Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli | You've Got Meal!

This is our first ravioli making experience, so we wanted to cook something on the easy side, but also a well known dish, so we went for safe and picked the spinach and ricotta recipe. 

We used 4 sheets of pasta dough, about 40 cm long and 6 cm wide, enough to make around 20 pieces of ravioli. 

For the filling: 

• 200 grams of fresh spinach leaves- hard stems removed, 
• 130-150 grams of ricotta, 
• 4-5 tbs. of parmesan, 
• nutmeg, 
• salt and pepper. 

We also made a fresh tomato and basil sauce using: 

• 1 can of whole tomatoes, 
• 300 grams of passata, 
• 3 garlic cloves, 
• 2 tsp. of dried basil leaves, 
• salt, pepper, 
• cloves, 
• olive oil. 

1. Start of by making the dough for the pasta -  as usual, we used 200 grams of plain flour and 2 free range eggs, resulting the sheets of pasta described above. 
2. While the dough rests, awaiting to be rolled, cook the spinach in a couple tbs. of olive oil for 2 minutes, enough for the greens to melt. 
3. Remove the spinach from heat, dripping any excess of juices that remained in the pan – those will make the filling way too runny and most likely cause the ravioli to open while cooking. You can choose to leave the spinach leaves whole, finely chop them or just coarsely break them, take your pick. 
4. After the spinach cools for some minutes, mix them well with the ricotta, nutmeg, salt, pepper and about 4-5 tbs. of Parmesan. 
5. You can either cut the ravioli pasta pieces before putting in the filling or you can spread lumps of the spinach&ricotta mix on the sheet of pasta, and then cut it. Use a beaten egg to brush the edges of the pasta so that the pasta sticks -  you can also use a fork to press the edges of the ravioli, but make sure to remove the air from inside before. 
6. The ravioli cook fast enough in the salted boiling water, about 4 minutes. 
7. When removing them from the water lightly drizzle them with olive oil to make sure they don’t stick.

The sauce keeps the same super easy line of cooking – on medium heat, bring to a boil the canned tomatoes (use a wooden spoon to break them in the pot), 300 ml of tomato passata, the finely sliced garlic cloves, the basil, salt, pepper, 2-3 whole cloves, and cook until the liquid is reduced to about two thirds. Next, push the sauce through a fine sieve (don’t forget the garlic slices, they will be soft enough to be pushed through) in order to create a smooth, light tomato and basil sauce. 

That’s it really incredibly easy to make ravioli, accompanied by an light and elegant sauce that will complement the pasta perfectly. Garnish with some fennel leaves or basil or parsley, grate some Parmesan on top and you are done.

Enjoy,

Fried Perch Fillet With Chickpeas And Spinach

This dish should be the picture front for the definition of light dinner. It’s subtle, light, flavorsome, super easy to make and a nice sight on the table. I used perch for this dish because I had it in the fridge, but feel free to substitute it with any fish at your convenience, be it fattier or not -  the side dish packs enough lemony, tangy taste to overcompensate for some salmon, for example.

The amount you use totally depends on how many people you plan on cooking for. For the side dish: chickpeas (for 4 portions I used around 100-130 grams of beans), 1 fennel bulb, 2-3 garlic cloves, lemon, 100 grams of baby spinach leaves, 1 chili, 1 tbs of sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil.

Boil the chickpeas, it helps if you keep it in water the night before. Remove the beans from water and put them aside. Slice the fennel, dice the garlic, slice the chili and pop them all in pan with some hot olive oil, cook on medium heat until the fennel softens. Add the chickpeas, sugar, salt, pepper and mix well to make sure the beans get coated in melting sugar. Add the juice of 1 lemon and, again, mix all the ingredients together, cook until all the liquid from the citrus has almost evaporated. You can now choose to mix the spinach leaves for a minute with the chickpeas still on the heat, thus mellowing the greens, or just mix them off the heat, keeping them crunchy (I prefer it that way). Sprinkle some more olive oil and lemon juice to the side dish if you feel the need to. 

To prepare the fish, just fry in it a pan with a couple tbs. of olive oil until cooked (the time depends on the type of fish and its thickness). Sprinkle some salt and pepper and place the fish on top of the chickpeas.  

Enjoy,

Spinach and Ricotta Frittata | You've Got Meal!

This is a very nice dish for an weekend brunch, especially if you plan on putting it next to a nice sparkling wine (go for a medium dry rose Cremant de Bourgogne, you won’t regret it).

So for 2 (very generous) portions we used: 5 eggs, 100 grams of spinach, 100 grams of valerian salad, 200 grams of ricotta cheese, 2 medium onions, 3 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Start by cooking the chopped onion in heavy base pan, on high heat for about 4 minutes, then add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute. Turn off heat, add the coarsely chopped spinach and valerian and mix until the herbs get start getting softer (it shouldn’t be more than 2 minutes). We used 2 separate ceramic pans for this dish, feel free to just use one oven appropriate pan then transfer the contents to a plate. 

So, put in the cooked onion and herbs, put the eggs (wisked with the salt and pepper) on top of those, and then just crumble some ricotta over. This goes  in the oven, high heat for 20 minutes or until the dish gets a light golden brown color. We paired the frittata with a very simple valerian, spring onion, radish salad, with a lemon juice – olive oil dressing.

