet potatoes are cooled, scoop out the flesh of the potato into the bowl of a food processor. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil at medium heat in a small sauté pan, add shallots and cook until translucent. Add to bowl of food processor. Add the ricotta, taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.

Pasta & Assembly

1. *Coat beets in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and place on baking sheet. Bake at 375º for about 1 hour or until beets are tender when inserted into the centre with a fork. Let cool. Rub beets with paper towels to remove skins. Puree in food processor (you should have 1/2 cup puree).
2. Add eggs and one yolk to beet puree in food processor, and process until combined. Add flour and 1 heaping teaspoon salt and process until dough just comes together, about 20 seconds. 
3. Transfer dough to a well-floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes), adding up to 2-tablespoons flour if dough is sticky. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and rest for at least 45-minutes (if you have the time, rest for 2 hours). 
4. Tear off a baseball-sized piece of dough, and recover remaining dough with plastic wrap. Flatten dough into an oblong shape. Dust dough very lightly with flour and feed dough slowly through the pasta machines widest setting. Turn the dial to the next narrower setting and feed dough through. Continue this, turning the dial to a finer setting each time until you have fed the dough through the finest setting. You may feed the dough through each setting twice. 
5. Lay dough sheet out on a clean, dry towel. Fold dough in half and cut into approximate squares (don't worry if they're not perfect, I like the rustic shapes). Place remaining egg yolk in a small bowl and lightly beat. Place filling in a pastry bag and pipe about a teaspoon of filling into the centre of half of the squares of dough. Lightly brush edges of squares with egg yolk. Place the remaining dough pieces on top and pinch dough to close, being careful to squeeze out any air bubbles inside. Dip prongs of a fork into flour and scallop edges. Set aside on a baking sheet to "dry". Continue with remaining dough and filling.
6. When all dough has been turned into ravioli, fill a large pot with heavily-salted water and bring to a boil. Boil ravioli for 4 minutes, being sure not to crowd pot. Drain. 
7. In medium-large saucepan heat desired amount of olive oil and walnut oil. Add cooked ravioli and toss in oil to coat. Plate, and top with pine nuts and a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately. 

Listening To:
Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms

Powered by mp3skull.com

Campbell's Alfredo Sauce with Campbell's Stock First Cream Stock

With such a busy schedule, it can be really difficult to come up with interesting and unique recipes every night of the week. Sure, it's easy to come up with inspired meal ideas, but making them happen under time constraints is another story. On a weekly basis I find myself sacrificing the flavour and complexity of my meals due to my busy schedule, choosing to take shortcuts or tone down my recipe to fit the time that I have. That's why I was so excited to receive a package from Campbell's Canada containing their full new line of Stock First stocks, including beef, chicken, and, most interestingly, cream stock. Campbell's new line of stocks takes the stress out of cooking, allowing home cooks to amp up the flavour of their dishes in next to no time at all. Although I was eager to try each one of Campbell's new stocks, I had to give their Cream Stock a try thanks to a craving for fresh pasta. Campbell's provided an incredibly simple and quick recipe for Alfredo sauce using their Cream Stock, which would allow me the time to concentrate my efforts on making the perfect, fresh, homemade fettuccine noodles.

Fresh homemade pasta is actually quite easy to prepare, but there's no doubt that it is a time consuming process. I can't help but stress out every time I make homemade pasta, rushing to just get it done, realizing that I've spent so much time working on the noodles, that I haven't left myself much time for the sauce. Because Campbell's recipe for Alfredo sauce was so incredibly simple, I could finally find the joy in making fresh pasta again. With my cousin Kim by my side to help, as well as a notepad filled with recently-researched pasta making tips, and plenty of time until dinner, making our fresh fettuccine noodles actually felt very relaxing. We had so much fun using the swanky, new, red lacquered pasta maker that I had received as a birthday gift this year (thanks Alex!), taking turns with who got to feed the dough through the machine. We were absolutely giddy over it! Making the fresh pasta noodles was an absolute breeze thanks to my previous experience in making pasta and the slew of new tips that I applied. Check out my homemade pasta making tips here:

