It’s time for the (slightly belated) final post for fava bean week. It’s another recipe inspired by Italy – homemade ravioli filled with a fava bean, mascarpone, and ricotta mixture and served in a two-ingredient truffle butter sauce. Because it turns out that when one of your ingredients is truffle butter, you don’t need much else.

While fava beans are abundant in Italy and Portugal, they aren’t particularly common in the US, even at the height of their season. They occasionally make an appearance at Wholefoods, and some people have found them frozen at Trader Joe’s, but I couldn’t find any near me. We are growing a long row of them, but they won’t be ready until late June, about the same time that Bostonians will be able to find them at local farmer’s markets.

So what’s a fava bean lover to do? I’ve basically been rabid for them in anticipation of the series, knowing it would be difficult to get my hands on enough for several recipes. I’ve started harassing the staff at Wholefoods, begging for them to go back into the stock room and bring me a few pounds. I made my friend Veronika walk through all of the Wholefoods in Cambridge with me – surprisingly, the little Wholefoods had some and the big one didn’t. It doesn’t help that you need about 1 pound of pods for every cup of beans, so what may look like a lot of beans disappears surprisingly quickly.

And then, unexpectedly, I found fava bean nirvana – Eataly. While out shopping for  wedding shoes with my mom, we stopped in at the new Eataly in Boston. I needed truffle butter for this recipe, and figured it made more sense to pay a little more at a store that I knew would carry it than to schlep all over looking for it. If you’ve never been, Eataly is like the Ikea of Italian food, except everything is expensive. You have to wind your way through the massive store in a certain order.  You’ll pass the gelato and pastry counters, a case full of beautiful seafood, a deli counter with dozens of prosciuttos, and rows of dry and canned goods. After weaving my way through the tempting rows filled with jars of fancy tomatoes and olive oils and capers,I found the produce section. There, next to a beautiful basket of morel mushrooms, were all the fava beans I could want. So now I know. And if you’re in Boston, New York, or Chicago, you know too.

Back to the ravioli. Every once in a while Trevor and I break out the pasta machine and make a batch of homemade pasta. I find it quite therapeutic to make, although our pasta is never quite as tender as I want. It’s fun to customize, though, and this filling is really lovely. The sweet mascarpone and ricotta really mellow out the fava flavor. We tossed the ravioli with a quick burro fuso – truffle butter melted and whisked with a bit of warm water. Simple, elegant, and springlike, a homemade pasta worth the effort.

More Fava Bean Recipes…

Spanish Fava Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Prosciutto

Avocado Toast with Fava Beans and Pecorino

Fava Bean Soup with Mascarpone, Mint, and Pancetta

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Fava Bean and Mascarpone Ravioli with Truffle Butter Sauce

Homemade Ravioli with a Fava Bean, Mascarpone and Ricotta Filling. Served in a simple Truffle Butter burro fuso sauce.

Adapted from SPQR. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup blanched, peeled fava beans (from 1 pound of fresh beans)
• 1 TBS chopped fresh mint (from 10–12 leaves)
• 1/4 cup mascarpone
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 recipe homemade pasta dough
• 2 oz. truffle butter
• 3 TBS warm water (preferably the pasta cooking water).
• grated pecorino cheese, for serving

Instructions

1. Add the fava beans, mint, mascarpone, and ricotta to a food processor. Process until smooth and fluffy. Season to taste with sea salt. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
2. Use a pasta machine to roll out the pasta dough in thin sheets. Target the third or fourth thinnest setting as your ultimate thickness of the pasta.
3. Lay the pasta sheets flat on a lightly floured surface, covering the sheets you aren’t using with a piece of plastic wrap. Use a knife to score the pasta sheets into 2 inch squares. Place 2 teaspoons of the chilled filling in the center of half the squares. Wet your finger with water and run it along the edge of each square, then cover the squares with filling with another sheet of the pasta. Press the sheets firmly together around the edges of each filled square, forming ravioli. Use a ravioli cutter or knife to cut the ravioli apart, then firmly press the edges together again to ensure there are no air bubbles. Repeat until you have used all of the pasta dough, re-rolling any dough scraps as needed.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Gently place the ravioli in the boiling water and cook just until al dente, about 2-3 minutes. They should be floating at the surface of the water when they are ready. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and place them on a large plate. Drizzle the ravioli with just a little olive oil to keep them from sticking.
5. Add the 3 TBS of the pasta cooking water to a small frying pan, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Whisk in the truffle butter one piece at a time, allowing the butter to melt between additions. When you have incorporated all of the truffle butter, add the cooked ravioli to the frying pan and toss gently to coat with the butter sauce. Divide between plates, sprinkle with the grated pecorino, and serve immediately.

The post Ingredient of the Week: Fava Beans // Fava Bean and Mascarpone Ravioli with Truffle Butter appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

At this time of year I get so anxious for spring to arrive. The first few weeks of April are a special kind of torture for New Englanders. One moment it’s 70° and sunny and I’m sure that it’s time to plant the tomatoes, and the next day I’m wearing three layers while trodding through the rain. Every year I find myself scrolling back through my Instagram feed trying to find the moment when spring arrived. When did the apple trees bloom? When did the crocuses pop? It had to be earlier last year, didn’t it?

Slowly but surely, it’s coming. We had a weekend with a hint of sunburn, a beer on the porch in the afternoon, and a promise of more warm days to come. The peas have sprouted and we check on them three times a day, the only denizens of our garden so far. The trees are in that tentative green stage, and I find myself looking up every 10 minutes, as if they may somehow magically burst into blossom over the course of an afternoon. But that’s how it feels when it finally happens, isn’t it? One morning the gray branches and bare against the spring blue sky, practically bursting with anticipation, and the next somehow everything is green and lush.

But all this is the essence of spring, is it not? The uncertainty, the anticipation, the oscillation between summer and winter. So, thank you, spring, for showing up. For teasing us with sunshine and letting us plunge our hands into the soil. For the first signs of green and even for the cool nip in the wind. I promise to enjoy every moment of you, the most fleeting of seasons. I’ll enjoy the rainy days with fat raindrops pounding against the roof. I’ll enjoy every blossom you toss our way – first, the purple and yellow crocus tips, then the showy magnolia blooms, the showers of pink apple blossoms and the regal irises.

Because every season needs at least one or two go-to pasta recipes, I’ve been developing spring pastas. I’m trying to build a collection for each season, like this Creamy Mushroom Pasta and this Heirloom Tomato Spaghetti. And now, my latest for spring – Goat Cheese Stuffed Shells with Spring Vegetables. They have all the usual spring suspects – peas, asparagus, goat cheese, lemon – tucked inside thick pasta shells. The filling also includes ricotta, mozzarella, and chopped spinach. So much cheese! So many vegetables! The finishing touch is a quick bechamel sauce and just a little bit more cheese before baking.

A word of warning: these contain an almost lethal amount of cheese, as you might have guessed from the above. Pace yourself and remember that this batch should serve 8-10 people! Four or five shells is a good serving size, and it’s easy to wolf them down. Serve alongside a salad or some bright steamed asparagus for balance.

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Goat Cheese Stuffed Shells with Peas and Asparagus

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipes. Serves 8-10.

• One 12-oz. box of jumbo pasta shells
• 6 oz. soft goat cheese
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated and divided
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (6 oz.) frozen spinach
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1 lb. asparagus, ends trimmed
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3 TBS butter
• 3 TBS flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk, warmed in the microwave
• sea salt

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook for the amount of time specified on the packages. Err on the side of undercooking the pasta just a little bit – if you overcook the shells they are more likely to fall apart when stuffing. Drain the shells and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the goat cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the ricotta cheese and 6 oz of the mozzarella cheese and stir to combine. Reserve the remaining mozzarella cheese for topping the shells. Add the egg to the cheese mixture and beat slightly, stirring to combine evenly with the cheeses.
3. Add the frozen spinach to a microwaveable bowl with a little bit of water. Microwave until fully thawed, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Use a spoon to press any excess liquid out of the spinach, draining the liquid out of the bowl. When the spinach is dry, add to the bowl with the cheeses and stir to combine. Now add the peas to the microwaveable bowl with a little water and microwave for 60-90 seconds to defrost the peas. Drain the liquid from the bowl and add the peas to the spinach and cheese mixture, stirring to combine.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer. When simmering, add the asparagus and blanch until bright green, about 90 seconds. Drain immediately and rinse the asparagus under cold running water to stop the cooking. Cut the asparagus into small pieces, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch long, and add to the cheese filling. Add the lemon zest and black pepper, stir to combine, and set aside.
5. To prepare the bechamel sauce, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and stir into the butter. Cook the flour and butter, stirring constantly, until fragrant and just beginning to color, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the warm milk, stirring as you do to incorporate the milk into the roux. Cook the bechamel, stirring the whole time, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon but still runs freely when lifted. This should only take 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season to taste with sea salt.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread a little bit of the bechamel sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole dish (to help keep the shells in place as you fill them). Working one at a time, spoon the cheese and vegetable mixture inside the pasta shells, using about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of filling per shell. As you stuff them, line the shells up on the casserole dish in a single layer. Pour the bechamel sauce over the top of the shells, then sprinkle the reserved grated mozzarella over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm.

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I’m glad I reread last year’s New Year’s recap before writing this one, because otherwise I think it might have ended up sounding eerily similar. There was travel. There was stress, largely related to the travel. We made progress on the house, bit by bit. I probably took on a bit too much for my own good. When I wrote last year I said I knew that 2016 was going to be another busy one, and it was. I also wrote that I wanted 2016 to be calmer, less stressful, more balanced; a little more relaxed, a little more joyful. I’m not totally sure I succeeded in that, but I want this post to focus on the positives of this year. What did I accomplish? How was it different – bigger, better – than the year before? And if you bear with me (or skip ahead), there’s a lovely recipe for Feta and Onion Phyllo Pie at the end of the post. It’s the perfect make-ahead dish for festive winter brunches.

