Blackened Tilapia recipe

Super easy recipe! This is perfect for beginners trying to build their spice rack, or anyone trying to use up their spices!

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Blackened Tilapia

ingredients:
• 2 to 4 (½ lb each) tilapia fillets
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter + more if needed
• 2 tbsp olive oil + more if needed
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ground coriander seed
• ¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp seasoned salt (Lawry's Less Sodium)
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• thyme leaves for garnish

instructions:
1)  Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Let fish come to room temperature for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the spice rub.
2)  For the spice rub, mix the following ingredients in a bowl: chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground coriander, Old Bay, dried thyme, cayenne, seasoned salt, and kosher salt.
3)  Brush one side of the fillets with melted butter, then season with sea salt and pepper, and top with a generous sprinkling of the spice rub.
4)  Add olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Once butter has melted completely, add fillets seasoned side down; cook for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, brush the side facing up with melted butter, season with sea salt and pepper, and top with a generous sprinkling of the spice rub.
◘ tip: Do not overcrowd the pan. I used a 12-inch nonstick saute pan and cooked 2 fillets at a time.
5)  Flip the fillets and cook for 4 minutes. Transfer cooked fillets to a plate and sprinkle with sea salt.
◘ tip: If cooking more than 2 fillets, dump out the old oil and start over with fresh butter and oil.
6)  Garnish with thyme leaves.
   

Sausage and Cheese Manicotti recipe

Fun Fact: The first time I ever made this recipe back in March 2014, my husband said this was "better than my mom's." I squealed inside, just a bit ;) It was a huge compliment! His mom is half-Italian who made everything from scratch, like pasta and bread, when they were little. I wish I had memories like that with my mom.

We are gonna use jarred pasta sauce to make things easier. When choosing Three Cheese Pasta sauce, read the ingredient label and look for Romano, Ricotta, and Parmesan.

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Sausage and Cheese Manicotti

For the Pasta
ingredients:
• 8 oz manicotti
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• water

instructions:
1)  Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add salt and pasta, give it a stir. Cook 2 minutes shy of al dente. Drain pasta and carefully transfer each one to a cooling rack.
◘ tip: Use the handle end of a wooden spoon to pick up the hot manicotti.

For the Sausage
ingredients:
• 1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sprig of rosemary, minced
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 8 oz mascarpone

instructions:
1)  Break apart the sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes, while continuously breaking apart the sausage. Add shallots, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper; cook for 2 minutes.
2)  Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add mascarpone, cook and stir around until everything is well combined, about 2 minutes. Off the heat and let cool while you make the cream sauce.
3)  Once sausage mixture has cooled down, and before stuffing the manicotti, move all the sausage to one side of the skillet, then tilt the skillet so that all of the grease slides over to the other side. Drain off as much grease as you can (it doesn't need to be bone-dry).

For the Cream Sauce
ingredients:
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup half & half
• 1 cup aged Asiago cheese, freshly grated
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

instructions:
1)  In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream and half & half to simmer over medium-low heat. When tiny bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan, add Asiago cheese, salt, and pepper. Increase heat to medium and whisk around until cheese is melted completely and the sauce thickens slightly.

To Assemble:
• 24 oz jar of Three Cheese Pasta Sauce (with Romano, Ricotta and Parmesan)
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ cup aged Asiago cheese, freshly grated
• Italian flat-leaf parsley for garnish (optional)

1)  Preheat oven to 400° F. Add half of the pasta sauce and 1 cup of the cream sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, spread it around.
2)  Stuff the manicotti with sausage mixture using a teaspoon. Do not overstuff to avoid tearing the pasta. Arrange manicotti in a single layer in the sauce.
◘ tip: You should be able to stuff 11-12 manicotti. If you run out of filling, simply fill the rest with shredded mozzarella cheese.
3)  Pour the rest of the pasta sauce and cream sauce over the manicotti, spread it around.
4)  Sprinkle Asiago cheese all over the top, followed by mozzarella.
5)  Bake for 25 minutes. Let manicotti stand for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley leaves or chopped parsley, if desired.
      

Frittata recipe

Hubby was off one Saturday so I decided to make a little more effort for brunch. I browsed through my recipe notebook and found this gem. The first 3 times I've made this before I used jarred piquillo peppers, Kalamata olives, and Asiago cheese. This time around though, I was out of all of those. But I did have roasted red pepper, black olives, and Pecorino Romano. They pretty much tasted the same but I can't be 100% sure since I wasn't tasting them side-by-side. The end result for both, I feel like, was a tad salty. Although my husband says it was seasoned just right, so I've included seasoning the potatoes with salt as an optional step.

Reminder: Beat the egg mixture vigorously to incorporate more air, resulting in a fluffier frittata. No one wants a flat frittata! Think of it this way -- frittata is like a deep dish pizza, not thin crust.