Fresh Pasta Tips

• Give yourself plenty of time to make the pasta so you're not rushing to get it done. This may not be the best weeknight meal, especially for pasta-making virgins.
• Remove eggs from fridge a half hour before making dough.
• Don't add too much water. You want the dough to just come together. I add about a tablespoon at a time.
• Don't just punch the dough around when kneading, make sure to fold the dough over itself over and over again until you have reached the right consistency.
• Don't simply time yourself when kneading the dough, feel when the dough is ready. This takes some practice, but after a few tries you'll get the hang of it. 
• Allow the kneaded dough to rest for 1-hour.
• If you don't have a pasta dryer (I mean, who does?) hang your cut pasta noodles on clothes hangers to dry.
• And most importantly, don't freak out! It's easy to freak out the first time you make pasta from scratch, worried about sticking noodles or cracking dough, but the trick is to laugh it off and keep going! Practice makes perfect, and the more you practice making pasta the more intuitive it becomes. 

Once the noodles were dried and ready to hop into the salty bath on the stove, all I had to do was whip together the Alfredo sauce. The unbelievably simple sauce came together in no time at all, but had the rich flavours  and velvety smooth texture of a sauce that required much more time and effort. My favourite thing about the cream stock was the texture. When making a creamy sauce I often have trouble getting the sauce to the right consistency, always having a too-thin or too-thick sauce, or finding that right consistency, only to have it separate on me. This sauce had that perfect consistency that I've always been aiming for, with no separation issues. Kim, my mom, and myself all loved the Fettuccine Alfredo, with each one of us enthusiastically going up for seconds. Creamy, comforting, and absolutely delicious, I will definitely be making this dish again, and it's all thanks to Campbell's Cream Stock! 

Campbell's Stock First Cream Stock isn't technically a "stock" although it performs like a stock in many ways, creating a base for your dish, adding rich and robust flavour in the time it takes to open the carton.  I'm often skeptical with products such as this, sure that I am sacrificing quality ingredients and my health for convenience, but I was happy to learn that Campbell's Cream Stock does more than just elevate your recipes, it contains no artificial colours or flavour, is gluten free and suitable for vegetarians, and it has 83% less fat and 78% less calories than the same serving of 35% whipping cream (125mL). I will definitely be purchasing Campbell's Stock First Cream Stock in the future and would suggest that you give it a try as well! 

Tip: Make this meal even more substantial by adding grilled chicken or shrimp!

Campbell's Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients:
Fettuccine noodles (see recipe below)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper, plus more for serving
1 carton Campbell's Stock First Cream Stock
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Directions:

1. Simmer wine and cracked black pepper in a medium-large saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced by half.
2. Add stock and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
3. While stock is simmering, cook fresh fettuccine (see recipe below) in boiling salted water until al dente.
4. Add cooked and drained noodles, chopped parsley, and parmesan cheese and stir to coat noodles completely. Serve with more fresh cracked pepper and parmesan cheese. 

Fresh Pasta 

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

5 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt

cold water

Directions:

1. Take eggs out of fridge 1/2 hour before making dough.
2. In a medium-large bowl add the flour and make a small well in the centre. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Add the beaten yolks and the salt into the middle of the well in the bowl of flour. Keeping one clean hand for mixing, and one for adding water, mix and form the dough, adding a little bit of water at a time until you have formed a nice, firm, but slightly sticky dough. You want to add enough water for it to just come together. Don't let your dough get too sticky.
4. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, folding the dough over itself over and over again until you have a smooth and slightly springy ball. Lightly coat dough in olive oil, place dough back in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
5. Tear off a piece of dough bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball. Continue making the noodles following the instructions on your pasta maker. 
6. Dry lightly floured noodles on clean clothes hangers. This should take about 15-20 minutes. 
7. Cook pasta in boiling salted water for about 4 minutes, or until al dente. 

Learn more about Campbell's Stock First products here!

