Butternut Squash Galette

It's still officially fall even though you wouldn't know it by looking outside today. Although, I have to say I love this kind of snow. It looks so pretty coming down, all fluffy and white, but nothing has been really sticking to the ground except on the grass and trees. It totally gets me in the mood for the holidays. Anyways, I digress. It's fall and I love cooking and baking with all the squashes available.

This weekend was my brother in law Chris' 40th birthday (I know, so young) and my sister threw him a little cocktail party for a few friends and family and I made a couple different types of crostini. One of them was butternut squash and ricotta, which was dee-lish. So I had some cubed roasted butternut left over and of course a little ricotta and so I decided to make a galette.

This was super easy to throw together, especially with frozen puff pastry. This galette is a lovely balance of savoury from the ricotta and feta with a hint of sweetness from the squash. It made a wonderful lunch today. And would be amazing for a brunch. I also happen to have some smoked mozzarella left over from the rice balls that I made for the party too, which I put in the galette. And I have to say it's the only thing I would change in the recipe. It was good but was a little too strong for the butternut squash, so next time I'm going to use regular mozzarella.

 I'm going to freeze the leftover galette for the car ride to Montreal this weekend. Yummy!

Butternut Squash Galette

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1 small butternut squash, peeled, cubed, seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted, about 1 1/2 cups cooked
1 cup ricotta
1/3 cup feta, crumbled
1/2 cup mozzarella, cubed or shredded
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten, for the egg wash

Preheat oven to 375F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Roll out the puff pastry and cut the edges to form a rounded shape. Mix ricotta, feta, mozzarella, 1 egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mound in the middle of the pastry leaving 1 1/2 inch border all the way around. Top with the butternut squash. Pull pastry up and over the edge of the ricotta and butternut squash, leaving the centre open. With a pastry brush, brush the pastry with egg. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

m xo

Spinach Ricotta Pie

We usually have lunch at my mothers every Sunday, and it always includes a pasta and some sort of meat (usually meatballs in sauce) but since she has become a snowbird this year, sadly we have to fend for ourselves. Can you believe that?! Hahaha! Just kidding.

So for this Sunday's lunch I decided to make a spinach pie.  Well actually, we had to have it for dinner because I forgot you have to thaw phyllo dough for a few hours.

I usually make this pie with an olive oil based pie crust but I didn't feel like a doughy crust so I decided to use phyllo instead. I only used 3 sheets, so if you're trying to cut back on carbs, this is perfect but you can use more if you want a flakier crust. And a tip I got from my Greek friend, Lena, who got it from her grandmother, sprinkle a few droplets of water on the phyllo before baking. It makes it a little crispier. Thanks Lena!

The leftovers were great for breakfast.

Spinach Ricotta Pie

8 oz. bag of spinach (more or less)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
475g ricotta
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
zest and juice of a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
nutmeg to taste
1 tablespoon bread crumbs
3 sheets phyllo dough
olive oil to drizzle on the phyllo dough




Preheat oven to 350F.  On medium heat put the spinach in a pan with a splash of water. Don't worry if the pan doesn't seem big enough, as the spinach wilts down, just add more spinach. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool and chop.

In the same pan, sauté garlic and shallot in olive oil until soft. Let cool.
In a bowl, combine spinach, sautéed onion and garlic, eggs, ricotta, parmesan cheese, zest and juice of lemon, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

In an 11inch tart pan with a removable bottom, place a sheet of phyllo and brush with olive oil. The phyllo will probably hang over the pan. Repeat with another 2 sheets. After brushing the 3rd sheet of phyllo, sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Spoon in the filling and fold over the hanging phyllo all around the pie. Sprinkle some water and drizzle the dough with a little olive oil. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and remove the ring around the pie.

