Pasta With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:
3 whole Red Bell Peppers
2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts (optional)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
½ cups Heavy Cream
Flat Leaf Parsley, Finely Minced
Fresh Parmesan, Shaved Or Grated
½ pounds (to 1 Pound) Pasta: Orecchiette, Penne, Fusilli, Etc.

Directions:
Roast red peppers, and then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel the charred skins from the peppers, then removed seeds. Set aside.
Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set aside.
Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a skillet or pot over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil. Add diced onions and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in pepper puree and stir together. Add plenty of salt.
Pour in cream and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Add cooked pasta, and then stir together.
Place pasta into a bowl, top with chopped parsley and plenty of shaved Parmesan.

Quesadillas de Camarones

Ingredients:
Flour Tortillas
12 whole Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
8 ounces, fluid Mexican Red Sauce
1 whole Large Onion
1 whole Red Bell Pepper
1 whole Green Bell Pepper
2 cups Cheese, Grated (Monterey Jack Is Best)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt To Taste

Directions:
Pour red sauce over shrimp. Set aside.Chop vegetables into large pieces. Heat skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Cook vegetables over high heat until they start to get brown/black. Remove from skillet and set aside.Return skillet to high heat, then dump in the shrimp with the sauce. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until shrimp is opaque. Add in a little water if the sauce gets dry. Remove from skillet and chop into bite-size pieces.In a separate skillet, heat butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, then layer on ingredients: cheese, vegetables, and shrimp. Top with a little more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook on both sides, adding butter before flipping to the other side so the tortilla isn’t overly dry.Remove from skillet and slice into wedges. Serve with rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole—whatever you’d like!

Meditteranean Layer Dip

Ingredients:
hummus
plain fat-free greek yogurt
sliced fresh spinach
chopped roasted red peppers
chopped cucumbers
chopped tomatoes
black olives
chopped green onions
feta
chopped parsley
fresh lemon juice

Directions:
On a platter or plate, spread a thick layer of hummus.Top this with thin layer of greek yogurt, spreading almost to the edge, but leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch of the hummus uncovered.Next add a few handfuls of sliced fresh spinach.Top the spinach with the chopped peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, green onions, and parsley.Sprinkle the desired amount of feta cheese over top and squeeze the juice from 1/2 or 1 lemon over the entire dip.Serve with pita chips.Refrigerate leftovers.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Divide turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with 2 tablespoons red peppers and cheese, and top with remaining patties, working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Grill or broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

Stuffed Red Peppers

Ingredients:

10 Medium Bell Peppers

1/2 lb. Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Sea Salt to taste

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

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Beef Mixture

16 oz ground beef

8 Sun-dried Tomatoes in oil, chopped

4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 Large Yellow Onion, finely chopped

2 tsp Dried Parsley

1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves, torn

1 Can (28 Fl oz) Whole Tomatos, crushed and drained

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp Chili Flakes

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Sea salt to taste

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

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Directions:

Prepare the beef mixtures: In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and sauté until translucent, for about 10 minutes.Add the ground beef and cook until the meat is no longer pink in color. Then add the sun-dried tomato, chili flakes, parsley, and give it a quick stir. Mix in the can tomatoes, tomato paste, and basil leaves and cook for another 10 minutes. Season the beef mixtures with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.Preheat oven to 400˚F. Clean the peppers, sliced the top off (reserved), discard the cores and dry with paper towels.Brush the peppers with olive oil on the outsides. Fill the beef mixture in to the peppers and top with the cheeses. Lightly oil a baking tray, place peppers and the reserved top besides them.Roast for about 25 minutes or until the cheese have melted and light brown in color. Remove from the oven. Let it cool slightly before serving.

Toasted Ravioli

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Splash of milk or half-and-half

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

a couple of handfuls Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

12 large fresh spinach and cheese ravioli, about 3/4 pound

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Pinch red pepper flakes

2 roasted red peppers, drained (available in a jar)

1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

Directions:
Beat eggs and a splash of milk seasoned with salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Combine bread crumbs with cheese and parsley in a second dish. Coat the fresh pasta in egg then bread crumbs.

Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat in a skillet then toast the ravioli until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

In a small sauce pot heat the remaining extra-virgin olive oil and the garlic and red pepper flakes over medium low heat. Grind the roasted peppers in the food processor and add to garlic after it sautes for a couple of minutes. Stir in tomatoes and season the sauce with salt and pepper. When ready to serve, transfer sauce to a small bowl. Surround the sauce with toasted ravioli for dipping and serve.