Listening To:

The XX - Sunset

Pumpkin Ravioli in a Sage Butter Sauce

Click on just about any girls Twitter or Facebook timeline within the past month, and you're sure to find a post about the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte. I've never been one to get too excited about handing over a five-dollar bill for one calorie-filled drink that I will slowly sip until the last few gulps inevitably turns cold, I personally would rather save my toonies for the bar and cab rides home. No, the expensive seasonal drink craze isn't for me, but I absolutely understand the appeal of indulging in a comforting cup of well...Fall. What I think people love about that special latte is the memories it conjures up, the feelings you can't help but come over you with each warming sip, reminding you about all the beautiful things that come with this chilly yet spectacular season. Visits to the pumpkin patch, hay rides, carving out Halloween pumpkins, pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, the Pumpkin Spice Latte symbolizes all of these wonderful special occasions and memories, allowing you to experience the joys of Fall any ordinary day of the week! I am notorious for making pretty terrible coffee and breaking just about any coffee maker I've come into contact with, so there wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to try and replicate the seasonal drink. With pumpkin ravioli on the brain thanks to both new issues of Food & Drink and Food & Wine magazines featuring the recipe, I knew I had found my Fall-inspired dish!

After a bit of research and recipe comparison, I came up with my own recipe for the ravioli that was as simple as possible, but still had great flavour. I thought back on a dinner I had last year at Parts and Labour in Toronto where I was served an absolutely delicious pumpkin ravioli, that shouted FALL with each bite. What made that ravioli stand out so much was the simplicity of the dish and the extra little bit of texture they added with the addition of toasted pumpkin seeds. Because I know how incredibly labour-intensive it is to make your own pasta from scratch, I nixed that and opted to use purchased wonton wrappers instead, cutting down a huge chunk of prep time. The delicately flavoured final product was fantastic, taking my taste buds back to that delicious memory from Parts and Labour and of course all the other exciting Fall milestones. This is a great dish to transport you to your favourite Fall memory any day of the week!

Tip: Take this dish to new heights by drizzling a bit of truffle oil on top before serving.

Ingredients:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree (from a can)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated + more for garnish

2-3 tbsp unseasoned breadcrumbs

1 package wonton wrappers

1/4 cup unsalted butter

about 6-8 sage leaves

a handful of pumpkin seeds (lightly toasted)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix together the pumpkin puree, ricotta cheese, salt, nutmeg, and parmesan cheese. Add the breadcrumbs one tablespoon at a time until mixture begins to come together and isn't as moist.

2. Set up an assembly station, laying out the wonton wrappers, the pumpkin mixture, a small bowl of water, and a baking sheet to lay the ravioli on. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into the centre of the wrappers. Dip a clean finger into the bowl of water and moisten the edges of the wrappers. Fold over the wrappers to create a triangle bundle filled with the pumpkin mixture, pinch the edges to seal and squeeze out any air pockets. Lay out on the baking sheet.

3. Once raviolis have all been filled (you will have about 40-50 raviolis) boil a large pot of well-salted water. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and carefully drop in the raviolis (they will be delicate). Gently stir and boil for 3-4 minutes. Carefully drain water.

4. In a large pan melt the butter at medium heat. Immediately add the sage leaves. Once butter begins to foam, use a spoon to scoop out the white milk solids, working quickly so the butter doesn't burn. When the butter begins to brown, turn off heat immediately. Transfer raviolis to a serving dish and top with the sage butter. Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately!

Listening To:

Beyoncé - Countdown

Powered by mp3skull.com

Fried Zucchini & Prosciutto Spaghetti

I seem to be starting a new little monthly tradition. Each month when I receive the new Food & Wine Magazine in the mail, I go through the whole magazine with wide and eager eyes, looking through the mag like a vivid picture book. I then go through it once more, but this time with a ballpoint pen, putting stars next to recipes I want to try, and jotting notes on my own suggestions or ideas for the dish. Then, as I have for the past three months now, I pick a recipe that I must make that week. For this first recipe, I look for interesting flavours and/or execution, and I aim for something that is well suited for the workweek. It's usually that very week that the magazine arrives that I find myself bored with our usual weeknight dishes, after going through a bit of a rotation with them throughout the month, and desperate for something new!

