Ham and Swiss Ravioli March 18, 2008

I saw this recipe on the food network while watching Ultimate Recipe Showdown-Pasta. It was the winning stuffed pasta recipe and it was FAB! A pain in the balls, but definately worth it. Next time Im going to use the filling to make stuffed shells instead of battling with those damn wonton wrappers. This is definately not a weeknight meal. It took me an hour just to get Andy’s serving to him, and another 10 minutes to cook mine. Really annoying. Anyway here it is:

 Make sure you make half of the filling for a pack of wonton shells. I didn’t even use half, but maybe my pack of wonton shells was small or something? It was weird. I also added a couple tablespoons of ricotta, just because Next time I will be using the filling for stuffed shells so I will probably still make half per box of shells.

1 pound sliced cooked ham, small dice
1 pound domestic Swiss cheese, (buy the shredded)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for cooking water
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese 1 package square wonton wrappers1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water, reserved in small bowl

Mix ham, cheese, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and Parmesan in a medium bowl until well mixed. On a dry cutting board, place 1 wonton wrapper. Use 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of filling and brush the edges of the wrapper with egg/water mixture. Place a second wonton wrapper on top and press edges to seal, pushing out any air bubbles. Use ravioli cutter to trim edges or leave in a square (definately don’t leave it square, use a cookie cutter, or a glass to punch it out).Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. Add salt, to taste, after it begins to boil. Gently place ravioli into the water and return to a gentle boil until ravioli rise to the top, about 4 to 6 minutes (more like 2-3) Use spider or slotted spoon to remove ravioli from the water and serve with your favorite sauce, or serve with butter and grated Parmesan. Enjoy!

I made this sauce for it from allrecipes.com

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.

**I added a little bit extra cream, and a little less cheese, I wanted it to be thin.

Seafood Alfredo March 14, 2008

I got this recipe from Cooking Light, but modified it quite a bit, so here is what I did:

Take 1.5 tbsp of butter and melt it with a little bit of EVOO in a skillet. Thinly slice about a cup of green onion and crush maybe 4-6 cloves of garlic. Let that all simmer until the onions are tender. Then add shrimp to the pan and let them cook through (your call on how much, I think I added maybe 20 small shrimp)…add 1 can of crabmeat (or fresh crab) and let that all simmer all together for a couple minutes after adding some S&P. Now add 1 pint of half and half and stir (I added about 1/2 cup of milk to this too). Here I added a tsp of cornstarch after disolving it in some water, but I suggest waiting until after you add the cheese to do this, cause it ended up being thicker than I would have liked. Add about 1 cup of parm cheese, I used the shredded Kraft parm cheese that comes in the bag. Stir until creamy and adjust S&P… Pour over pasta of choice and enjoy!

 Its a good base for the sauce. I think Im going to try it next time with Fat Free Half and Half to make it a little healthier. The green onions and garlic really gave it a punch of flavor. I think I might try it with some chicken, peas and mushrooms (per Andy’s request) next time!

Baba’s Famous Banana Bread March 9, 2008

My grandma’s banana bread recipe is amazing and frequently requested by many. So here it is:

1 stick of butter (softened)

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 smashed bananas

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Beat butter and sugar, add eggs, milk and vanilla. Gently mix in banana. In a seperate bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to wet mixture. You are not *supposed* to use the mixer to do this, but I did and it turned out fine. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. You might want to cover with foil for the first half of baking as it tends to brown easily. Makes 1 big loaf, or 3 small loaves. Serve warm with butter.

Mozarella Cheese Focaccia March 9, 2008

This recipe came from another blog http://innainvents.wordpress.com/ and it is YUMMY! I was kinda scared because sometimes homemade bread can be a bit tricky, but this one turned out great. A little time consuming, but worth it!

 1 tbsp EVOO

2.5 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

5 oz shredded Mozarella (i bought the kind seasoned with sun-dried tomotoes and basil)

Knead by hand or in a KA mixer for 5-10 minutes. Let rise in a WARM place until the dough doubles in size. Knead the dough again for a few minutes. Flatten and knead in the cheese. transfer to a 9×13 pan and cover for 20 minutes. Make deep indentations with your fingers and spead to cover the whole pan. Cover for 15 minutes. Preheat a oven to 400. Add olive oil, roasted garlic, basil, and rosemary if you like to the top and bake covered with foil for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

 

Hello world! March 9, 2008

I decided that since I’m always finding new recipes and sharing them via email with people I would just start a blog for the same purpose Hope everyone enjoys it!