Baked Tortellini

Tortellini is a satisfying comfort food. This dish adapted from Giada's Everyday Pasta cookbook comes together in a flash and looks impressive. We think it would be better with meat-filled tortellini but liked the appearance of the tri-colored pasta we used.

Ingredients

1 lb cheese tortellini (or filling of your choice)

1/4 C chopped parsley

1/4 C chopped fresh basil

1/3 C mascarpone cheese

2 C marinara sauce (jarred is fine)

1/2 t salt or to taste

2+ oz thinly sliced mozzarella cheese

3 T shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 T olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 475. Lightly oil an 8x8 pan or small casserole dish with olive oil

2. Cook tortellini in boiling water for 2 minutes until slightly tender, drain and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix salt, basil, parsley, mascarpone and marinara sauce. Add tortellini and mix until pasta is coated.

4. Pour pasta mix into prepared pan and top with sliced mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake 20 minutes until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas

I am always tempted to order cheese enchiladas at Mexican restaurants. There is something about the ooey gooey cheese spilling out of soft tortillas smothered in tangy sauce that makes me feel warm and comfortable. Despite my fondness for them, I didn't realize how easy and economical they are to make at home!

Sure I cheated and bought sauce from the store instead of making my own and it was still good. Next time though, I'll listen to the people at Simply Recipes and try making the sauce myself.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C cheese (I used mozzarella and colby jack)

1 small jar red enchilada sauce

6 corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spread 1 T olive oil over the bottom of an 8x8 glass square pan.

2. Heat the tortillas in a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. I used this method in step 1 of Simply Recipes Enchilada post. Set aside.

3. Grate cheese and toss to combine.

4. Take one tortilla and place some cheese inside. Roll and place seam-side down in the prepared pan. Repeat, squeezing enchiladas close together to keep their shape in the pan.

5. Pour sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is hot.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse Parfaits

I discovered mascarpone cheese this week. It is the most delicious cream cheese I have ever had. Smooth and creamy as though it is whipped with a slight sweet taste and no tang--like whipping cream in a semi-solid form.

It doesn't take much mascarpone to make an amazing dessert. As I searched the web for a way to use the rest of the carton, I found thousands of choices. Citrus would be the best choice because it would compliment the flavor of the cheese while chocolate would be rich and delicious. At first I was smitten by these brownies with their deep brown color and silky ganache on top but I felt that the cheese would just make these brownies moist and get lost in the flavor.

Finally I settled on a remix of these mini tarts. I don't have mini tart pans and I didn't have enough cheese left to make an entire tart, so I decided to make the same mousse (although can you call it mousse if it isn't light?), but serve it in parfait form, a favorite dessert discovered this summer.

Our grocery store Ralph's is now making its own Chocolate Hazelnut Spread to compete with the ever-so-popular Nutella brand. I bought the Ralph's brand because it was much cheaper and could not tell a difference. At fancier stores they actually sell chocolate-only spreads. If you don't like the hazelnut flavor of Nutella, try for one of those.

This dessert is fast, easy and super rich so you only need a little for each person. I think I could've made 4 parfaits with the recipe I used below, but I encourage you to make them smaller...very rich. Serve with tea or coffee to soften the extreme richness.

Ingredients

2/3 C chocolate hazelnut spread

2/3 C mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

4 oreos (or chocolate wafers), crumbled

1/4 t vanilla (or to taste)

3 T chopped salted roasted nuts of choice (I used macadamia, pistachios would look pretty, peanuts would be great, whatever you like)

1.In a stand mixer whip the chocolate hazelnut spread so that it is less solid. Add mascarpone and vanilla and mix until whipped.

2. In small clear glasses (shot glasses would work well), layer oreos, mousse, and salted nuts. Don't be skimpy on the nuts, they will cut the sweet.

3. Serve at room temperature. I think once you refrigerate the dessert will get thicker and less mousse-like

Soft Pretzels

Recently I stumbled across a blog called Hide the Cheese. I loved the creative name and soon the content and the pictures. I scrolled through countless blog posts and came across one for Homemade Soft Pretzels. Once I saw the picture, I HAD to have them.

A few days went by and finally I decided to make the pretzels to accompany some soup that I was making. I started at 2pm and mixed together the ingredients and then set aside the dough to rise. When I came back an hour later it had not doubled in size as the recipe told me it was. It occurred to me that since our house was, at that time, less than 62 degrees in the kitchen (because it was 62 upstairs and obviously I needed to turn the heat up), the dough wasn't warm enough to rise. So, I brought the bowl upstairs and turned up the heat. I waited an additional half hour and the dough....still didn't look that big but I decided to go for it anyway.

