Butternut Squash Pasta Roses

This pasta is one of my favourites to make for company. Its fun shape has a wow factor when serving, and the fact that everything can be prepped ahead before popping it in the oven makes the clean up easy. It’s also packed full of veggies, but I don’t think anyone will miss the meat. Butternut squash is one of my favourite vegetables and its natural sweetness and pop of colour adds to the fun. Broiling for a few mins at the end will achieve the crispy edges effect from lasagna, adding texture to every bite. A few simple ingredients come together for a lot of comforting flavour.

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Butternut Squash Pasta Roses

1.5 hours total

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash roasted, prepared below (can be done a day ahead of time)

3 cups fresh spinach (I often use a whole container 5 oz)

1 container of ricotta (475g)

1 package of “fresh” lasagna sheets

1 bottle of tomato sauce (or make your own, below)

Kosher salt

Pepper

Optional: Parmesan cheese

Optional homemade sauce:

1 bottle of passata (or canned crushed tomatoes if you can’t find passata)

2 tbsp of olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

Optional: dried herbs (oregeno, basil or italian seasoning), red pepper flakes

Method:

Butternut squash prep: (while your squash is roasting you can prep your sauce and filling)

Preheat oven to 400F

1. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds/stringy flesh

2. Place the butternut squash face down on a parchment sheet lined cookie sheet and roast for 30-40 mins, until the outside skin looks dark and the squash has slightly collapsed. You want the flesh to be fork tender.

3. Scoop the butternut squash flesh into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. You want the squash to be well seasoned - it should taste good on it’s own. Set bowl aside.

Sauce prep (optional):

1. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil into a sauce pan (or skillet) and heat to medium heat

2. Add in 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced, and sautee until fragrant (30 seconds to 1 min)

3. If you are adding in dried herbs, add them now (I usually do about 2 tsp of oregeno)

4. Pour in 1 bottle of passata and let it simmer on low for 15-20 mins, or until you’re ready to assemble the pasta. Cover if you’re going to simmer for longer than 20 mins, otherwise you’ll lose too much liquid.

5. Season with salt and pepper, feel free to add a pinch of red pepper flakes too if you like some spice

Cheese filling prep:

1. Add the ricotta into a bowl

2. Thinly slice spinach into small strands and add to bowl

3. Stir, seasoning with salt and pepper - add 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan if you’re feeling cheesy. Set aside.

The pasta prep:

1. Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil (1-2 tbsp of salt - don’t be afraid of salt, you want your water to be well seasoned so that your pasta is seasoned)

2. Drop in one lasagna sheet and simmer until it floats, about 1 minute

3. Transfer the lasagna sheet to a bowl and drizzle a little olive oil to prevent it sticking to the next

4. Continue until all the pasta sheets are cooked

The assembly:

Preheat oven to 375F

1. Scoop about ½ cup of your pasta sauce and spread at the bottom of a 13 x 9 glass baking dish

2. On a cutting board, place one pasta sheet down

3. Spread one spoonful of ricotta filling onto the pasta sheet (about 1/4 cup)

4. Spread a spoonful of butternut squash filling on top (about 2 tbsp) - it will mix a little bit but try to layer as best as possible

5. Roll the pasta sheet from the short side (should be a short cylinder, not a long cylinder)

6. Slice into thirds. Place each piece vertically in the baking dish so they look like roses

7. Continue the above for each pasta sheet, filling the pasta sheet (you might have some spaces between the “roses” but that’s ok!)

8. Fill the spaces between the pasta with remaining pasta sauce

9. Top with grated parmesan if your heart desires

10. Cover with tinfoil, and place in the oven, bake in your preheated oven for 30 mins

11. After 30 mins, remove the tin foil and broil on high for 2-3 mins to get some crispy edges on the pasta tops

12. Serve by itself, with garlic bread, or with a simple arugula salad (lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper)

Leek, Mushroom, and Camembert Quiche

In 2011, I spent part of the summer studying in Lyon, France. As a student, I tried to save money on most meals so I could splurge on a few dinners out in the city known for its food scene. This frugalness involved many Subway sandwiches early on in my stay. I was quite proud to learn the local nuances of ordering a 6-inch sub en français (lettuce is “salade”, rather than “laitue” as displayed on the menu). But soon enough, my friend and I discovered a small café just down the road from our residence with the same price point as Subway but a bit more French culture. The café had a lunch deal where you could get a slice of quiche, a side salad and a dessert of your choice for just 3 Euro! It was at that café where I fell in love with leek, camembert and honey combo in quiche form. This recipe is my version of the quiche that was a regular mainstay of my time in Lyon.

