When I cook dinner, I very often focus on the meat as the star of the show – a stuffed chicken breast, a pork tenderloin with lots of flavors, a well cooked piece of beef. I’ll rely on a box of rice or couscous, or the perennial favorite – potatoes – to round out the meal. But sometimes, it’s nice to have a side that’s fancy, and let someone else (like Target for example) bread your chicken cutlet for you.

So it was that I had this recipe printed out and stuck to my cork board in the kitchen, waiting for the night to try it. Its attractions included 1) Lemon 2) Parm 3) It looked easy. And it totally was.

And I was really intrigued by the directions to just stick a metal bowl right in the pasta water to heat up the ricotta and make the sauce. (Or in my case, your daughter wanted to help and the pasta was cooked before you were ready to make the sauce so you scooped it out and left the water boiling and used that. But think I could use this method a million times in the future. Also had to hurry and used bad kitchen lighting. But doesn’t her sunshine face make up for it?)

The sauce comes together in a snap, and with the lemon, parm, salt and pepper and basil, it has so much flavor. My kids loved it, and it made a lot so they also loved the leftovers the next day (it totally got better with age.) The recipe encourages you to make your own ricotta, and if you have the time it is worth it. We were in between homework and soccer and did not have the time, but ONE DAY I will make this with fresh ricotta. (This recipe for fresh ricotta is my favorite.)

And, once you’ve stirred together this sauce, you’re pretty much done.

You just stir, add some more salt, olive oil or lemon zest to taste if you want, and top with a load of fresh basil.

Now that I know about this technique of stirring ricotta in the hot water to make a sauce, my creative juices are flowing. Porcini and pancetta? Sun dried tomatoes and olives? Let’s see where the future takes us.

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 pound dried short pasta, such as gemelli, fusilli, penne, or rotini

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, preferably freshly made

1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

Juice of 1 large lemon

1/2 teaspoon

kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Good-quality olive oil, for serving

Directions:

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Place the ricotta, Pecorino or Parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper in a large heatproof bowl and stir to combine. When there are about 2 minutes remaining in the pasta’s cooking time, place the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta mixture. You should see it loosening as it warms.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it well. Add it to the bowl of ricotta and mix well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce. Add the basil and red pepper flakes, if using, toss, and serve immediately. Drizzle olive oil over each serving.

This recipe originally appeared on TheKitchn.com

Why is it I crave chowder in the summer? I mean it’s 80 degrees, and I’m dreaming about potatoes cooked in a creamy broth, preferably with seafood.

What the heart wants, it wants, I guess.

A few weeks ago, my husband took the big kids camping and I had the babies solo, and a whole day to get ready for my best friend visiting. It might be some sort of existential test to ask yourself, ‘If you had a whole day alone with twins what would you most like to do?’ My answer was of course cooking. I made this chowder and a loaf of sourdough bread. It took me most of my free waking hours to do that BUT it filled me up and we munched on the bread all weekend with avocados, jam, and cheese. (I used this recipe for the second time and loved it).

This soup was so good and satisfying, and feeds a crowd. I even pureed it for the babies and they loved it! (After I googled if babies can eat shellfish, which they can! Why do I forget all these things?).

I know most seasoned home cooks keep their bacon drippings around forever, and can’t bare to waste it, but I honestly don’t  – it feels like pressure when it’s sitting there. I usually just try to brown up bacon at the start of a recipe and then use it as a garnish. I love the way cooking onions and garlic in bacon drippings infuses a dish with a rich, smoky flavor.

I added peppers to the dish for color, and loved the flavor they added too. And you can use fresh or frozen corn for this recipe, whatever you have. And I used two cups of heavy cream in addition to homemade broth I had in my freezer (makes it so good but use whatever you have!). But you can sub milk if you want though it will loose a lot of creaminess if you do (maybe add a pat of butter in that case. Creamy soups forever).

Or you could just use more of this secret ingredient is right here: cream cheese. Adding cream cheese to creamy soups to add richness, tang and creaminess.

Trust me, you will want to add this to every creamy soup you make from now on. It adds that quality where you can’t stop eating it, something in it is just so good.  

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make another batch of this soup because after looking at these pictures I am totally CRAVING it now.

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Corn, Crab and Bacon Chowder (printer version here): 

• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 8 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 small orange, red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs of thyme OR 1 tsp dried thyme
• 5 tbsp flour
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1-2 cups heavy cream depending on how rich you like it
• 4 cups corn kernels, scraped fresh from the cob, or 1 bag frozen kernels
• 1 lb. cooked lump crab meat, fresh is available in plastic tubs at many fish counters
• Chives, chopped for garnish

Instructions

1. Place 1 tsp butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave fat in pot.
2. Lower heat to medium heat. Add 2 tbsp butter, once melted, add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
3. Add celery, potatoes, seasoning with salt & pepper, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes
4. Add bell pepper, bay leaves and thyme
5. Add flour and mix it in. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
6. Add broth and cream, stirring to combine.
7. Put the lid on and simmer for 25 minutes (adjust heat so it’s simmering energetically but not bubbling like crazy or super gently).
8. Whisk in 4 oz (half a brick) of cream cheese
9. Add corn and lump crab, stirring to combine and simmer for 5 more minutes.
10. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and chives.