Comforting dinners Archives

If you search the archives of this blog, you will discover that there are no recipes for stuffed pasta of any sort. I have always assumed that they are too much work to make. As I typed that last sentence, I realized how bizzare that sounds, coming from someone who often posts cakes that take all day to create.

I was inspired to give stuffed shells a whirl after watching Jeff Mauro make these Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Shells on The Kitchen a few weeks ago. The base of most stuffed shell recipes consists of ricotta, mozzarella, and an egg. You can choose your own flavour adventure. I decided on kale and plant-based spicy sausage. Jeff made a delicious looking vodka-tomato-cream sauce to lay his shells on, but I took the easy route and pulled out a jar of Rao’s Marinara Sauce (Not sponsored, just love it! Great price at Costco this week, by the way.)

Remember to cook the shells for a minute or two less than the package directions, as they will continue cooking in the oven with the sauce. You can put the filling into a disposable piping bag if you like, but honestly, it didn’t take that long to actually fill them with a spoon.

Sprinkle a bit of extra cheese on top of the shells before baking.

The recipe for this serves 4-6. if you are just cooking for two, make the full recipe but divide it into 2 smaller casserole dishes. Bake one for dinner that night and freeze the second for another time. You can bake it frozen without thawing. Freezer meal make me happy.

Click here to print recipe for Sausage-and-Kale-Stuffed-Shells-Download

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, it’s no secret that I love breakfast for dinner. There is something about those typical morning foods that seem to soothe and calm me. Just think about it. By the end of the day, when we’re feeling tired and a little bit overwhelmed, we need some serenity. I think there is also some sort of illicit pleasure in breaking the rules. I’m an adult now, and I can eat breakfast for dinner if I want!

When I saw Tim Robinson’s recipe for “Hearty Kale breakfast Bowl” on thefeedfeed.com, I knew I wanted to have it for dinner. I adapted his recipe slightly, adding in some butternut squash and seasoning it with smoked paprika and garlic. It takes about 35 minutes to roast the potatoes and squash, but during that time, you can prepare the other bowl ingredients.

The bitterness of the kale is perfectly balanced by the fatty richness of creamy avocado and oozy egg yolk. The cubes of potato and squash turn into crispy little nuggets. Crumbled feta adds a hit of salt. Don’t skimp on the red pepper flakes! This dish hits all the right notes.

Tim suggests using leftover grains instead of the potatoes. Farro, barley or rice would be excellent substitutions.