This is not a time to use your grocery store honey – stop by a farmer’s market and pick up local product to really taste the flavour potential of honey. Or if you have any vacations coming up, I encourage you to take a look for honey on your travels. I love picking up honey as my memento of a trip – honey from different regions of the world have different flavours dependant on the local flowers. I served mine with honey I picked up on a recent trip to Portugal.

A simple arugula salad with lemon juice, olive oil and salt n peppa makes the perfect side

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Leek, Mushroom, and Camembert Quiche with local honey

Ingredients:

• 1 leek, sliced

• 1 pint of mushrooms, sliced

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• Kosher salt and pepper to season

• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

• 6 large eggs

• ¾ cup 5% cream (or whatever level M.F. you desire – the higher the milk fat the creamier it will be)

• Camembert cheese, sliced into .5 cm slices (keep the cheese in the fridge until right before you slice it – will make it easier to slice thinly)

• 1 store bought pie crust, or homemade (here’s my favourite pie crust recipe - Ina Garten does no wrong!)

• Serve with honey

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare a 9” pie plate with your pie crust. Place the prepared pie plate onto a cookie sheet (this catches any overflow and makes it easier to carry the pie plate flat).*

2. Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add in the sliced leeks and sautee until soft and translucent (5-7 mins)

   • In the same way that you soften onions, the goal here is to not get any colour (brown/black) on the leeks. They should be soft and tender. The best way to tell your leeks are cooked is when they don’t hold their half circle shape as strongly any more, there’s a bit of wiggle to their shape.

3. Add in chopped mushrooms to the pan and don’t stir. Let the mushrooms cook in the pan on one side for 3-5 mins. This will allow them to brown nicely.

4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add red chilli flakes to the leeks and mushrooms and stir. Continue to cook until the mushrooms are cooked through (another 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat.

6. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper

   • Try to not get too much air into the eggs while you whisk them by keeping the whisk low in the bowl. This will ensure a custard-y texture for the quiche filling.

   • Only season your eggs right before pouring into the crust – if you season them too early they will turn grey

7. Distribute the leek and mushroom mixture evenly on top of the crust. Pour the egg mixture in next – it should reach just to the top of the crust.

8. Gently place slices of camembert on top of egg mixture – they will sink a little bit but should generally float.

9. Place in the preheated  oven and bake for 25 mins.

10. Check the quiche after 25 mins and give the cookie sheet a gentle shake. If the centre still jiggles, continue to bake and check for jiggle every 5 minute increment. I like mine browned on top, so the extra 10 mins does the trick.

11. Let it sit for 10 mins to cool and set. Slice and top with drizzles of honey. Enjoy with a light arugula salad (arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper).

*if you want to blind bake your pie crust this is when you would do it. Blind baking involves putting the pie crust into the preheated oven with a piece of parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans on top to allow the crust to pre-bake for 10 minutes before putting in the quiche filling. This ensures your crust is cooked through. Honestly, I only do this about 10% of the time when I feel really ambitious. Since the oven is quite hot for this quiche the crust will bake through well without a blind bake, but it certainly won’t hurt to do this if you’d like.

Brown Butter Chicken Stew with Cranberry-Parsley Dough Boys

This recipe is inspired by two key memories for me: the doughboys from my mom’s beef stew and a memorable meal in France.

My mom used to make beef stew with dough boys (or dumplings as we sometimes called them) growing up - a classic winter meal. There was something really magical about how when the cover came off the stew, these puffed up biscuits appeared. I can remember being told to not touch the cover of the pot because otherwise the doughboys wouldn’t turn out. For this recipe I’ve added in my favourite holiday condiment, cranberry sauce, to the doughboys for a little sweetness and tartness, and parsley for a fresh bite.

One summer during undergrad, I studied in Lyon, France. Quite a few meals from Lyon have stuck with me in 8 years that have passed, but the chicken and leek stew I had my last night was one of the most affecting. It was one of the first times I had leeks, and I was amazed by the gentle onion flavour but buttery texture of the leeks. Browning the butter at the begin of this recipe adds a nuttiness to the base of the stew, building from that flavour profile.

