Pepper Ricotta Primavera Food

PEPPER RICOTTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Whisk together ricotta cheese and milk; set aside. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes; saute 1 minute. Add next 7 ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. , Add cheese mixture to fettuccine; top with vegetables. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.

ROASTED PEPPERS WITH LEMON RICOTTA

Steps:

• Center a rack in the oven, and heat it to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Rinse the peppers, pat them dry and place them on the pan. Roast the peppers, turning every 10 minutes, until their skins are black and blistered, 40 minutes, more or less. Transfer the peppers to a heatproof bowl, cover and, when they're cool enough to handle, peel off the skins. Remove the caps, cut each pepper in quarters or halves and remove and discard the seeds. Lightly brush the peppers with oil; use now, or cover closely and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
• Scrape the ricotta into a bowl, and mix with a spatula to smoothen. Grate the lemon zest over the ricotta, squeeze in about 1 tablespoon of the juice and add the preserved lemon rind, if you're using it. Pour in a few teaspoons of olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use now, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
• To serve, spoon or spread the lemon ricotta on a platter or individual plates, and drizzle with olive oil. Top with peppers, and brush or drizzle with olive oil and either sherry or balsamic vinegar. Finish with a sprinkling of chives or basil.

PASTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
• Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

BAKED PEPPERS WITH RICOTTA AND BASIL

Steps:

• Singe the peppers quickly over a gas flame, grill or under the broiler.
• The peppers should char all over, but do not cook them so long that they turn limp.
• Remove them from heat and cool them in a plastic bag, then slide off the charred skins.
• Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, remove the stems, ribs and seeds.
• Drizz;le the halves with olive oil.
• Preheat the oven to 350.
• In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, basil, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Beat in the eggs.
• Fill the pepper halves with the ricotta mixture and place them in a baking dish.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Serve with additional basil leaves for garnish, if desired.

PASTA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook penne pasta in salted water according to package directions, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
• Meanwhile heat olive oil in a 12-inch (and deep) skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add red onion and carrot and saute 2 minutes.
• Add broccoli and bell pepper then saute 2 minutes.
• Add squash and zucchini then saute 2 - 3 minutes or until veggies have nearly softened.
• Add garlic, tomatoes, and Italian seasoning and saute 2 minutes longer.
• Pour veggies into now empty pasta pot or a serving bowl, add drained pasta, drizzle in lemon juice, season with a little more salt as needed and toss while adding in pasta water to loosen as desired.
• Toss in 1/4 cup parmesan and parsley then serve with remaining parmesan on top.

LASAGNA PRIMAVERA

Steps:

• Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 6-quart saucepan over high heat.
• Add lasagna noodles and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add carrots; cook 2 minutes.
• Add broccoli, zucchini, and squash and cook the final two minutes or until pasta is tender.
• Drain Well.
• Squeeze the excess liquid from spinach.
• Mix spinach with ricotta cheese.
• Preheat oven to 400 degree.
• In 13x9-inch baking pan, spread one-third of the marinara sauce on the bottom.
• Arrange half of the noodles on sauce.
• Pat half of each of the vegetables, spinach mixture, and mozzarella on the noodles.
• Pour half the remaining marinara over these layers.
• Repeat layering and top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
• Place on a large baking sheet that has been lined with foil.
• Bake lasagna, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until hot in the center.
• Let stand 10 minutes before serving (lasagna can be made up to 2 days before baking; refrigerate, covered, until one hour before baking-if cold bake for one hour at 350 degrees).