The stuff I ate

Lemon mascarpone blondies

My husband loves blondies. Loves them. I find them a little boring, so I was happy to come across the lemon mascarpone blondies recipe at simplyrecipes.com. These have just the right hit of lemon.

• 1/2 cup of butter, melted
• 1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
• 8 ounces of mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.
3. Add the lemon juice, zest, and mascarpone cheese and mix thoroughly.
4. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together.
5. Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 9 blondies

Stuffed shells

For the past few weeks I’ve been craving stuffed shells. I’ve made good versions a couple times before but wasn’t able to find the recipe I used, so I made a recipe on the fly.

• 21 jumbo shells
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 500 gm container ricotta cheese 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 2 cups grated mozzarella 
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

For the sauce:

• 450 gm extra lean ground beef
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• jar of pasta sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cook the shells according to package directions. Make sure not to overcook or the shells will tear when you stuff them.
3. Brown the beef with the garlic. Stir in pasta sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Combine salt, cheeses, eggs, parsley.
5. Spread a few spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 dish.
6. Stuff shells and place in the dish.
7. Cook at 350F for 1 hour. 

Verdict:

Very good. A bit too much filling—the shells were very full but I still had plenty of cheese leftover. There wasn’t quite enough sauce, will make homemade or use 2 jars next time.