Veggies prepped

Fluffy doughboys with cranberries and fresh parsley

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Brown Butter Chicken Stew with Cranberry-Parsley Dough Boys

1 hour total

For the stew I recommend using a dutch oven. If you do not have a dutch oven, you can always start the browning in a cast iron skillet or frying pan and then transfer everything to a pot for the simmering of the stew.

Stew:

10-12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (around 900g)

Seasoning: summer savoury* (~1 tbsp), kosher salt (~ 1 tsp), pepper (~1 tsp)

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek**, the pale green/white part sliced length-wise, and then chopped into half cm slices

5-6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces (yields about 3 cups)

4-6 stalks of celery, diced (yields about 2 cups)

1 package of cremini or white button mushrooms, halved

½ cup frozen green peas (optional)

4 cups of chicken broth (or 1 tetra pack, 900ml)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp all purpose flour

Doughboys:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

¼ cup freshly, finely chopped parsley

2 tbsp cold butter in small, 1 cm cubes

¼ cup cranberry sauce (if you choose to not include cranberry sauce you might need to add a bit more milk)

¾ cup of milk (1% or higher)

Stew:

1. Melt the butter in the dutch oven over medium-high heat. Allow the butter to start bubbling and brown, until you see particles begin to look like they are almost burning. The butter should smell nutty and fragrant, and have an overall brown look to it (if you scoop some up into a spoon the liquid should be golden brown and the particles will look dark, almost black). Once the butter reaches this state, add in the olive oil and stir in. This will prevent the butter from burning.

2. Season the chicken thighs with kosher salt, pepper, and an even dusting of summer savoury (both sides).

3. Add the chicken to the pan to brown on each side (about 2-3 mins). Try not to overcrowd your pan or the chicken will steam instead of brown. Depending on how many pieces you do, you may need to brown in two shifts.

4. Once the chicken is browned on both sides, place it on a plate and cover. There should be some juice and oil left in the dutch oven.

5. Add in your leeks and saute until soft over medium heat (4-5 mins). Then add in celery, carrots, mushrooms and sautee for a 5 more mins. Season your vegetables with salt and pepper.

6. Add the chicken and chicken broth into the dutch oven and simmer on low-medium, covered, until carrots are soft and chicken is cooked through (15-20 mins). During this time you can prep the dough boys dough (instructions below). When you first pour in the broth it may not look like enough liquid but the vegetables will cook down and keeping the stew covered will maintain the liquid.

7. Once the carrots and chicken are cooked through, remove about ¼ cup of the stew broth into a small bowl (it’s ok if some leeks come with it) and whisk with 2 tbsp of flour until a smooth slurry is formed

8. Pour the slurry into the stew both and stir to mix in – this will help thicken the stew as it simmers.

9. Your stew is ready for the doughboys! Instructions below
   

Doughboys:

When making the dough boys, think about the delicate art of making biscuits. The same principles apply here:

• You want your butter cold and evenly distributed into the flour, looking like small peas

• Once you add in your liquid, you want to stir as little as possible, just bringing it the dough together. Over mixing will cause some dense, hard doughboys.

1. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper using a whisk to evenly distribute

2. Add in the fresh parsley and add in the butter. I like to use the palm of my hands to slide the butter pieces between my hands creating small “sheets” of butter in the flour. You could also use a pastry cutter but hands work well for this small amount!

3. In a bowl or measuring cup, gently fold the milk into the cranberry sauce. You don’t want to over stir otherwise you will have purple doughboys. A few gently folds will get the liquids mixed.

4. Pour your liquid into the dry ingredients and “fluff” using a fork until no dry spots exist. Do not overmix, just stir until the dough comes together.

5. If you are into green peas, now would be the time to stir them into your stew. Taste your stew and adjust seasoning as needed (salt and pepper, more summer savoury if desired)

6. Drop small scoops (~2 tbsp) of dough into the surface of the stew. Remember the dough boys will double in size so don’t make them too big! And try to leave a little space between them.

7. Cover for 15 mins. DO NOT OPEN THE POT. You will be very sad if you do.

8. After the 15 mins, open the pot. The dough boys should look light and fluffy, but a density that when you poke them they barely bounce back.

9. Serve with some additional chopped parsley on top and enjoy!

* summer savoury is a dried herb from the East Coast of Canada, you could substitute with savoury, thyme, rosemary, herb de provence.

**substitution: if you don’t have leeks, you can always use white onion for the base