Ricotta-Stuffed Shells with Burrata, Mushrooms, and Herbs & Perfect Herby Salad

I put this recipe off for as long as possible. Not because it didn’t sound good, but because it has more dairy than anyone should eat in a single meal. I’m talking heavy cream, ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella all filling every imaginable nook and cranny of a 2 quart dish. A delicious stomach ache just begging to happen. 

Well I certainly wasn’t going to eat this one alone. We invited two dear friends over, Elli and Christian, to help us eat it and make it. Why not make the Great Dairy Assembly, as I’m now going to call it, a communal activity? 

Before our friends arrived, I went ahead and started the mushrooms roasting in the oven as well as bringing a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Alison recommends a variety of mushrooms, but I just went for the straightforward pre-sliced baby Bella mushroom cartons at TJ’s. I’ve cooked a lot of her mushroom recipes lately, and I was honestly over spending $7 for 5oz. of little shiitakes. 

I scored some gluten free shells on Amazon, Tinkyada Brown Rice Grand Shells. The packaging says to boil the shells for 15-16 minutes for al dente, so that’s what I did. The edges of the shells were very cooked by that point, but the centers were a little tougher, harder. I definitely didn’t cook them perfectly, but once you’ve poured out the pasta water, it’s hard to go back. Oh well. I did as Alison instructed and poured the newly cooked shells onto an oiled baking sheet to help them cool and not stick together. This mostly worked. 

Now for the Great Dairy Assembly. Elli took each shell and filled it with the Great Dairy Mixture, consisting of ricotta, heavy cream, shaved parmesan, salt and pepper. One by one, she placed them in the baking dish while I desperately tried to arrange them without letting them tip over and spill their filling. Which turned out to be very difficult. Despite the rather al dente state of the pasta, the shells wanted desperately to let the cheese run out. We made a valiant effort to keep them all intact, but it sure was messy. With the shells filled and haphazardly arranged, we stuffed torn pieces of a mozzarella ball into whatever crevices we could find. Next, we poured heavy cream over the dish, followed by the roasted mushrooms. We baked the dish as instructed, about 35 minutes in total. 

Meanwhile, Elli and I prepared the herbs and lemon zest for topping the pasta, as well as Alison’s Perfect Herby Salad. We used lots of parsley, tarragon, and chives. For the salad, I threw in a bag of mixed greens. Alison’s perfect salad dressing is exactly how I dress my salads 90% of the time anyway: olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. It’s truly all I need to enjoy a salad. 

The shells came out bubbling hot and the mushrooms had turned an even richer brown. We topped them with the fresh herb mixture, and yes, more parmesan. The four of us finished off every shell but one, which wasn’t a Minnesota-nice move, I swear — we were just too full to fathom eating one more shell.

206 and 207 recipes cooked, 18 to go.

Trout Roe on Buttered Toast with Lemony Herbs & Smoked Trout with Mustard and Apples by Alison Roman

For the not-so seafood savvy like me, you might be wondering, what is trout roe exactly? Also referred to as caviar, roe is an unfertilized egg collected from a fish. Not exactly a description I call “appetizing.” I recognize that many people view caviar as a delicacy, but I’m not really a delicacy kind of person. Needless to say, I put this recipe off until I couldn’t any longer. 

Last week, I decided that it was high time to start crossing off the final seafood recipes. So I picked two: trout roe on toast and smoked trout with mustard and apples. Then I marched over to Whole Foods with determination and a tinge of dread. I found smoked trout in a refrigerator next to the seafood counter, but didn’t see the roe. I asked the seafood counter for help, and turns out, the roe was next to the smoked trout, but it was labeled caviar. Clearly I hadn’t done my research yet. They didn’t have trout roe, but Alison says salmon roe will do the trick, so that’s what I purchased. 

I paid for the products reluctantly (caviar is pricey!) and marched back over the bridge toward home. That afternoon, I popped a slice of sourdough in the toaster, smeared a heck of a lot of butter on it, and topped it with dill, lemon zest, flaky salt, and roe. And it wasn’t bad. It’s hard to mess with buttered toast and dill. Roe is very fishy, perhaps too much for my taste. But I could sort of convince myself that it was good. I still have much of the jar left, so maybe I’ll try it with potato chips like Alison does in the video she released today (I swear I’m getting more and more on her wavelength somehow). 

The next day, I pulled out the package of smoked trout and tried a small bite. Again, not terrible, but not something I’d normally choose to eat. This salad is a nice way to eat it though, with plenty of vinegar to balance out the fishiness. Sour cream smeared on the bottom of the bowl, mustard greens (I used arugula) and mustard seeds soaked in apple cider vinegar. Smoked trout, too. All in all a fine combination. Jordan and I ate this for lunch. Now that I’m thinking about, it would have gone nicely with some salty potato chips, too! 

If you like this kind of fishy food, I think you’ll love these recipes. If you don’t, feel free to skip them.

190 and 191 recipes cooked, 34 to go.

Fennel-Rubbed Pork Chops for Two by Alison Roman

I just received a text from Jordan, my husband, that reads: 

“The pork tastes just as good today! I’d say this recipe should go into the rotation :)” 

In other words, well, in my words, this dish is freaking fantastic and we will eat it often. 