All the good things.

It can be hard to recognize accomplishments as they happen, but when I look back, there they are – big and notable. I got promoted, and more importantly, I’m much better at my job than I was a year ago. I learned Portuguese! Enough to have a reasonable conversation with another person and to read children’s books. I went to three new countries, and three I’d been to before. We finished our first major house renovation, and we have a shiny new basement to show for it. And then there are things that are not so much accomplishments, but just… good. I have a job that I love. It’s engaging, I work with wonderful people all over the world, and I earn a good living doing it. My family lives nearby (except you, Rynie!) and I have great relationships with them. I have Trevor – we’ve been in a happy, stable relationship for almost 9 years and I still look forward to seeing him every single day. Everyone is happy and healthy. My social life is just what I want – good friends that I see frequently, with common interests and values. I no longer worry about not being fun enough or social enough; I just spend time with people that I like and don’t worry about people that I don’t. We live in a safe, warm house that I love being in, despite its quirks and flaws. And although money was more stressful this year than in past years (weddings and houses will do that), we are lucky to have the resources to live a very comfortable life, with travel and celebrations and stability. I am very fortunate, and very grateful.

Our travels, the short(ish) version.

Like the three years before it, I was on the road a lot in 2016. To be exact, I spent 113 days outside of the US. That’s more than 30% of the year. I was in six countries – Hong Kong, Japan, Costa Rica, Ireland, Portugal, and Colombia.

We started the year in Hong Kong, where it rained almost every day for a month. We loved it anyway. Hong Kong is incredible. It’s noisy and smelly and vibrant and elegant all at once. It can be overwhelming at times, but you’re never more than a short hike away from the mountains or the beach. And the food is amazing. We climbed winding jungle staircases to find golden temples at the top, we ate dumplings in subway stations and tea houses and on the street, we watched the neon lights pulse at night, and we drank ourselves silly at the race-track, placing $1 bets on the horses we liked the most. I have so much more to say about Hong Kong – I’m working on a few posts about it – but for now, suffice it to say it was awesome.

On our way home from Hong Kong, we spent a week and a half in Japan. Japan was mesmerizing, one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. I’ve written about Kyoto and Ise, but in a nutshell, we wandered through orderly temples and bamboo forests, saw the first plum blossoms unfold while Mt. Fuji stood majestically in the background, ate skewers of grilled chicken in smoky izakaya under the train tracks, and hiked past moss-covered shrines and ancient trees. I’m trying to find a way to get back there soon.

Not long after returning from Japan, we spent just a few days in Costa Rica with my family. I was stunned by the heat and the flowers and the incredible noise of so much life in one place. I mostly sat by the pool and watched the toucans swoop between the flowering trees, and the monkeys clamber noisily overhead. It was a short but beautiful rest.

In Ireland, in April, I was stunned by the vibrancy of the green. I took one extra day for myself at the end of the week, to hike the cliffs of Howth Head. It was windy and gray and the heather and gorse were blooming everywhere, with the waves crashing against the cliffs. After I was thoroughly chilled and exhilarated I ate bangers and mash and drank cider in a pub. This was my third trip to the Emerald Isle, and I fall a little bit more in love with it each time I go.

Lisbon is another city that is slowly stealing my heart, with the way the light reflects off the thousands of white cobblestones, filling the city with a permanent dusty glow. The Portuguese love food and wine perhaps more than any other culture I’ve experienced and I’ve had many long meals feasting on buttery octopus and rich sheep’s cheese and syrupy sweet port wine. We’ll be spending more time there this year, and I’m excited to get to know the country better.

Most of my trips to Colombia were of the airport to hotel to office and back variety, with one notable exception. I spent a lovely day exploring with my coworker and her family. She and her husband and her two young daughters took us to a cathedral buried in a salt mine followed by lunch at the real Andres. I love the way Latin cultures gather at the table on weekends, for long and rowdy lunches with family. To get a glimpse into that, to chat with her daughters in my basic Spanish, to play with them and teach them how to sing Miss Mary Mack while stuck in traffic – that was the beauty of that day. Oh and I became an official Colombian soccer fan with the purchase of a yellow Colombia jersey for watching the Copa Americana.

Seeing it all written out like this makes my heart full. All of that was in one year? I’m incredibly privileged to have so many amazing travel experiences as part of my job. It is hard, yes, and there is a lot of shuttling back and forth, packing and unpacking and sitting in airports. Most of my days abroad are not that dissimilar from a work day anywhere else, with a commute and lots of meetings in an office and the hope of squeezing a workout in at the gym. But then there are moments – afternoons and dinners and the occasional weekend – when I get to immerse myself in the culture of another place, to explore on my own, and those are the moments that make the whole thing worthwhile.

On stress, and why maybe it’s not such a bad thing.

When I look back at my recaps from the past two years (and all the posts in between, to be honest), there is a lot about stress. I know I’m not alone in this – stress is often described as an epidemic in our society. But I’ve thought a lot about stress this year – what causes it, how to reduce it, and how to limit its effects on my long term health. I also started to talk to some friends about it, and what we discussed is this: we didn’t necessarily like feeling stressed about work, but would we really be happy if our jobs were not causing us stress? Doesn’t the stress we feel about performing well mean that we are engaged and that we care about the results of our efforts? Then I read a book, The Upside of Stress, that echoed this exact sentiment and went on to express so much more about why, and how, we as a society should be rethinking our mindsets about stress. I enjoyed the book (especially since it really delves into the research supporting the idea that stress doesn’t have to be bad for you), but if you’re looking for the quick and dirty version, the author also did a Ted talk a few years back. After finishing this book, I’m starting 2017 with a different mindset about stress. Not embracing it, exactly, but learning to see the good with the bad, to recognize stress as an essential part of life, and of growth. To remember that without stress, I might be pretty bored. At the same time, I’ll be finding ways to take better care of myself and build up my resilience.

Hopes and intentions for 2017.

Last year I wrote down six words at the beginning of the year – genuine, generous, gratitude, decluttered, and balance. All of those still hold, but I particularly want to carry generous and gratitude forward to 2017. To these I would add: energy, health, and joyful. I will focus on bringing these things into my life this year, and on putting them back out into the world. In a less touchy-feely realm, this is also the year that Trevor and I are getting married! Now that we’re counting down in months instead of years, it’s starting to feel more real. I can’t wait; it’s going to be the most fun. There’s other big stuff coming up this year (a new kitchen?!), but that’s the main one.

And a recipe for Feta and Onion Phyllo Pie.

If you made it through all that, thanks for listening. And to those of you who skipped down here for the recipe, I’m happy to have you here too. And here it is! This Feta and Onion Phyllo Pie is a festive, brunchy recipe – like a very dense quiche where the filling is mostly cheese instead of mostly egg. Trevor’s dad and his wife are vegetarians and brought this to Christmas dinner as a main dish alternative, and it was my favorite thing on the table. It’s vaguely Scandinavian, thanks to a copious amount of dill, but the filling is primarily made of ricotta, feta, and not-quite-caramelized onions. It’s easy to make, easy to reheat, and delicious at any temperature, making it a prime candidate for festive brunches. I hope you have a chance to try it this winter. All my best wishes and good vibes to you for a 2017 that’s full of joy and energy and goodness!

Past New Years’ posts…

2015: Brown-Butter Chestnut Waffles with Poached Pears and Mascarpone
2014: Rye Blini, Smoked Salmon Dip, Russian Beet Dip, Pretty in Pink Cocktail
2013: Raspberry Sherbet Champagne Floats
2012: Butter-Roasted Cinnamon Chicken with Almonds and Pomegranates

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Feta and Onion Phyllo Pie

Adapted from Sunset Magazine via My Recipes. Serves 10-12.

• 3 sweet vidalia onions, peeled
• 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• sea salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup farina (cream of wheat)
• 12 oz. fresh ricotta cheese
• 10 oz. soft feta cheese (in brine), cut into small cubes
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup minced fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 6-8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions

1. Cut onions in half, then slice into thin half-moon rings. Heat 2 TBS of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and add the onion rings, caraway seeds, and a generous pinch of sea salt. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until they are translucent and very soft, and just beginning to take on a pale golden color. Remove from the heat.
2. Preheat onion to 400ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and farina until evenly combined. Add the ricotta, feta, lemon juice, dill, and black pepper and whisk until smooth. Stir in the prepared onions.
3. Pour remaining olive oil into a small bowl. Brush the inside of an 8 or 9 inch springform pan with olive oil. Lay one sheet of thawed phyllo dough over the bottom of the pan and up one side, letting 1-2 inches of extra dough drape over the top of the pan. Brush phyllo with olive oil. Repeat with a second sheet of phyllo, this time draping over a different side of the pan. Repeat until all parts of the bottom and sides of the pan have at least 2-3 layers of phyllo dough covering them. Pour the cheese and onion mixture into the center of the pan. Fold the phyllo that is overhanging the sides of the pan on top of the tart so that it covers just 1 inch of the top, trimming any extra phyllo dough off if necessary. Place carefully in the oven.
4. Bake until filling is set and pastry is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes, then remove the outside of the springform pan. Cut into slices and server warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

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I spent this past week in Hong Kong, on my first work trip in two months. This trip felt a lot easier than some of the others I’ve taken this year, for a number of reasons. For one, it was a lot easier to say goodbye after so much uninterrupted time at home, a much-needed break after the insanity of the first 8 months of this year. And Hong Kong is such an exciting city, with great food and a ton to see, it made the week fly by.

