Duck Confit and Morel Mushroom Ravioli Filling Recipe

I went through my pantry and freezer and thought it was time to do a little spring cleaning. I decided to make ravioli and filled them with the duck confit I had in the freezer, along with ricotta cheese, Pecorino cheese, cider, apples, morel mushrooms and tarragon. 

I ended up making two large batches of the homemade pasta: one vegetarian and one with the shredded duck inside. My preference leans toward the meat version, but my husband Lulu who's a vegetarian enjoyed the other version as much as I did!

Zucchini Tart Recipe (Tarte aux Courgettes)

Savory tart is a very versatile dish. The crust is usually puff pastry, a sauce serves as the filling and the topping is roasted or grilled vegetables. I made pesto using goat ricotta cheese and topped the tart with zucchini. Once you choose your favorite flavorings, you can come up with your own combinations for the pesto sauce, cheeses and vegetables.

Zucchini is a relatively easy vegetable to plant from seeds. My husband Lulu's uncle grew humongous 18-inch zucchini in his garden. Ratatouille would have been a great way to make great use of the veggie but I really wanted to showcase the size of the slices in a tart.

Whole Wheat Gnocchi Stroganoff Recipe

The term "stroganoff" is synonymous with beef, but for this dish I made everything vegetarian. I used the usual ingredients needed for the sauce, which originated from Russia: mushrooms, onions, shallots, vodka, sour cream, coarse-grain mustard and tomato paste, but I paired it with my homemade gnocchi. This was my first experiment with making gnocchi from whole wheat flour. To ensure that the pasta turned out moist and to enhance the flavor, I added goat ricotta cheese.

If you have a vegetarian in the house as I do, finding an alternative to meat dishes isn't as complicated as it seems. Try this recipe, and you'll agree.

Ricotta Pasta with Chimichurri

I love chimichurri sauce. The bright green color and subtle spiciness are perfect with steamed fish or grilled skirt steak. I've wanted to incorporate this delicious green sauce into a vegetarian dish for some time now to share with my husband Lulu.

So, I made a dish of fettuccine pasta with a creamy white sauce and served it with a little chimichurri sauce. The creaminess of the white sauce is made with ricotta cheese and it matches wonderfully with the garlic and herb flavor of the chimicurri. It's a healthy alternative to fettuccine alfredo that doesn't skimp on flavor.