This month the dish that caught my eye was Gwyneth Paltrow's Fried-Zucchini Spaghetti. With so much buzz about Paltrow's side project, the popular site GOOP, and her upcoming cookbook, I was curious to try out one of her recipes. Of course her Fried-Zucchini Spaghetti sounded and looked delicious with it's bright, fresh flavours, and striking green colour, but it was really her anecdote about eating fried zucchini with her family growing up that moved me to make the dish. Her story reminded me of my own childhood, sneaking fried zucchini rounds, fresh off the stove, in my Oma's old kitchen. That was it, I had found my recipe! Because I was so eager to get home the next day and make the dish, I completely forgot to hop into the market to pick up some fresh basil, an essential part of the dish considering how few ingredients there were. Instead of letting out a great big groan and start complaining about how I had ruined dinner, I looked at it in a positive light, and saw this as an opportunity to build on Paltrow's dish, adding my own flavour through the help of the notes I had jotted down next to the recipe.

With or without basil, I felt that the recipe could use another bright and fresh flavour like lemon. In my family we are really into our sauces, so in order to make my fam happy, I knew I had to develop the recipe's pasta-water "sauce" a little bit more. The addition of lemon juice and zest really woke up the dish, adding a ton of flavour and even a bit of texture. Although the crispy zucchini rounds were slightly salty, I wanted to add an additional ingredient to add a hint more saltiness to each bite. With an open package of prosciutto in the fridge, I didn't have to look any further. As I made the dish, I continued adding my own little touches here and there, amping up the seasonings and spices, until I was happy with end result. My Fried Zucchini Spaghetti was awesome! The dish was easy and actually very enjoyable to make, and all of those zesty fresh flavours, reminding me of Spring, tasted fantastic! This is definitely a dish that will be going into our monthly rotation of weeknight suppers. I can't wait to experiment with other herbs and vegetables as the seasons go on!

Note: Although I didn't have any on hand when making the spaghetti this week, cherry tomatoes are just begging to be tossed into this dish. A sweet burst of moisture is just what this dish needs to take it to the top!

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch thick disks

5-6 slices of prosciutto, torn into strips

juice from 1/2 - 3/4 of a lemon

zest from 1/2 a lemon

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, or 2 tsp dried

about 1/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

3/4 pound spaghetti

1 cup parmesan cheese + more for serving, shredded

salt and freshly ground pepper to season

about 3-4 tbsp olive oil + more for frying

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini disks with the flour until coated. In a very large skillet or griddle set to high heat, add a generous layer of olive oil. When oil is heated, work in batches and add the zucchini disks, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry, turning once, until browned and crisp on both sides. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried zucchini to a paper towel-lined wire rack and season immediately with salt and pepper. Repeat process with remaining zucchini.

2. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of well-salted water until al dente. Before draining pasta, reserve a few cups of the cooking water and set aside.

3. When pasta is cooked and drained, add it back to the pot and add the cheese, olive oil (enough so that the noodles are just coated), lemon juice, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and dried basil (if using). Toss together. Add the reserved cooking water a little at a time, stirring to coat until it has reached the desired consistency. The cooking water, cheese, olive oil, and lemon juice should begin to form a very light and thin sauce.

4. Transfer the pasta to a serving dish and top with the crispy zucchini, prosciutto, fresh basil (if using), and cherry tomatoes (optional). Season with salt and pepper and top with additional shredded parmesan cheese. Serve with lemon wedges.

Listening To:

Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes

Powered by mp3skull.com

Be sure to check out my recipe for Fried Zucchini!

Braised Short Ribs with Fresh Papardelle Pasta

Biggie got it right, birthdays are the worst days...well, most of the time. I haven't enjoyed a birthday of my own in literally years. I was probably still giving out loot bags the last time I enjoyed my own birthday. So now as my birthday approaches every year, I start to bum myself out so that I don't feel so let down when birthday time comes...a trick that does not work, and isn't fun at all, so don't try this at home folks! For the past few weeks leading up to my moms birthday, I could see her using that same trick that I attempted to use this year. Whenever anyone would ask my mom about her birthday she would go quiet, say that she doesn't really want to do anything, and try to play it off like it's just another day. I know from personal experience how easily this little trick can backfire. Because I had put so much energy into believing my birthday was going to suck, it tooootally did! Every negative thing that I had expected to happen, happened and I was absolutely miserable. There was no way I was going to let this happen to my mom on her birthday. After a total bust of a girls-night-out birthday dinner on Friday night with my mom and sister, I vowed to turn my moms spirits around and make sure she had a special birthday come sunday, her real birthday.