Now tell me, friends, when was the last time you rolled out a dough snake? Unless you hang out with kids all day, I'm guessing your answer will be something like 20 years ago. And that was my answer. I first tried to roll out dough snakes in the air but then I realized it would be lots easier if I rolled the snakes on the counter, with two hands, starting from the center and moving outward. So much easier! If you have kids around this is an activity that they can help you with!

Anyway, these pretzels were delicious and a great addition to our dinner table.

Recipe here.

Italian Fondue

What is the most romantic kitchen appliance? According to every wedding registry, it is the fondue pot. To me, eating fondue is not really that romantic...but people think it is and so we ordered one for our wedding. And we tried traditional fondue and Joey didn't really like it--it tasted too much like wine and swiss cheese--not a favorite. So the fondue pot went back into the small appliance closet and collected dust.

Until last week, I came across a blog post for Italian Fondue. This fondue, unlike traditional swiss is more like a cheese custard made on a double boiler with eggs and milk. It uses a milder cheese-fontina. It yields the same silky dipping sauce with a milder flavor. Joey and I agreed that it might be delicious if mozzarella were mixed with the fontina but I think this fondue will be added to our recipes as a win.

I copied the recipe from The Gastronomer's Guide except that I didn't add the cayenne pepper. I recommend splitting the cheese to half fontina and half mozzarella if you want a milder flavor and also adding a little bit more salt to the final product.

Pickled Herring Bites

Pickled herring is one of my favorite holiday treats. It isn't something I buy any other time of year but I always hope it is on the Christmas Eve or Christmas table. Unfortunately, not many people share my love for pickled herring. I knew, however, that at least one other person in my family would eat the herring and so I decided to serve it at our party.

I happened to read a recipe in Eat Well for a pickled herring paired with potatoes, sour cream, onions and dill. This appetizer was the biggest hit on the buffet table. The flavors mixed really well together making the herring more of a bing bang zing.

Ingredients

1 4 oz jar pickled herring (I used the ones in vinegar but you could use the ones in cream sauce--buy them at IKEA! Such a good deal!)

1 sprig fresh dill

2 or 3 red potatoes, boiled but still sturdy

1 T or so of plain yogurt or sour cream (I used greek style plain yogurt)

1/4 chopped red onion

Directions

1. Boil potatoes but make sure they are still sturdy enough to be cut into slices and hold the herring. Cool potatoes and then slice potatoes hamburger style into thin but sturdy slices

2. Top potatoes with a slice of herring (cut them in half if they are big), a dollop of yogurt, a sprinkling of red onion and dill. Keep cold until guests arrive.

Roasted Carrot & Potato Soup

My husband and I hosted my family at our house for Christmas day. I wanted the food to be delicious, elegant and hands off. So, I decided on roast beef, roasted potatoes and carrots, green beans, seasonal fruit salad and dinner rolls. My family was very impressed! The dinner went off without a hitch. Near the end, however, I realized we had lots of leftovers. No problem for the beef--we could just have French dips. But what was I to do with a bunch of roasted potatoes and carrots? The worst part was those potatoes and carrots didn't come out crispy--they were more steamed than roasted and they weren't very flavorful alone.

I mentioned to my sister in law how I had an overflow of leftover roasted vegetables and she suggested, quite simply, make a soup. A soup, I thought? I don't really make soup. But hey, what did I have to lose? We wouldn't be eating those potatoes or carrots anyway. So today I whipped up a roasted carrot & potato soup--it is fantastic! I used the immersion blender and it turned a beautiful yellow color--the sunshine that has recently disappeared from the Los Angeles skyline. I didn't measure for this soup--I just threw some things together. The only negative effect of not measuring was a heavy hand with the pepper. This soup is a tad on the spicy side. I was able to cut it a little with some milk which was a nice addition to the soup regardless, but next time I'll be careful with the pepper.

Ingredients

1 brown onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

roasted potatoes & carrots *I can't be sure how much I used but I know I originally roasted a bag & a half of carrots and about 4 pounds of new red potatoes. This filled a rimmed baking tray to the brim--which is why they steamed instead of roasting in one even layer...)

herbs de Provence

dried thyme

salt & pepper

2 Cups vegetable broth (1 can)

2 Cups water

2 T olive oil

1 C (or less) whole milk or cream (optional, I needed it due to the pepper)

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onion and saute until translucent and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

2. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds

3. Add potatoes and carrots, vegetable broth, water and all the spices to taste (watch out for the pepper!).

4. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour or until potatoes and carrots are very soft and can be smooshed with a spoon.

5. After simmering, puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Add milk or cream if desired and serve warm.