Cheese and more Cheese, Italian Stuffed Shells!

An amazing recipe from Chef Lidia Bastianich for stuffed shells! So simple and delicious!

Recipe here 

Instead of mozarella I used smoked fontina from Country Cheese Company 

"Mac & Cheese" Arabic Style!

I always see this arabic cheese at the middle eastern grocer but never sure what to do with it but today I'm sharing a fantastic (and kid friendly) recipe courtesy of my Syrian friend!

- 1 package Macaroni or favourite pasta

- 1 package of Arabic Baladi cheese (which is a white salty fresh cheese similar to the Mexican queso fresco)

- 2-3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp parsley, chopped finely

- Salt & black pepper (remember the cheese is salty too)

Start by chopping the cheese into small cubes and soaking in some warm water to remove excess salt.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, adding salt to season and boil your pasta.

Chop parsley and set aside.

Drain the cheese well and then drain the pasta when al dante.
Add butter to the pot and fry the pasta in the butter for a couple of minutes. Taste and season.  Add the cheese and just as it begins melting add your parsley and stir for another 3 minutes or so. 

Serve immediately!

Enjoy!

Simplicity

Lately I've not had a lot of time to cook, but that hasn't stopped me!  As you all probably know by now that my style is slow cooking (and by that I don't mean using a crockpot because I don't even own) but from scratch home cookin' and of course my beloved Middle Eastern recipes!   Our grandma's spent most hours of their days cooking and out of their kitchens came amazingly delicate and intricate recipes like hand stuffed and rolled grape leaves, different variations of kubbah (which are doughs stuffed with filling and either fried, baked or simmered in rich stews)  and so many more beautiful dishes.

On the flip side there's a lot to be learnt from having really little time on hand when it comes to meal prep. I love Jamie Oliver' 30 and 15 minute meals and Nigella's cooking because what I've learned from watching these cooking shows is that sometimes it's OK to cut  down on steps and still make something fabulous to eat!

Whether it's cooking long and slow or quick there is always something to learn and acquire new techniques and perfect cooking skills.

I made a second visit to Country Cheese (I wrote about my first visit here) and picked up some fun cheeses.  They have these lovely fresh cheese curds on a weekly basis that are flying off the counter (literally.. so gotta get there early!) 

I also picked up an interesting cheese which was flavoured in house, they rub it with a lemon infused olive oil and then roll it in dried herbs.  I forgot the name of the cheese but if you go in there and ask them they'll know what you're talkin' about.  It's such a nice snacking cheese, I love the hint of lemon (I love lemon in everything) but find that it really cuts the richness!  Very addictive. 

I've experimented a little with it in cooking, and like a parmigiano reggiano it's perfect to just grate in last minute. The first recipe I made was a pasta in a plain cream sauce which then I shaved/grated quite a bit of this cheese onto it  A few globes of cherry tomato to garnish the plate and it was perfection!  

It's also a perfect breakfast cheese as you can see we enjoyed with an array of fruit, fresh bread and vegetables.  I put a Middle Eastern spin on this spread, which really is how I like to enjoy my cheese! Give me some bread, olives, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and I'm good to go!

I will add that this lemony cheese is also PERFECT shaved in large curls over a plate of fresh pasta in tomato sauce.Those herbs are great especially in the dead of winter when I can't get to the supermarket to pick up fresh herbs (not to mention they're so expensive)

This cheese is a keeper!

My last favourite thing when it comes to simple meals and I've written about this before but I'm going to say it again, I LOVE those flame savours by Highliner, amazing fish fillets that cook up in 24 minutes, just so perfect! I now make them twice a week.

A little Lidia in your life..

I LOVE watching Lidia Bastianich Cook, I mean what foodie doesn't?   Her food is just so comforting and you really feel the love in her kitchen, it reminds me a lot of Arabic Cooking...  grandma's in the kitchen, large family style platters and bringing together all those really economical ingredients to create a spectacular meal.

To me that's what food is all about!

After watching a marathon of her Cooking show episodes while the super bowl was running last sunday (I really dislike sports and have no clue about American Football)  I was inspired to not only whip up a pasta dish but to give rapini yet another try (Think it's been 14 years, I've been *trying* to love it)

I can happy announce that it worked.  The rapini was really delicious in this dish, not too bitter and I really loved it!