Enjoy,

Prosciutto Wrapped Beef Tenderloin, Mushroom and Spinach Sauté and Polenta

This was, without the shadow of a doubt, one of the best dishes I tried in our kitchen. The ingredients themselves were great and the combo proved to be top notch quality. So, I’m going to take it step by step, and explain every dish separately.

The meat: for this dish we had a nice piece of beef tenderloin, about 400-450 grams, that we cut in to 3 equal parts. The advantage of using the loin is the fact that the mat has a round shape and it’s easier to wrap the prosciutto around it. Besides the beef, I had 6 slices of the prosciutto, 2 tbs of finely chopped sage and  a couple of tbs of olive oil. Wrap 2 prosciutto strips around the length of each beef portion, leaving the sections clear (you can use string to keep the met on, I didn’t find it necessary).  Rub some sage on the parts that are not covered by the ham.  Next, heat up the olive oil in a oven-proof pan, and, when it’s nice and hot cook on all sides for about 1 minute each. After that, transfer the pan to a preheated oven (180 Celsius) for around 15 minutes or how long you need to cook the meat the way you like it. After that, just let it sit for a couple of minutes before  cutting it an transferring to a plate.

Mushroom and Spinach Sauté : Meanwhile, heat up some oil in a pan, and add 1 medium onion and 1 clove garlic, finely chopped, and about 500 grams of button mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters. Saute this over medium high heat until the mushrooms are soft, add about 200 grams of spinach leaves, salt, pepper, and cook for another 2 minutes, then remove from the stove.

For the polenta, put to boil in a tall, heavy base pan, 500 ml water, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of cornmeal. When this mix starts boiling, slowly add more cornmeal, mixing constantly. When it gets hard to mix, stop adding the flour, but keep on stirring the polenta. This whole operation should be done in 12-15 minutes.  Remove the pan form the heat, add 50 grams of butter and about 75 grams of grated parmigiano and mix it all together.

So, these are the 3 parts of the recipe, actually pretty easy to cook at the same time. You can also make a very easy reduction, like the one here. 

Enjoy!

Comfort Food- Baked Potatoes with Bacon and Spinach

In the colder days i love to wash some potatoes and then just put them in the oven. The house smells really cozy and there are so many ways to serve them. You cut them in half and the possibilities are endless. I usually enjoy them with a simple yoghurt sauce ar some smoked salmon, but yesterday i was (like most days) in a bacon mood. 

The spinach was added so i wouldn't feel so guilty about the fried bacon.  Angel or devil? On top i grated some cheese .

Cartofi copti cu bacon si spanac

In zilele mai reci imi place sa spal cativa cartofi si sa ii arunc in cuptor. Casa miroase foarte bine si sunt multe feluri in care ii poti servi mai departe. Il taiem cand sunt gata in jumatati si posibilitatile sunt nelimitate. In general, imi place sa ii mananc su un sos simplu de iaurt sau cu somon afumat, dar ieri am avut pofta de bacon.

Spanacul a fost adaugat mai mult ca sa nu ma simt vinovat pentru baconul prajit. Inger sau demon? Deasupra am ras niste branza.

Enjoy,
xoxoxo

Homemade Pizza - Quatro Formaggi

Apparently, I did this. I cheated a bit, the dough was bought from a pizza place.

I actually was in the mood for cheese. I did not have a special pizza baking tray, so i used  the bottom of a cake form.

On top of the dough some seasoned tomato sauce, 4 kinds of cheese (try to keep it Italian as much as possible), mozarella on top (had to have it) and rucola.

On some slices i also gave spinach a chance, it was really special, but i would save some cheese to put on top of it to prevent burnt greens.

It did not take me a lot more time that delivery would had. It was awesome, will be doing it again!

Pizza facuta in casa- Quattro Formaggi

Am facut-o si pe asta! Am trisat putin, am cumparat aluatul de la pizzeria noastra favorita de cartier. 

De fapt, aveam pofta de branzeturi. Nu am avut o tava speciala de pizza, asa ca am folosit fundul detasabil al unei tavi de tort. Peste aluat am pus niste sos de rosii condimentat, 4 feluri de branza (am incercat sa alegem 4 feluri italiene), mozarella si rucola. Pe unele felii am adaugat si spanac, a avut un gust foarte deosebit, insa data viitoare il vom pune printre branza, ca sa nu se arda.

 Nu a durat cu mult mai mult decat o comanda de pizza ar fi durat. Ne-a placut, o sa repetam experienta.

Buon appetito!

Smoked Salmon Florentine

Honestly, you might have doubts at first, but this is amazing.
You will remember it for sure.

So, it goes like this: smoked salmon, spinach, poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce. It is usually served on an English Muffin.

The sauce might be some work, but you can find recipes everywhere, like here, and it's worth it.

Give it up for THE BRUNCH!

Save the spinach!

Great for getting rid of the winter blues.
Fresh spinach + spring onion + radishes + cheese on the side or on top of everything.

Voila! Vitamins in your plate.
Enjoy...and go for a walk!  *wink*