m xo

Heart-Beet Gnocchi

I don't remember exactly where I saw these gnocchi. It could have been on a cooking show. In a magazine article. On Pinterest. Or one of the many food blogs I look at every night. I don't even remember the exact recipe except that they were made with ricotta. What I do know is that I couldn't wait to make them!
And guess what? I made them just for me for lunch. Crazy! Right? But I'm worth it! Hahaha. I mean I did have lots of leftovers. I didn't boil all the gnocchi, just enough for one. This recipe easily feeds 4 people. I'm going to save the rest for my nieces and my nephew, Nicholas who LOVES gnocchi!
Please don't be intimidated with homemade pasta. These are super easy. From start to finish, it took one hour. And I mean I was eating them within an hour.
I'm calling these Heart-Beet Gnocchi for the obvious reasons: they are red and I think they would make a wonderful Valentines day meal.
I made these with brown butter and grated parmesan cheese. Normally I would have added fresh sage to the butter but my sage is buried in my garden under 5 feet of snow.
You can make these with a tomato sauce, a meat sauce or a cream sauce. Whatever floats your boat!
I really hope you try making these!

Heart-Beet Gnocchi

1 lb full fat ricotta
1 1/2- 2 cups flour
1 large egg
2 small beets (a little bigger than an egg), roasted, peeled and cooled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Place the beets in a food processor and puree. In a bowl mix together the pureed beets, ricotta, egg, salt and nutmeg. Start by adding 1 1/2 cups of the flour first. You might need more if your beets are a little bigger, which is no big deal, just add more flour.

Try not to over mix or the gnocchi will be tough.
Once the dough has come together, place on a floured surface and gently work until you have a soft ball adding additional flour so the dough is not too sticky.
Flatten the ball into a disc, about an inch thick, making sure your surface is always lightly floured.

Cut into 1 inch strips and roll using fingers of both hands to form a rope.

Once you have the rope, with a sharp knife, cut into 1 inch pieces.

Now take that gnocchi and place your thumb on it and gently push down and away from you. It essentially creates a little groove for the sauce to adhere to.

As you continue rolling, cutting and forming the gnocchi, make sure you place them on a lightly floured tray.

At this point you can refrigerate them until you are ready to cook.
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and salt liberally or as Mario Batali likes to say, it should taste like the sea. Drop in the gnocchi and stir carefully. They will be at the bottom of the pot but as soon as they all come up, they are ready.

Drain and add brown butter and parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Brown Butter 

Brown butter or beurre noisette is literally translated, hazelnut butter. It's butter that is cooked until it is brown. What you are doing is toasting the milk solids and developing a deep nutty flavour.
To make brown butter, simply melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Preferably stainless steel so you can see the butter change colour. Continue until it boils and begins to brown. There will be specks at the bottom of the pan, those are the milk solids. That's what you want. It's ready when it is a dark, honey colour. Take off the heat and throw in the gnocchi.
You can use this butter on so many things like fish and steamed vegetables. Even sweet dishes like cakes and cookies. Yummy!

m xo

Nigella's Sambuca Kisses

I haven't had a chance to be in the the kitchen for the past few days. I've been under the weather. Nothing serious, just a really bad sinus infection, but I woke up Super Bowl Sunday feeling a little better after being in bed 3 days  and wanted to make a little something to bring to my sister who lives next door. One of the perks of living next door to my sister Antonella is that I can call over and she sends me care packages like turkey soup or blueberry muffins. She's always cooking and baking up a storm because she has 3 kids.
I've been wanting to make these fritters since I saw Nigella make them on her show. They are from her cookbook, Nigellissima. They are super easy to make and take no effort at all.
Not exactly Super Bowl fare but a very nice snack to go with my afternoon espresso.
I had to make these twice because my husband made the mistake of buying reduced fat ricotta. No bueno! They weren't as fluffy and had no taste in my opinion. Poor guy had to go out again for ricotta.

 Sambuca Kisses
(from Nigella Lawson's "Nigellissima" cookbook)

1 egg
1/2 cup full fat ricotta
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sambuca liqueur
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
vegetable or canola oil for frying
powdered sugar to serve

In a bowl mix together egg and ricotta. Add flour, baking powder, sambuca, sugar and orange zest. Beat until combined. Nigella says to heat oil until you drop a little piece of bread in and it frizzles.. You only need a couple inches of oil. Drop in teaspoon sizes of batter. No more than 4-5 at a time and you want to keep an eye on them so the oil doesn't get too hot. They are ready when they are golden. Drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when ready to serve. These are best served warm. So good.

m xo