Celebrities Share Favorite Holiday Recipes

Looking for some mealtime inspiration this holiday season?

Celebrity Baby Scoop asked 14 celebrity parents to share their favorite festive recipes. Read below for Nancy O’Dell s crafty recipe book idea, to Ali Landry s Seafood Gumbo, to Bill and Giuliana Rancic s Mama DePandi’s Bucatini Pomodoro recipe.

• Debi Mazar and Gabe Corcos:

Actress Debi Mazar and husband Gabriele Corcos are partners in life and on the small screen. The husband-wife duo recently debuted the new season of their show, Extra Virgin, on the Cooking Channel.
And the cooking couple – who are parents to daughters Evelina, 10, and Giulia, 6 – shared two new festive holiday recipes with our readers.

Tofu Tiramisu

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups brewed coffee
• 1 (14 ounce) package House Foods Organic or Premium Tofu Medium Firm
• 1 cups sugar plus 3 tablespoons, divided
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 14 ounces hard lady fingers
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• Shaved dark chocolate, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
Add 3 tablespoons sugar into hot coffee and stir until sugar dissolves. Let cool.
Drain and add Tofu Firm to a food processor; blend until completely smooth (about 1 minute).
Add egg yolks and 1-cup sugar in a bowl and whisk until fluffy and light yellow in color. Whisk in the tofu until smooth and well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt with an electric hand mixer until they reach medium stiff peaks. Fold into the tofu mixture.
Dip the ladyfingers into the hot coffee and lay them into a single layer in a 9 13 glass-baking tray. Make sure you don’t completely soak the cookies, as you want to retain some crunch. Spread a layer of the tofu on top, and dust lightly with cocoa powder. Repeat layering with cookies, tofu, and cocoa powder. Garnish the top of the cake with shaved dark chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap and let refrigerate for 3 hours so the flavors can marry.
Serves 8

Tofu Gnocchi with Spinach and Sage

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (12 ounce) package House Foods Organic or Premium Tofu Extra Firm
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 bunches fresh spinach, washed thoroughly, stems removed (about 1-1/2 pounds)
• 5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 egg yolk
• Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 handful fresh sage
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Drain the Tofu and then add it to a large bowl; break up with your hands until crumbly. Drizzle with olive oil, add the garlic, and season well with salt and pepper. Keep working the tofu with your hands until it’s very crumbly and looks like ricotta cheese.
Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove spinach from the water and plunge in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
Drain the spinach very well, and using a clean tea towel, squeeze out the extra water. Chop the leaves very fine and add to the bowl with the crumbled tofu. Stir in 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix well and shape the mixture into balls the size of walnuts.
Butter a 13 9 inch casserole dish, and lay all the gnocchi in it, top with 2 tablespoons of sliced butter and another sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Bake the gnocchi for about 20 minutes and then add to the broiler the last 5 minutes to crisp and brown the top of the spinach balls.
Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and add the sage once it starts to foam. Saut until it starts to brown. Serve tofu gnocchi topped with warm butter sauce.
Serves 4-6

• Melissa Joan Hart:

New mom-of-three Melissa Joan Hart is sure to have a very Merry Christmas this year with newborn son Tucker, husband Mark Wilkerson and their older boys: Mason, 6, and Brady, 4.
The Sabrina, the Teenage Witch alum shared the details of a “must-have” holiday family dish.
“My must-have dish is my grandmother’s French silk pie which is basically like a choc mousse,” MJH says. “It is a must have every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can’t eat it when I’m pregnant because it is made with raw eggs so I’m super excited for this year.”

• Elisa Donovan:

Best known for her roles as Amber in Clueless and Morgan on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Elisa Donovan currently stars in, The Dog Who Saved the Holidays , which hit retail shelves nationwide December 4.

The new mom of 7-month-old daughter Scarlett opened up about a favorite holiday meal.
“I have a great story about making the Chocolate Pie one Christmas, that is now known as The Chocolate Soup Debacle… I do love holidays and I love to cook,” Elisa shares. “I make a Panettone Vegetarian Stuffing every year that is super yummy with dried cherries and apricots and various vegies. And for Thanksgiving I make a mean Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread.”

• Christy Turlington:

Supermodel-turned-healthcare advocate, Christy Turlington, and husband, film star Ed Burns, are set to enjoy the holidays with daughter Grace, 9, and son Finn, 6.
Does the model mom have any favorite family recipes to share with our readers?

“Sadly, this is an area that is not thriving in my life,” Christy admits. “But it may be a New Year’s Resolution to incorporate…next year!”

• Kristi Yamaguchi:

Olympic mom Kristi Yamaguchi and husband, NHL star Bret Hedican, are gearing up for a festive holiday season with their daughters Keara, 8, and Emma, 6.
The figure skating champ shared a special family tradition.

“We have a family tradition to do a prime rib for the holidays,” Kristi shares. “It’s an herb crusted prime rib with a touch of garlic.”

• Samantha Harris:

Former Dancing with the Stars co-host and Entertainment Tonight correspondent, Samantha Harris, shares some festive plans with husband Michael Hess and their two daughters Josselyn, 5, and Hillary, 1 1/2.

“I love making cookies, the basic and really yummy sugar cookies,” Samantha shares. “We put a white frosting on the cookies as a glaze, and then we use food coloring to “paint” on the cookies. We do this for Halloween, Hanukkah, and Valentine’s Day. It’s fun, because you can do this for any holiday. You just use different cookie cutters to make the proper shapes for the holiday.”

• Anne Heche:

Actress Anne Heche and James Tupper are looking forward to a festive holiday season with boys Homer, 10, and Atlas, 3.

“Oh my gosh, I am so in love with tilapia for some reason,” Anne shares. “Why I am so in love with tilapia, I don’t know. I’ve been making so much of it. Now I call tilapia “chicken” and feed it to my kids. I like cooking tilapia with a little fish sauce, lemon, and just a little bit of butter so the kids think that it is crispy and chewy like chicken, and they get fish oil. We like to eat healthy.”

• Sarah Chalke:

Scrubs alum Sarah Chalke and fianc Jamie Afifi plan to have a happy holiday with their son Charlie, who turns 3 on Christmas Eve full of traditional German dishes.

“Schokoladen Suppe mit Shlachsahne was our German holiday Christmas tradition,” Sarah shares. “My grandma would make it, and it was so awesome! It’s chocolate soup with whipped cream for breakfast. Could you imagine being a kid and getting served chocolate with whipped cream for breakfast?! It doesn’t get better. That was our Christmas Eve morning tradition.”

• Jewel:

Soulful singer Jewel and husband, rodeo cowboy Ty Murray, are set to celebrate the holidays with their 1-year-old son Kase.

“One of my favorite things to make to entertain company is a soda bread with chocolate, a candy orange peel, and walnuts,” Jewel shares. “It is really easy to make, as you don’t have to wait for the bread to rise. It is a quick bread. I found out about the recipe, because when I was a child, my dad baked a lot and really had a lot of patience for letting the dough rise. I didn’t [laughs]. I always really liked soda bread because of that.”

• NeNe Leakes:

The Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes is gearing up to celebrate the holidays with the latest addition of her family her new granddaughter Bri’asia.
“I love, love, love, the holiday season,” NeNe gushes. “I first look forward to cooking because I don’t get to do much of that due to my work schedule. I love making Thanksgiving dressing for my family because they wait all year for it.”

• Ali Landry:

Hollywood Moms’ Club star Ali Landy and husband Alejandro Gomez Monteverde will be celebrating the holidays in Mexico with their two children – daughter Estela, 5, and son Marcelo, 1.

The brunette beauty shared a festive family recipe with our readers.

“One of my favorite holiday dishes is a seafood gumbo,” Ali shares. “I’m from Louisiana and this dish is a staple there. It keeps you warm on a cold day, it serves a lot of people (perfect for a Christmas party) and it’s delicious.

Seafood Gumbo

• Make a roux as follows: Chop 2 medium onions and 1 bell pepper. Set aside.
• Use 1 cup of oil to 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour (all purpose only)
• Heat oil first to medium high and add flour. Lower heat . Stir constantly until flour begins to brown. A good roux may take 30 to 45 minutes to make. Constantly scrape the bottom and pull up the darkening flour so that it won’t burn and blacken. As you gradually blend it in, the roux will turn to a nice rich brown. The color of peanut butter is what you need for a seafood gumbo; a darker roux, which are cooked longer are used in other cajun dishes, like chicken and sausage gumbo which is really good as well.
• When your roux has reached desired color (peanut butter) add chopped onions and bell pepper. Saute about 1 minute to mix well and add water and cook on medium heat for about an hour.
• Season to taste with red pepper, salt and black pepper.
• Add seafood and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Serve over hot rice and enjoy!

PHASE TWO

• Saute 2 onions and 1 bell pepper in a small pot and set aside.
• Put a gallon and a half of water and heat; but not to a rolling boil.
• Add half the jar of Pat’s roux to water and stir constantly so that the roux mixes with the water. Add onions and bell pepper to that and cook on medium heat about an hour. Be careful, it could bubble over if fire is its too high.
• Add all seafood except crabmeat and cook 20 minutes. Add crab meat and cook an additional 5 minutes.”

Bill & Giuliana Rancic:
It’s sure to be a very Merry Christmas for Bill and Giuliana Rancic who will be spending the holidays with their newborn son Duke, 3 months.

The proud new parents shared a festive family favorite meal.

“We both love Mama DePandi’s Bucatini Pomodoro,” Bill and Giuliana share. “It’s even on the menu at our restaurant in Chicago, RPM Italian.

Mama DePandi’s Bucatini Pomodoro

Yields: 1 Serving

INGREDIENTS FOR PASTA

• 1/2 cup bucatini pasta
• 1/2 cup tomato fondue pomodoro sauce
• 2 tablespoon garlic oil with two cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon torn basil
• 2 tablespoon fresh grated parmesan

INGREDIENTS FOR SAUCE

• 1 can canned tomatoes (12 oz can)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup onion, small dice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 stems basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAUCE
Place tomatoes into a strainer and drain the juice; set aside. Crush the tomatoes with your hands. Cut onions into small dice. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Then, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to warm and add onions. Cook onions until translucent. Add the confit garlic. Add crushed tomatoes. Add sugar and salt. Cook for 20 minutes. Add in tomato juice and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add basil.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PASTA
Drop 1/2 cup of fresh bucatini into boiling water. Heat a pan over medium heat; add 2 tablespoons of garlic oil; 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of red chili flakes. Add in tomato fondue pomodoro sauce and heat through. Add in pasta and toss to coat, adding pasta water if needed. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon torn basil and 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese. Let sit to emulsify.

TO SERVE
Serve in medium pasta bowl. Top with remaining 1 tablespoon fresh grated parmesan cheese and finish with few pieces of torn basil.”

Sheila Kelley:
It’ll be nothing but comfort foods for Sheila Kelley, husband Richard Sciff and their two kids – Ruby, 12, and Gus, 18 – this holiday season.
“My kids and I love comfort food,” Sheila shares. “We love making hot oatmeal with almond milk and lots of fresh fruit.”

Nancy O’Dell:
Entertainment Tonight correspondent Nancy O’Dell and husband Keith Zubchevich are gearing up for a fun family Christmas with kids Ashby, 5, and Tyler and Carson.
“I’d love to share a family recipe…the one for my mama’s Southern biscuits! Betty’s Biscuits are what they are called and they are delicious,” Nancy shares. “Not the healthiest foods, but I give myself a break on the holidays.”

And look at how crafty Nancy is with her favorite recipes.
“And I took all of our family recipes and made family holiday gifts with them. I actually had Creative Memories make a quick and easy album in my scrapbooking line with them just for family recipes.”

Nancy goes on to share a great gift idea for that impossible’ person on your list!

“So here is a Christmas gift your family members will love, I promise! Have everyone in your family write their famous recipes down in their own handwriting, make a scrapbook out of all the recipes, and give everyone in the family one as a gift. I did it and they loved it. I am so happy I have my mother’s biscuit recipe below in her own handwriting to save forever and pass down to my kids.”

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