Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake

Sometimes I feel like my casserole dishes are unreasonably small.  You know what I mean - stop pretending you don't.  You start to make a recipe and it's great.  This is looking awesome.  Oh no! Shit! Shit! Everything is overflowing and you're not even finished putting it all in the pan? WHAT THE HELL, CASSEROLE DISH!? What. The. Hell?

This can't just happen to me.  I cope with this either by putting everything into two casserole dishes or by smashing it down ridiculously and hoping that I'm squishing it enough to fit into one.  It rarely ends well and I usually forget to put a baking sheet underneath so I end up with a horrific mess in my oven.  This is one of those recipes.  Save yourself a mess - spread it out into two dishes unless you have one very large one.

Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake

Serves: 8

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

300g angel hair pasta
1 - 400g tin diced tomatoes
1 - 800ml jar tomato puree
150g fresh baby spinach
300g ricotta cheese
4 eggs
150g sour cream
1/2 cup mozzarella
salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and lightly oil a very large oven-proof dish (Or two, as discussed above.  The original recipe I based this on called for a shallow dish.  AHAHAHAHAHA bullshit.)

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove.  Add the angel hair pasta and stir until starting to flex (this will prevent clumps of it sticking).  Drain the cooked pasta and stir in a small amount of olive oil to prevent a giant clump.  Allow to cool (seriously, let it cool, you have to touch this shit with your hands).
3. Spread the tin of diced tomatoes along the bottom of the pan.  Top with half of the spinach, half of the pasta and half of the ricotta.  Pour half of the tomato puree over the ricotta.  Follow with the remaining spinach and the remaining pasta.  Pour over the last of the tomato puree; top with the remaining ricotta.
4. Whisk together the eggs and the sour cream in a large jug until combined.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and sprinkle with mozzarella.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and set.

So bad for you - yet so...so good.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories		345.8
Total Fat		13.2 g
	Saturated Fat	6.3 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	3.6 g
Cholesterol		165.4 mg
Sodium		678.5 mg
Potassium		883.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate		40.3 g
	Dietary Fiber	6.0 g
	Sugars	5.9 g
Protein		19.5 g

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Tomato & Mango Salad

I've tried to get more creative with salads these days.  I'm that person who makes a main dish and then suddenly realizes that we can't eat just meat for dinner - about 5 minutes before we're meant to be having dinner.  I'm super grown up, for serious.

So I looked at what I had in my fridge (oh shit, overripe mango!) and whipped up this salad - which was a total and utter hit.  Especially with my 4 year old.   He gobbled his up and asked for more without even touching his (stupidly delicious) chicken.  Pardon the imprecise measurements - I made this on the fly.

Mango & Tomato Salad

Serves 4
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup of rocket
1 mango, cubed
2 tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
mozzarella (I used string cheese because I'm ultra classy)
fresh lemon juice
honey

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, toss together the cubed mango, tomatoes and rocket.
2. Slice a cheese stick if, like me, you are the classiest bitch around and don't actually bother with fancy schmancy stuff like bocconcini (which I totally can't spell without having to look up - shut up, you know it happens to you too).
3. In a small bowl, mix together small amounts of fresh lemon juice and honey until the dressing is tangy but not too sour - sweet, but not sickly.  Grind in a little fresh black pepper.
4. Toss the dressing with the salad and serve.

A lovely summer salad that my kid went nuts for!  We served this with Roasted Chicken Breasts with Leeks, Basil & Lemon.

Tomato Soup Recipe

This soup is a bit more than just tomato soup - it's really more of a lovely vegetable soup that is simply dominated by the tomatoes in it.  Those other vegetables, however, provide a delicious flavour and a beautiful creamy texture.  This soup is incredibly healthy and incredibly addictive.

Tomato Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, halved

2 brown onions, roughly chopped

4 sticks celery, roughly chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

10 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

black pepper

salt

fresh basil leaves

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 lugs olive oil over medium heat.    

Add the garlic and onions, stirring until glassy.  

Add the celery and carrots and stir until the carrots begin to soften slightly. 

Pour in the prepared stock and add the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrots have softened.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Let the soup cool significantly and pour into a blender.  Blend until the soup is smooth and creamy.  

Please remember that blending freshly boiled soup is a recipe for horrific third degree burns.  You've been warned.

Serve hot with a garnish of fresh basil leaves. Yum!

Spicy Pan Fried Chicken Wings Recipe

In the eternal search to find something that my son will eat and that the rest of the family finds delicious (this morning he requested a carrot with a piece of ham wrapped around it, dipped in ketchup), I came across a recipe for fried chicken wings.  My first attempt was abysmal.  My second attempt was pretty bad.  Several months later and many, many changes to the original recipe later - this is my result.

