Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

I have been watching a lot of British chefs on the Food Network lately. Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver have kind of taken over my TV. I love cooking shows, but they are even better when the hosts speak in lovely British accents (though I have to say it is really weird not hearing Gordon Ramsay drop a dozen f-bombs every half hour - his cookery course show is much cleaner than his others!). If you need me, I'll be practicing British cooking terms - like "spring onions" and "double cream" - in a terrible accent.

This cauliflower mac and cheese was inspired by Jamie Oliver's version from his cookbook Meals in Minutes. I kept wanting to make his version but forgetting to get crème fraîche and pancetta at the grocery store, so I just put together my own. I realize that this isn't technically mac and cheese, since I used fusilli and not macaroni, but if you're a stickler for that stuff, just sub in the elbow macaroni and you'll be good to go.

Spicy Italian Sausage Penne

Back-to-back pasta recipes on the blog this week! But I can't help it. I love pasta. It's so easy and versatile (and not to mention delicious). I have a couple of go-to pasta recipes (including my spaghetti alla puttanesca, which I can almost make in my sleep) but I also really like trying something new, or putting a new spin on an old favourite.

I use Italian sausages with pasta quite often, but I don't do anything particularly fancy or complicated with them. Usually I just break them up while frying them and then toss them in tomato sauce, often with artichoke hearts. I then saw Jamie Oliver's recipe for "Pregnant Jools's Pasta" in his cookbook Meals in Minutes, which is a different approach to sausage pasta than my usual. He puts the sausages through the food processor before frying it up, which gives the sausage a more silky texture, as opposed to the more rustic texture of my sausage pastas. He also makes the sauce with carrot, celery (which unfortunately I didn't have on hand) and diced tomatoes, which makes it taste fresh.

Crispy Cheese and Dill Quinoa Balls with Spicy Mayo Dip

Holy SMOKES, guys, I'm in love with these things. This recipe for these quinoa balls was inspired by the ones I saw over at A Pretty Life. I was excited to find another way to prepare quinoa besides in a salad so I thought I'd try them, but I wanted to put my own spin on them. I thought that the version I planned in my head would be good, but I had no idea how delicious they would be.

The quinoa balls are tasty, but eating them with the spicy mayo is what takes them over the top. They are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the dill pairs so nicely with the cheese. The spicy mayo adds a rich creaminess and some zip to them.

Tomato and Feta Phyllo Tart

One day long ago, I was watching a cooking show about some sort of fancy phyllo pastry involving spicy soppressata, an Italian salami that I love. I bought the phyllo and then never made the pastry. (Typical procrastinate-y me.) The phyllo has been sitting in my freezer for months.

I knew if I waited until I found that recipe again and then went and got whatever ingredients I needed in order to make it, I'd probably never get around to using the phyllo. We had lots of grape and cherry tomatoes from our garden sitting around, so I decided to make a tart with those tomatoes and some delicious feta instead. You can't go wrong with that combination!

Bacon and Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I love grilled cheese sandwiches. I've posted about a couple of different grilled cheese sandwiches (a bruschetta version and a guacamole version) and decided to try another version - this time with bacon. You can't go wrong with cheese and bacon! I added some tomato for freshness and it turned out as delicious as I thought it would.

Italian Sausage and Artichoke Stuffed Shells

I realized the other day that I had a half a box of jumbo pasta shells that had been sitting around for a while, so I thought I should use them up. The first time I made stuffed shells, I used ground turkey (and unfortunately they came out a little dry for my taste), but this time I decided to use some spicy Italian sausage, which I love. We are currently obsessed with using ricotta in our pasta (it started when I made baked ziti) so the love affair continued with this dish. I also added some artichokes to give the shells a bit more taste and texture. They turned out really great - I'll definitely make them again!

Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna is one of my favourite meals. These lasagna rolls are a neat-looking spin on the usual dish. I think I first saw them on one of Giada de Laurentiis' cooking shows. I find the rolls stay together a bit better when you cut into them than plain lasagna, though they're probably a bit messier to make - but that's part of the fun!

Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Grilled cheese sandwiches are so tasty and it's so easy to add new ingredients to them to change them up. I saw this recipe for guacamole grilled cheese sandwiches on Two Peas and their Pod and thought it would be good to give them a try, since I love avocado. What an easy way to jazz up a grilled cheese sandwich! I was a bit worried they would be too rich, but the cheese and the avocado actually complement each other very nicely. I'll definitely make these again!

Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli means "pasta and beans." It is a hearty tomato-based soup with - you guessed it - pasta and beans. The versions I have had have also always had Italian sausage in it. Yummy! I first came across it at the Olive Garden and it was one of my favourite things there.

Baked Ziti

I love baked ziti. Back in high school when I worked in retail, I'd always get baked ziti on my lunch breaks from this Italian place in the food court. Baked ziti is delicious comfort food. It's pasta tubes mixed with tomato sauce and three kinds of cheese, then topped with more sauce and cheese and baked. It's very simple to make, and creamy and tomatoey at the same time. Can't complain about that! This is the recipe that I adapted from the one I found on Allrecipes.com.

Spaghetti al Forno

Spaghetti al forno is a delicious pasta and cheese frittata. Breadcrumbs, pasta, eggs, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and prosciutto are layered together and then baked. It's hearty, cheesy and so good with a side of marinara sauce. I adapted this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe for capellini al forno. This would make three to four servings because I cut some of the ingredients down so that my husband and I wouldn't have tons of leftovers. If you want to make more, there would be plenty of room in the springform pan for an extra layer if you follow this recipe, so you can increase the amount of pasta, prosciutto and mozzarella if you need to.

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love finding new slow cooker recipes. It's so convenient being able to toss things into the slow cooker and just set it to do the work for you all day. This recipe is adapted from the recipe for chicken enchilada soup on Chef in Training. There's a bit of prep work to do in the beginning, but it's well worth it. It's hearty and full of delicious flavours.

Potatoes Romanoff

I think that twice-baked potatoes are one of the most delicious things ever. I don't have them often, but when I do, I go all out and put all sorts of deliciously unhealthy things on my potato. Needless to say, when I came across a recipe for Potatoes Romanoff on What's Gaby Cooking, which she described as "a fancy twice baked potato," I decided I was making it as soon as I possibly could.

Quickie Bruschetta Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I'm not going to pretend that I always make meals from scratch - far from it. Convenience often trumps my love of cooking, especially on weeknights when we're short on time after coming home late from work. A lot of the time, we have processed things for dinner, like frozen pizza or fish sticks and fries. Not the greatest, I know - both in terms of nutritional value and taste.