i don’t know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but here it’s been hot – so hot that we actually went for a refreshing dip in the freezing cold pacific ocean last weekend!
a few weekends ago, we meandered down to the farmers market near our house and were so excited by the fresh produce that we bought things without much of a game plan.
when i think about stuffed shells, i think of a dish that is a bit complicated – similar to the many steps it takes to make lasagna – and thus relegated to special events. so when we had a special event to cook for this weekend (bringing food to our friends’ house to spend time with them and their new baby), this was the first dish i thought about making.
as i was beginning to come out of my post-holiday cooking hiatus, i read a blog post over at smitten kitchen (have you checked out her website? it’s fabulous!) about a barley risotto with beans and leafy greens. i had never tried to cook anything with barley, and the pictures left me absolutely drooling, so i starred the post (my version of clipping a recipe out of a newspaper), and vowed to come back to it.
before i start describing this delicious quiche, which we’ve made three times in the past month, i have to admit that i had never used phyllo dough before, nor had i made a quiche in my adult life (although i’m sure i helped make some when i was a kid). so you can imagine that i was pretty excited when i saw this recipe in the april 2009 edition of vegetarian times. i figured the recipe would expand my culinary repertoire, and i would finally get to try my hand at utilizing phyllo.