Brown Butter Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Toasted Pine Nuts

Hello all you wonderful, wonderful people! I'm officially back from my mini-bloggy-vacation and I couldn't be more excited! I've missed you all and I've missed this... you know, this... sharing delicious food, talking about delicious food and making lots of delicious food! But, now that i'm back I feel like it's important to start everything off with a BANG! Which is why today I'm bringing you a recipe that is so simple, so delicious and just, well, it's mouthwateringly amazing... But, we'll get to that in a minute!

First I want to start off by saying that I am both happy and sad that the holiday season is over. My favorite time of the year has come and gone and even though it was amazing, I still can't help but feel a little sad that my house feels empty without all of my cozy Christmas decorations making it feel so warm and festive. I miss watching movies next to the Christmas tree and snuggling on the couch under our Christmas blankets, watching Christmas movies... but, I'm also glad that It's a new year and I feel like big things are coming! I'm hoping 2015 is going to be a year of awesome food, fun adventures, big opportunities and, hopefully some amazing memories will be made!

Just because Christmas is over and all Joy is lost doesn't mean there aren't other fun holidays to look forward to. Like, for instance, we've got Valentine's Day coming up in less than a month! I actually adore V-day, especially now that I'm married.  I love putting together the parties for my daughter's class, I love helping her create her Valentines to hand out to her friends and I love having a special dinner with my hubby and enjoying the delicious chocolates (See's Candy *cough**hint*) that he gets me every year.

  

So now that we're all excited for Valentine's Day to get here and are in no way sad about the fact that Christmas is over for a whole year, I thought I could share a recipe that would actually be a great way to celebrate love day with your loved ones! It's fancy enough to be a celebratory dinner, but easy enough to make that you won't be standing in the kitchen all night cooking! Hooray!

Be warned, as soon as we finished eating this yummy dish we immediately wanted more. It's super addictive! It makes a great lunch, {meatless monday} dinner, or would be great as a side dish! I hope you love it as much as we did. Actually, I know you will. You have to. You must!

Brown Butter Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes &

Toasted Pine Nuts:

{Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

• 1 (24 ounce) bag of small, round, cheese-filled raviolis
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
• 3 tablespoons of pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons chopped, sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 large cloves fresh garlic
• 3 tablespoons basil chiffonade
• Sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

In a small, dry skillet over medium heat, place pine nuts and continue tossing until golden brown. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Now, to make your brown butter... In a large pot or dutch oven, over medium heat, place butter and allow it to melt fully. Once melted, butter should soon begin to foam and bubble. Stir butter continuously so it browns evenly. Once it's starting to turn a nice brown color (not too dark, more like golden brown) add in your fresh garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 additional minutes, while continuously stirring. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil and about 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to package directions. Drain and toss in brown butter mixture. Spoon onto plate, drizzle with some of the extra brown butter sauce, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of pine nuts over the top and finish with a little sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. {Being able to see the sea salt and cracked pepper on the ravioli really does make the dish look fabulous!} 

Garnish with a couple of basil leaves on the top and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Basil Tortellini

I'm a bit of a pasta freak... 6/7 nights a week, if you were to ask me what I wanted for dinner, it would involve pasta. And cream. Creamy pasta, to be exact. I could live on pasta, especially tortellinis. Cheese filled ones... ohhh yes! okay, i'm done.

Let me go on to say that this creamy parmesan basil tortellini with mushrooms is one of the best pasta dishes i've ever had. Hubby agreed! Daughter probably would have, too, but she was already asleep when we ate. Yes, we eat dinner late sometimes... it's kind of our thing. Hubby and I love cooking dinners together on the weekends and we usually end up eating around 9 or so. It's one of my favorite parts of the weekend! 

If you love french and italian food, this pasta is definitely for you. It's almost an infusion... Frenchtalian. Yes. That's what it is... 

It's one of the creamiest, most flavorful pastas on the planet and it you would be doing a great thing for your family by making it for them for dinner tonight. Or tomorrow... but definitely this week!

I ended up frying up a rib eye steak and serving some slices of it right on top of the pasta, just because. It felt right. No other explanation needed, right? It would also be amazing with some blackened or even roasted chicken on top! Yum.