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Frittata

For the Egg Mixture
ingredients:
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tbsp half & half
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ¼ cup Asiago or Pecorino Romano cheese, freshly grated

instructions:
1)  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl; beat egg mixture vigorously. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375° F.

For the Filling
ingredients:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ lb pancetta, diced
• ¼ lb Yukon gold potato or fingerling potato, diced
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt (optional)
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 black olives, cut to rounds
• 2 tbsp jarred roasted red pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp chives, chopped
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

instructions:
1)  Heat oil in a 10-inch oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add pancetta, saute until cooked through, about 4-7 minutes depending on the size of the dice. Remove pancetta to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the grease in the skillet.
2)  Add potatoes to the same pan still over medium-low heat. Season with salt (optional) and saute until potatoes are cooked through, about 7 minutes.
3)  Add olives and roasted red pepper, season with cayenne and black pepper; toss around for 1 minute. Remove all veggies to a plate, leaving the grease in the skillet.
4)  Turn down the heat to low. Add butter to the skillet, making sure to coat the bottom and sides. Pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle pancetta, veggies, and chives all over the top.
5)  Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
6)  Remove skillet from the oven. Let frittata cool slightly in the pan for 5 minutes. Slide the frittata to a plate and cut into fourths.
7)  Before serving, use paper towels to blot away excess grease on top. Serve with favorite condiment such as ketchup, hot sauce, sour cream, etc.
    

Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus recipe

Fun Fact: My husband loves cheese! He loves it so much that he won't let the cheesy crust stuck to the bottom of the pan go to waste whenever I make this side dish. Crispy and slightly burnt cheese crust, yum!

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Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

ingredients:
• 1.5 lbs B-size red potatoes (Dole)
• half of the asparagus bundle (about 10-15 spears)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided use
• ¾ tsp kosher salt, divided use + more for sprinkling
• freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

instructions:
1)  Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy clean up. In a bowl, mix cheese and garlic; set aside. Rinse and scrub potatoes well, wipe dry with paper towels. Cut potatoes into quarters and add them to the sheet pan. Trim off the tough ends of the asparagus (about 2-inches off the bottom) and cut into thirds.
2)  Drizzle potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil, season with ½ tsp salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Roast potatoes for 25 minutes.
3)  In the meantime, put asparagus on a plate, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, season with ¼ tsp salt, and pepper; toss to coat and set aside.
4)  After 25 minutes, toss the asparagus in with the potatoes. Sprinkle cheese-garlic mixture all over the top. Roast for 20 minutes.
5)  Sprinkle roasted veggies with salt as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve and enjoy!
   

Mini Farfalle Pasta with Shrimp recipe

Mm-mm-mmm! In the words of my kid, this dish is "Mmm! `Licious!"

It's not that I like cream sauces more than tomato-based sauces for pasta (I like them equally!), but I still have mascarpone (see Orange-Scented Nutella Cannoli recipe) in the fridge and it would be a waste not to use it and just let it go bad. I would recommend you use a real smoky bacon, and make sure it is thick cut; you're gonna need the rendered fat from the bacon. One more thing, this recipe requires you to multitask so mise en place is your best friend. You'll be boiling pasta, roasting shrimp, and making the sauce simultaneously. So without further ado, let's get to cooking!

Printable Recipe

Mini Farfalle Pasta with Shrimp

For the Broiled Onion
ingredients:
• quarter of an onion, slivered into eighths
• kosher salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, divided use

instructions:
1)  Line a broiler pan with foil for easy clean up. Preheat broiler for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place the onion slivers on the broiler pan, sprinkle with salt, and top each sliver with butter. For broilers located underneath the oven, place the broiler pan on the middle rack and broil until onions are lightly charred, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

For the Pasta
ingredients:
• ½ lb mini farfalle pasta
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• water

instructions:
1)  Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add salt and pasta, give it a stir. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta.
◘ tip: While waiting for the water to come up to a boil, start preheating the oven for the shrimp.

For the Shrimp
ingredients:
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

instructions:
1)  Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy clean up. Add shrimp onto the sheet pan, drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Arrange shrimp in a single layer and roast for 8 minutes. Set aside.
◘ tip: While shrimp is roasting, start making the sauce.

For the Sauce
ingredients:
• 2 bacon strips, thick cut
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 cup mascarpone, room temperature
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper + more for serving
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tbsp Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• ½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated + more for serving
• lemon wedges for serving (optional)

instructions:
1)  Add bacon to a dry saute pan and place it over medium-low heat. Fry for 4 minutes on each side. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
2)  Add the rest of the ingredients to the same saute pan over medium heat. Whisk/stir around until sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes.
3)  Add pasta, shrimp, and broiled onions to the sauce; toss to coat for 1 minute. Turn the heat off.
4)  Chop bacon. Add a serving of pasta to a dish, top with some bacon, sprinkle with cheese and a few grinds of black pepper.
5)  Serve with lemon wedges and chopped parsley for garnish, if desired.