If you watch Lidia you'll know that there are some basic rules to follow.  Boiling the pasta al dante, never putting oil in the pasta water, making sure to keep that lovely pasta water to finish the sauce and add lots of cheese (at the end!)

Unfortunately I didn't have any cheese in the house but I went ahead anyway washing and slicing the rapini, the stalks into 1/2 inch rings and the tops a little rougher, leaving the "broccoli" flower like parts fully in tact.

These pasta sauces come together in no time, I mean by time you're boiling the pasta it's done!

She used sausage, I used lean ground beef and spiced it a few hours in advance with salt, black pepper, lots of minced/grated fresh garlic and olive oil (add cubes of butter if desired)

When the meat was room temperature, and the Rapini was washed and sliced it was ready to go.

Pasta was on.

Normally garlic is sauteed at this first step but there was enough in the meat so I browned the "sausage" and to that added the rapini over top. Adding some pasta water to the pan I covered with a lid and let the rapini "steam" a bit. 

When the pasta was done 9 minutes later and the stems of the rapini were tender it was ready to go. 

Pasta goes over top, more pasta water and I toss with the heat off.  It all comes together beautifully.  

I enjoy a little acidity in my food so I added a lot of worstershire sauce over top (I know I know it's british not Italian but oh well) 

Not everyone was keen on trying the Rapini so I was lucky to have divided the "sausage" early on and roll half the meat mixture into mini "meatballs" 

I cleaned the pan and started again, quickly browning the meat and adding these little grape tomatoes to the pan, as soon as they "pop"  (you can squish them a bit with the back of the spatula) the pasta and pasta water goes in, it all comes together with a little worstershire sauce and we're good to go!

If I had cheese it would have gone overtop at the end.

It was a great meal!

Incase you're wondering, I got the pasta for a great price (clearance) from Winners (who knew?!)

Winners is a TJMAXX or Home Goods type or store. 

Delicious Saturday Meal

Here is our delicious saturday meal - following our big feast on friday (10th of June)

My mother put together a yummy salmon casserole which I called "engagement salmon" because later that night we watched Ina Garten prepare her take on the famous "engagement chicken" and it was very similar to this dish only mum used limes in the salmon instead of the lemons in the chicken but it still had lots of onion and it was delicious !

Along with that we made Chef Lidia's pasta with homemade bread crumbs Mum had a loaf in the freezer so to my amazement she began grating it and then sauteeing it in the olive oil and garlic ... then tossing the fresh pasta in it. YumYum!

This truly was one of the yummiest pasta dishes I've had, so simple but so comforting.

We also roasted asparagus (salt & pepper, olive oil drizzle- bake on 400-425 until tender then squeeze lemon juice on) and made salad. It was a really memorable and great day.

Honey our cat gave me a not so pleasant face when I pointed the camera at her but she's a real sweety :)

One Pot Pasta

Here is a delicious and fun pasta recipe that uses only one pot.

Ingredients:

- Your favourite tiny pasta ( these little tubes are cute!)

- Your favourite beans (Here I used kidney because it was in the fridge - but it works great with white cannellini beans or any bean of your choice) The beans should be already cooked or use canned. Strain and rinse your canned beans.

- Olive oil

- Garlic

- Tomato paste (or a pure strained tomato sauce)
- Salt & Pepper

- Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1-In a medium sized pot on the burner set to medium.

2-Add olive oil and sautee some garlic (this depends on your taste!)

3-When it's beautiful and fragrant add your tomato paste and fry it around so it caramelizes (cooks that raw taste out of it)

4- Throw in your pasta (Yes, dry pasta!!) and fry it around.

5- Add enough boiling water from the kettle to cover the pasta (the pot is hot and the water hitting it can cause some steam so be cautious!)

6- Add all the other seasonings in, salt and pepper, a splash of worcestershire sauce.

7- Stir the pasta so it doesn't stick to the bottom and add your beans. Cover and reduce to Medium low.

8- You can peek and stir from time to time .. it will be done very quickly!

Enjoy !!