Hello everyone! Last night I had my Life Group (Bible study) gals over so that I could cook up my first blog meal and get some feedback. Since my blog is called "Shauna La Italiana" (shout out to my Sicilian roots!), I thought it would be fitting to make one of my favorite pasta dishes. The menu for dinner was salad with a super simple home-made dressing, butternut squash ravioli with my signature brown sugar-nutmeg sauce and vanilla ice cream with a fresh strawberry-balsamic topping. Sound good? Ok, so this is what you do...
I first started prepping for the dessert.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberry-Balsamic Topping
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- Turbinado Sugar (brown sugar works too)
- Balsamic vinegar
- Fresh-ground pepper
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Mini-chocolate chips (optional)
We're going to start with dessert first because the sauce needs to marinate at room temperature for at least an hour. Here's whatcha do...
1) Chop strawberries (several per person) and place in a bowl.
2) Add several spoonfuls of sugar.
3) Add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
4) Stir everything together, cover and leave at room temperature for at least an hour.
When you are ready for dessert...
5) Scoop vanilla ice cream into bowls.
6) Top with several heaping spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture.
7) Add several shakes of fresh ground pepper (do not skip this step! I promise you'll thank me later!).
8) Finish it off with mini-chocolate chips if you are like me and firmly believe that all dessert should include some form of chocolate. Then dig in and enjoy!
Now on to the actual meal...
Salad with Homemade Dressing
In the past few years I have given up on buying store bought salad dressing and instead make my own. Why, you may ask? Well, because homemade dressing doesn't contain preservatives I can't pronounce, it's SUPER easy and cost-effective to make...and the most important reason to me... it tastes INCREDIBLE. Let's not argue with the cold, hard facts here folks. Let's just get to whipping up salad's best friend!
EASY Salad Dressing (from the cookbook Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist)
- Dijon Mustard
- Maple syrup (the real stuff - this is important!)
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Olive Oil
1) Mix together equal parts of the Dijon Mustard and Maple syrup (a few tablespoons of each).
2) With a fork, mix in 2 tablespoons of the Balsamic vinegar.
3) Finally, slowly add about a 1/3 of a cup olive oil and mix the dressing as you are adding the oil.
4) Add fresh-ground pepper and pink Himalayan salt (get it at Trader Joe's -- it's a must have!) if you like.
5) Do a little happy dance in your kitchen because you have now made your own homemade salad dressing and you are a rockstar.
For the salad I just took a bag of mixed greens, and then added mushrooms, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes (halved), blue cheese and glazed pecans. The trick of making an awesome salad is to make sure it has lots of different colors and textures present.
Finally we have arrived at the star of the show... THE. MAIN. COURSE.
Feast your eyes on:
Butternut Squash Ravioli with a Brown Sugar-Nutmeg Sauce!!!
5) Do a little happy dance in your kitchen because you have now made your own homemade salad dressing and you are a rockstar.
For the salad I just took a bag of mixed greens, and then added mushrooms, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes (halved), blue cheese and glazed pecans. The trick of making an awesome salad is to make sure it has lots of different colors and textures present.
Finally we have arrived at the star of the show... THE. MAIN. COURSE.
Feast your eyes on:
Butternut Squash Ravioli with a Brown Sugar-Nutmeg Sauce!!!
This is one of my favorite dishes to make ever and it's pretty dang easy to make to boot! I know that this dish may seem to be better suited for the autumn season, but honestly, it's really too tasty to not eat all year long.
Ingredients:
- Butternut squash ravioli
- Walnuts
- Fresh sage
- Olive oil
For the sauce:
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Cream cheese
- Milk (I used soy creamer)
- Nutmeg
- Pink Himalayan salt
2) As the water is heating up, crush up a handful of walnuts and toast them for a few minutes in a pan. Remove the walnuts and set aside.
2) Fill the bottom of the same frying pan with a very thin layer of olive oil. When the oil has heated, add individual sage leaves (rinse and dry them first) in the oil. I normally fry 3-4 sage leaves per person I'm feeding.
3) After the sage leaves have cooked about a minute, turn the leaves over and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Then remove the sage leaves and place between 2 paper towels to absorb excess oil. As they cool, they will be crisp -- this is exactly what you want! Hurray for you!
4) When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the instructions, then drain and set aside.
5) To make the sauce (this is where it gets GOOD), as a few slices of butter (not margarine because it's just full of not-so-great-things-for-your-bod) and then add about a 1/3 cup brown sugar.
6) Stir the butter and brown sugar together until they blend together and then immediately add 1/2 cup cream cheese.
Side note: If you cook the butter and brown sugar together for too long before you add the cream cheese, you will get caramel. Caramel is a delightful creation, but not in this dish!
7) Stir the cream cheese into the sauce and now add a splash of milk (or milk substitute) to slightly thin out the sauce.
8) Finally add a few shakes of nutmeg and some pink Himalayan salt. Stir once more.
9) Place the pasta onto the dinner plates and immediately pour the brown sugar-nutmeg sauce on top. Then slightly crumble the sage leaves on top of the sauce and sprinkle on some of the walnuts as well.
10) ENJOY! Dinner is served!!
If you make any of these recipes, I'd love to see a picture and to hear your thoughts on how it turned out. If you're on Instagram feel free to add me (shaunamariel) and tag your delicious masterpiece with #shaunalaitaliana or on FB you can tag me with your picture.
Bon Appetit!
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