Three Cheese Stuffed Shells + Spicy Meat Sauce

Holy shells! A couple weekends ago I took a trip to Boston to visit my BFF Bevin just because. I didn't get the memo that it was going to be 1000 degrees F out and almost melted into the sidewalk. It was full-on summer in Boston. I was sooo happy my mom re-installed her a/c unit for me before she went out of town. Sweet, sweet air conditioning.

Any weekend with best friends is a blast. This is us having margaritas:

Us roasting at the beach:

Leaving was a bummer because who ever wants the party to end? And it was 50 degrees outside when I landed in Chicago...still waiting for summer to arrive...

In the meantime, let's talk shells. Or rather, the awesome pasta sauce in this recipe. It's so simple and so spicily delicious. You'll have one of those moments where you do a taste test and you're immediately like ohmahgawdthisisamazingwhyamIjustnowdiscoveringthis?! I ended up making more shells than could fit in my baking dish so I bagged them up and put them in the freezer for later. I find it's best to make more shells than needed because sometimes a few shells get destroyed when you cook them. As with any stuffed shell recipe, it's a little time consuming but well worth the effort.

Also be sure to check out my other stuffed shell recipes: Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells + Mexican Stuffed Shells!

Ingredients
15-20 jumbo pasta shells
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4-1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
 2 links spicy chicken sausage, sliced and quartered (I got mine at Trader Joe's)
1/4-1/2 cup red wine
14-oz can diced tomatoes
14-oz can tomato sauce
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
1/2 whisked egg
6 basil leaves, chiffonade
1 tbsp minced parsley
salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions 
Cook pasta shells for half the cooking time. Drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; saute for a couple minutes. Add the spicy sausage and brown. Pour in the red wine and let it cook for a couple minutes. Stir in the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar and salt. Season with red pepper flakes for added heat. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, depending on how thick you want your sauce.

In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, romano, egg, salt and pepper, basil, and parsley.

To assemble: Coat the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish with the tomato-sausage sauce. Fill each shell with a spoonful of the ricotta mixture. Place the stuffed shells face down on the sauce. Top the shells with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle extra parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with a side of toasted Italian bread. 

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman. 

Cilantro-Lime Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Four months ago I signed up for the Soldier Field 10 Miler (Sat, May 25). I ran it last year and thought I'd try to beat my time this year. Then I got sick for a month-ish, stopped running for 3 months, and suddenly it was May (shoot!). I got a few runs in earlier this month and they were not pretty. This past week I was pretty sure I was going to collapse on the side of the race route. Waiting in the corral to start was the worst. The longer I stood there, the more time I had to think about what a terrible idea this was.


I'd like to thank a big burly man who was easily 4 times my size for getting me through the race. During races I like to pick 1-2 people who look like they're about my pace and then tail them or run right next to them (I have no shame). If they get too far ahead of me, I know I need to kick it into gear. Added motivation if they're way older than me (something just doesn't seem right about a 60 y/o leaving me in the dust) or in this case, 4 times my size.

Next up: the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon! I'm running on the Snow City Arts team again this year. Snow City Arts is a nonprofit that provides arts education to hospitalized children. I'm raising money for them so if you'd like to donate (tax deductible!) to their awesome mission, click HERE. You'll get major brownie points.

I made this chicken salad a couple weeks ago because it makes for great leftovers and takes care of lunch for a couple of days. I also just love chicken salads. I'm a big red onion fan, so I went heavy on the onions...same with the cilantro. I might even add a little more cumin to this while you're at it.

You should also check out this curried chicken salad recipe!

Ingredients*
20-oz can chunk chicken, drained
1/3 cup mayo
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 lime, juiced
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 - 1/4 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, roughly minced
2-4 tbsp cilantro, coarsely chopped
sourdough bread (or your preferred bread)

Instructions
Empty the chicken into a small bowl. With a fork, break up the chicken chunks. Stir in the mayo, dijon mustard, cumin, lime, salt, and pepper. Add more mayo and lime as needed. Stir in the jalapeno, onion, and cilantro. Serve on a slice of sourdough toast for an open-faced sandwich.

*I don't remember how much this serves, but I'd say about 6.

Recipe adapted from Daily Crave. 

Nutella Banana Bread

My roommate went out of town last week and left me with a bundle of ripe bananas that she didn't want to waste. My initial reaction was to make banana bread. I mean, what else are you going to do with all those bananas? Make a smoothie? Or ice cream?! (I just searched my own blog for "banana" and realized I actually have a number of banana posts... Who knew?!) I hastily looked up a recipe at work and found this Nutella one. I went with it and the rest is history.

Ingredients (1 9-inch loaf)

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup Nutella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat together the mashed banana, butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy and well combined (about 2 minutes). Beat in the eggs until combined (another 2 minutes). Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

Divide the batter in half into another bowl. Stir in the Nutella until combined.

Lightly grease a 9" loaf pan. Alternate spoonfuls of the two batters into the loaf pan. Swirl the batter gently. Bake for 1 hour or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out with moist crumbs attached. 

Original recipe from Sugarplum. 