When I’m gone for more than a day or two, I have a tendency to cook up a bunch of different meals and then leave them in the fridge. I’m not consciously doing it to make sure Trevor stays fed while I’m gone, as he’s a very good cook (despite his tendency to eat primarily chips, salsa and hot dogs while I’m gone… I think that habit is more of a celebration of his brief freedom from bounty bowls and green vegetables). But maybe I’m subconsciously doing it out of guilt for leaving so often. Regardless of the reason, I haven’t heard any complaints. This time, I left him with not one but two big batch meals, a steak and ale pie (recipe coming soon!) and a tray of this lasagna.

Over the past few months I’ve been experimenting with lasagna recipes, which I’ll admit, is kind of a fattening thing to experiment with. The first one I tried was a classic lasagna Bolognese, adapted from the over-the-top Serious Eats version. It was delicious, but it took like 6 hours to make from start to finish and was also a little too soupy (probably because I lacked patience in cooking the ragu down to the right consistency and then letting it cool). Next I tried this Wild Mushroom Lasagnette, which was much faster and had great flavors, but was a little dry. So I came up with my own version, using tons of wild mushrooms, fresh fall herbs like sage and rosemary, a rich béchamel sauce, ricotta, and grated taleggio cheese. I won’t say that I’ve reached lasagna perfection, but I will say that when I got home from my trip last night the entire tray of lasagna was gone… so I know it was good.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna

Serves 6-8. Inspired by Bon Appetit and Serious Eats.

• 2 TBS butter
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 TBS chopped fresh sage
• 1  TBS chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 lb. oyster mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 1 bunch Tuscan kale, leaves removed from stems and roughly chopped
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 3 TBS butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 TBS flour
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1/2 lb. taleggio cheese, grated
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 lb. whole milk ricotta cheese

1. Finely chop the fresh herbs and mix together in a small bowl. Melt 1/3 of the butter and 1/3 of the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the oyster mushrooms to the pan in a single layer, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the chopped herbs and a pinch of sea salt. Let cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes, then flip with a spatula and brown on the other side. Mushrooms should be golden brown all over and slightly crisp when finished. Transfer oyster mushrooms to a bowl and repeat the process with the shiitakes and criminis, cooking each type separately in a new batch of butter, olive oil, herbs, and sea salt.
2. Once all the mushrooms are cooked, return them all to the pan and add the wine and kale to the pan. Simmer the mixture until the kale is tender and the wine has mostly evaporated. Add the heavy cream and simmer for 2-3 minutes longer. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Add the 3 TBS of butter to a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour all at once and stir into the butter to form a paste. Cook for 1 minute, until flour is lightly browned and nutty smelling. Slowly drizzle in the milk, whisking as you do to incorporate the milk smoothly into the roux. Once you have added all the milk, cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat. Reserve a small portion of the grated taleggio cheese to the side for topping the lasagna, then stir the rest of the cheese in a handful at a time, until it is fully melted. Stir in the nutmeg. Set the béchamel sauce to the side.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To assemble the lasagna, place a thin layer of ricotta cheese on the bottom of a large casserole dish. Cover the ricotta with a layer of noodles. Top the noodles with a layer of mushroom filling, a thin layer of ricotta, and a layer of béchamel sauce, spreading each layer out thinly to cover the entire area. Repeat this layering – noodles, mushrooms, ricotta, béchamel – until you have used all of the filling and almost all of the noodles and béchamel. Your last layer should consist of noodles, topped with béchamel, and then sprinkled with the reserved taleggio cheese. I usually get between 3-5 layers out of this amount of filling. Place the lasagna on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and place in the oven. Bake until noodles are tender and cheese on top is browned, about 40 minutes.

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The Book: Like many, I’m a long time fan of Green Kitchen Stories, the wonderfully vibrant blog written by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl. David and Luise are masters of inspired, healthy cooking, making fruits and vegetables shine in new ways with every post. I loved their first book, Vegetarian Everyday, which was released in the states last year (you can see my full write up here), and it quickly became a go-to book for me when I needed something fast and healthy, as evidenced by this baked pistachio falafel, these savory corn muffins and this baked blackberry oatmeal. When they announced that they were writing a second book, this one based on their travels around the world, I immediately knew I had to have a copy. And Green Kitchen Travels, now safely nestled into my cookbook shelf, does not disappoint.

This is one well-traveled family: together with their four year old daughter, Elsa, they have been everywhere from Spain to Mexico to Morocco to Thailand, picking up new flavors and inspiration in every corner of the globe. The recipes they’ve included to mark their travels are not meant to be recreations of authentic local dishes, but instead are healthy recipes in the unique GKS style influenced by the flavors, ingredients, and techniques they’ve found around the world. It’s fusion at its finest – adopting whatever works from each cuisine and blending it with an existing style to create something balanced and new. I was particularly taken by the chapter dedicated to soups: Vietnamese pho and Indian dal and Italian ribollita all in the same few pages! Of course, the pictures are stunning, as anyone who reads their blog already knows. The travel theme just gives the couple the green light to add to their colorful collection of food pictures with jawdropping landscapes from around the world, market scenes dripping with color and life, and of course, their adorable daughter in exotic locales worldwide. I do love the feeling that in a way, this book is a love letter to Elsa, as you see and hear her influence on their journeys and cooking style throughout the pages – this book is very much a family affair.

The Food: The day I left for my recent trip to Malaysia, I felt like cooking just because. Knowing that I wouldn’t be around to eat whatever I made, I flipped through the pages of Green Kitchen Travels looking for something that I could leave behind for Trevor. I quickly settled on this light Italian cake, which felt like the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon espresso on a warm fall day. The cake is gluten-free, made from a combination of polenta and almond flour, and uses only honey as a sweetener, so you can cut yourself a big slice without too much guilt. I’ve had hit or miss results with “healthy” cakes, and in particular cakes made with ricotta, but this one was very good. It was moist and not overly crumbly, with a delicate flavor of lemons, almonds, and honey. It’s not very sweet, so while I’m not sure I’d serve it for dessert, it’s the perfect thing for an afternoon break or an indulgent breakfast.

Recipe Shortlist: Mexican Breakfast Salad; Rye and Chocolate Croissants; Halloumi Veggie Burgers; Sweet Vietnamese Cucumber Salad; Harira Soup (Tomatoes, Chickpeas, and Dates); Baked Eggplant Rolls; Berber Tagine; Sweet Potato and Eggplant Moussaka; Turmeric Lassi

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Green Kitchen Travels from Hardie Grant, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Ricotta and Polenta Almond Cake (Torta di Ricotta e Polenta)

Recipe from Green Kitchen Travels. Serves 8.

• 1/2 c.(100g) butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. clear honey
• finely grated zest of three small lemons
• 1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 c. (5 oz) almond flour, or whole almonds, ground into flour in food processor
• 1 c. (4 1/2 oz) fine ground polenta
• 1 c. (9 oz) ricotta, preferably creamy
• 1/2 c. flaked almonds
• powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the base of an 8 inch springform tin with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place the butter, half of the honey, the lemon zest, and the vanilla extract in a large bowl and beat until creamy, using an electric mixer if you have one. Add the egg yolks and continue to beat until fully incorporated and creamy. Add the almond flour, polenta, and ricotta and fold everything together using a spatula.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Still beating, drizzle in the remaining honey and continue to beat the egg whites until medium peaks hold and the honey is fully blended in. Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

The post Book Club: Green Kitchen Travels // Ricotta and Polenta Almond Cake appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Finding the time for these Sunday Dinner posts is harder than I would like it to be. Perhaps part of the problem is that I tend to choose rather elaborate menus that take all afternoon to prepare and shoot, but that’s also part of the fun. When we finally did another Sunday Dinner a few weeks back, its origins were mixed – it grew partly out of the feeling that it had been far too long, partly out of the need to use up the huge stacks of garden produce in our fridge, and partly out of a desire to celebrate that same summer produce at its very peak.

This Sunday Dinner is the first we’ve done that is entirely vegetarian, but with gorgeous stacks of Eggplant Napoleon as a centerpiece to the meal, meat was not missed in the slightest. I’ve been eyeing this particular eggplant recipe since early spring, when I reviewed Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar. Back in March, the bright stacks of fried eggplant layered with baba ghanoush and pesto seemed impossibly summery, products of a season that felt like it might never come. But come it has, and now the sun-soaked afternoons and baskets of tomatoes are too quickly fading into cool breezy evenings and the first ripe pumpkins. We do still have plenty of nice weeks ahead of us – it won’t do to get nostalgic prematurely – and we’re still cooking up a storm with the weekly haul from the garden. Our homegrown eggplant was the star of the show in this meal, and we rounded things out with piles of maple-roasted cherry tomatoes on ricotta-slathered crostini and a gorgeous pie made with the last of our blackberries.

Eggplant can be a little labor intensive to prepare well, and this recipe was no exception. A lengthy process of salting, drying, marinating, breading, and frying may feel a little like overkill, but results in an incredibly flavorful and tender eggplant. There are a number of other components to the recipe as well – the pesto marinade, the baba ghanoush, and a tomato and pesto salad that gets served on top of the final dish. The recipe calls for about seven lemons – we felt that using three was sufficient – and the acidity of the final dish is powerful, but works nicely with the savory crunch of the eggplant slices and the smokiness of the baba ghanoush. I’ve written the recipe here with a few shortcuts to save time and effort, but the end result should be equally flavorful and elegant as the original.

