Saturday, March 23, 2013

Pasta dinner ... or is it?

This could be ...

Three-Cheese Stuffed Artisan Whole-Grain Manicotti 
with Wild Mushroom Sauce and Parmesan


That's what it looks like, right?


Look at that sprinkle of parmesan cheese ... and the cheesy stuffing ...


And that wild mushroom sauce on the bottom of the bowl looks pretty good, right?


And the mise en place... all ready to assemble.

Yep, that looks like a mighty fine dinner right there. Right? 
And not a lot of mess, there. Two pots, two bowls. 
Looks easy enough.


Well, actually I'd be LYING to you if I said this was for dinner.

Yep. Lying.

Because this post is for the Marx Foods Dinner for Dessert recipe challenge. The point was to make a dessert that looks like an entree. And I had to use a chocolate rigatoni pasta that Marx Foods sent to me.

Chocolate pasta. How crazy is that?

So, let's see. The rule is that it has to look like an entree. But, um ... they didn't say that it had BE a full-size entree.


Do you see where I'm going?


Now you got it?


They're one-bite desserts that look like itty-bitty entrees.

This dessert is really:

Peanut-Butter-Whipped-Cream Stuffed Chocolate Rigatoni
on softened coffee ice cream with grated white chocolate
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.
Ingredients:
Chocolate rigatoni
Peanut butter whipped cream (recipe below)
Coffee ice cream, softened (recipe here, or use store-bought)
Finely grated white chocolate

Cook the rigatoni in boiling salted water. Rinse in cold water to chill. Cut off the pointed ends if you want it to look like actual manicotti.

Put the whipped cream into a plastic bag, like a sandwich-size zip-top bag. Cut the tip off the bag. (You could also use a piping bag, but a plastic bag works fine.) Pipe the whipped cream into the rigatoni.

Place the ice cream on a spoon or very small plate.

Arrange the rigatoni on top of the ice cream.

Scatter the white chocolate on top.

Serve.

Peanut Butter Whipped Cream
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Put the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream in a medium bowl. Beat with a whisk or hand-held mixer until you have a thick whipped cream. It won't be as light and airy as regular whipped cream because of the peanut butter, but it will get firm and will hold its shape a lot longer than standard whipped cream.

This makes more than you'll need unless you're making a LOT of these, but I'm sure you'll find other uses for it. It's really good stuff. If you need a hint, check out this recipe.

You could try making less, but it's kind of ridiculous to whip. Trust me, You'll use it. Or eat it with a spoon.

Do you like this recipe? PLEASE go vote for it here.
Yum