Spicy Stuffed Shells

Hello hello, old friends!

I apologize for the rather long hiatus. In my defense, during the break I was moving from Erie to DC, so that was kind of life consuming.  But I'm back and prepared to start cooking up a storm.

One of my favorite things about fall (besides the leaves and the air and the sunlight and the smell and the cider and the treats and the everything), is the opportunity to break out your favorite comfort food recipes.  Dishes that are warm and hearty and make your house smell amaaaaaaazing as they bubble away in the oven.

This stuffed shell recipe is one of my all-time favorite recipes.  The shells are stuffed with turkey and artichokes and cheese and then smothered in a spicy marinara sauce that is amped up with extra pancetta and garlic.  And of course the whole thing is topped with mozzarella cheese before it's baked.  My mouth is actually watering thinking about it, and I just had this last week. It is that good.

Penne with Spring Asparagus and Chicken

Nothing says "end of winter" to me like asparagus.  After a snowy spring, all I want to do is bask in the warm weather and avoid turning on my oven to make dinner. Thus, we have this "light" dish of pasta and asparagus made on the stove top.

Even when I cook a relatively healthy meal like this one, I end up eating copious amounts of it. So I just ignore the health aspect altogether and add truffle butter.  Truffle butter makes everything better.

Piqued your interest, have I?

Before we get to the butter, though, let's talk about making pasta.  Pasta is one of those tricky things that seems ridiculously simple to make, and yet when you do it at home, it's never as good as when you get it at a restaurant. Box of pasta + boiling water = properly cooked pasta. Right? Wrong.  I've learned there are two tricks to making restaurant quality pasta at home.