On the other end of the labor intensive spectrum are the super easy crostini we had as an appetizer. We make a big batch of maple-roasted cherry tomaotes pretty much every week during August and September, roasting them the day they’re picked then using them on top of pastas and meats and eggs throughout the week. Once the oven is on, I sometimes throw another vegetable or two in to avoid heating up the house more than once – the week I made these crostini, that other vegetable was a few heads of our freshly harvested garlic, roasted into a sweet paste. The roasted garlic got mixed into some good thick ricotta, slathered on hot baguette, and topped with the candy-sweet tomatoes. It was so good and so easy.

The final element of our dinner was a big slice of mixed berry and maple syrup pie, which I wrote about in detail a week or so ago. It was a pie that I had been dreaming about since the first blackberries ripened, and it exceeded all my expectations for it. A big slice of the juicy pie, supported with a flaky buttery crust and topped off with a melting scoop of vanilla bean ice cream was the perfect close to our late summer dinner feast.

The Menu

Roasted Garlic, Ricotta, and Maple-Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostini – see recipe below
Eggplant and Pesto Napoleons – see recipe below (adapted from Olives, Lemons & Za’atar)
Maple Mixed-Berry Pie

Past Sunday Dinners:

May 26, 2013: Coffee-and-Chile Rubbed Strip Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce; Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives; Oven-Roasted Potatoes; Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

July 1, 2013: Strawberry-Lime Agua Fresca; Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Chilled Asparagus Soup with Meyer Lemon Yogurt; Mustard Spaetzle with Mushrooms; Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

October 28, 2013: Braised Lamb Shanks with Gremolata; Creamy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Blue Cheese; Roasted Brussels Sprouts; Classic Apple Pie

March 31, 2014: Fried Halloumi with Spring Veggies and Strawberry-Basil Gastrique; French Gnocchi with Watercress Sauce; Strawberry-Rhubarb Meringue Pots

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Roasted Garlic, Ricotta, and Maple-Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostini

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

• 1 recipe of maple-roasted cherry tomatoes
• 3 heads of garlic
• 1 c. of ricotta
• 1 baguette
• olive oil
• sea salt and pepper

1. Prepare the maple-roasted cherry tomatoes. While they are roasting, roast the garlic as well: slice the tops off the garlic heads so the cloves are partially exposed. Place the heads in a piece of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt. Close the foil into a pouch, and roast until soft, about 45-55 minutes at 350°F.
2. Remove the garlic from the oven, and let cool until comfortable to handle. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery shells into a bowl, and mash with a fork. Mix the roasted garlic with the ricotta, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the broiler. Slice the baguette into thin rounds, then place on a baking sheet. Brush the tops and bottoms lightly with olive oil. Broil the toasts until golden brown, about 5 minutes total, flipping once halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. To serve, spread the ricotta mixture onto the toasts and top with a spoonful of roasted cherry tomatoes.

Eggplant Napoleon

Recipe adapted from Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar. Serves 4-6.

Note: This version of the recipe is slightly simplified. The full original recipe is available on Epicurious.

For the baba ghanoush:

• 2 medium eggplants (2 lbs total)
• 1/2 c. tahini paste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 TBS pomegranate molasses
• 3 TBS olive oil

For the fried eggplant:

• 2 medium eggplant, cut into rounds
• sea salt to taste
• 1/4 c. basil pesto
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• juice from 2 lemons
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 2 c. panko
• 2 TBS grated parmesan cheese
• 2 TBS dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• vegetable oil for frying

For the tomato salad:

• 4 plum tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
• 1/4 c. of finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 c. basil pesto
• juice from 1 lemon
• 3 TBS olive oil
• sea salt to taste

1. Prepare the baba ghanoush: Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pierce the eggplants all over with a fork and place on the baking sheet. Roast until skin is blackened all over, turning the eggplants with tongs every 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice in half lengthwise, and scoop the soft eggplant flesh out into a large strainer. Let drain for 20 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Mash the eggplant with a fork, then stir in the tahini, garlic, lemon, pomegranate molasses, and olive oil. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
2. Prepare the fried eggplant: Place the eggplant rounds on two large baking sheets and salt liberally. Set aside for 30 minutes, then pat the slices dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl, whisk together the pesto, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Add the eggplant slices to the bowl, toss to coat, and let marinate for 1-2 hours at room temperature.
3. To bread the eggplant, prepare your workspace: place the flour on a large plate, whisk the egg whites together with 1 cup of water in a shallow bowl, and mix the panko, grated parmesan, dried parsley, and black pepper together on a large plate. Set a piece of waxed paper to the side of your workspace. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dredge the marinated eggplant slices in the flour, gently shake off the excess, dip it in the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko on both sides. Set on the waxed paper and repeat with all of the eggplant slices.
4. Heat a large frying pan filled with 1/4 inch of vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry the eggplant slices in batches, frying 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown all over. Remove to a paper towel lined platter and repeat until all eggplant is fried.
5. To prepare the tomato salad: mix together the chopped plum tomatoes, chopped red onion, pesto, lemon, and olive oil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt.
6. To serve, place one slice of the fried eggplant on a plate, then spread with a few tablespoons of baba ghanoush. Repeat twice more, building a layered stack of eggplant, then top with a few large spoonfuls of the tomato salad. Serve immediately.

The post Sunday Dinner // Ricotta and Cherry Tomato Crostini, Eggplant and Pesto Napoleons, and Blackberry Pie appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I hope it’s been long enough since rhubarb week that you won’t mind if I post another rhubarb recipe – because this one is really, really good. It’s from the SPQR cookbook, in which everything is fancy and inspiring and makes me want to go back to Italy, stat.

I’m going to be up front here – this is one of those recipes that you should only attempt if you really enjoy cooking. It’s complicated. It has about a billion parts. Nothing is particularly difficult (perhaps with the exception of frothing an egg over a double boiler, I mess that one up sometimes), but you’ll need patience, and someone to help with the dishes. All of the components can be made a few days in advance, so if you do one part at a time it might not seem so bad. But regardless of how you choose to make it (if you choose to make it), the result is so, so worth it. Unmolding the frozen bavarese, spooning the brilliantly colored red and orange fruits over the top, and crumbling the addictively nutty biscotti crisp over the whole thing, you’ll be impressed with yourself. And when you take a bite, you’ll be even more impressed. The flavors work wonderfully together, it’s all sweet and juicy and creamy and crumbly and completely worthy of your finest company. Those folks over at SPQR really know what they’re doing.

A few notes: one, the butter, brown sugar, and biscotti crisp is so good that you will not be able to stop eating the leftovers. Consider yourself warned. Two, I actually prefer the bavarese at fridge temperature as opposed to freezer temperature, but experiment with the degree of frozenness that you like. Three, the red wine poached rhubarb, which in the original recipe was verjus poached rhubarb, is amazing as is, and would be good on other creamy things, like your morning yogurt (I won’t judge). Four, this whole thing was supposed to have powdered olive oil on top. I tried to make it. I even ordered the special tapioca maltodextrin powder online. But it didn’t work. Honestly, I don’t think this dessert needs any more elements. It’s ready to go.

Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

Recipe adapted slightly from SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. Serves 6-8.

For the bavarese:

• 2 c. drained ricotta
• 3/4 c. sour cream
• 1 sheet gelatin
• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 6 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. In a large, heatproof bowl (big enough to place over the simmering water without touching the water itself), whisk together the ricotta and the sour cream. Place the bowl over the water and whisk until the ricotta curds are broken up and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl and set aside.
2. Soak the gelatin in ice water until softened. Place a new bowl over the simmering water and add the orange juice and 1 TBS of the lemon juice. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin sheet and add it to the juices. Stir over the simmering water until dissolved, then remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream and 4 TBS of the sugar until the cream holds medium peaks. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir the orange juice mixture into the ricotta, then fold the ricotta into the whipped cream. Set aside.
4. In a third heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg and remaining 2 TBS of sugar. Place over the simmering water and whisk vigorously until the egg is pale yellow and frothy. Remove from the heat and turn the pot of water off.
5. Immediately fold the whipped egg into the ricotta-cream mixture. Grate lemon zest directly over the bowl and stir to combine. Pour the ricotta-cream into 8 4-oz ramekins or 8 large silicone muffin cups, cover tightly, and freeze until ready to serve.

For the rhubarb:

• 1/4 c. red wine
• 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 7 oz. rhubarb, trimmed and cut on an angle into 1/4 inch pieces (about 2 cups total)

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together red wine, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, lower heat and add the rhubarb. Poach the rhubarb for 3 minutes, just until rhubarb starts to soften. Remove the rhubarb with a slotted spoon and set aside. Return the syrup left in the pot to a boil and boil until syrupy about 7-10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb and refrigerate until needed.

For the biscotti crumble:

• 1 c. crushed biscotti (150 grams)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. melted salted butter (1 stick)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pulse the biscotti and the brown sugar in a food processor until mixture is finely ground. Drizzle in butter and pulse to combine. Spread thinly on the lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until mixture is firm and beginning to crisp around the edges. Let cool completely then break into chunks.

For the orange confitura:

• 1 orange
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the peel away from the orange in long strips. Slice into thin lengths, then add to the boiling water. Blanch for two minutes, then drain and run under cold water until cool. Pat dry.
2. Bring the sugar and the water to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the blanched orange peel and simmer until lightly candied, about 6-8 minutes. Cool the peel in the syrup and refrigerate until needed.
3. Cut the orange away from the pith into supremes, and set aside.

To serve:

1. Unmold the bavarese into bowls (you may need to soften them for 15 seconds in the microwave for them to pop out of their bowls, a hot knife run around the edges can help too). Spoon the chilled rhubarb over the top. Place a few slices of candied orange zest, some crumbled biscotti, and a few segments of fresh orange on top. Serve immediately. You may also serve the bavarese slightly defrosted – they will still taste wonderful but won’t look as smooth.