Look at that caramelized brown sugar crust!

Undoubtedly, these pork chops rank in my top 10 Alison recipes, for several reasons. 

1. Flavor: The key here is subtlety. Though I’m usually one to favor in-your-face food (more salt, more lemon, more tang!), these chops seemed to hold back ever so slightly. Perhaps it was the perfectly balanced ratio of brown sugar to salt with the occasionally present fennel seed bursting with anise-like notes. Or maybe it’s the way that the fennel bulb softened and tempered as it heated through with the pork juices. 

2. Ease: Talk about a simple preparation! The chops are rubbed with a toasted fennel seed and brown sugar mixture, anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours before cooking. I prepped my chops right after breakfast so they spent plenty of time with the rub. I can only imagine how those hours of marination helped to tenderize the meat. The cooking method is a pan sear (cast iron preferred) until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, which only took about 15 minutes. Part way through, a thinly sliced fennel bulb is added to the pan. It becomes golden and limp as it soaks up the pork fat and liquified brown sugar. Top the plate with herbs and lemon zest. Voilá! 

3. Satisfaction: Bone-in pork chops are substantial, especially when you follow Alison’s instructions and buy ones that are 1½ inches thick. With the fennel on the side, Jordan and I were full after splitting one chop! 

4. Leftovers: Apparently, they’re “just as good” as the stuff that’s hot-off-the-pan. 

67 recipes cooked, 158 to go.

Mom’s Trout with Herby Breadcrumbs by Alison Roman

Trout… you mean the fish that my uncles caught every summer on our family trip in the mountains? The one that smells potently fishy? The one that made my cousins giggle as they cut it open with a pocketknife to watch the guts squirt out? 

I’m not making you want to read this post, sorry. I just have trout baggage. 

If it’s not abundantly clear already, I trust Alison’s taste, even when I don’t always agree with it. Even so, her trout recipes, of which there are several, have been on my “make once and never again” list from the very beginning. I wasn’t at all excited about making her mom’s trout. I did, however, have leftover sourdough to make the herby breadcrumbs – which is how this all began. 

Using my food processor, I pulsed my last few sourdough slices into breadcrumbs. I then mixed them with melted butter, chopped parsley and thyme. Seasoned with salt and pepper, I scattered them over the trout fillets and popped them into the oven for 10 minutes, until the crumbs were bubbling from the butter and the fish was just cooked through. Trout filets are very thin, so they take no time at all. 

I found my trout at Trader Joes, though I could only find it frozen. I chose to let it thaw in the refrigerator, starting in the morning. The scent was quite fishy, just like I expected, but the fresh breadcrumbs and lemon juice did a nice job tempering the scent so it didn’t overpower the meal. 

Based on this experience, I’ll give trout another try. I won’t, however, be gutting it myself like my uncles do. No way, Jose. 

64 recipes cooked, 161 to go.

with red wine risotto

Citrus Chicken Rested in Herbs by Alison Roman

Talk about a summer meal! This bright juicy chicken begs for a summer bbq. It’s also a great oven-friendly chicken for days when you want to pretend you’re in summer. The bottom line is summer. 

The first step in this recipe tripped me up. Cutting a chicken completely in half, between the breasts and through the backbone. Can my knife really… do that? The answer is, yes, your knife (if you have a good chef’s knife) really can cut through a backbone if you apply enough pressure. Alison claims a cleaver is the best tool for the job, but honestly, who casually owns a cleaver? And why not spatchcock it? Alison says it “eliminates the air space in the cavity of the bird, which means it will cook much faster.” I don’t know. My gut tells me spatchcocking would have worked just as well, since I made mine in the oven. I can see why cutting it in two pieces would be useful for grilling (ease of flipping), but if I make this again, I may try spatchcocking. 

Both chicken halves are marinated in fresh lime juice (or lemon juice), fresh orange juice, soy sauce, garlic and yuzu kosho. What is yuzu kosho, you ask? It’s a Japanese condiment made from fresh green chiles. It’s the consistency of curry paste and comes in a similarly shaped jar. I searched multiple grocery stores for this little condiment, to no avail. Alison utilizes this ingredient in multiple recipes, so I took the plunge and ordered some on Amazon. Here’s a fun article about it from Bon Appetit if you want to learn more. 

The chicken needs at least 30 minutes in the marinade (or up to 24 hours) to soak in the flavor. Then it’s oven-roasted for 35-45 minutes until the skin is impossibly golden and crispy looking. Plate the halves on top of thinly sliced citrus and a boat load of herbs, and drizzle reserved marinade on top. 

Crispy skin and powerful flavor are what make this chicken special. I can see why yuzu kosho is a popular “secret weapon” -- it adds heat, but heat that’s also tangy instead of a pure heat like gochujang. In other words, yuzu kosho is the Cholula to Sriracha. While Alison says you can substitute the yuzu kosho here for sambal or a jalapeno, I’d encourage you to go the extra mile (or internet search) to find this special chile paste instead. 

62 recipes cooked, 163 to go.