It's Recipe Friday Y'All!

In my line of work I am often asked to share easy healthful recipes with the masses.  Well actually I'm often asked "so what's your favorite thing to cook" which has always struck me as the oddest question.  I love to cook all sorts of things, I love to bleed over into the pastry world, I love to create cocktails that pair well with my food.  I love it all, and you should, because this is a pretty thankless business.  You work like a dog and get paid like a pauper so you'd better love it...but I digress.

The truth is I love to eat the fussy stuff but I'm not so keen on slaving hours in my kitchen to create it.  I'll happily set up shop throughout the holidays, creating menus, revising menus, testing dishes, and laboring over the perfect turkey.  But unless you plan on breaking out the china I feel like elegant understated easy dishes are the way to go.  I'd love to share some of those easy dishes with you every Friday with user friendly instructions that promise great results.  Expect video tutorials once this blog goes extra fancy.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy this:

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce

This recipe is my "company is coming let's make it ahead" stand by.  With a salad and some rustic bread this can easily feed a crowd of 6-8.  But the true beauty lies in the fact that you only cook the pasta half way and finish the dish in the oven.  This allows you to stuff all those pretty little shells and toss them in the freezer.  You can pull out as few or as many as you wish! Making the bang for your buck, or in this case, meals for your time, invaluable.

What you'll need:

For the shells:
1, 12 oz box jumbo pasta shells
3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (aprox. 1 cup)
5 cloves of garlic
1 lb of ground turkey
1, 10 oz package frozen artichokes, thawed and roughly chopped
1, 15 oz container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
2 Tbl chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
5 cups Arrabbiata Sauce (recipe below)
2 cups grated mozzarella

For the sauce:
2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
6 oz sliced pancetta, roughly chopped (bacon works in a pinch or if you're just pinching pennies)
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups of your favorite marinara sauce

What to do:

For the sauce:

You'll want to make this sauce ahead of time and allow it to cool.  However, if you're pulling these puppies out piecemeal (pun totally intended) then I say skip making your own sauce all together.  Just grab your favorite marinara and go to town.  You may even get lucky and find a jarred Arrabbiata already ready already (Trader Joe's makes a pretty tasty one).  You'll hardly miss the jazzed up version.  I only bother with it when I know I'm going to be baking off all the shells at once. If you hate the idea of sacrificing a crispy pork product lingering somewhere in your dish then cook up the pancetta with your turkey and stuff it into the shells.  If you do plan on making the sauce, here's what ya do:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat.  Add the pancetta and sauté until golden brown (if you are using bacon take it to a medium crispness) somewhere around five minutes of cooking time.  Add the garlic and saute until tender, make sure you are only using medium heat, as this process goes quickly and if you burn the garlic there's really no going back.  Add the marinara sauce and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

For the shells:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and partially cook just until pliable but still very firm to the bite, approx 4-5 minutes.  Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.  Set aside on a cookie sheet to cool, with the shells separated so as not to stick together.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.  Add the ground turkey 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 allow mixture to cool.  *Don't cheat here, allow it to cool, if you combine hot off the stove meat with the cheeses and egg you run the risk of curdling the egg and making a gooey mess of the cheese.*

In a large bowl combine the ricoatta cheese, Asiago cheese, slightly beaten eggs, basil, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.  Then add the cooled turkey mixture and again stir to combine.

Cover the bottom of a 9 X 13 X 2 baking dish with 1 cup of sauce (this will prevent sticking).  To stuff the shells take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of the turkey mixture.  Repeat, and align the stuffed shells in the baking dish until full (approx 24 shells).  Cover shells with remaining sauce (these measurements can all be eyeballed if you are cooking only a few shells at a time) and top with mozzarella.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown approx 20 min. If the shells are frozen no need to thaw simply cook them longer approx 60 minutes.

Stuffed shells can be frozen sans sauce on a cookie sheet so as to prevent sticking.  Once frozen seal tightly in a plastic bag for up to 1 month.

This recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian