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It's an Art - Good Museum Food

© Lee Ward

A little more than a year ago, I began working at our local museum - the Huntington Museum of Art.

The museum has a great permanent collection of firearms, silver and glassware, which are all important to the area's history.

Also, there's an American portraits collection and a Middle Eastern exhibit that belong to the museum, among many other treasures.

Many prestigious collections of art and artifacts have visited the HMA over the years, including the Armand Hammer Collection, a collection of photographs by Linda McCartney and a collection of modern masters, including Picasso, Dali and Warhol.

Locally, the HMA has shown a collection of Haitian art owned by a local glass artist and a display of art based on local scenes and painted by a local artist.

One of the fringe benefits of working at the HMA is getting to see the beautiful, interesting work just about any time I like.

First, I answered the phone at the reception desk; but, it wasn't long until my friend, the public relations director, had me working in the kitchen. I prepared a couple of lunches and many receptions in the last year and a half. But when the museum decided to produce a cookbook as a fund raiser, I was pumped.

It's a terrific publication with a classy look. The cover art is of the painting Joyce, which the museum owns, but with a chef's hat atop Joyce's head. It comes with a book stand to prop up this or any other book and a pocket for extra recipes in the back.

While I didn't offer up any recipes I had prepared for the museum's functions, I did choose some that were vegetarian and unusual.

A delicious and relatively easy main course is Chickpea-stuffed Shells. OK, maybe it doesn't sound very good; but, it's delicious and sneaks in some healthy carbs and fiber by way of mixing masked chickpeas with ricotta cheese.

Chick-pea Stuffed Shells
18 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 15-ounce can chick-peas, rinsed and drained
2 egg whites
1 15-ounce carton reduced fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 29-ounce can meatless spaghetti sauce, divided
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese

In blender or food processor, place chick peas and egg whites and process until smooth. Add ricotta, parsley, Parmesan, onion and garlic. Process until well blended. Add water to the spaghetti sauce. Pour 1 3/4 cup of the sauce into an ungreased 9 by 13 baking dish. Stuff shells with chick pea mixture. Pour remaining sauce over shells. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5 or 10 more minutes.

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