The post Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence, the folks behind The Chubby Vegetarian, do some seriously creative things with vegetables. Think Baked Potato Skins with Smoked Coconut Bacon, BBQ Eggplant, Tomato Pie and Pimento Cheese, and  Italian-Style Eggplant Sausages to get your mind moving in the right direction. The Chubby Vegetarian was one of the first blogs I stumbled upon back in the day and it is continually a source of inspiration, so when I saw that they were publishing a book, The Southern Vegetarian, I knew that I’d have to check it out.

The food served up in The Southern Vegetarian is loaded with classic, All-American appeal. Not every recipe is particularly Southern – sloppy Joes, meatballs, and bran muffins all fall pretty solidly into the general American food category in my mind – but the ones that are bring me straight back to the rich, saucy, flavorful dishes I enjoyed while living in North Carolina. Except, all the meat has disappeared – and I don’t think you’ll miss it. Need proof? How does this menu sound to you: Bourbon with Basil and Lemonade Granita, Okra Fritters with Creole Mushroom Sauce, Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Eggplant, and Grilled Peach Ice Cream? Southern through and through, packed with spice and flavor, and fruits and vegetables are doing all the hard work. Plus, as you flip through the book thinking about whipping up a menu like this, you’ll find a photograph with every single recipe – always a good thing!

Unlike many of the vegetarian cookbooks I find myself gravitating toward, The Southern Vegetarian is not about keeping vegetables raw or barely processed and making them the only thing on the plate – i.e., you’re not going to find a lot of veggie and whole grain salads or gluten-free vegan raw breakfast bowls. Much more frequently, you’ll find that vegetables have simply infiltrated a dish where you would be expecting meat, and all the other rich flavors are still in play. In some cases, this means using tofu, seitan, and other meat substitutes as a replacement for the main component of a classic dish, like using seitan in a Vegetarian “Chicken” Pot Pie. Since I’m not a vegetarian, but simply enjoy cooking with vegetables, this is not my favorite type of recipe – if I want chicken pot pie, I’m just going to have chicken pot pie. However, other times, the way they accomplish meat replacement is genius, like using sausage spices to give eggplant that same smoky flavor, or using liquid smoke, hot sauce, and Worcestershire to make a convincing vegetarian gumbo.

Although they aren’t particularly Southern, I made these crispy eggplant sandwiches as a test recipe and they were seriously delicious, in a very satisfying, comfort food sort of way. I also made some (much more Southern) savory cheddar-pecan cookies with spicy pepper jelly, which were great as well, but for now let’s focus on the sandwiches. I chose to go the super homemade route with these – homemade tomato sauce, homemade breadcrumbs, even homemade ricotta (out of necessity!) – and they came out amazing, but I have the feeling they’d be just as good using mostly store-bought ingredients. And if that were the route you chose, you’d have an easy, satisfying, flavorful and balanced dinner to serve in under forty minutes. The eggplant really does get quite crispy, and the roasted garlic and ricotta spread makes the meal feel richer than it really is. As a bonus, making this recipe taught me a new, quick way to roast garlic – dry roast individual cloves in a hot skillet while still in their papery skins. Worked like a charm!

A quick note about the ricotta – when I opened the fancy high-end ricotta I had in the fridge while making this recipe, I gave it a whiff and quickly tossed it in the trash. Going back to the store wasn’t an option, but I happened to have all the ingredients you need to make ricotta (milk, heavy cream, vinegar, and salt) on hand, so I decided to go for it. It came out better than the cheap stuff I get at the store but not as good as the expensive stuff I get out the store – it was sweet and mild but a teeny bit rubberry. Although making ricotta from heavy cream and milk feels a little bit wasteful (ricotta is usually a byproduct of making a different cheese – it is made from the leftover acidified whey), it was definitely a great quick fix.

The bottom line: The Southern Vegetarian turns vegetables into serious omfort food. The recipes included here are rich, saucy, and flavorful, and will be definite crowd pleasers, especially in true vegetarian households. Non-vegetarians looking to increase their vegetable intake will also find recipes of interest, but they may not appreciate the classic meat recipe “re-dos” as much as vegetarians will.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of The Southern Vegetarian from Thomas Nelson. I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Crispy Eggplant Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread

Adapted slightly from The Southern Vegetarian. Serves 4-5.

• 3 c. torn pieces of fresh French bread
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning mix (or 1 tsp dried parsley + 1 tsp dried oregano + 1/2 tsp garlic powder + 1/2 tsp salt)
• 1 medium globe eggplant
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• olive oil
• 4-5 ciabatta rolls
• 1 c. arugula
• 1 c. warm tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)
• 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 c. roasted garlic and ricotta spread (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place French bread pieces and Italian seasoning in a food processor and pulse until the bread has broken down into fine crumbs. Pour onto a dinner plate and set aside.
2. Wash the eggplant and remove the stem ends. Slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper.
3. Set up two bowls next to the breadcrumb plate – one with the flour and one with the beaten eggs. Dredge each eggplant slice in the flour, tapping off the excess, then dip in the eggs, then coat with breadcrumbs. Place on a baking tray. Drizzle with a small amount of oil (about 1/8 of a teaspoon per slice).
4. Bake eggplant for 15 minutes, then flip each slice over and drizzle the opposite side with olive oil. Bake for another 15 minutes then remove from the oven. Coating should be golden brown and crispy.
5. To assemble the sandwiches, place a handful of arugula leaves on top of the bottom bun, then cover with 2-3 slices of eggplant. Drizzle a spoonful of the warm tomato sauce on top of the eggplant and sprinkle 2 TBS of parmesan cheese on top. Spread the garlic and ricotta mixture on the top bun, then close the sandwich and serve.

Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread

Recipe adapted slightly from The Southern Vegetarian. Makes about 1 cup.

• 5 cloves of garlic, skin left on
• 1 c. whole milk ricotta, homemade (see below) or store bought
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Place the garlic cloves with their skin on in a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast, flipping occasionally, until skins have started to blacken and garlic is fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Let them cool, then remove the skins – the inside of the clove should be soft and roasted.
2. In a small bowl, mash the roasted garlic cloves with a fork, then mix with the ricotta and the parmesan. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Easy Homemade Ricotta

Adapted from Anne Burrell via The Food Network. Makes about 1 cup.

• 2 c. skim milk
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1 TBS distilled white vinegar
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Mix the milk, heavy cream, vinegar, and salt together in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring infrequently just to ensure that nothing is sticking to the bottom or sides of the pot. Once the milk has reached a simmer, simmer for 1-2 minutes – curds will form continuously as you simmer the milk.
2. Place a sieve or strainer lined with damp cheesecloth over a large bowl. Pour the curds and whey into the strainer, and let drain for 15 minutes. After it has drained and cooled to a point where it is comfortable to touch, gently squeeze out any remaining whey from the ricotta. Unmold from the cheesecloth and serve, or store in the fridge.

The post Book Club: The Southern Vegetarian // Crispy Eggplant Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Breakfast for Dinner is a cute, approachable book. While I’ll never escape the part of me that, as a little girl, used to like nothing more than to page through encyclopedias, atlases, and 1,000 page collections of literary classics, I’ve found that I tend to actually use physically small, focused cookbooks much more than the huge glossy tomes I like to collect. At 160 pages, Breakfast for Dinner fits this bill, and is small enough to throw in my purse (yes, I sometimes travel with cookbooks as reading materials). It is also beautifully designed – between the type, the layout, the paper, and the beautiful full page photographs that accompany every single recipe, it’s a pleasure to read.

The recipes included in Breakfast for Dinner are divided into three categories – Main Dishes, Sides & Starters, and Drinks & Desserts. Since I was expecting a lot of truly breakfasty recipes scaled up for dinnertime, I was pleasantly surprised to find a much broader interpretation of “breakfast for dinner.” In particular, I loved the inclusion of recipes where typical breakfast staples (cornflakes, breakfast sausage) are re-purposed in decidedly dinner-like meals (cornflake-crusted chicken, breakfast-sausage ravioli). The recipes run the gamut from tried-and-true breakfast staples, such as Steak and Eggs Benedict, to more creative dishes, such as Grapefruit Risotto with Seared Scallops. One thing all the recipes have in common is that they are crowd-pleasers – I can’t imagine you’ll find many people who would turn down Bacon Fried Rice, Burgers topped with Fried Eggs, Hashbrowns, and Apricot Jam, or Mocha Ice Cream Pie with Biscotti Crust. (Except, in retrospect after writing that list, maybe vegetarians. Don’t worry, they’ll probably go for the Polenta Cakes with Shiitake Mushrooms and the Parmesan Beignets).

To test out this book, I made two recipes, one sweet, and one savory. On the sweet side, I made Chocolate Brownie Waffles with Blackberry Sauce. Sounds amazing, right? Sadly, I couldn’t get the waffles to come out right – the batter seemed very thick, and once it went into the waffle iron, I couldn’t get any waffles to stay together. They were super delicate, and at the same time dried out quickly. So, not perfect, although my roommates were happy to devour the waffle crumbs. As I started the savory recipe – Italian-Style Stuffed French Toast – I was a little nervous. Would this one work? Thankfully, it came out great. I could barely stop myself from eating all the lemon-scented spinach and ricotta filling before stuffing the bread, and the marinara sauce was easy to make and well-spiced. It was a little tricky stuffing the toast, but I eventually got the hang of it. I also tried it grilled cheese style, and by just toasting the bread and then spreading it with the ricotta – all three ways worked great. Served with a green salad, this would make a fantastic family dinner recipe, especially if you’re tired of spaghetti and lasagna but still craving Italian food.