Creamy Parmesan Basil Tortellini with Mushrooms:

{Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces baby bella mushrooms, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (20 ounce) package 3 cheese tortellini
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

In a large dutch oven, melt/heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they darken and release their juices, about 5-6 minutes. Add flour, stir and combine, and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour wine into mushrooms, while stirring, and allow it to thicken, about 3 minutes. Once thick, add chicken broth, bring to a boil, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until liquid has significantly reduced and thickened. 

Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine heavy cream and egg yolks. Pour a small amount of hot cooking liquid into the cream/egg mixture, and whisk. Don't stop whisking! Once mixture has been tempered, pour into dutch oven and mix well! Cook for about 2 minutes, then stir in parmesan cheese, lemon juice, basil, and salt & pepper. Turn off your flame and adjust seasonings as needed. 

Mix tortellini into sauce and serve to hungry family members who have been waiting patiently and drooling as the smell of this delicious dinner wafted through the house while you were preparing it.

Cheesy Jalapeño Hashbrown Ravioli and Roasted Garlic Chicken with #OreIdaHashbrn

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

What can I say about hash browns other than they are a marvelous creation. I love, love, love delicious, crispy hash browns for breakfast and couldn't imagine life without them. In my extremely humble and valuable opinion, the only thing that could be better than hash browns for breakfast is hash browns for dinner. But not just any hash browns... Oh, no... It has to be a unique, yet delicious take on hash browns that found my husband and I delightfully pleased... Hash brown filled raviolis. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it is... kind of. But, it's a delicious kind of crazy like you can only believe once you've tasted it. 

Of course, before I could head into the kitchen and become like a mad scientist in his laboratory, I had to head out and gather my supplies. I also needed to grab a few Christmas gifts for my kids, so I needed a one-stop-shopping place like my local Walmart. I love the shopping at Walmart because I love the convenience of being able to grab some toothpaste, artichokes, underwear and a fishing pole if I needed to. It's kind of my thing... 

When I headed to the freezer section, I noticed that the Ore Ida Hash browns' packaging was decorated with cuteness from the new movie Frozen that's coming out this month! We are so excited for this movie and my 7-year-old daughter has been begging us to take her to see it. So, of course she was pretty excited when she saw the Frozen packaging. I also found out that Walmart is going to have in-store demos at some of their stores on November 30th and December 1st! Love it! Plus, there's a Disney's Frozen Giveaway going on right now and you can win a bunch of super cool prizes! Now, who doesn't love prizes? I'm a sucker for giveaways and prizes. 

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I was going to be using Won Ton wrappers again, very soon? Well, I did. I used them again and I'm still in love with them! Yes, I could have spent a long time making homemade pasta dough and yes it would have been delicious... but, I was really curious how the Won Ton wrappers would work for raviolis!

... Perfect. They worked flawlessly! So easy, so fun and so delicious! You should definitely try this out if you're a fan of Ore Ida's awesome hash browns. 

Cheesy Jalapeño Hashbrown Ravioli and Roasted Garlic Chicken:

Ingredients:

Ravioli:

• 4 cups frozen Ore Ida Shredded hash brown potatoes
• tsp salt
• tsp pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped jalapeño (I used canned!)
• 1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 48 won ton wrappers

Cheese sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (or you can adjust to your liking!)
• 3 tablespoons chopped jalapeno (canned again!)
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Chicken:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 12 whole garlic cloves, crushed
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet, place 3 cloves of crushed garlic on each breast, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven for 35-45 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juices run clear.

While chicken is roasting, in a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Saute onion for 3-4 minutes, or until soft. Add remaining butter, melt, then add hash browns. Season hash browns with salt and pepper and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked (not crispy.) Remove from heat, add jalapeño and egg yolk and mix well. Allow mixture to cool, then stir in shredded cheese.

Place 1 tablespoon of hash brown mixture in the center of a won ton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper by rubbing a little water on them, place another won ton wrapper on top and seal edges. Repeat with remaining wrappers. 

