Zucchini Gratin

My neighbor Laura Heedick has an awesome garden in her backyard and had recently given me a giant zucchini. I didn't want to make the tradiditional zucchini bread so I went on the search for a new recipe to try out. Thanks to Ina Garten (my idol) I found this yummy side dish!!!

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for topping



• 1 pound yellow onions, cut in 1/2 and sliced (3 large)



• 2 pounds zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch thick (4 zucchini)



• 2 teaspoons kosher salt



• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper



• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg



• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour



• 1 cup heavy whipping cream



• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs



• 3/4 cup grated your choice of cheese (I used a mix of 4 cheeses)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a very large (12-inch) saute pan and cook the onions over low heat for 20 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Stir in the flour. Add the hot milk and cook over low heat for a few minutes, until it makes a sauce. Pour the mixture into an 8 by 10-inch baking dish.
Combine the bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of the zucchini mixture. Dot with 1 tablespoon of butter cut into small bits and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

I'm on a shrimp kick these days, I just love the little nuggets from the sea. For the longest time I thought shrimp scampi and fra diavolo were the same thing. Basically one recipe has tomatoes and the other doesn't but has a lot of butter. I was always dissapointed whenever I ordered scampi out at a restaurant and didn't have tomatoes on my plate. Now I know why :)

Have you noticed on food network anytime they use can tomatoes they refer to San Marzano tomatoes? Since this recipe calls for tomatoesI finally picked up a can and wow! Delicious! I can really taste the difference in the sauce after using this type of tomato. I found a great story on wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marzano_tomato

Here is my version of Fra Diavolo one of my favorite things to make for dinner. The cayenne adds a great spicy tickle to your throat! My husband Scott will stand over the pot of Shrimp Fra Diavolo and eat right out of it.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

• 1 lb Shrimp of your choice


• Sea Salt


• Pepper


• Cayenne


• 1 lb linguine or spaghetti


• 3 tbsp Olive oil


• 3-4 large garlic cloves, minced


• 1 shallot, thinly sliced


• 1 can San Marzano Tomatoes


• Sherry cooking wine


• 1/2 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Peel and devein your shrimp and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to your liking. Arrange on skewers and grill on the BBQ for 3-6 minutes. Set aside once cooked.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain but do not rinse your pasta!

3. While pasta is cooking in a large pan pour in about 3 tbsp olive oil and saute garlic and shallot until tender, not burned.

4. Add San Marzano tomatoes and a few splashes of sherry cooking wine. Add pepper, and cayenne, to your liking (no salt needed since your noodles will be salty from boiling in salted water). Simmer for 30-40 minutes.

5. Add pasta and chopped parsley to sauce and toss until noodles are coated. Remove shrimp off skewers and toss in pasta. Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Orzo Pasta Salad

So I was watching food network, big surprise, and I saw my FAVE chef Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa make this AMAZING dish a few months back.  It is absolutely delicious!!! Couple changes I made to the recipe from the original that can be found on foodnetwork.com was I roasted the red onion and added a roasted red bell pepper  to the ingredients.  Roasting the veggies brings out the best flavor and the onion is not as strong if you had put it in raw.  Also, I personally love grilling the shrimp on the barbie because again you can't beat that BBQ grilled flavor vs baking it in an oven.  As far as the salt goes, make sure it's the last thing you add to taste.  The feta in the salad tends to be quite salty so you don't want to ruin your pasta salad by adding it in the beginning.

Grilled Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Salad

• 1/2 cup small red onion
• 1 large red bell pepper
• Kosher salt 
• Good olive oil
• 3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
• 1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
• 1 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
• 3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced or crumbled 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place red bell pepper and red onion (whole) on sheet pan drizzle with olive oil and roast for about 30 minutes. Once  the veggies are roasted set aside to cool and peel skin off bell pepper.  Chop up veggies and add in during step 6 below.

3. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl.

4. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

5. Season the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Arrange shrimp on skewers and grill on barbecue for 3 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!

6. Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, roasted red onion chopped, roasted red bell pepper chopped, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully.

7. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.