Tonight we hosted family night. We started family night about 4 years ago when I first moved to Nashville. Basically its an excuse for everyone to get together, eat, drink and catch up. There's six of us and we usually get together about every other month at a different persons house each time. It gives us all something to look forward to during the work week.
Tonight's theme was Italian.
We started off with Tomato Bruschetta. This is an easy recipe, but best used during the summer when tomatoes are ripe. I gave it a try anyway. I chopped up all of the ingredients and mixed them together. Nothing to it. I had to use dry basil leaves since the grocery store was out of fresh basil. You can't really tell, it just isn't as pretty. Bradley got a slap chop last year for Christmas and it works great for onions, not so much for tomatoes.
For the main course we had Cannelloni with a side of Roasted Garlic Broccoli.
Did you know?: Cannelloni and Manicotti are not the same. Americans have used the words interchangeably, but originally Cannelloni was made with pasta shells and Manicotti was made with crepes. So, as you can see, I was a bit frustrated when I went to two different grocery stores looking for Cannelloni shells only to find out later that Cannelloni and Manicotti are the same. That was my mistake. Upon closer examination the recipe actually says Manicotti shells.
This recipe took me an hour and a half to prepare. You have to cook the noodles, prepare to separate sauces and then stuff the noodles. Definitely not a weekday after work recipe. Luckily I was off today so I made this and the bruschetta ahead.
Here's a photo of the empty noodle:
Then I filled it with the stuffing:
Then put on the white sauce:
Then the red sauce:
Roasted Garlic Broccoli was a cinch.
I bought two bags of frozen broccoli florets and let them thaw all day in the refrigerator. Then all I had to do was toss them with the oil and garlic and lay them out on a baking pan. Easy clean up too, I just threw away the foil baking sheet. No chopping or cleaning involved.
I bought two bags of frozen broccoli florets and let them thaw all day in the refrigerator. Then all I had to do was toss them with the oil and garlic and lay them out on a baking pan. Easy clean up too, I just threw away the foil baking sheet. No chopping or cleaning involved.
The total cost of this meal was $19.60 (not including staples), making the cost of the meal $3.20 per person.
Soux chef says overall:
Butters was worn out from all of the excitement:
Soux chef says overall:
Butters was worn out from all of the excitement:
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