Tender, juicy and (just a little) spicy fried chicken wings.  My entire family loves them and they are a massive hit for dinner.

Spicy Pan Fried Chicken Wings

Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients

8 chicken wings

1/3 cup plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons milk

1 -2 cup cooking oil of your choice

Instructions

Firstly, to prepare your chicken wings you'll want to cut them into pieces.  This video illustrates the process beautifully.  We'll be using the "wingette" also called the "mid-joint" and the "drumettes".  The wing tips are great for feeding to your pets and will help clean their teeth.  You can also boil them to make stock.

Rinse your prepared wings in cold water and pat dry with clean paper towels.  Chicken wings that are too moist will make it difficult for the coating to stick.

In a large bag or plastic container, combine your flour, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika.  Add the chicken wings and toss well to coat.  Refrigerate the chicken (I leave it in the seasoning) for at least 30 minutes - preferably 2 hours.  The more chilled your chicken is before you cook it, the better the coating will stick.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and milk and set aside.  Pour your breadcrumbs into a bowl.  Heat your oil in a heavy pan to 165C (I use my multimeter for this, you can just as easily use a kitchen thermometer).  Much higher and your chicken will burn but be raw in the middle.  Much lower and your chicken will be greasier and the coating will not be as crisp.  This takes practice.  Lots of practice.

Once chilled, remove your wings from the refrigerator.  One at a time, dip each piece first in the egg mixture and then roll through the breadcrumbs.  If you missed any spots with the egg mixture you can apply it with a pastry brush without having to dip the entire wing back in the mixture.

Using tongs, put the uncooked chicken into the hot oil 5-6 pieces at a time.  Leave some space between the pieces.  Overcrowding the pieces will affect the temperature of the oil and give an inconsistent cook.

Cook for 6-8 minutes, then turn the chicken pieces and cook again for another 6-8 minutes.

I have overcrowded them and had to cook these a little longer because of it.

Test for doneness by cutting into the thickest part of the wing and checking for any pink meat.

Remove your chicken wings from the oil, giving them a very gentle tap on the edge of the pan to shake off a bit of the excess oil before placing them on a stack of absorbent paper towels.  This will remove even more oil.  I sometimes like to put them in a box completely lined with paper towels and give them a little shake - but I can't stand greasy food.

Serve immediately with vegetables.  Chips also go very nicely with these and you can re-use the oil!

Australian Meat Pie Recipe

The Australian meat pie wasn't something that I encountered or had even heard of until I got here.  We had pot pies in the United States but those are extremely different to a meat pie.  Pot pies are something like a thick meat and vegetable stew in a crust whereas a meat pie is meat and gravy in a crust.  It's hard to explain how different it is - but it's very, very different.

Traditionally meat pies are made into little single serving pies - but they can also be made into larger pies for a whole family to share - this is the type that I made.

Australian Meat Pie

Makes 2 large family pies

Ingredients

Filling:

olive oil
2 diced onions
1kg beef mince
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
1.5 cups tomato sauce (what Australians call ketchup)
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
2 teaspoons Vegemite

Crust:

500g plain flour
250g chilled, unsalted butter, cubed
2 eggs, cold
2 tablespoon icewater
2 pinch salt (or 1/8 tsp, whichever you prefers)

Instructions

Crust (do this first as it must chill):

Place your flour, butter and a pinch of salt in your food processor.  Blend until the combination looks like bread crumbs.  There should be no significant chunks of butter left.

Whisk together the egg and icewater.  Add to the food processor while it is running and continue mixing until the mixture comes together.

Remove from the food processor and turn out onto a counter or cutting board.  It should not stick to the surface even if it is unfloured.  Bring it together into a ball and flatten it with your hands or a rolling pin until you have a disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for chilling.

Shortcrust pastry must be chilled before baking.  The colder it is immediately before you pop it in the oven, the crispier your result.  Generally you would chill this disc for 2 hours.  Since heat transfer is linear, the thinner the object, the faster it will chill.  If you are in a hurry - flatten the dough as much as possible.  I roll mine out to 5mm thickness and chill it for 20-30 minutes.

Filling:

In a large saucepan, put a couple lugs of olive oil into the pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and stir until lightly browned.  Add the beef mince and break up, browning.

Meanwhile, separate 2 tablespoons of your beef stock into a small bowl and stir through 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a thick paste.  Add back into the rest of the beef stock and bring to a boil in a medium saucepan along with the rest of the filling ingredients (sauces and Vegemite).  When the sauce is hot and has thickened, turn heat off and set aside.