At this point most people would begin brainstorming a killer gift idea to brighten up a birthday, but that just doesn't cut it at the Rose house. Here in the Rose family we use food to show our love, so I had to think up something truly spectacular for my moms birthday dinner to show her how much she means to me. Earlier in the day I had made my mom her favourite breakfast, sweet Nutella crepes with fresh fruit and homemade strawberry sauce, a tough act to follow. After much brainstorming, I decided to attempt a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I had seen her make on her show Giada at Home some time ago. Giada's recipe for Short Ribs with Tagliatelle was one I couldn't forget. First off the recipe features fresh pasta, which is something I have been obsessing over this winter. I purchased a pasta maker a few weeks ago and have been dying to crack that baby open, so already this recipe had seriously sparked my interest. The highlight of this recipe is that incredible short rib sauce. Hours of braising enhance all of the big flavours in this dish like pancetta, red wine, and and lots of herbs, giving the meat and sauce a rich and complex flavour. The slow braising process tenderizes the short ribs, so that after hours of cooking all you need are your two hands to shred all of the tender and moist meat back into your sauce. I love how long, wide noodles act like arms, hugging all of the savory meat and sauce, so that every bite is filled with the maximum amount of flavour, so I decided to make papardelle pasta instead of the recommended tagliatelle. I also had an extra leek in my fridge that I thought would add some great flavour as well, so I tossed that in the sauce as well.

Despite a brief moment of frustration filled with hot flashes and tears after learning the hard way that I had picked the wrong workspace to make my pasta in (make sure to pick a place with lots of surface area to lay your pasta sheets and noodles out. Fresh pasta can stick together very easily, so you'll want to try and lay out all your pasta in a single layer if possible.) the final product turned out incredible! The sauce had a ton of flavour and was a great texture from all of that shredded braised beef. The fresh pasta was thin, delicate, and the perfect size to envelope the delicious sauce. All in all, the dish was spectacular just as I had hoped for my mamas special day. All that hard work in kitchen definitely paid off seeing how happy it made my mom on her birthday. I love you mummy and I would make you a feast any day just to put a smile on your face! Happy birthday!

Tip: Make sure you have a lot of surface area when making fresh pasta. You'll want lots of space to lay out your pasta sheets and noodles as fresh pasta can stick together very easily. Try and lay out your pasta in a single layer, dusting the noodles and sheets lightly with flour or, better yet, semolina.

Ingredients:

Braised Short Ribs

Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

olive oil

2 ounces chopped pancetta (about 1/2 cup)

6 short ribs (about 2 1/2 pounds)

salt and pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1 leek, tender white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 (14 ounce) can tomatoes (whole, diced, or pureed)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups beef broth

3/4 cup red wine

Directions:

1. Drizzle some olive oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside. Drizzle the pot lightly with more olive oil, add the leeks and cook until softened. Using a slotted spoon, remove the leeks and place in a bowl of a food processor.

3. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total. Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley, garlic and leeks in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse together.

4. Once the short ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot. Return the pancetta to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, make the fresh pasta (see instructions below).

5. Remove the meat and bones from the pot. Discard the bones. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

6. Cook fresh pasta for about 3-4 minutes, or cook bought pasta as directed on package. Reserve about 3/4 cup pasta water. Drain pasta. Add the reserved pasta water to the sauce and stir. Add drained pasta to sauce and stir to combine. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Pasta Sheets:

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

5 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt

cold water

1 whole egg, beaten

Directions:

1. In a medium-large bowl add the flour and make a small well in the centre. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Add the beaten yolks and the salt into the middle of the well in the bowl of flour. Keeping one clean hand for mixing, and one for adding water, mix and form the dough, adding a little bit of water at a time until you have formed a nice, firm, but slightly sticky dough.