The bottom line: Breakfast for Dinner is a cute, focused, well-designed cookbook full of crowd-pleasing dinner and dessert recipes that utilize traditional breakfast ingredients, like bacon, eggs, coffee, and maple syrup. Lindsay and Taylor, who are also the duo behind the popular blog Love and Olive Oil, create tasty, easy, and accessible recipes and stunning photographs. I did have a little trouble getting one of the recipes I tested to come out right, but the second recipe was phenomenal. Recommended for beginner cooks looking to expand their repertoire and those looking to mix up their daily dinner routine with some delicious comfort food.

Disclaimer: Quirk Books sent me a copy of Breakfast for Dinner free of charge, but I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Italian-Style Stuffed French Toast

Recipe from Breakfast for Dinner. Makes 8 slices (serves 4).

• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 4 c. fresh baby spinach (about 6-oz.)
• 1/2 c. whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 loaf soft french bread, cut into 8 slices 1-1/2 inches thick
• 3 egg
• 1/2 c. whole milk
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 c. marinara sauce (store-bought, or see recipe below)

1. Heat 2 TBS of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic, and saute for 30 seconds, then add the spinach, and saute, stirring, until it has all wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool, then coarsely chop.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the chopped spinach, ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, basil, and oregano until evenly mixed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. In a small baking dish, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Use a serrated knife to cut a slit into each piece of bread, and then use the knife to stuff 2 TBS of filling into each slit. Heat the remaining 2 TBS olive oil in the frying pan. One at a time, dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture for 30 seconds on each side. Add to the frying pan, but don’t overcrowd the slices. Cook for 3 minutes on each side. (Alternatively, if you’re having a tough time stuffing the bread, you can make these grilled cheese style, or simply dip and toast the bread, then spread with ricotta afterwards.) Serve with warm marinara sauce.

Easy Marinara

Recipe from Breakfast for Dinner. Makes 2 cups.

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and saute for 3 minutes, or until onion has softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add tomatoes, 1/4 c. of water, basil, and oregano. Let simmer for 20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

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Yes, I know it’s not the morning anymore, but at least it’s still Monday! And I did do my new resolution today, I just didn’t get the chance to tell you about it. Actually, there are a bunch of things I want to tell you about, all somewhat unrelated, so excuse this post for being a little bit jumpy…

Let’s start off with this week’s resolution: to bring a healthy snack to work each day (with the ultimate goal of staving off those mid-afternoon junk food cravings). Today I brought half an avocado and a clementine, tomorrow I’m thinking nuts and dried cherries. Anyone out there have any great snack suggestions for me? I’d love to hear them.

More on the resolutions – I did a pretty good job with them last week, except I ate only three green salads instead of four. I’ve forgiven myself, though. If you’re new to my little resolutions challenge, you can read about the impetus behind it here, and please join in by posting your own resolutions in the comments (or updating me on how they’re going, for those of you who have already shared)! And to continue holding myself accountable, here are all my cumulative resolutions thus far:

• Week one: No chocolate from the chocolate box at work
• Week two: Walk to or from Park St. Station each day (an additional 15 minutes of walking on my commute)
• Week three: Do ten minutes of strength training and stretching every day
• Week four: Eat at least four green salads per week
• Week five: Bring a healthy snack to work every day

Moving on: the reason I was late in posting today was because I spent the weekend away on a girl’s weekend with my mom, as my (very) belated birthday present to her for her 50th. I had so much fun and it was really nice to get away, so I just wanted to share a few trip notes and pictures. We stayed at a cute B&B – William’s Grant Inn – in Bristol, RI, through a LivingSocial deal, and while we were there took a tour of The Breakers (which was all decked out for Christmas!) in Newport. It’s stunning how much detail went into those houses. As part of the deal we had a lovely dinner at Le Central, where I was pleasantly surprised by how yummy the food was. Sunday we spent some time walking around Bristol shopping (I picked up a great set of Spanish bakeware at an antique shop – I can’t wait to photograph it), and then went on a neat little hike in the Norman Bird Sanctuary. Such a nice little getaway!

And now for everyone’s favorite part – the food! The pictures here are of a super delicious crespelle recipe from a beautiful new book on Italian food, SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. I’ll be posting the full review later this week, but I couldn’t wait to share these lovely little treats. Crespelle are just the Italian version of crepes, and these particular ones are filled with a mixture of sweetened goat cheese, mascarpone, and ricotta, then simmered briefly in an orange-caramel sauce. To top it off, the crepes themselves are made with nutty browned butter and are as light as air, with crispy lacy edges. The cumulative result is kind of sigh-inducing, and totally worth the extra work. If you’re looking for a more savory crepe, check out these Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crepes I created for Life’d last week (it appears I’m on some sort of major crepe kick). And one last thing I wanted to mention before I leave you with the recipe: I’m being featured on NoshOnIt on Wednesday, if you’d like to check it out. Personally, I’ve been loving reading their daily emails and discovering great new food bloggers and recipes, and I highly recommend them.

Ricotta and Goat Cheese Crespelle with Orange-Caramel Sauce

Adapted from SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. Serves 3-4.

Notes: The original recipe made a lot of crepe batter, so I’ve scaled the proportions back to make it more manageable for a small household. However, I thought the ratio of filling to crepe in the original recipes was a bit off, so I’ve left the amount of filling at the original amount. Feel free to fill them according to your taste. The crepes are very thin and delicate, and flipping them takes a little bit of practice. You also have to plan ahead a little for this one, as both the batter and the filled crepes require a little chilling time in the fridge. Refrigerating the batter overnight will yield the most delicate crespelle.

• 1 1/2 TBS + 1 TBS salted butter, divided
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS flour
• 1 1/2 TBS + 1 TBS sugar, divided
• 1/4 c. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 c. ricotta cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. powdered sugar, sifted, plus additional for garnish
• 1 navel orange, zest and juice (1/2 c. juice needed)

1. Make the batter: Melt 1 1/2 TBS of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter until it bubbles and begins to smell nutty, then pour into a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the milk to the same saucepan and return to the heat. Heat the milk for 2-3 minutes, just enough to scald it. Remove the milk and let cool slightly (it should feel warm to the touch but you should be able to touch it without hurting yourself).
2. Add the warm milk and the eggs to a blender and pulse to combine. Add the flour and 1 1/2 TBS of the sugar and blend to combine. Drizzle in the butter (with the blender running, if possible), and blend until fully combined. Strain the batter through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
3. Make the filling: in a medium bowl, stir together the goat cheese, mascarpone, and ricotta until smooth. Add the vanilla and the sifted powdered sugar and stir to combine. Zest the orange and add 1 tsp of the orange zest to the mixture. Reserve the remaining zest for garnish. Stir to combine, then refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Cook the crepes: Heat a very small pat of butter in a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat, then carefully wipe most of it out with a paper towel. Pour 1/4 c. of batter into the heated pan and quickly swirl in a circle to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute, until light golden brown, then carefully and quickly flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. Remove the cooked crepe to a plate and continue with remaining batter. This should make about 8 crepes.
5. When the cooked crepes are cool, spoon 1-2 TBS of the cheese filling in the middle of each crepe. Spread in a vertical line about 1/2 inch thick, then roll the crepe up like a burrito. Place the filled crepes on a platter, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, to firm up the filling.
6. When ready to serve, heat the remaining 1 TBS of butter in your largest saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the filled crepes, seam side down, and toast for 2 minutes, before carefully flipping each crepe over. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS of sugar. Once it dissolves, and the orange juice from the orange. Cook down the mixture until the juice is slightly thickened and has been absorbed somewhat by the crepes. Remove the crepes to individual plates and top with the extra orange caramel. Garnish with powdered sugar and any extra orange zest.

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I’ve been on a bit of a beet kick lately – I made beets for Thanksgiving, I’ve made this incredible beet and chickpea salad twice in the past week, and I have recipes for beet keftedes and beet soup and beet-bulghur pilau shortlisted for the next two weeks.  This isn’t such a bad thing – beets are packed with health benefits.  I mean, their vegetable family also includes spinach, chard, and quinoa – superfoods much?  Beets are full of something called betalains, which have got all that antioxidant, pro-eyesight, anti-cancer stuff going on.  Plus, they’re filling and delicious and even eating them roasted in large amounts of olive oil makes me feel good about myself.  However, I suppose there can be too much of a good thing, even when that good thing is related to lots of superfoods.  So if there’s any blame to be laid for the perhaps excessive amount of beets in my diet recently, I’m laying it on the Somerville Winter Farmer’s Market and the super gorgeous, super sweet, potato shaped beets they have every week.  They’re so pretty and pink and shapely, I just can’t help myself!

This salad is, as Trevor would put it, “flavor-exciting.”  There’s a lot going on in this dish, and all of it is good.  Roasted beets, chickpeas cooked in spiced broth and fried with cumin, ricotta cheese, kalamata olives, parsley, and a simple dressing of red wine vinegar and lemon juice give you pretty much every flavor and texture you could want in a single dish.  For me, the chickpeas are the star element of this dish, and the key to getting them just right is patience.  Now, I’m not usually that patient in the kitchen – think slightly undercooking the pasta, turning the heat up on an omelette to get it to cook faster and burning it in the process, etc.  But these chickpeas are worth the wait.  After cooking to a firm-tender bite in the beautifully spiced broth, you have to wait even longer for them to fry.  And fry.  And fry.  It takes a long time (a good 15 or 20 minutes) for these little beans to get to that golden-brown chewy-crunchy magic spot, but don’t let yourself toss them into the salad until they’re just right.  With under-fried chickpeas the salad will be good… but with perfectly fried chickpeas you won’t be able to stop eating it.  Promise.

