The name of this week's recipe says everything and nothing at the same time. These stuffed shells will surely pull one over on your taste buds as they are melt-in-your-mouth goodness. This could quickly become your go-to recipe for those skeptics who say vegan can't be fun and flavorful! Perfect for a potluck, generous enough for a family dinner, this delicious dish will have you going back for seconds (and thirds)!
View Connie's "Sure to Fool 'Em" Stuffed Shells Recipe >>>
View Connie's Presto Vegan Pesto Recipe >>>
Allrecipes' cook, Connie, is a very busy mom juggling 3 children, working as a restaurant manager at a local eatery, writing a blog called "Vegan Versions", and staying very involved in her community. She doesn't actually juggle her children, but you know what I mean.
A native of New Jersey, Connie and her husband set out in their RV in 1997 for the west coast not knowing exactly where they were going to land but ready for a new adventure! "We were looking for a better and healthier lifestyle - mind, body, and spirit!"
During their journey, they were pleasantly surprised by what they found in the small towns along the way. They took away so much from their experience of the food and the people. Eventually putting down roots in Dana Point, California, it has become their slice of heaven. Soon after moving to California, Connie became an official, card-carrying Vegan. Her family hasn't noticed at all as everything she serves up is healthy AND delicious!
Connie is very active in her community, the PTA, and also formed a "Moms Club" - a cooking club for moms and their kids. Both she and her community have been featured in Family Fun Magazine and on Oprah’s Big Give series.
"I have three kids (ages 8, 6, and 4). I've been married since 2000 to the most amazing man on this planet. And, I LOVE to cook! I love to cook so much that I started a cooking class for kids! My favorite things to cook are vegan recipes and "kid fun and friendly" meals! There is this misconception that "Vegan Foods" are bland and tasteless. Well, step into my kitchen and I will show you quite the opposite! I love to experiment with food and enjoy helping others who are culinarily challenged!"
Q: Lynn's Recipe calls for refrigerated gnocchi. Does that make a difference?
A: No, they can be freshly made, cooked and then add your sauce of choice.
Q: Can the gnocchi be made in advance and used?
A: Yes, you can make your gnocchi and freeze for a later date to use. Suggested packaging in 1 pound portions as most recipes call for this quantity.
Q: If using frozen gnocchi, do you defrost before cooking?
A: No, take your gnocchi directly from the freezer to the boiling pot of water.
Q: What if I do not have time to make my own gnocchi?
A: Prepackaged is more widely available today so check your local grocer's refrigerator section where fresh pasta is kept, or a visit to a specialty food store may carry it as well.
Q: What is capicola and where can you find it?
A: Capicola or also known as "Coppa" is an Italian cured meat that is best served at room temperature and thinly sliced. Great served on a antipasti platter, in a sandwich or in a main dish with pasta.
Q: Is there a preference for the type of fontina cheese to use?
A: Fontina is one of Italy's great cheeses; a semi-firm yet creamy cheese that's made of cow's milk. Also made in Denmark, USA and France.
"The secret ingredient of vegan cooking is love..." ~ Steve Carell on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The word "vegetarian" wasn't coined until the 1840s, but the vegetarian impulse is deeply seated in Western culture. Thinkers such as Francis Bacon and Thomas Bushell contended that a vegetarian diet provided a key not only to long life but also to spiritual perfection. Through its Romantic proponents Shelley and Rousseau and into the 19th century, when doctors proffered scientific evidence that human teeth and intestines were more similar to those of herbivores than of carnivores, we've been doing "Rock-Paper-Scissors" on whether dinner would be a 16-ounce T-bone or Barbecue Tofu. It wasn't until the nineteenth century and the founding of Britain's Vegetarian Society that Western society seriously confronted its conflicted attitudes toward the eating of meat. Before that, ascetics and other fanatics pursued meat-free diets for substantially religious reasons.
If you recently started reading about vegetarian diets, you have probably read all sorts of unique vegetarian terms and categories like "vegan," "ovo-lacto vegetarian," and "semi-vegetarian." All of these are links in the "anti-carnivorian" evolutionary chain. At the top, we get to vegan, the strictest sub-category of vegetarians. Vegans do not consume any animal products or by-products. Some go as far as not even consuming honey and yeast. Others do not wear any clothing made from animal products.
Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against vegans or any of the steps in between. I simply love the taste of meat including but not excluded to steak, bacon, pastrami, bacon, pulled pork, bacon, beef spare ribs, bacon, and a 2 inch slab of seasoned and seared prime rib. We all have at least one friend that we know of (Ljubo, this is for you!) who is part of this bloodless revolution. It is on this note that I introduce my new friend, this week's Allrecipes' cook, Connie. Yes...she's a vegan...or the first two paragraphs of my rant really make no sense. In under 2 hours, she proves to me that giving up meat, eggs, and dairy is no longer the stuff of myth (leprechauns, gnomes, unicorns...though unicorns might be quite tasty) but a real possibility. These stuffed shells, sans meat as well as ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses, were delish! The camera stopped rolling before I downed 3 plates of this molten goodness!
Perhaps not a convert, this is as close to a leap of faith as I might get! Thanks, Connie for a delicious stop!
Vegan Versions
Our family of five recently became vegan and while scouring the web for recipes, I decided to just "alter" our favorites instead. Leave it to a Jersey girl to create her own path! Follow the Vegan's blog for a creative twist on familiar recipes!
Radiant Farms Canned Unicorn Meat
14 ounces of delicious unicorn meat, canned for your convenience. Imported from a small independent cannery in County Meath, Ireland. The Sisters at Radiant Farms have dedicated their lives to nursing these elegant creatures through their final days. Taking a cue from the Kobe beef industry, they massage each unicorn's coat with Guinness daily and fatten them on a diet comprised entirely of candy corn. Unfortunately, due to restrictions on the importation of mythical processed meatstuff, we are unable to bring you Canned Unicorn Meat in the way the Sisters of Radiant Farms intended. Order yours today! For only 3 dollars extra, purchase the Narwhal Gravy! Mmm Mmm goodness in every bite!
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