We’re leaving town today for an extended Thanksgiving celebration, so I didn’t want to go shopping to make dinner yesterday, even though we still had to eat. I still managed to feed my family a pantry and cook-everything-that-might-spoil kind of dinner. That’s how this cacio e pepe mac & cheese came to be.
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Tag Archives: cheese
Cacio e Pepe Pizza with Roasted Radishes
Here’s another pizza recipe for you, because you can never have too much pizza. I love a simple tomato mozzarella, but it’s also fun to mix things up. This way, I can put pizza on the menu every week and it won’t get boring, since there are so many varieties; there are so many things you can put on pizza…
Like radishes! Continue reading
Watercress Pesto
Watercress is one of those “super foods” that I’ve been seeing a lot of lately. And summer is all about being healthy, so when I had a bag of watercress just lying in my fridge I racked my brain to see what I could do with it – and pesto was just the ticket! Pesto is a favorite summertime item because it’s so easy to make and extremely versatile. You can use it to dress up sandwiches, as a sauce on pasta, or even to spread over a simple fish or chicken. This pesto recipe is extremely easy to make, as long as you have a food processor or blender on hand.
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Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Genius! Instead of plain old boring croutons, make grilled cheese and cut it into cubes for grilled cheese croutons. Makes the classic winter meal a little fancier and is completely amazing, especially if using fresh mozzarella, which I did.
Oven Risotto
People think that risotto is hard to make. And it is, but only if you use one of those recipes that has you standing over the stove mixing the wine and chicken stock and adding ladlefuls each time the liquid is absorbed. One of my favorite people ever, Ina Garten, just makes her risotto in the oven. So easy! Especially if you have homemade vegetable broth in the freezer, like I always do.
Cauliflower Gratin
We love cauliflower! And eat it many different ways. Of course, it’s always delicious just roasted with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. But this cheesy and oniony dish is simple, toasty, and not much harder than just roasting. It’s a great side dish that’s become a staple in our house. Continue reading
Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti
I love making biscotti. But it’s always a dessert or after dinner treat. This biscotti is savory, and can be served before a meal or alongside a salad. It’s really yummy, and can be eaten in place of bread sticks.
Palak Paneer
Remember when I made paneer? That was really only so I could make this dinner! A fragrant and spicy spinach dish flavored with garlic, cumin and green chiles. This was a good start for a Syrian cook, spice-wise, since I already have whole cumin in my pantry. So you don’t have to go spice shopping just yet!
I actually couldn’t find green chiles, but poblanos are pretty close, and they sell those at Fairway. Continue reading
Paneer
I’ve experimented with Indian food before, but when I found an Indian cookbook in the food section of my library, I decided to try again. How to Cook Indian: More Than 500 Classic Recipes for the Modern Kitchen by Sanjeev Kapoor is a great introduction to Indian cooking, and I even renewed it so I could experiment with some more difficult recipes, too. Sorry, neighbors, for smelling up the hallway!
The first and easiest thing I made was paneer, an Indian pressed cheese.
Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake
I have been wanting to make this cake ever since I bought this cookbook, and that was a while ago. But first I didn’t find kosher mascarpone cheese, then I didn’t have an occasion to bake it for, and then I had a baby who didn’t really allow me to do much multi-step cake baking. Well I baked it. It took a while. I juiced lemons one day, made curd another, worked on the frosting the next morning, and that afternoon finally baked the cakes. So it took a while, but it was done, decorated, and waiting in the fridge to eat. I wanted to skip lunch and just eat cake. Continue reading