I am not Italian. Let's be clear about it. But I love me some Italian food (as you might already know from my near-innumerable postings about Antico Posto in Oakbrook).
My sister requested stuffed shells for her birthday, and the menu that resulted ended up being pseudo-Italian and super delicious.
I'll admit, I made the shells from the recipe on the package. It was simple enough but tedious at the same time. If you're not a patient person, make lasagna instead. The first shell I stuffed was neat and pretty; I made a cannelle from the filling and gingerly placed it in the pasta. By the time I got to the last one, I'm pretty sure I was angry and had ricotta in my hair. My best suggestion for the shells is this: make them ahead of time, arrange them in the pan, and stick it in the fridge until about 45 minutes before you're ready to eat dinner. Nobody needs to see you cussing out a casserole dish. Trust me.
Now, since pasta's pretty heavy (especially the kind filled with all manner of delicious cheesiness and topped with sausage-y tomato sauce) the only side dishes I made were salads. Grape tomatoes looked excellent at the grocery store, so I halved two pints to make a caprese salad. Here's how it went down:
Caprese Salad a la Foodie:
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved and salted to draw out moisture (stick them in a colander over a bowl for about 20 minutes)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4-5 large leaves of basil cut into ribbons just before serving
2 Tsp. Balsamic vinegar
3 Tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
~1 Tsp. honey (maybe a little less)
Salt and pepper
Toss the mozzarella and tomatoes together. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, oil, and honey with a pinch of salt and fresh-cracked pepper. (You won't use all the dressing for this amount of salad. Either store the remainder or use it for salad.) Pour dressing, to taste, over tomatoes and cheese and add in basil. Toss gently to coat and chill before serving.
I also threw together a great big romaine salad with thinly sliced hearts of romaine lettuce, quartered grape tomatoes, and a little thinly sliced red onion (which I rinsed with cold water and soaked for a while in a mixture of balsamic and water to take some of the sharpness out).
We usually go crazy with appetizers, but I wanted to do something simple this time around. We'd purchased a trio of Italian cheeses and some fruit, so I set up a little cheese board. It featured Balsamic Bellavitano (strong, aged, nutty, with Balsamic vinegar), Parmesan SarVecchio (aged, sweet, nutty, a little caramel-y) and Asiago Fresco (a bit like Swiss, tasty but not my favorite) along with quartered black figs, sliced Fuji apple, and crackers. Coupled with a nice Cuvee red wine and a sweet white, these snackies were an all-around crowd pleaser.
Dessert was pie (not homemade, regrettably, but darlings, I just didn't have the time!). Also, fun fact: you can make your pie into a milkshake. I won't go into details about why I made it. Just know it's yummy.
Apple Pie Shake (Serves 2)
1 slice Dutch apple pie
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 cup 2% milk
Throw it all in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Taste it and be amazed (I know I was).
I'm still full...I guess it was a success.
Happy Almost-Labor Day!
~AF
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