Drain the excess oil from your browned beef mince and onion and stir the prepared sauce through the mince.  Let cool completely (putting a hot sauce into your pie crust will make the butter in it melt before it hits the oven, leaving you with a chewier crust that isn't as crisp).

To assemble your pie:

Preheat oven to 220C

Spray or coat a standard pie dish with oil.  Roll out your pastry to 1/4 inch (6mm) thickness.   Place your pie dish upside down over the pastry and with a sharp knife cut all around the edges of the pie dish - allowing one extra inch of pastry for the sides.  Set this round aside.  Roll out another piece of pastry that will cover your pie.  Place the pie tin down onto the pastry and this time cut flush to the edge all the way around.  You now have your top crust and bottom crust.

Place the bottom crust into the bottom of the pan.  Form to the bottom and sides and trim any excess.

Fill the crust with your cooled pie filling all the way to the top.

Brush milk or water along the edges of the crust - this will help the two crusts stick.

Place your top crust on top of the filled pie and press all along the edges.

If you're feeling insane you can add an incredibly sad cow with some scrap pastry.  He looks mournful - like this pie was baked using his brother.  It probably was.  His brother was delicious.

Coat your pie crust in an egg wash and we're ready for baking.

Bake for 20-30 minutes.  Your pie is finished when the crust is a lovely golden brown and your sad cow looks mournful AND brown.

I shall name him Beefy.  His depression was tasty.

Cut into slices and serve to your hungry family!

This recipe will make 2 pies which will feed 6-8 people each.  To freeze a pie - simply complete the steps but wrap and freeze prior to baking.

Pizza Pops Recipe

My son's birthday is coming up and I wanted to make as much as possible by myself since we're on such a strict budget.

I decided to make these lovely pizza pops!

They're super easy to make and kids love them.

First, the pizza dough.

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients

1.5 cups self-raising flour
1/8tsp (or a pinch) of salt
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup milk

Instructions

Place your self raising flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre.

In another bowl, beat together the egg, olive oil and milk.  Pour into the well in your flour and stir until thoroughly combined.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until the dough has reached an even consistency.

Pizza Pops

Ingredients

Prepared pizza dough
100g diced ham
100g mozzarella
100g crushed pineapple, drained well
1 jar tomato-based pasta sauce

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 220C

Press your dough out into a rough, rectangular shape about 1/2 inch thick that is about twice as long as it is wide.

Cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide strips.  Roll each strip into little discs - you may have to press them down as you do this to avoid creating cones from your dough as it will attempt to push upward.

Top each disc with a little pasta sauce, pineapple and ham and then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Repeat until all have been prepared.

Place mini pizzas on a lightly oiled baking sheet or on wax paper and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted.

When cooled slightly, press a kitchen skewer up through the bottom of the pizza pop careful not to go all the way through (or it will just slide down).

Voilà!  Pizza pops.

How many this makes will depend on how thin you cut your strips and how long your rectangle is to begin with.  Mine made about 15.

Hummus

Do you love hummus? I do.  I love hummus so much I make it in massive batches and freeze it so that I can always have some.  My love affair with hummus began about 8 years ago when I was introduced to my first Turkish restaurant.  I can't even.  Turkish food may be the most delicious thing I've ever tasted and people....I've been exposed to excellent Mexican food.  That's saying something.

I spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to imitate the hummus that was sold at my very favourite Turkish restaurant.  This is the result.

Hummus

Makes 1.25 litres (or 5.5 cups) of hummus

Ingredients

3 x 400g cans of chick peas (also called garbonzo beans for all of you from MURICA) - Drain 2, leave one as-is.
3 teaspoons minced garlic (or 3 minced garlic cloves)
4 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor.  Blend until smooth, adding the olive oil in small amounts until the desired consistency is reached.  Serve with bread, vegetables or other delicious things like the flesh of your defeated foes.

Remember that hummus varies.  Some people like their hummus more bland with less tahini, some people like it with a lot of tahini, some people with a lot of garlic or a lot of lemon juice.  Fiddle with it until you have your hummus the way YOU like it.  Mine is quite tahini heavy because I love that toasted sesame flavour in my hummus.  Nomomom.

Happy cooking.

Ham & Cheese Mini Quiches

This is something that I did for the Gunning playgroup today.  They were so well received I told the parents that I'd be putting them up on my blog.  I'm glad everyone loved them!

Let's start with a simple, basic shortcrust recipe.

