Hello Chompers!
Remember those hand-rolled canneloni I made a while ago? I liked them a lot, so I experimented with a different filling. This time, I used eggplant for the center filling and grilled red peppers and mascarpone for the outer filling. The canneloni were baked in a batch of D.I.Y. tomato sauce made with cherry tomatoes and a few dried chili peppers for spice. (more…)
Convenience foods are not for me, obviously. Why make things easy if you can make them unnecessarily complicated? If I had my way, I would actually roll my own pasta, make my own ricotta, and grow my own vegetables. Sadly, the circumstances of my life (such as, you know, people at work insisting that I actually produce something that isn’t edible) are kind of prohibitive.
In order to fulfill my need for D.I.Y cooking endeavors, I made these canneloni. And while I kept dreaming about owning a pasta machine, a goat farm, and a flourishing allotment full of home-grown spinach leaves, I had lots of fun AND produced a meal that elicited clearly audible CHOMPS! (more…)
I can’t believe that Marbles’ birthday was already a month ago, and that it took me this long to share the recipe that resulted from the fridge full of leftovers that is the inevitable aftermath of a successful birthday party. I kind of hate it when blog writers keep apologizing for not having posted in long time. So I’m not going to apologize, and instead give you the recipe to a fantastic mac & cheese.
When I think of mac & cheese I don’t immediately have visions of macaroni covered in orange goo. I grew up with the South African version, which is a lot like the English version, and probably a lot like non-boxed, gramma-style American mac & cheese. It involves macaroni, usually with some onion and diced ham, mixed with grated cheese, topped with breadcrumbs, and baked in the oven. It’s pretty delicious, but I’m not a fan of boiled ham, and figured the dish could do with a slightly healthier, less greasy update. And this is the result: a delicious, gooey, crunchy mac & cheese with the added flavor of fresh broccoli and tangy cottage cheese. The perfect comfort food, but relatively easy on the aorta. (more…)