Each month, I share a number of recipes on Instagram that are not featured here on Kitchen Konfidence. This post is a round up of some of my favorites. Enjoy!
This first recipe, The Curious Carrot, is a fresh spring cocktail made in partnership with Olmeca Altos Tequila.
Today I’m taking penne vodka, a childhood favorite of mine, and transforming it into a creamy, cheesy baked pasta topped with crunchy basil breadcrumbs.
Growing up, my mother never made vodka sauce, but from time-to-time, she would make a special trip to an Italian market to purchase their pre made sauce. It was rich and silky with some big, bold tomato flavor. Such a treat.
In this penne vodka recipe, I tried to capture the spirit of that sauce (though it’s been a while since I’ve had it!). Finely chopped onions, garlic and red pepper flakes are simmered in olive oil then cooked with tomato paste, strained tomatoes and vodka. Cream is added at the end for richness. Vodka, although flavorless and odorless, adds some heat and brightness to the sauce once cooked down, helping to balance the cream.
The vodka sauce is then tossed with penne and baked with a Parmesan white sauce, sliced red chiles, fresh mozzarella, and a layer of buttery breadcrumbs infused with basil. This baked pasta is impressive enough to serve to company, but comforting enough to enjoy on a casual weeknight. Continue reading for the recipe!
A clattering clique of medium-sized pasta shells shacked up with an autumnal fruit and cheese board, and shortly after, this mac and cheese recipe was born.
The cheese sauce here is made by swirling rich and creamy Brie and nutty Gruyère into a white sauce infused with onion, paprika, cayenne, nutmeg and allspice. Cooked shells join the mix along with smoky bacon and tart green apple. The mac and cheese is finished with a scattering of toasted walnuts, chopped apple and grated Parmesan cheese. Each bite is wonderfully rich with fun pops of flavor from all the mix-ins. And seriously, Brie needs to be in more mac and cheese recipes. It melts up like a dream and adds some really tasty depth of flavor. This Walnut-Crusted Mac and Cheese recipe would be perfect for a weeknight meal (you can prep everything up to 1 day in advance) paired with a light side salad or as a unique, new side dish for Thanksgiving. Continue reading for the recipe.
Say hello to my new favorite baked pasta dish.
It’s melty. It’s gooey. It’s creamy. And it’s packed with delicious roasted red pepper flavor.
The base of this dish is a pantry sauce that comes together in the food processor. Jarred roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and red wine vinegar are blitzed with some olive oil until a smooth and fiery red. Cooked pasta is then tossed in the sauce and layered in a skillet with a simple Bechamel, shredded mozzarella and chopped fresh basil (from my back yard!). The skillet spends a little time in the oven, allowing the flavors to mix and mingle while the mozz turns soft and gooey. As the skillet emerges hot and bubbling, it’s seemingly impossible to let the pasta rest for 5 minutes before digging in. You’ll be pleasantly rewarded after the brief wait though. This dish is so damn delicious. Continue reading for the recipe.
The 4th of July is almost here, and I’ve got new recipe to up your grilling game.
The base of this hearty dish is a tender mound of creamy polenta infused with cheddar cheese, Parmesan and garlic. The polenta cooks in the oven, making preparation super simple. Yummy Johnsonville Brats are then charred on a hot grill beside two halves of purple radicchio. The bitter cabbage turns golden and wilted on the outside while the inside remains fresh and crisp. Each radicchio half is sliced and tossed with lemon juice and olive oil, then mixed with juicy bits of bratwurst. The colorful topping is spooned atop the warm polenta, then finished with small leaves of bright basil. The bitterness of the radicchio salad balances the richness of the polenta and brats while the basil ties it all together.
Serve this baked polenta for a 4th of July party (or any backyard barbecue) alongside more traditional offerings like hamburgers or hotdogs. The polenta cooks for just 30 minutes in the oven, allowing plenty of time to grill up all the meats and veggies! Continue reading for the recipe.
Hello friends and happy Friday!!
I’ve got some fun things to share with you all today, including a tasty biscuit recipe, details on a new cookbook, AND a cookbook giveaway. Let’s dig in.
Russell van Kraayenburg of Chasing Delicious recently released a new cookbook called Making Dough: Recipes and Ratios for Perfect Pastries, and it’s suuuuper interesting. The book features a number of dough ratios like pie dough, puff pastry and biscuit dough along with recipes that utilize each ratio. To better understand ratios and the relationship between ingredients, Russell explains:
“Doughs comprise up to five primary ingredients: flour, fat, eggs, liquid and sugar or other sweetener. Not every dough includes all five… The relationship between the amounts of these ingredients (ratios) is what define each dough recipe and distinguish one dough from another.”
