Stuffed shells for these long winter nights

While this photo may be a disaster
I could not resist gushing over this completely delicious dish.

I don't know about you, but in the winter, I crave pasta dishes with gooey cheese and comforting red sauce all the time. And, while I love lasagna, it can be a bit time consuming. Enter: stuffed shells to save the day! (Thanks, Giada!)

These shells are stuffed with a ricotta-parmesan-basil mixture and covered with good marinara and mozzarella cheese. Now, I really enjoyed the simplicity of this dish, but you could add pretty much anything you wanted to the filling: mushrooms, other herbs, shredded up carrots, peppers... your imagination could run wild! Alternatively, make these like they are and add a roasted veggie on the side, like asparagus with some lemon zest and juice. Whatever you do, you cannot go wrong.

And, they are so easy to make!

To start: boil your jumbo pasta shells in salted water for 4-5 minutes. They will be pretty hard when they are done, but they will keep on baking in the oven. In the meantime, whip up your ricotta mix: ricotta, parmesan, egg yolks, basil, salt, and pepper. Like I said, you could add just about anything to this mix, but feel free to keep it 'pure'. Now, stuff the shells with about 2 tablespoons of the mixture.
And, nestle them side by side in a baking dish, over a layer of sauce.
Now, if you are good at following directions, you will next cover the shells with sauce, and then sprinkle mozzarella over them. So it should look like this at the end:
If you are bad at following directions, and you put the mozzarella on first, and then the pasta sauce, you will have to do some 'rearranging'.
Pretty? No. But, the flavors were still dynamite.

Now, bake that off for 25-30 minutes, until it is bubbly and golden (which would be easier to accomplish by following directions...).
Top with a handful of basil.
Once it has cooled a bit...
Buon Appetito!

Stuffed Shells (adapted* from Giada)
Ingredients:
1/2 box (6 oz) jumbo pasta shells
1 24 oz jar of good marinara
1 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Lightly oil a 9x9 basking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

Partially cook the pasta shells in a large pot of boiling, salted water until slightly tender, but still quite firm, about 4-5 minutes. Drain pasta shells well and allow to cool.

In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, egg yolks, basil, salt, and pepper.

Spoon 3/4 cup (or whatever it takes) of the sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Fill the cooked shells with about 2 Tablespoons of mixture per shell (just enough until the shells are full). Arrange the shells in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells, then sprinkle with mozzarella.

Bake in the lower third of your oven until the filling is heated through and the top is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.

Let rest for a little bit before serving.

*I halved Giada's recipe, and I didn't make the arrabiata sauce

Giada's Lemon Ricotta Cookies with a Lemon Glaze

Giada, it has been far too long.
How could I leave your cookbooks unopened when recipes like 'Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze' are just begging to be made?

Fortunately for us all, Giada's Kitchen was openend, Lemon Ricotta cookies were made, and my future with Giada looks bright.

Now about these cookies... I love these lemon-glazed lemon cookies. They are just brimming with sunshiney-lemony flavor. And I think of these as 'fancy' cookies. The ricotta gives the cookies a slightly cakey texture, and the lemon glaze looks and tastes great. So, if you are looking for a cookie that is easy to make, but a touch fancier than regular cookies... these are a ringer.

Nothing about these cookies is difficult. Thank you, Giada.

Start with a lemon assembly line. Zest a lemon.
Roll that lemon to release its juice and juice it. And juice more lemons until you get 3 tablespoons (this took me 1 1/2 lemons).
Now, mix your dry ingredients together: flour, salt, and baking powder.
In a large bowl, combine your room temperature butter and sugar.
Mix that for at least 3 minutes.
Now, add your eggs in one at a time.



Next up: add in your ricotta, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix that up.
It will not be smooth.
Now, put down your mixer and grab a spatula. You want to mix the dry ingredients in by hand: this way you don't run the risk of overmixing your batter and ending up with dense, chewy cookies.
Mix just until everything is incorporated.
Leaving some room between each cookie, you want to spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter per cookie onto parchment lined baking sheets.
(Just a hint: if you have a 2 tablespoon coffee scoop, use it. I have a 2 tablespoon coffee scoop. It would have been perfect... except I totally forgot I had it.)

Bake until the edges are just golden brown. The top of the cookies won't brown, so the edges are all you have to go by.
Now, let those cool for at least 20 minutes on the baking sheet. After they have cooled, you can move them to a wire rack. You should probably put some parchment under the rack (to catch any runaway glaze).
For the glaze, you need to zest another lemon and get 3 more tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Stir that together with some powdered sugar.
And, there you have it: simple as can be lemon glaze. See how easy it is to make things fancy?
A note on the glaze: you want the glaze to be spreadable, so if it is too stiff, feel free to add some water. If it runs down the side of the cookies, that isn't a problem. You put that parchment paper under the rack, why not use it, right?

Get out a 1/2 teaspoon. Pour 1/2 teaspoon of glaze onto your cookie.
And use the back of the teaspoon to spread the glaze.
Let the glaze harden for 2 hours.
And then... enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze (from Giada's Kitchen)
Makes 44 cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese (at room temperature, if you think about it)
Zest of 1 lemon*
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets using about 2 tablespoons for each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges.** Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

While they cool, combine the confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir until smooth.*** Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the glaze onto each cooled cookie and use the back of the spoon to spread it to the edges. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies in an airtight container.

*For this recipe, you need the zest of 2 lemons and a total of 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. I was able to get that amount from 3 lemons, but I would have 4 or 5 lemons on hand just to be on the safe side.
**When I made these in Colorado 15 minutes was perfect. But this time in California, it took more like 17-18 minutes. I think having all the ingredients at room temperature, should help keep the baking time around 15 minutes.
***If the glaze feels stiff and unspreadable, add a little water until it is the right consistency.