Today's Secret Ingredient is: Ricotta
Apr. 6th, 2009 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
highlander_ii in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomThis is apparently what happens when you don't have a job - you watch FoodNetwork for like 3 hours and end up baking/making things. =)
2 of these recipes are from FoodNetwork.com from the 'Friend in Town' episode of Everyday Italian
Crostini with Ricotta and Goat Cheese
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
Directions: Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bread slices. Grill the bread until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
Stir the goat cheese, ricotta cheese, basil, lemon peel, and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Spread the cheese mixture over the crostini. Arrange the toasts on a platter and serve.
Ricotta Pancakes
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings (16 pancakes)
Ingredients
Directions:
Syrup:
Stir 1/3 cup of water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Set aside and keep the honey syrup warm.
Pancakes:
Using a rubber spatula, stir the remaining 1 2/3 cups of water and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the pancake mix and stir just until moistened but still lumpy. Stir in the ricotta into the pancake mixture, then stir gently to incorporate the ricotta but maintain a lumpy batter. Fold in the blueberries.
Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with the melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with the honey syrup.
Italian Stuffed Shells
Cook Time: 30 min + 30 - 45 mins
Level: Easy
Serves: 8 - 10 servings
* This is technically a recipe from my sister, but, like she said, she's never made it the same way twice, so these are more 'guidelines' than 'ingredients'. =)
Ingredients:
Filling:
The Rest:
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350*.
Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove, add the salt to the water when it boils, but before adding the pasta. Once water is boiling - pour in the pasta shells to get them started.
Spray with cooking spray or otherwise grease a casserole dish, at least 13x9x2 (larger if you're making the whole box of shells).
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the Italian sausage in a frying pan on medium-high heat. In the meantime, combine the other ingredients for the filling in a bowl and stir them together. When the sausage is ready, add that to the cheese mixture.
Once the pasta is ready, pour it into a colander to strain out the water and let them cool a little, since you'll be handling them with your non-asbestos-lined fingers. *g* When they're at a handle-able temperature, scoop the stuffing with a spoon and shove it into the shells and place the shells in rows in the casserole dish. If you have shells left over after the stuffing is gone you can toss the left-overs into the dish un-stuffed.
Pour the tomatoes and pasta sauce over the shells, dump the mozzarella cheese on top, then grate some Parmesan over that. Put the dish in the preheated over for about 30 - 45 minutes, or until the sauce bubbles a little and the cheese is melted.
That's a surprising amount of cooking for me in one day. I don't typically do that much. But it was all amazing! *g*
2 of these recipes are from FoodNetwork.com from the 'Friend in Town' episode of Everyday Italian
Crostini with Ricotta and Goat Cheese
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
- * 24 (1/2-inch-thick) slices baguette bread
- * 3 tablespoons olive oil
- * 4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
- * 1/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- * 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- * 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
- * Salt and pepper
Directions: Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bread slices. Grill the bread until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
Stir the goat cheese, ricotta cheese, basil, lemon peel, and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Spread the cheese mixture over the crostini. Arrange the toasts on a platter and serve.
Ricotta Pancakes
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings (16 pancakes)
Ingredients
- * 2 cups water
- * 1/3 cup sugar
- * 1/3 cup honey
- * 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- * 2 cups pancake and waffle mix (recommended: Krusteaz)
- * 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- * 2/3 cup frozen blueberries
- * Melted butter
Directions:
Syrup:
Stir 1/3 cup of water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Set aside and keep the honey syrup warm.
Pancakes:
Using a rubber spatula, stir the remaining 1 2/3 cups of water and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the pancake mix and stir just until moistened but still lumpy. Stir in the ricotta into the pancake mixture, then stir gently to incorporate the ricotta but maintain a lumpy batter. Fold in the blueberries.
Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with the melted butter. Working in batches, spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with the honey syrup.
Italian Stuffed Shells
Cook Time: 30 min + 30 - 45 mins
Level: Easy
Serves: 8 - 10 servings
* This is technically a recipe from my sister, but, like she said, she's never made it the same way twice, so these are more 'guidelines' than 'ingredients'. =)
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 2 lbs Italian Sausage (mild, sweet, hot) or ground beef, turkey, chicken
- 16 oz Ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 - 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste, if desired
The Rest:
- 1 box jumbo pasta shells
- 1 jar prepared pasta sauce (any variety)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (if desired)
- 16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350*.
Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove, add the salt to the water when it boils, but before adding the pasta. Once water is boiling - pour in the pasta shells to get them started.
Spray with cooking spray or otherwise grease a casserole dish, at least 13x9x2 (larger if you're making the whole box of shells).
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the Italian sausage in a frying pan on medium-high heat. In the meantime, combine the other ingredients for the filling in a bowl and stir them together. When the sausage is ready, add that to the cheese mixture.
Once the pasta is ready, pour it into a colander to strain out the water and let them cool a little, since you'll be handling them with your non-asbestos-lined fingers. *g* When they're at a handle-able temperature, scoop the stuffing with a spoon and shove it into the shells and place the shells in rows in the casserole dish. If you have shells left over after the stuffing is gone you can toss the left-overs into the dish un-stuffed.
Pour the tomatoes and pasta sauce over the shells, dump the mozzarella cheese on top, then grate some Parmesan over that. Put the dish in the preheated over for about 30 - 45 minutes, or until the sauce bubbles a little and the cheese is melted.
That's a surprising amount of cooking for me in one day. I don't typically do that much. But it was all amazing! *g*