San Diego-Style Fish Tacos

These fish tacos are crazy delicious. Like, oh my gosh why am I just now discovering these delicious. The sauce is seriously where it's at. It's so good you'll be going back for more. It's got a nice smokiness with a little kick. So so good. The tilapia is also killer. You really can't go wrong with any of it.

I have to give my friend Sharon a shout-out for passing along this recipe. Thanks, man! I messaged him earlier this week for a recipe idea because I was actually in the mood to cook (gasp) and let's face it, I needed to post something on this blog. So ta-da!

Here's a quick snapshot of what I've been filling my life with instead of cooking: biking, art, birthday fun times, delicious restaurant eats, random trip to Iowa/Minneapolis, more art, warm weather, more biking, and lots of caramel apples. (Roommate introduced me to coconut pecan caramel apples from Mariano's and we're obsessed. We might have a problem... but an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?)

Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells

March is marching right along. I've been alternating between work events and traveling around the country for the past two weeks. It's been tiring but super fun because I got to spend time with my parents and my bff Bevin in Boston. I also made a brief appearance in St. Louis, just in time for a record breaking snow storm (12.4 inches in one day!). 

This is me shoveling the driveway in St. Louis for the first time ever. Hopefully the last because that is no picnic.

Shells shells shells. Stuffed shells are awesome. This is a pretty classic recipe. I added garlic salt to give the ricotta more flavor (and because I love garlic). You should also check out the Mexican Stuffed Shells for more deliciousness. 

Ingredients (serves about 3)

15 jumbo pasta shells

12-oz marinara sauce

1 15-oz container ricotta

1 cup baby spinach, chopped

1/4 cup grated parmesan

salt & ground black pepper

fresh ground garlic salt

1/4 cup grated romano

Instructions

Set an oven rack to the highest position and preheat oven to 400F. Cook the pasta shells according to the package directions (~10 minutes). Drain and let cool. 

Spread the marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, chopped spinach, grated parmesan, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and a few shakes of garlic salt. Spoon the mixture into the shells and place them on top of the marinara sauce.

Sprinkle the shells with the grated romano cheese. Bake until heated through, 10-12 minutes. 

Recipe adapted from Real Simple.

Honey Banana Smoothie

I'm so ready to spring forward. Winter has failed me as there hasn't been enough snow/the opportunity for me to go sledding. I'm over it. I want it to warm up so I can run along the lake and get back to my bike rides. Who's with me??

This drink is for sunnier times. The orange juice adds a nice fruity kick to the drink. It almost makes you forget there's banana in your glass. Point is, this is delicious and refreshing.

Ingredients

1/2 cup low fat milk

1 banana

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp ground flax seed
dash of cinnamon

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve cold.

Recipe adapted from Shutterbean.

Garlicky Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Major struggles over here. Shortly after my last post I got sick again with strep and then got a sinus infection the day after I got off my meds. For just about all of January and February I gchatted my friend Miriam with my daily symptoms, concerns, and paranoia. She's finishing up a physicians assistant program so I like to think I'm helping her practice/prepare for life after school. I'm healthy now, maybe, sort of.

I haven't been cooking too much, or at all, lately because I've been eating so much delicious food around town. My Sunday dinner plans got cancelled so yesterday I tried a garlic brown sugar chicken recipe. Let's just say that died in the oven. So instead I bring you these garlicky roasted brussel sprouts! They're super delicious and super easy to make. 

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

15-20 brussel sprouts
1 garlic clove, minced
a couple tbsp olive oil
garlic sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Rinse the sprouts well. Cut off the bottom of the sprouts and peel off the outer leavers. Slice the sprouts in half through the stem. In a medium bowl, toss the sprouts with olive oil and minced garlic. Season with garlic sea salt and ground black pepper. Place the sprouts cut side down in a lightly greased 8x8 baking dish. Broil for 5-7 minutes. 

Challah French Toast

I'm a little behind but happy new year! I had a pretty stellar holiday. Can't complain about three weeks of vacation, warm weather (hello, Florida!) and best friends.

Chicago apparently didn't get the memo about keeping the good times rolling because a few days after I got back I caught strep throat. It. was. the. pits. The moment I started feeling better, I ordered a pizza and breadsticks and stuffed my face. Eating never felt so good. I'm back to 100% and figured it was time to stock the refrigerator and start cooking.

I saw a french toast recipe in Food & Wine magazine's latest issue made with brioche that got me in the mood. TJ's didn't have any brioche (or berries!) so I settled for some challah. I googled a recipe and settled on this one. You can taste a little of the banana in this recipe. I adjusted the ingredient amounts a bit so the flavors may have been a little off, but still good! I topped my toast with blueberry preserves (not pictured) and recommend you do the same. Below is the original recipe.

Ingredients (serves 12)
12 slices challah, sliced 1 inch thick & in half for large slices
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 banana
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp Kahlua
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Instructions

In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, flour, banana, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and Kahlua. Blend for a few seconds until well mixed.

Pour the liquid into an 8x8 baking dish. Soak the slices of challah in the liquid for a few minutes, turning over once to soak both sides.

Heat your skillet over medium-low heat and grease it with 2 tbsp of butter. Cook each side of bread for 3-5 minutes. Re-grease the skillet after each batch.

Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup, preserves, fresh fruit, etc.

Original recipe from The Shiksa.