That Martha.....

From Martha Stewart's Feb 2012 magazine

I succumbed to making a Martha Stewart recipe last weekend.

It started innocently enough with magazine browsing in the doctor's office.

Baked Shells and Broccoli with Ham and Cheesy-Creamy cauliflower sauce was beautifully photographed on a one page spread.

Only 12 ingredients

And no funny spices

And a blurb about sneaking in the vegetables in the sauce so the kids will never know it's healthy.

Active time 15 mins, total time 55 mins in just 3 steps.

OH the lies......

Earlier in the day I hit Publix for the 6 ingredients I didn't have stocked.

With hubby and daughter out at activities later in the day I started to prep the veggies:

.

Trim and cut medium broccoli into florets........1 knife, 1 chopping board, 1 2qt mixing bowl

Core and chop small head cauliflower.....same knife, same chopping board, same 2 qt mixing bowl, add overflow bowl

Peeled and roughly chopped 4 medium shallots (eyes in pain)...same knife same chopping board, add small bowl

Roughly chop 6 garlic cloves.....same knife, same chopping board, same small bowl

Grate 6 ounces pecorino cheese...IKEA grater and 2 cup measuring jug

Measure out milk - 4 cup measuring jug

Measure out spices - custard cup and small measuring gizmos

Elapsed time - 25 minutes - the lies have begun - this doesn't count as active time!!

Brief pause to go pick up daughter, fend off 25 suggestions of places we can go shopping and head back home to the kitchen.

Now to begin...

Heating oil in medium saucepan to add cauliflower, garlic, shallots and salt....switching after 2 minutes to the large saucepan (apparently Martha uses the industrial pan size scaling system)

Diligently follow recipe. Set all to the side to cool slightly before bringing out the blender...(3 cupboard search- it's been awhile since I used it!)

Switch over to cook pasta in other large saucepan. Drain in large colander. Transfer all to 3 1/2 quart baking dish (Who measures these things? Mine's not marked so I'm hoping and praying it all fits - it does. Then I notice the beautifully photo styled picture is only using a 2 3/4 quart baking dish - MORE LIES)

Relaxing for a moment as it's cooking in the oven for 30 mins. Only thing left is to toast the bread crumbs.  Small fry pan and panko over low heat - brown crunchy goodness!

Total active/cooking time about 65 minutes - slightly under the estimate, but only because I multi-tasked steps 2 and 3 to cut the time down.

Came out looking just like the photo - tasted pretty good. But I couldn't eat too much coz I ate the extra 2 cups of cauliflower while cooking , I was full!!

Daughter had 1 bowl.

Hubby cooked himself hamburgers.

Prep and active Time count: 90 minutes.

Pan count: 2 large saucepans, 1 medium saucepan, 1 3.5 quart!! baking dish, 1 blender, 1 large mixing bowl, 2 or 3 measuring jugs, various measuring cups and gizmos, 1 fry pan (2 if you count hubby's hamburger pan), 1 colander, 1 cutting board.

I'm still doing dishes.

I'll freeze the leftovers.

And throw them out in 6 months!