Basic Savory Shortcrust

Makes 2 savory pie crusts or 12-18 mini quiches (depending on exact size)

Ingredients

500g plain flour
250g chilled, unsalted butter, cubed
2 eggs, cold
2 tablespoon icewater
2 pinch salt (or 1/8 tsp, whichever you prefers)

Instructions

Place your flour, butter and a pinch of salt in your food processor.  Blend until the combination looks like bread crumbs.  There should be no significant chunks of butter left.

Whisk together the egg and icewater.  Add to the food processor while it is running and continue mixing until the mixture comes together.

Remove from the food processor and turn out onto a counter or cutting board.  It should not stick to the surface even if it is unfloured.  Bring it together into a ball and flatten it with your hands or a rolling pin until you have a disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for chilling.

Shortcrust pastry must be chilled before baking.  The colder it is immediately before you pop it in the oven, the crispier your result.  Generally you would chill this disc for 2 hours.  Since heat transfer is linear, the thinner the object, the faster it will chill.  If you are in a hurry - flatten the dough as much as possible.  I roll mine out to 5mm thickness and chill it for 20-30 minutes.

Now that you have your pastry...

Ham & Cheese Mini Quiche

Makes 12-18 (depending on pan size)

These couldn't be simpler.  Okay they could be simpler, but only if they came in a box.

Ingredients

10 eggs
1/2 cup light cream
6 shallots, sliced thinly
200g diced ham
1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200C (180C fan-forced).  Grease two muffin tins.

Roll out your shortcrust dough to your desired thickness.  Cut circles with a radius approximately 1cm larger than the radius of your muffin cups (I use all sorts of things.  Small bowls, jars, egg rings, glasses, etc.  Be creative!).  Line the muffin cups with your pastry.  It will not reach all the way to the top.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, shallots and ham until combined.  Pour the mixture into your pastry cups, right to the top.   Sprinkle with tasty cheese.

Bake in your preheated oven for 12-25 minutes (time varies wildly depending on the size/shape of your muffin tins).  Quiches are done when the egg is set and the tops are golden.

For best results, serve immediately.  When reheating - an oven should be used as microwaves can leave egg products rubbery.  Reheat at 150C for approximately 20 minutes.

Simple Macaroni And Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese.  There aren't many people who aren't fans of this delicious comfort food.  What you might not know is that making your own homemade macaroni and cheese takes about the same amount of time as making it from a box.  This recipe is a very simple homemade version with a lot of great flavour.

Because I love a bit of sour tang and spice - I've added a bit of horseradish cream to my macaroni and cheese.  If you're not a fan of horseradish or you want a more traditional macaroni and cheese - just leave it out.

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

50g butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon horseradish cream
2 cups shredded cheddar
salt & pepper to taste
500g macaroni pasta

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the instructions and drain well.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Whisk in the 2tbsp flour until it forms a smooth paste.  I like to add pepper now - but you can add it at any time.  Continue cooking for one minute, whisking constantly.

Slowly add the milk.  If you add it too quickly the flour will turn into lumps within the milk. If you add it too slowly you'll scald your milk.  What we want to do do here is turn that butter and flour paste into a creamy sauce known as a white sauce.  Stir constantly but slowly.

Add in the horseradish cream (or not, if you don't like it).

Bring the sauce just barely to a boil and turn it down to simmer.  Add your cheese in several parts, stirring until melted after each addition.

When all of the cheese is melted and the sauce is hot - remove from heat and add the pasta, blending completely.   Add salt and pepper a bit at a time until the flavour is right for you.  I'm a big fan of pepper so I probably added nearly 2tsp - but that might be too much for most, sane people. >.>

Serve hot and enjoy!

ANZAC Biscuits

I'd never heard of ANZAC biscuits until I moved to Australia.  For that matter, I'd never heard of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp).  Thanks, American education! :P  Once I'd had them, I fell in love.  I'm a fan of all oats-based cookies biscuits.  If you are too, these could be a yummy snack - and kids love them!

ANZAC Biscuits

2 cups plain flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup coconut
250g butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup (for my American friends, dark corn syrup, molassas, karo and honey will all do the trick but will all provide slightly different results - personally, I'd go dark corn syrup)
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt butter, golden syrup and water in a saucepan until hot but NOT boiling.  Sprinkle the baking soda into the pan and let the mix expand.

Stir the golden syrup mix into the dry ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.

Place walnut sized balls onto a tray lined with wax paper and bake at 175C (350F) for 15-20 minutes.  Biscuits are done when lightly browned.  They will harden when cooled.