One thing that I have enjoyed about quarantine is having the time to try out new recipes. Since the grocery store has become the new hangout, I’ve been able to discover some new household staples that I never know existed. I’ll go over those another day! For now I’m going to share some of the winning recipes that I tried over the last few months. Try them out and let me know what you think!

First up is Cacio e Pepe.

Cacio e pepe

When I went to Rome a couple summers ago, a friend of mine told me that I had to try this dish. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find it at the restaurants I visited, but I kept in the back of my mind. I love pasta, so while looking for a quarantine meal, I came across the recipe and figured it couldn’t be too hard to make. Turns out its super easy. There are only a few ingredients and tastes amazing. Here’s the recipe!

INGREDIENTS (2 servings)

• 1/2 lb. pasta

• 2 tbsp. butter, divided

• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 

• Coarsely ground black pepper

• 3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino, plus more for garnish

• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve ⅔ cup pasta water and drain pasta.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil. Add a generous amount of black pepper and toast until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add ⅓ cup reserved pasta water and bring to simmer. Whisk in remaining butter then, using tongs, toss pasta into butter mixture.

4. Add cheeses and toss constantly until cheese is melty, removing skillet from heat when about half the cheese has melted. (If sauce is too thick, loosen with more pasta water.)

See! Super simple. Customize it however you like. I added tomatoes and asparagus to it once, with salmon on the side. (insert drool emoji)

berbere wings

Next up : Berbere Wings

So this recipe is one that I found while scrolling on Instagram. They looked so amazing I knew I needed to try them. Berbere is a mixture of spices typically used in Ethiopian dishes. I had never had Ethiopian food before, so i wasn’t sure what to expect, but if you can put it on wings, I’m in! The recipie is super simple. Throw all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix it up. Throw it in the oven. I’m sure they would turn out great in an air fryer as well.

Ingredients for 4 servings

BERBERE SPICE

• 3 tablespoons paprika

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 tablespoon cayenne

• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon allspice

• 12 chicken drumettes

• ½ cup flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

  Preparation

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the paprika, salt, cayenne, fenugreek, ginger, onion powder, cardamom, nutmeg, garlic powder, cloves cinnamon, and allspice. Mix well.

  2. Save two tablespoons of spice mix. Set aside.

  3. Add the chicken drumettes to the bowl with the spice mixture and toss to coat evenly. Marinate in the fridge at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

  4. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and cornstarch. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the marinated chicken. Toss them until well-coated.

  5. Preheat the oven to 425˚F (220˚C).

  6. Place the chicken on a wire rack set over a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 30-40 minutes or chicken is slightly browned.

  7. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the reserved 2 tablespoons spice mix and stir to combine.

  8. Drizzle the spice butter mixture over the drumettes.

  9. Enjoy!

Pancake Cereal

I’m sure you saw this trend going around. I actually really liked making this one. So instead of making big pancakes and having to cut them into small pieces, you just make baby pancakes. I put them in a bowl with butter and syrup on top, grabbed my fork and was set. I will say that if you having piping supplies it would make it a lot easier. I used a sandwich bag and it got a little messy. But this really is easy and fun, especially if you have kids.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 eggs

• 1 and 3/4 cups milk

• 2 tbsp butter, melted

• optional: mini chocolate chips/mini M&Ms

Steps

1. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs into the milk, and then stir in the melted butter. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and whisk together until batter forms.

2. Add the batter to a piping bag, squeeze bottle, or a zip lock bag (and cut a bit of the corner)

3. In a large skillet, melt 1-2 tsp butter on medium heat. Begin to pipe small circles (about a quarter in size or smaller) onto the skillet. Make sure they’re at least a half inch apart.

4. Once bubbles begin to form on the top of each pancake, flip them all together. They may stick together, that’s okay. You can easy pull them apart and because they are small, they will be cooked through.

5. Once you have made a good amount of mini pancakes, add them all back to the skillet with 1 tbsp of butter. This will allow them all to crisp up together.

6. Add to bowl and serve with maple syrup!