Roasted Beet and Fried Chickpea Salad

Recipe adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.  Makes 3-4 meal-sized servings.

For the chickpeas:

• 1 c. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
• 2 TBS oilve oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 aji amarillo chile or chile de arbol, crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the salad:

• 4-5 large beets, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 TBS red wine vinegar (optional)
• 1 TBS lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 c. kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 c. fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
• 1/2 c. fresh ricotta

1. Make the chickpeas: In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and smashed garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown.  And chile, bay leaf, spices, and chickpeas and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat chickpeas with spices.  Add just enough water to cover chickpeas and cook at a low simmer for 1/2 an hour.  Add 1 tsp salt, then continue cooking until chickpeas are tender, another 15-30 minutes.  Take off heat and set aside, leaving in cooking liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Place peeled beet wedges in a 9×13 glass baking pan, toss with 1/4 c. olive oil and salt and pepper – beets should be well coated with oil.  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 40-50 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork.
3. In a large frying pan, heat remaining 2 TBS olive oil over medium heat.  Add cumin seeds and toast for 1 minute.  Add chickpeas (drained of their liquid but including chile and onion bits – I use a large slotted spoon to scoop them from the saucepan to the frying pan) and fry, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until golden-brown and crunchy on the outside, about 20-25 minutes.
4. Mix roasted beets, fried chickpeas, kalamata olives and parsley leaves until combined.  Drizzle vinegar and lemon juice over salad if using and toss to combine.  Serve warm, and dot with fresh ricotta after plating.

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This is my 100th post!  How excellent is that?  In my opinion, pretty excellent.  This seems like the appropriate time to speak sagely about blogging and what it means to me and how it has changed my life, but I’m not really in the mood for that today – maybe I’ll save it for hitting the 2 year mark.  However, I do think that having written 100 posts calls for a celebration, so I spent Sunday making myself (and Trevor, ardent blog supporter) a nice dinner with a yummy, blog-worthy treat for dessert.  To my other ardent blog supporters – I would have made you dinner too if you lived as close as Trevor does, don’t worry.  Dad.

Saturday I visited the Somerville Winter Farmer’s Market for the first time and was so overwhelmed by the quality and variety of produce that I got a little of everything, including a few things that I didn’t need and had no plan for but couldn’t resist.  These pears included.  Once I arrived home I quickly decided that they would be the star of my celebratory dessert.  I went with a ricotta, pear, almond, and ginger tart adapted from this recipe.  It seemed autumn-y and festive and appropriate.  I’ve made a lot of ricotta-based desserts this year – I keep picking them out because somehow they feel healthier to me – but I’m usually disappointed by them.  Although I like the texture of ricotta in some dishes, I don’t love it in dessert.  This recipe was an exception.  I think the addition of sour cream and heavy cream to the custard base smoothed out some of the graininess associated with ricotta, without taking away from the ricotta’s flavor.  The final tartlets had a great mix of flavors and textures – a crunchy almond crust, sweet ricotta custard, caramelized pears, and spicy, chewy bites of ginger.  The only change I would make next time is to increase the amount of pear used – I’m imagining a sort of caramelized pear chutney for the top rather than a single slice of pear.  Give this recipe a try if you’re looking to mix it up a little, or trying to impress someone.  Happy 100 to me!

Pear, Ricotta, and Almond Tartlets

Recipe adapted from Know Whey.  Serves 4.

For the crust:

• 2/3 c. almond flour
• 1/2 c. flour
• 3 TBS sugar
• 3 TBS cold butter
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 TBS cold heavy cream
• 1 TBS cold water

For the filling:

• 1 c. ricotta
• 1 tsp almond flour
• 1 tsp flour
• 1 egg
• 2 TBS heavy cream
• 1 TBS sour cream
• 1/4 c. sugar

For the topping:

• 1 pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 TBS butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 4 1-inch cubes crystallized ginger, finely diced
• 1/3 c. slivered or sliced almonds

1. Prepare crust.  In a medium bowl, mix together almond flour, flour, sugar and salt.  Cut in cold butter and press with a fork or a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly with pea-sized lumps.  Add the chilled cream 1 TBS at a time, mixing with a fork between additions.  Press the dough together into a ball – if it just stays together, it is ready, if it is still too loose to hold to itself, add the extra tablespoon (or two if necessary) of cold water to get it to firm up.  Press the dough into individual creme brulee ramekins, so that it is about 1/4 inch thick all the way around and up the side.  Freeze the ramekins for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, almond flour, flour, sour cream, heavy cream, sugar, and egg, until the batter is an even consistency.  Set aside.
3. Heat 1 TBS of butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add 1/4 c. of sugar and let sit until it begins to turn golden brown.  Add pear slices and cook until pear is tender and pear syrup has thickened slightly.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Blind bake the prepared ramekins with tart dough for 7 minutes, until just starting to turn golden.  Divide the ricotta mixture evenly between the ramekins and bake on a cookie tray for 15-20 minutes, until custard is beginning to firm up and turn slightly golden.  Remove from oven, and change oven setting to broil.  Brush the tops of the custards with pear syrup.  Sprinkle almonds over the top of custards and broil on high for two minutes, until almonds and crust are golden-brown.  Remove from oven and top with diced ginger and pear slices.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serve cold.

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Remember when I competed (and won 2nd place!) in Duke’s Iron Chef competition and got a fancy pasta machine and went on and on about how I was gonna use it all the time?  Well, if your definition of all the time is approximately once every two months, then I guess you could say I was telling the truth.  And even if I don’t frequently have the opportunity to spend a few luxurious hours rolling out pasta dough, I do really enjoy it when I get the chance.  Kneading, stretching, cranking, folding, and re-cranking the dough is just an activity that really focuses me.  When Trevor and I went to the pasta class with Terrence, we used a food processor to mix and a KitchenAid to roll out the dough, but, while efficient, it really wasn’t the same.  Maybe it’s just that I’m so entranced by the idea of moving to Italy and living in a Tuscan farmhouse and growing my own perfect tomatoes and walking barefoot across the stone floors while singing (in Italian of course) and kneading pasta dough that I feel like practicing the kneading part now will leave me in good stead when I inherit an Italian estate.  Or maybe I was an Italian grandmother in a past life.  Or maybe I’m just trying to snag an Italian lover.  Who knows?

In any case, last weekend Trevor visited and it was a completely rejuvenating 3 days.  It was sunny and 70 degrees every day, I pushed aside all thoughts of work, I slept more than 8 hours each night, we went mushroom picking in the Duke Forest with Justin and Clark, Trevor made his debut at shooters… all in all, pretty good stuff.  And of course, we had to play around in the kitchen just a little bit.  What better to occupy a few hours in the kitchen than fresh pasta?

Ever since I had been totally awed by the beautiful color of these beet ravioli they had been in the back of my mind, so I decided to go for it.  They were incredible!  While the beets made the dough a bit more challenging to work with than an egg-based dough, they also lent a wonderful tenderness to the finished pasta.  Stuffed with a goat cheese, ricotta, and parmesan filling that melted out of the ravioli with every bite, they were a total win.  Last weekend we simply served them with some caramelized onions, a bit of melted butter, and grated parmesan cheese, and this weekend, for round 2, I mixed up a blood-orange and fennel butter sauce, based on a combination in The Flavor Bible.  Neither sauce was perfect, although I think I enjoyed the simple crunchy-sweetness of the onions more.  However, the blood orange sauce definitely won out in terms of sophistication and presentation.  If you try either preparation or think of something new, definitely let me know.  Either way, if you feel like spending a little time working with your hands and/or pretending your a five year old with the largest, tastiest quantity of purple play-dough you’ve ever encountered, definitely try this recipe.

Don’t forget to vote for my entry in Marx Food‘s Ridiculously Delicious Challenge, March 1st – March 4th!

Beet and Chevre Ravioli in a Blood-Orange and Fennel Sauce

Beet ravioli recipe adapted from Martha Stewart via Madeline’s Adaptations. Three beets makes about 2 pounds of pasta, probably enough for 80-100 ravioli.  Extra dough can be frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, for several months.

For the ravioli:

• 3 beets
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 5-8 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt

For the filling (makes enough for 3-4 servings of ravioli):

• 1/3 c. ricotta cheese
• 1/3 c. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

For the Blood-Orange and Fennel Sauce (makes enough for 3-4 servings of ravioli):

• 3 TBS butter
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground (can leave whole if desired)
• juice of 1-2 medium blood oranges
• zest of 1 blood orange

For the pasta dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Chop off beet greens, wash beets, and wrap in foil.  Roast in foil for 45 minutes to 1 hour (beets should be tender).  Allow to cool enough to handle, then peel off skin, and puree beets in blender.
2. Mix beet puree, eggs, olive oil, and salt in a large bowl.  Add 3 cups of flour, and incorporate fully with a wooden spoon.  Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time, kneading by hand between additions, until the dough is elastic, does not stick to hands, and has been kneaded for at least ten minutes.  I ended up using about 8 cups of flour to balance the amount of liquid that 3 beets added to the dough.
3. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes.  Roll out using a pasta machine, or with a rolling pin as thinly as possible.

For the filling and ravioli:

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  Season to taste.  Place a teaspoon of filling inside a 3 inch square of pasta dough.  Fold one edge over and seal edges, pressing together firmly with fingers.  Trim with a ravioli cutter for presentation.  Boil ravioli for 2-3 minutes in a gently boiling, salted pot of water.