3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Lightly coat dough in olive oil, place dough back in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or more.

4. Tear off a piece of dough bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball. You may now either follow the instructions on your pasta maker, or roll out your dough yourself with a rolling pin: On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough using a rolling pin, until dough is paper thin and you can see your hand through the dough when lifted. While rolling, continue to lightly flour the surface, dough, and rolling pin so that dough does not stick, but try to use as little flour as possible! Repeat with remaining dough. Lay pasta sheets out and, using a sharp knife, carefully cut the pasta sheets into long strips of noodles, about 3/4-inch to 1-inch wide.

(Source: hubpages.com)

Listening To:

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel

Powered by mp3skull.com

Eggplant Ravioli in a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

My family and I have gotten into a bit of a funny habit. Each and every time we prepare a meal that we have deemed "amazing", we sit with our empty plates and half-drunk wine glasses and discuss how much we think our meal would have cost at a Toronto restaurant. We go through each and every item that we have prepared, considering the cost of ingredients, labour, etc. and usually end up charging ourselves with an imaginary whopping bill that we would never be able to afford considering just how many of these "amazing" meals we prepare within a week (seriously, I feel very lucky to have such fantastic home cooks as my parents). Sure we have our staples like a great steak dinner, ribs, pork tenderloin etc. that always end up on our "this could be served at a top Toronto restaurant" list, but every now and then we experiment with a totally new creation, inspired by our imagination that may very well end up being an utter failure, but could also be perfection!

Perfection, a word I don't often use when describing my own cooking. I am definitely one of my worst critics, and can almost always find something that can be improved in anything that I do. Whether it's in cooking, writing a blog post, or even curling my hair, nothing is ever perfect for me. Well, maybe that's not true. Who knows if it was in the stars, luck, or actual skill that allowed me to create magic when cooking up my favourite don't-wanna-change-a-thing dishes. But my Rustic Mushroom and Cream Cheese Tart, Chicken Marsala, Strawberry Crumble Muffins, and Lemon Ricotta Crepes with Berry Icewine Sauce were nothing short of exceptional...if I do say so myself. Once again magic entered my kitchen this past Thursday in creating this Eggplant Ravioli in a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

I've gotta say, the process to get to this final perfect dish was quite arduous. Thankfully I was not on my own in creating this dish, I had my two helpers, my sister Justine and her boyfriend and my friend Duncan, to help me out throughout the long process. Other than the pasta sheets, we had no recipe, just our wild imaginations, and a fridge full of ingredients, which is really the best way to cook anything! No one was assigned to a particular task, we all pitched in when needed, we all had a say in the flavours, and each of us tasted every single step along the way to make sure everything was "perfect". For a brief moment we feared our homemade ravioli mission had failed when we attempted to fill our raviolis in the gorgeous, yet way too small, ravioli mold that my sister had got me for Christmas. As I said, the mold was ridiculously small, I can't even imagine filling it with anything more than a few poppy seeds! We gave it a try anyway and unfortunately we lost a little filling and some pasta dough along the way, but quickly readapted and cut our own, larger, raviolis by hand. After three long hours of kneading, rolling, sauteing, chopping, filling, and so on, we were exhausted, starving, and weren't even thinking about how the final product would taste. After quickly snapping a photo, we lugged our tired plate-holding bodies to the couch, reclined, and dug in. This is when the sparks went off. I took the first bite: "woah...this is like...really good....like really freaking good!". Justine: "Oh my god! This is amazing!". Duncan: "Wow this is quite good...very good....Wow" Pretty sure we continued on with the "wows", "amazings" and "oh my gods" until our plates were empty! It was THAT good! Which, of course, led to "I would soooo order this at a restaurant!", the final stamp of approval allowing the dish to be deemed perfection! The pasta was tender and held its shape, the filling creamy and bursting with fresh flavours, and the sauce bold and spicy but not too overpowering so you can't taste the savory filling. Yes, it is quite time consuming, and it does take a bit of elbow grease, but this is actually a very simple dish to prepare. You don't need any special skills or experience, literally anyone can make this, and I promise you, it is certainly well worth it! Dare I say, this just may be one dish I've gotta call priceless!

