Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells with Shrimp

I think you'll like this recipe, and here's why.

This recipe is very much back to the basics. This recipe starts with pasta shells - we can all boil water, right? In these tender, cooked shells goes ricotta and chopped spinach leaves - stir together, fill your shells, set shells in a pan. On top of these shells goes loads of mozzarella, and lots of little shrimps. You put in the oven, you remove from the oven, and you admire your masterpiece.

So easy! And such a great presentation, with enough leftover for tomorrow's lunch.

It's also worth mentioning that you can do what.ever.you.want with these shells. Hate shrimp? (Aimee, that's you.) Sub with chicken. Want some more greens? Chopped asparagus in the ricotta would be diiiiivine. You also get to use your favorite marinara - which in my case, is Cascone's Original Pasta Sauce. Cascone's is an italian place with several locations in KC, and just the logo brings back memories of their super sweet marinara that I could never get enough of....

[gift idea here, guys.]

Enjoy!

Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells with Shrimp

1 (12 oz) box of jumbo pasta shells

1 (24 oz) jar of marinara sauce

30 oz container part-skim ricotta

2 C baby fresh spinach, washed and dried; chopped

salt + pepper

1.5 C grated mozzarella

1 bag frozen shrimp, thawed

1. Cook jumbo pasta shells until just al dente, no longer. Heat oven to 400.

2. In medium bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, and sprinkle of salt + pepper.

3. Pour marinara sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish - NOTE! I needed two baking dishes. Spoon ricotta mixture into cooked shells. You will use most, but not all, of the shells. Place shells on top of the sauce. Scatter shrimp throughout the baking dish. Sprinkle mozzarella over shells and shrimp.

4. Bake until heated through, 10-12 minutes. During the last several minutes, increase oven temp to broil until cheese is lightly browned.

Crab Enchiladas

Oh my.

Rarely do I make a blog post just hours after trying a new recipe - generally its a few days later, when I'm bored on a weeknight, and thinking to myself, "I'd rather be in the kitchen."

Yet, here I am, on a Friday night, with a million things on my wedding to-do list...and I just have to put this recipe on paper before it slips my mind.

These enchiladas are fun and flexible. I gathered tips and ideas from several different recipes, as well as a crab enchilada recipe that my mom recently tried out. I had a good sense of what flavors and textures I wanted in the crab filling versus the cream sauce. I wasn't scared to go my own route with this one. I had no recipe in front of me, and I took it slow. I wrote down what ingredients I used, and in what quantities.

I wouldn't change a thing next time - the only exception being that I would love more cilantro... however, my cilantro plant on the patio is still just a baby and I can't take all of its leaves off yet, right? ;-)

Crab Enchiladas

3 (6-oz) cans white crab (Chicken of the Sea brand) - drained well

6 oz can chopped green chiles

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

small bunch of cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

mexican spice blend

1/4 C sherry wine

1 pint fat-free half and half

3/4 C fat free sour cream

3/4 C colby jack cheese blend, shredded

4 TBS butter, divided

2 tbs flour

salt, pepper

4 large flour tortillas

avocado and tomato, if desired

1. In large skillet, saute onions in 2 TBS butter until translucent. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Place onions and garlic in medium bowl. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

2. To the onions and garlic, add crab, green chiles, cilantro, juice of lime, and 1 TBS mexican spice blend. Mix well and set aside.

3. Place skillet back on med-high heat and add 2 TBS butter. When melted, add 2 TBS flour and cook one minute, until flour is lightly browned. Add sherry wine to the pan to deglaze, and whisk until smooth. Don't let anything burn. Add half and half slowly, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk several minutes as mixture comes to a slow boil and gradually thickens. Remove from heat. Let sit 5-7 minutes until slightly cooled. Add shredded cheese and sour cream. Stir well. Add a bit more mexican spice blend and season with salt and pepper as you like. Taste as you go.

4. Preheat oven to 350. Add 3/4 C of the cream sauce to the crab mixture. Spray a large baking dish with PAM. In each tortilla, place several large tablespoons of the crab filling. I had enough for 4 tortillas. Roll the tortillas and place seam-side-down in pan. If extra filling is leftover, just drizzle it on top. When all tortillas are in the pan, drizzle the remaining cream sauce over the top.

5. Bake 30 minutes. Before serving, place avocado and tomato over the top.

...Apologies for the so-so photos. I would have loved to take a picture of the inside of the enchilada, with all that yummy crab...however, as soon as my fork went in, it was all over... :-)

Joan's Baked Beans

Let's say my fiance and a bunch of his guys at work get together for food and indoor football. Let's say that everyone is assigned to bring a dish - some people bring hot dogs, others bring cole slaw, and because they're guys, someone else brings stale store-bought cookies.

Now let's say that as soon as Brett receives the sign-up list, he calls his fiance at work and asks her to bring her mom's famous baked beans.

"The spicy ones, yeah."

"Aren't they layered in bacon? Thought so."

Fiance (me) complies. Recipe is doubled and baked in a huge foil pan (only after the bacon is lathered on top.)