For example, if you use 8 ounces of flour, 7 ounces of fat and 2 ounces of liquid, you’ve got pie crust. If you use 8 ounces of flour, 3 ounces of fat and 5 ounces of liquid, you’ve got biscuit dough. Same ingredients, but different ratios! This is just a simple explanation, so if you want to get more into it, I would recommend checking out Russell’s book.
I find the ratio cooking method interesting, because all you have to do is memorize the ratio, and then you can make 100’s of variations. Let’s think about biscuits for a moment. Start with 8 ounces of flour, 3 ounces of butter, 5 ounces of milk, baking powder for lift, and salt for flavor. From there, you can let your imagination run wild. Try adding fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley or basil. Or cheeses like cheddar, manchego, gouda, and mozzarella. Cooked crumbled bacon, prosciutto, ham or chicken skin would be fantastic. Along with hard spices like caraway, fennel, or coriander. Mix and match add-ins any way you like! You can also play around with the flour, fat and liquid components. The biscuits could be made partially with whole wheat or rye flour. Use coconut oil instead of butter. Unsweetened almond milk instead of cow’s milk. The options are seemingly limitless. Continue reading for my biscuit recipe plus a cookbook giveaway!
Get excited. There’s a #VirutalPumpkinParty going on today (with 70+ bloggers!), and I’m bringing these Yeasted Pumpkin Waffles with Candied Ginger to the table.
First, let’s talk yeasted waffles, also known as raised or overnight waffles. I’m obsessed. A yeasted waffle is leavened with yeast instead of baking powder/soda, buttermilk or whipped egg whites. Prepared the night before, the batter bubbles and rises as the yeast consumes sugar. The finished waffles have a crisp, airy texture with a pleasant, somewhat sour yeast flavor. Aside from the flavor, what I love most about yeasted waffles is the advanced preparation. You can do all the heavy lifting the night before, and then crank out a A+ breakfast the next day with minimal effort.
Now, let’s talk about these yeasted waffles. Flavored with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger, my Yeasted Pumpkin Waffles with Candied Ginger are pure autumn. I’ve thrown candied ginger into the mix to amp up the ginger flavor in my pumpkin spice blend. Its mellow burn also adds some intrigue with each bite. The waffles are finished with maple syrup and toasted walnuts for crunch. Oh, and the AROMA!!! You guys, the smells that waft from the iron as the waffles cook are HEAVEN. Continue reading for the recipe plus all the other #VirtualPumpkinParty goodies.
Where all my stuffing lovers at??
I’ve been making a version of this Italian Kale and Sausage Stuffing recipe each Thanksgiving for the past five years. It’s a staple. Everyone loves it. Stuffing is actually my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. I mean what’s there not to love about a savory bread casserole studded with vegetables? Crispy on top and tender below. It’s heaven!
Over the years, I’ve tried many other stuffing recipes, and all were good, but somehow, I always come back to this one. It’s just so darn good. Milk-soaked pieces of airy ciabatta are tossed with a savory mixture of cooked Italian sausage, onion, celery, garlic, parsley and Tuscan kale. Parmesan cheese, basil, sage and rosemary are folded into the mixture, and then the entire casserole is baked until gloriously golden brown. With each bite, you’ll get hits of rich sausage, bitter kale, fresh herbs and salty Parmesan. For Thanksgiving this year, you must make this stuffing. Continue reading for the recipe
I don’t make macaroni and cheese that often, but when I do, I go all out.
This Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese is rich, creamy and infused with all sorts of autumn. The base starts with onion, garlic and thyme sizzling in a pan of hot butter. A cheese sauce is then made with the addition of flour, milk and grated Kerrygold Aged Cheddar. Before the cooked shells are folded into the mix, the sauce is flavored with butternut squash puree, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, cayenne, and black pepper. Finished with a layer of fresh breadcrumbs, chopped sage and Parmesan cheese, the casserole cooks in the oven until golden and bubbly. This mac and cheese is tangy, earthy and peppery with wonderful pops of crunch and herb from the breadcrumb topping. This is comfort food to the max. Like a warm blanket on a cool autumn evening. Continue reading for the recipe.
You guys. This ice cream. I can’t even. But I will, so let’s dive in.
Cold brew coffee is big right now. I had my first cold brew at Blue Bottle in San Francisco a few years ago, and I loved every drop of it. The idea behind the cold brew process is that the ground beans sit in cold water for a longer period of time until the flavors leach out into the water. The resulting cold brew coffee has a sweeter, more complex taste, because heat was not used to extract flavor. I recently learned that you can apply a similar technique to the ice cream making process. I’ve tested this technique, and I’m here to report that it’s pretty freakin’ incredible. Continue reading for the ice cream recipe.