Note: After spending literally hours creating this dinner, the best advice I can give you is to cook this dish in stages. Make the filling the night before, the sauce the morning of, and the pasta dough that afternoon or early evening. You can even make up the raviolis and freeze them to boil another time. Simply lay them out on a lightly floured baking sheet, dust lightly with more flour, place in freezer overnight. Remove raviolis from baking sheet and transfer to a ziplock bag. Simply remove from freezer and boil when ready to prepare.

Note: I have not listed a specific cheese to use in the filling as I don't even know what type of cheese we used! It was wrapped in plastic, unmarked in my fridge. I tasted every cheese in the fridge to find one that I thought would go well. The point here is that you can play around with what flavours you like. Don't feel restricted! Taste and play!

Eggplant Filling:

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced

1/2 sweet onion (you may substitute with red onion), chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp thyme

1/4 of a roasted red pepper, sliced

1/4 cup any semi-hard mild in flavour cheese, grated

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and lay out eggplant slices. Sprinkle the slices with salt, flip and sprinkle the other sides as well. Let stand for an hour to let the bitter juices from the eggplant drain. Rinse the drained slices and pat dry. Dice the eggplant slices.

2. In a medium skillet set to medium heat, heat olive oil and garlic. Add the eggplant, onions, roasted red pepper, and thyme and saute until onions are soft and golden, and eggplant is soft and has darkened. Let cool.

3. Add the cooled eggplant mixture to a food processor, add the cheese, and pulse until mixture is pureed, with a bit of texture. You don't want to make eggplant mush! Season with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated until raviolis are ready to be filled.

Pasta Sheets:

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

5 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt

cold water

1 whole egg, beaten

Directions:

1. In a medium-large bowl add the flour and make a small well in the centre. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Add the beaten yolks and the salt into the middle of the well in the bowl of flour. Keeping one clean hand for mixing, and one for adding water, mix and form the dough, adding a little bit of water at a time until you have formed a nice, firm, but slightly sticky dough.

3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Place dough back in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or more.

4. Tear off a piece of dough bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough using a rolling pin, until dough is paper thin and you can see your hand through the dough when lifted. While rolling, continue to lightly flour the surface, dough, and rolling pin so that dough does not stick, but try to use as little flour as possible! Repeat with remaining dough. Reserve the 1 whole beaten egg for the assembly.

(Source: hubpages.com)

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 tsp garlic

2 3/4 roasted red peppers, sliced

1/2 sweet onion

1/3 cup tomato sauce

generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes

2 tsp dried basil

parmesan cheese (optional for garnish)

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and garlic. Add the roasted red peppers and onions and saute until onions are soft and golden. Let cool.

2. Pour red pepper and onion mixture into a blender. Add the tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, and basil. Blend until you have a smooth sauce. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Heat sauce on stove at medium-low heat. To thin sauce add fresh pasta water (reserve about a cup of the water that you cooked your ravioli in).

Assembly:

1. Using a circle cutter or the rim of a glass, cut the pasta sheets into circles about 2-inches in diameter. Lay out the circles in pairs.

2. Scoop about 2-3 tsp of filling (use your discretion, you want enough filling to get a burst of flavour, but you don't want the filling to literally burst out of the pasta) into the centre of half of the cut pasta circles, so that each pair of circles has one with filling in the centre.

3. Bring out the 1 whole beaten egg from the pasta sheet stage. Dip a clean finger into the egg and spread a little bit of the beaten egg around the outside of the pasta circle to act as the glue that will hold together the ravioli. Top the eggplant filled circles with their empty counterpart and lightly press down around the outside of the circle to form a seal. Use the prongs of a fork to press along the outside seal to ensure the ravioli is well sealed and to add a ribbed look.

4. Cook raviolis in salted, boiling water for about 6 minutes. A trick to judge their doneness is to wait until all raviolis are floating, then wait another 1-2 minutes.

5. While raviolis are cooking, heat sauce. Drain cooked ravioli and place on platter. Top with sauce and serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Listening To: Rollin' and Tumblin' - Jeff Beck feat. Imogen Heap