Chicken stews for me are often an autumn or winter meal; nice and hearty to take off the chill. While sometime you need that in the spring too, this one is filled with fresh seasonal green veggies: leeks, peas and pea pods and asparagus, in addition to the chicken and mushroom. Definitely filling and this recipe will feed an army worth of people, so make sure you use a nice big pot!
What do you call risotto that uses no rice? Orzotto, of course! I didn’t have an aborio rice in the pantry and wanted to make a risotto, so instead, I went with orzo. Basically, the same process as risotto, shallot and pasta in the pan with butter, slowly add the liquid and flavorings, in this case vibrant pureed peas. Orzotto does take as long as traditional risotto though; only about 20 minutes. Scallops were on sale so I didn’t have to take out a loan to afford them. Ha ha ha.
This is a super vibrant thing to make for spring — or all summer long really. It’s one of my go-to recipes when I don’t know what else to make. Peas, perlini mozzarella, pesto (yes, the store bought variety is totally fine!) and pasta of your choice. Also works well as a pasta salad if you’re looking for a cool option.
Switching gears…. Easter is really early this year. Or at least it feels earlier than normal. I don’t recall it usually being this close to St. Patrick’s Day. At any rate, as with so many holidays, I feel the need to make something. As if I ever need an excuse, right? So this year’s Easter season is starting off with these Cardamom Carrot Cake Oatmeal Nut Cookies. They might be healthy, if it weren’t for the 3 sticks of butter and the almond candies. They are delicious and the nests actually turned out quite cute.
Sticking to the “mildly-Irish” Or “Irish-inspired” theme, here are some more hand pies, I do seem to be making a lot of these currently. They freeze really well and so I always have a lunch on hand. Definitely seek out the right kind of bacon, if you can. Avoid using streaky bacon, aka American breakfast bacon as the recipe will be either too greasy or too crunchy. If you can’t find Irish or British-style bacon, I’d go for Canadian bacon (like the kind in eggs benedict.