Finally, let's say that late that night, Brett comes home and says: "They raved over the beans. Fought over the beans. No one talked about ANYTHING but the beans."

My job here is done.

Joan's Baked Beans

3 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 TBS dry mustard

sprinkle of salt and pepper

1 tsp+ cayenne pepper

1/4 C worchestershire sauce

1/2 C brown sugar

2 TBS vinegar

1 tsp dried basil

1 bottle KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce

1/2 package bacon

Mix all of the above ingredients (except bacon) in a large bowl. Pour into a deep cake pan (9x13 works fine.) Layer top with bacon slices, covering the beans.

Bake covered at 310 degrees for 2 hours. Turn heat off, uncover, and let sit in oven for 30 minutes.

Avocado, Tomato & Mango Salsa

This is not your average salsa.

Actually, this isn't even salsa. But that's what it's called, so that's what I'm gonna call it!

This salsa is all of the things that I love about cooking - the comfort in standing over my cutting board, methodically chopping vegetables into perfectly imperfect pieces. The surprising combination of sweet and spicy in the same bite. The phenomenon of color - each ingredient being somewhat dull on its own, but contrasting and vibrant in the final product. The improvement of flavor with just a little bit of time, and patience.

This salsa is so much more than delicious alongside chicken or fish. This salsa is my favorite season, and my favorite colors, and my favorite fresh flavors, and my favorite hobby....tossed in a bowl and devoured shortly afterwards!

Avocado, Tomato and Mango Salsa

1 mango - peeled and diced

1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

3 cloves garlic, minced

sprinkle of salt and pepper

juice of 1 lime

half of a red onion, diced

1 TBS olive oil

1. In medium bowl, combine all. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and stir well before serving. Serve alongside fish, chicken, or shrimp. Would also be delicious with chips or tortillas.

PW's Pasta Carbonara

Another one cominatchya from Pioneer Woman: Pasta Carbonara.

Here's a short story. I am about to marry a guy who is a pretty big health nut. Holidays are a splurge, and weekends are sometimes, as well. But on weeknights, Brett wants lean meats, lots of veggies, and absolutely no grease - I practically have to get on my knees and beg just to fry something in olive oil.

So, with this upcoming wedding, Brett decided that he wanted to try two weeks of a very special "dinner diet." During this two weeks, his dinner was two tilapia filets, one sweet potato, and some sort of vegetable. I was of course willing to work his special dietary wishes into my recipe plan, and in fact, I was almost giddy about this food freedom - this gave me the chance to finally cook a few meals for me that were full of cream (!) butter (!) and full-fat cheese (!!!!!) I knew instantly that I would be trying out two recipes in particular. The first being broccoli cheddar soup, and the second being Pioneer Woman's Pasta Carbonara.

Bacon. Egg. Parmesan. Butter. I. Love. You. All.

PW's Pasta Carbonara

1/2 lb bacon

1/2 lb linguine

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C white wine

1/2 C chicken broth

2 eggs

3/4 C shaved parmesan cheese*

small bunch of parsley, chopped

1/4 stick butter

salt + pepper

*the crumbly stuff in the plastic container is a no-no here

1. Slice bacon into 1-inch pieces. Place in a pan and sauté until brown and crispy. While the bacon is cooking, get your pasta going in boiling, salted water.

2. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Add diced onions to bacon grease. Cook several minutes, until tender. Add garlic. Cook another minute or so. Remove both onions and garlic from pan and set aside with bacon. Discard bacon grease.

3. Place pan back on stove. In a minute or two, it should start to smoke - when it does, add the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to catch all of the yummy drippings. Add the chicken stock. Whisk well. Return bacon, onion and garlic to pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

4. Your pasta should be done now. Drain well. Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add parmesan and parsley to bowl (leave a little of both aside for garnish.) Mix well. Now, add very hot pasta to the bowl and mix well - this is what cooks the egg a bit. Now add the bacon mixture and your butter. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Mom's Lemon Bars

Today's the first day of April. The forecast says the high is 84. Last night's dinner was salmon with a summer-y mango salsa. Every single window is wide open. I'm wearing open-toed shoes with my pretty little pedicure....

...I love this time of year!

Mom's lemon bars are a perfectly refreshing dessert for warm weather. They are best served chilled and yes, they are slightly tart - so pucker up! The crust is to-die-for. If you like shortbread cookies half as much as I do, you'll see what I mean.

Happy Spring to you all!

Mom's Lemon Bars

Mix with a fork:

2 C flour

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 C butter, softened

Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Press above mixture into pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Mix well:

4 large eggs

2 C sugar

1/2 C lemon juice + 1 TBS lemon zest

Then add to lemon mixture:

1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pour lemon mixture over baked crust while crust is still hot. Bake another 25-30 minutes; you can tell they are ready when there are little bubbles on the top. The bars will be somewhat "set" and possibly a lightly-browned layer on top. Remove from oven and cool on counter for half hour; place in fridge to finish cooling 2-3 hours. Remove from fridge and sprinkle powdered sugar over bars. Cut into squares.