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter and whisk in flour. Cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk, making sure there are no lumps. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and bring mixture to a boil. Allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and sprinkle in a little salt. Cook raviolis for 2-3 minutes, or until they are soft, but not gummy. Drain well and toss raviolis with cheese sauce. 

Slice chicken chicken breast into thin slices and serve with raviolis. Make sure to place some of that roasted garlic on top! Yum. 

Serves 4.

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake

I'm sick, I don't feel well and I need to be taken care of. Getting sick as an adult is so different than getting sick as a child. I actually miss those days of being young, staying home from school and having my mom make me a cozy bed on the couch. I always had my chicken noodle soup and my giant cup of 7-Up and the remote control. It was awesome. Now, as an adult... It's a little different. I have a sick, fussy baby to take care of, a 2nd grader to help with homework and a family to cook for. Responsibility sucks when you're sick.

The one good thing that came out of my sickness was this Creamy Buffalo Chicken Pasta recipe! It has got to be my new favorite dinner. Seriously. No, really. I mean it! My hubby fell in love with it and even my 7-year-old daughter likes it! It's got just enough of that buffalo-y flavor to be called "buffalo," but basically it just tastes like a super creamy and magically delicious pasta. So, I guess being sick was all worth it in the end... Or maybe not. Either way... try the pasta, okay?

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients: 

• 12 ounces extra wide egg noodles
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup FRANK'S® Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
• Fresh parsley (chopped)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook noodles al dente according to package directions.

In a dutch oven, or medium saucepan, over medium heat, saute onions until translucent (about 5-6 minutes). Add cream.

In a small bowl, combine milk and flour. Add to cream. Stir in buffalo sauce and bring sauce to a boil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and is nice and bubbly. 

Cut cream cheese into 1" cubes and stir into sauce. Keep stirring until cream cheese has melted.Taste sauce and add salt and pepper according to taste.

Add chicken and noodles and combine.

Pour pasta into 9" x 13"  baking dish and sprinkle 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles over the top. Place the pasta into the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat the pasta and get the blue cheese slightly melty. 

Remove from oven, top with fresh parsley and serve.

Beer Mac and Cheese with Bacon

I have another recipe for you... I know, I know... I'm too generous! This one is simply amazing and perfect for any Oscars Night Celebrations, parties or gatherings you might be having. As i'm sure I've mentioned before, my hubby is a craft beer enthusiast and he loves when I use craft beer in my cooking. In order to appease him... Is appease a good word for that? I think so. In order to appease him, I decided to use some more of that delicious Cabot cheese... the Seriously Sharp variety, which is, by far, my favorite one! It's tangy and the flavor is out of this world! It's so good and unique that I can't even properly describe it. You just have to taste it...

So, anyways, I decided to use my Seriously Sharp Cabot cheese and some Blue's Golden Ale from 16 Mile Brewing Company to make a creamy, cheesy, insanely-flavorful macaroni and cheese loaded with bacon. Yes, you heard right... BACON! It turned out absolutely divine. Make this tonight for your husband/boyfriend/fiance and show him how much you love him, because this dish really does scream "LOVE" -- every last cheesy bite of it.



Beer and Bacon Mac and Cheese Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 pound Shell Pasta (cooked to al dente and drained)
12 ounces bacon (cooked, crumbled and divided)
3 tablespoons reserved bacon grease
6 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces beer (amber, golden or lager - I used 16 Mile Brewing Company's Blue's Golden Ale)
1 cup milk
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
2 cups Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded and divided)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a dutch oven (or large pot) add bacon grease and butter and melt over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in beer, milk and cream. Cook for 2-3 minutes, while whisking, or until mixture is thick and creamy. Stir in all but 2 slices of bacon. Remove from heat. Add 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheese, paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir until cheese has melted. If mixture seems too thick, you can add a tablespoon or two of cream until you reach the consistency you want. Add cooked noodles and mix well.

Place mixture in a lightly greased 2-1/2 quart baking dish. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup (remaining) cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Top with remaining bacon pieces.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly and delicious.

Check out these other Academy Award-Worthy Dishes:

Santa Fe Chicken Dip

Buffalo Wings

Chicken Bacon Italian BBQ Pizza

Chicken & Corn Chowder

Cheesecake Brownies