For the sauce:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan until beginning to foam.  Add fennel and sautee until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add blood orange juice and reduce to desired consistency.  Season with salt as necessary.  Serve over ravioli; top with blood orange zest.
   

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I totally made out at Christmas this year.  Really, it was a banner year.  I mean, there was a camera in my stocking – a very good omen.  Not that Christmas is about the presents… but thank you, Santa, I appreciated them.  As might be expected, food was a strong theme among the gifts I received.  My kitchen is now the proud owner of a stunningly designed box grater, a garlic press that doubles as a weapon due to it’s heftiness, and 16 spice bottles to (finally) contain the wonderful scents of India that have been emanating from my cupboard all year.  A true surprise, however, was Trevor’s gift – a 3.5 hour pasta cooking class for the two of us in Boston.

Walking up to the door of the classically Bostonian brick townhouse on a cold Tuesday night, I was a little bit nervous.  Would there be a lot of other people?  Would we get to cook ourselves?  Would he like us?  We rang the doorbell and Terrence, our teacher, gruffly welcomed us in and led us downstairs to his kitchen, where we sat behind two desks facing the island.  He poured us each a glass of wine, and then started talking.  Still a little nervous, even though I was thrilled that it would just be the two of us and that it would clearly be hands on, I strove to be the most attentive student possible.  Terrence lectured us a little on olive oils, how to properly cut an onion, and what we would be making.  I listened and took notes while also actively envying his kitchen – not huge or shiny or modern, but filled with beautiful old copper pots hanging from the walls, dozens of tiny mise en place bowls, and two ranges.  I can’t wait to have my own kitchen.

As everyone warmed up to each other, I began to relax, and then, we started cooking.  We were making four dishes – a mushroom ragu, a shrimp ragu, a soppresatta and ricotta penne, and a baked olive and ricotta rotini.  I immediately delegated the shrimp to Trevor, not being a seafood eater – although I did try the final dish! – and called the mushroom ragu and the soppresatta dish.  We followed the recipes Terrence had given us while he corrected our chopping, measuring, and seasoning techniques.  I think I benefited most from the knife skills tips – I’ve never been taught them before and it took me a while to get the hang of the motion, but once I did, I really saw the advantage.  The first three hours flew by, and when all four of our dishes were done, we brought them into the dining room, opened another bottle of wine, and sat down to eat and talk with Terrence.  The whole experience was such a lovely treat, especially because of its intimacy, and I would love to do something like it again.

My favorite dish of the evening was this baked kalamata and ricotta rotini.  Trevor and I brought all of the leftovers back home to his apartment where they were actually the only food and we subsisted on them and Ben and Jerry’s for 3 days.  So the fact that I didn’t get tired of eating this for 3 days in a row?  Means it was really good.  Try not to be tempted to tinker with the recipe because of its simpleness.  I always find myself writing off recipes without enough “interesting” ingredients or with too few seasonings and adding my own twist.  Sometimes my twist is good, but sometimes it overpowers the dish and I find myself missing out on whatever was originally there.  This dish is one where the simplicity is why it works – it’s well-balanced and flavorful with only a few ingredients that really enhance each other.  Just what I’ve decided to strive for this year.  In fact, the starting combination of ricotta, olive oil, and sea salt is so wonderful that I would probably eat a bowl of just those three ingredients if it didn’t sound like the least healthy idea in the history of unhealthy ideas.

If you’re in the Boston (or Blue Hill in the summer!) area and interested in taking a class with Terrence, his class information can be found here.

Baked Ricotta and Kalamata Olive Rotini

Learned at Terrence Janericco’s cooking school.  Serves 4.

• 3/4 lb. rotini
• 1/4-1/2 c. reserved cooking water
• 1 c. ricotta (part skim works fine)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• 6 oz. fresh mozarella, cubed
• 3/4 c. pitted, chopped kalamata olives
• 1/4 c. grated fresh parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook rotini according to package directions.
2. While rotini cooks, whisk together ricotta, olive oil, and sea salt until smooth.
3. Drain rotini, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.  Add the cooking water to the ricotta mixture a little at a time until ricotta is no longer grainy and the mixture is a thick liquid.  Add mozarella, kalamata olives, and cooked rotini and stir to combine.
4. Place pasta and ricotta mixture in baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/4 c. grated parmesan over the top.  Bake for 15 minutes, until parmesan is golden brown.

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My first experience with homemade gnocchi was through Violeta.  She decided to host a dinner party in our dorm, Osadni.  The menu was homemade gnocchi with either meat sauce or vegetable sauce.  The size of the guest list was eighty.  EIGHTY.  Homemade gnocchi for eighty people??  Major undertaking.  But she pulled it off and of course everything was delicious and after eating our resident band The Relatives played a very intimate concert in one of the piano rooms and Prauge is just a magical place.

Sweet potatoes also have a special Prague story.  It’s very short: you can’t get them.  There are a lot of foods that are still very hard to find in Prague, even if you can find them in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland.  The Czech Republic is still a bit more closed than it’s neighbors.  At first this was a major source of frustration for me, but it ended up forcing me to explore the city in search of things like cranberries and cilantro.  And sweet potatoes.  Which I never found.  But my neighbor Steph did.  As Thanksgiving approached everyone got a little bit anxious about how Thanksgiving would be so far away from home (it was great – Violeta cooked) and people began to scramble to put together their favorite dishes, which is why Steph went to the TESCO hypermarket and bought their entire supply of sweet potatoes.  Which I think was about six.  They were delicious, and oh so American.

These sweet potato gnocchi are not specifically something I ate in Prague, but they definitely remind me of it a bit, which makes any food better.  At least for me.  But for everyone who is not me, these were also easy and fun and very tasty.  Gnocchi have a reputation for being difficult to get right, but these came together very well on the first try.  Of course, that could be because they’re not traditional potato gnocchi.  Or it could just be because I’m awesome.  But it’s most likely because it’s a very good basic recipe.

Here’s the gist of the recipe, originally from Bon Appetit: cook 2 or 3 sweet potatoes in the microwave and let them cool.  I was impatient and tried to scrape them out hot, which resulted in pain (I would say minor burns but I would be exagerrating too much).  If you’re really in a hurry, wrap the bottom of the potato in a towel to protect yourself.  Scrape all of the insides of the potatoes out and mash with a fork.  Don’t worry too much about chunks of potato that won’t mash – as long as they’re not too big they won’t affect the final consistency of the gnocchi.  Mix ricotta and grated parmesean into the sweet potato mash, followed by brown sugar and salt.  Stir, stir, stir.

Once you have an even mixture, begin incorporating flour by the half cup.  I used 2 1/2 cups of flour for 3 medium sized sweet potatoes, and probably ended up incorporating another cup during the rolling process so that I had a workable dough.  I was worried that my dough would be too flour-y, but it turned out fine.  Divide the dough into six equal pieces and roll them into worms about an inch thick.  I had so much fun doing this – it was like being in elementary school art class.  I almost made a coil pot out of one worm but I refrained.  Don’t play with your food, unless it’s in the recipe instructions.  Cut your worms into 20 or so equal sized pieces.  They look like little pillows, and they have a great fluffy texture too.  If you’re feeling fancy, gently press a fork onto the top of each pillow for that true gnocchi look.  And once you’ve done that – boil them!  The recipe says to cook them in batches and then leave them out on the counter until you’re ready to re-heat them in whatever sauce you are going to serve them in, so that’s what I did.  I was wondering though if you could refrigerate the dough for 24 hours or so and cook them the next day, or if it would be better to cook them and then refrigerate them.  Thoughts?  The only problem I had with leaving them out on the counter already cooked was that every time I walked by I popped one into my mouth, so I had about 20% less at dinner time then I did at 4PM.  Oh well.

I served these in a sage-gorgonzola sauce adapted from Gretchen’s Cookbook.  It was delicious!  Margie (my roommate from Prague, just so many connections) came over and Megan was home and the three of us ate 2/3 of this recipe.  The other 1/3 was in the freezer so we couldn’t eat that.  I would say that this recipe makes 5 dinner sized servings, but people who eat less than me (i.e. regular amounts) might get 6 or 7 servings out of it, especially if you skipped the 20% reduction on the counter. =D

Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Sage-Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

makes 5-6 large servings

For the gnocchi:

• 2 lbs. sweet potatoes
• 12 oz. ricotta cheese, drained for 2 hours
• 1 c. parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 1/2 c. flour, plus more for rolling

For the sauce:

• 3 T butter
• 10-20 leaves sage
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. crumbled gorgonzola
• black pepper

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

1. Wash the sweet potatoes and poke all over with a fork.  Microwave on high until tender, about 7 minutes per side.  Cut in half and allow to cool.
2. Scrape the potato out of the skin into a large bowl.  Mash with fork.  Add ricotta cheese and stir until well-blended.  Add parmesan cheese, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg, and stir until mixture is even.
3. Add the flour a half cup at a time, incorporating slowly, until a soft dough is formed.  Turn the dough out onto a well-floured counter.
4. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions.  Roll each portion between your palms and the floured surface until it is a log with thickness of about 1 inch.  Cut each log into 20 pieces.  Gently press the tines of a fork into the tops of pieces.  Place pieces on a floured pan to prevent sticking.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once boiling, add about 2 T of salt, and return to boil.  Boil the gnocchi in batches until tender – they are done cooking when they float to the surface of the pot.  Re-salt between batches.  Return cooked gnocchi to a clean, lightly oiled pan, and allow to stand at room temperature for up to 4 hours.

Sage-Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat.  Add sage leaves and garlic clove and allow to stand 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add cream, gorgonzola, and black pepper to taste, and stir until cheese is melted.
3. Add gnocchi to skillet and coat with sauce, cooking until heated through.

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