Did I Ever Post This?

I found this picture of some pasta I made when I went home for a weekend a while ago. I don't think I ever posted it! Me and my friend from home made this, mostly just because it took soo long that she was coming over to hang out and I still wasn't done so I made her help :) This is the second time I made pasta from scratch, but the other time I made smaller square pieces, this time I wanted long and skinny. Easier said than done! I didn't have a pasta maker or anything so I had to roll out each piece and slice them! Luckily my friend is a perfectionist and very detail-oriented, because neither of those are really something you could call me and both are necessary for making this! We had to slice them all and then let them sit to dry a little and sprinkle with flour so it won't all stick together and then finally cook it. My dad made the sauce. It was something he found in a Bon Appetit or a cookbook or something I think. Anyways, it took forever but was delicious. I want to try pasta from scratch again sometime. I think it will be easier the third time!

Stuffed Shells

I have had shells stuffed with ricotta cheese and sauce multiple times before.  My mother makes them at home sometimes. But I have never made them with anything else inside. Honestly, while being jumbo shells, they are still pretty small, and after being cooked they are also pretty delicate. Stuffing them with anything else seemed like it might be more trouble then it was worth. (Plus I love them with ricotta!) But while at the store once the boyfriend picked out a box of shells and said he wanted to make stuffed shells with meat. Obviously I was not going to discourage this. I love when he gets excited to cook something. I don't think he ever did it before, and I'm not really sure where he got the idea or if he just thought of it on the spot or what, but we went to get ground meat right away.

I must admit two things. #1, yes this is really his meal, I really didn't make it at all, though I did help. The credit is all his. And #2, we ended up eating the meat in a different dinner before we ever had time to make this dish... That's why this took so long to actually get made, we had to wait til we went back to the store and got more!

They were delicious though. I helped cook the pasta, taking them out before they were all the way done so they wouldn't be too soft. I also seasoned the meat because I am the expert on that :) and he absolutely loves my burgers so he wanted me to make the meat for these to be just like them. Then he put it in a pan to cook it a little (because it would take forever for it to cook all the way through in the oven when it was already stuffed in the shells) and added some crushed tomatoes to make it a little saucier and stuffed every single shell with it. Grated tons of cheese on top, and put more of the crushed tomatoes on top as sauce. And then more cheese!

Baked it all in the oven at probably around 350/400 until the cheese was all melted and meat was warm and cooked all the way through. Then of course they have to cool for a while because they are steamy hot and will burn your mouth!

Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese with cheddar, gouda, and parmesan. need I say more? Obviously the best thing you have ever had. This is probably one of the first things that I remember making all by myself for my family. Like as a real recipe that I looked up and then went out and bought ingredients for and everything. And that everyone loved and praised and talked about for a week. In fact that's probably why I kept on cookin! Ha no I don't really remember, but I just remember the first time I made it and it was so good. Now, as with most of the things I make you may have noticed, I don't really use a recipe anymore and it's still just as good. You can use whatever cheese you want basically, and I used light cream in trying to be slightly less unhealthy that this usually would be with heavy cream. 

So you start with a little cream in a saucepan. If I had to say, probably about 2 cups? I'm bad with estimation. A little less than half of a small container of cream I think I use. And then put a little flour in with it, just a few sprinkles, you can always add more. Keep stirring it in until it thickens. Then add in the cheeses, shredded just because that helps them melt in better. A little salt and pepper and italian seasonings never hurt either. Keep adding cheese little at a time until it gets thick, how thick is really up to you and how cheesy you like it. Real mac and cheese is pretty thick so each bite is pretty well coated with cheese sauce, but you can easily make it a little lighter by making it thinner.

Oh sometimes I put in a few sprinkles of breadcrumbs too, to thicken it up a little more without adding more cheese. It also adds a little more flavor, since I have the pre-seasoned Italian herb breadcrumbs. The starch in the crumbs must basically do the same thing as flour because it works almost just as well. I think I learned that by happy accident once when I had no flour and was trying to thicken a sauce at the boyfriends apartment. Speaking of whom, the smoked gouda, which he absolutely loves plain, and I put in here for the hearty smoky taste it adds, was too much for him. Be careful if you put gouda in yours because it is very rich, you only need a little. (Although I love a lot!)

Fettucini Alfredo

My dad always made me and my friends fettucini alfredo when they came over on weekends to hang out. It was also for special occasions and basically whenever we wanted something special but easy. It is probably my favorite dinner ever, soo delicious. I made it the other night on the last day of classes I think, sort of as a celebration and also because I happened to have a lot of parmesan cheese and there was a thing of cream in the fridge. That's all that it is, cream heated in a saucepan and add the cheese little by little stirring it in until it dissolves. Add some spices/herbs and you're good to go. As soon as it gets thick enough to coat the pasta its done and I grated fresh parmesan on top and sprinkled with dried basil. Delicious.

Pasta Puttanesca with Shrimp

I decided to spice things up a little the other night and make a more exciting pasta. This was created with lots of crushed red pepper, as well as tomatoes, capers, chopped kalamata olives, and some baby shrimp I had in the freezer. At the last minute I also added in some slices of spicy sausage of my roommates that she wanted me to use up for her. It added just the right amount of extra spice. Not a very saucy sauce, but it had so much flavor that it worked well.