Dad (or Mom),

Could you please post three recipes sometime soon?

Vegetable Soup
Minestrone Soup
Foccacia Bread

Thanks, love you!!! 🙂

Betsy just requested this one… 

I love this potato salad, especially living in California, because we can get such fresh veggies.  I’m not a huge fan of mayo/mustard potato salad, so this kind of mixes it up.  It’s beautiful on the plate too! I can’t access the Roasted Potato recipe part, so we always just guess how many potatoes to use (we use 2lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes, spread them on a roasting pan with olive oil and S&P, roast at 450 degrees until soft), or you can just use the recipe for Roasted Potatoes posted below by Betsy.  I love the flavor of roasted Yukon Golds and the roasted corn. Yum!

Roasted Potato Salad

recipe courtesy Finecooking.com

1 ear fresh corn, in the husk
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups red, yellow, or orange cherry tomatoes (or a combination), halved
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
2lbs roasted Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes
3 Tbs. red-wine vinegar

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F. Remove the husk and put the corn on a small baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tsp. of the oil onto the corn and rub it over all the kernels. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Roast, turning the cob occasionally, until the corn kernels are light brown in a few spots, about 20 minutes. Let the corn cool. Cut the kernels from the cob.

I made this for Will and he said he might not ever eat regular stuffed shells again…I was thinking the same thing.

Then I told Mama about it, and she wanted me to make it for her and Daddy. And Dad WANTED it.  He kept harassing me about making it! Goes great with California Syrah!

Stuffed Shells

Recipe courtesy Giada de Laurentis

Ingredients

• 1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells (recommended: Barilla)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
• 1 (8 to 10-ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 5 cups Arrabbiata Sauce, recipe follows
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (about 5 ounces)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is slightly golden and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

To stuff the shells, cover the bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 cup of Arrabbiata sauce. Take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full, about 24 shells. Drizzle the remaining Arrabbiata Sauce over the shells, top with the grated mozzarella. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 day and up to 1 month.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes (20 minutes if shells are unfrozen.)

Arrabbiata Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 ounces sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

5 cups jarred or fresh marinara sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until tender, about 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

Yield: approximately 6 cups

Enjoy!!

I made these last weekend, and they really are the perfect roasted potatoes.  There’s nothing fancy about them, (this is more a technique than anything else), and I’m sure you can add a thousand different things to them to suit your tastes.  But these came out crunchy and delicious!

Perfect Roasted Potatoes

From Chocolate and Zucchini

– 2 1/2 pound potatoes (waxy or floury — both types will work equally well)
– 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
– kosher salt

Serves 4 generously.

Preheat the oven to 410°F.

If your potatoes are smooth-skinned, scrub them well and peel them in alternative stripes so that strips of skin remain. If, on the other hand, the skin of your potatoes is rugged and grainy, peel it off completely (no need to scrub) then rinse the potatoes well in cold water.

Cut the potatoes into even chunks, about the size of a bite. Place them in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them, cover with cold water, and add a teaspoon coarse salt. Set over high heat, cover, bring to a low boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.

As soon as the water boils, pour the fat into a rimmed baking sheet, and place the sheet in the oven, so the fat and baking sheet will heat up.

After the 5 minutes of boiling, drain the potatoes — they will not be cooked at that point — and return them to the saucepan. Place a lid on the saucepan. Holding the lid firmly shut with both hands (the saucepan will be hot, so wear oven mitts or use dish towels), shake the saucepan vigorously for a few seconds, until the surface of the potato chunks is fuzzy; this will help the formation of a crust.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, pour the potatoes onto the sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and stir well to coat with the fat.

Return to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through, until cooked through (when you insert the tip of a knife in one of the pieces, it should meet no resistance), crusty, and golden.

Serve immediately.