Spinach and Ricotta Pull Apart Loaf

After making the lasagne the other day I found myself with an excess of spinach and while there was plenty I could do with it, I decided it would be best served as an alternative bucket list item. So, I ducked out, grabbed some more ricotta and the rest as they say, is history.

I love recipes with simple ingredients

The beginnings of my dough

I feel the need to knead

Preparing for proofing

Dividing the dough

Sprinkling the ricotta and spinach

Arranging the scrolls in the tin

Brushing the oil on top after the final proofing

Ta da! A perfect pull apart loaf

Spinach and Ricotta Pull Apart

Makes: 6 servings

Prep Time: 2 hours (including proofing) Bake Time: 40 mins

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/4 tsp dry yeast*

2 tsp sea salt, plus extra to sprinkle

1 tsp caster sugar

2/3 cup warm water

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing

2 cups spinach (finely chopped)

200g ricotta

*The amount of yeast I used was based on previous bread baking experiments at altitude, officially I think it should be about 2 tsp.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and lightly grease your baking tin.

2. Place flour, yeast, salt and sugar into a bowl and stir. Make a shallow well into the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the oil and water. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes (or until smooth and elastic). Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough is doubled in size.

3. Remove dough from the bowl and punch down, kneading for about 2 minutes until the dough has returned to the original size. Divide dough into 8 equal portions. Roll out each portion to be approximately 10x20 cm (5mm thick) sprinkle ricotta and spinach onto the surface and then roll to enclose filling. Cut in half width ways and then place cut side down into a greased baking tin. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over the top any remaining ricotta and spinach you have. Place tin, covered in plastic wrap, in a warm place for 30 mins until the dough rises again filling in the gaps between the scrolls.

4. Lightly brush the dough with extra oil and sprinkle a little salt over the top. Bake for 20 mins and then reduce oven to 180 and bake for a further 20 mins or until golden brown. Serve warm.

This made a delicious lunch and I am forced to admit that there was no way we got 6 serves out of this, it was a little too moreish for that. But hey, food is made to be eaten isn't it?

Vegetarian Lasagne

It's mid term break and Rory and I decided to stay in Bogotá for a nice chilled week; sleeping in, brunch in the sunshine (remarkably there actually is sunshine in "The Bog" right now) and just general laziness. The problem of course is, I'm not very good at doing nothing, so Bucket List it is... I decided to fly solo on this recipe, I read a few other recipes but essentially created my own, this could mean 1 of 2 things - Disaster or Passable. I'm hoping for passable... Tonight's dinner proudly brought to you by vegetarian lasagne.

Ingredients at the ready

The beginnings of the sauce

Sauce almost ready

Preparing the cheeses

Grating the vegetables

Starting the construction phase

A sprinkling of cheese on the pasta sheets

Layer upon layer upon layer

First layer complete!

Time to layer the next lot of pasta

Oppps, forgot the potato! Oh well put it on top and cover in cheese!

Fresh from the oven

Dinner is served

Alternatively with garlic bread...

Vegetarian Lasagne

Makes: 8-10 servings

Prep Time: 30mins Bake Time: 1hour

For the Sauce:

Oil

1 onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (minced)

1/2 cup mushroom (diced)

1 capsicum (diced)

800g tinned tomatoes

pinch of chilli flakes

pinch of mixed herbs

splash of balsamic vinegar

Chopped Parsley

(You can tell this is my recipe due to the lack of exact measures!)

1. In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic in enough oil to cover the base of the pot. When the onion goes transparent add in the mushroom and capsicum. Cook for a couple of minutes stirring the vegetables often.

2. Add in the balsamic, herbs and tomatoes (I mashed these up before putting them in so I didn't have big chunks of tomato, but whatever you prefer is good) 

3. Leave pot covered on the stove on a low heat while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

For the Filling:

250g ricotta

2 eggs

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan

cracked pepper (to taste)

1 carrot

1 zucchini

1 bunch asparagus 

2 aubergines 

6 small potatoes

100g baby spinach 

10 mushrooms

18 lasagne sheets

200g mozzarella

1. Mix the ricotta, eggs and parmesan together to form a paste and set aside.

2. Prepare the remaining vegetables (I simply used my peeler to get thin slices of carrot, zucchini and asparagus and then sliced the potato, mushrooms, spinach and aubergines with a knife but it's up to you based on how chunky and "meaty" you want the ingredients to be)

3. Boil a pot to cook the lasagne sheets and set them aside on some wax paper when cooked.

For the Lasagne:

1. Place a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom of your lasagne dish and top with enough sheets of pasta to cover the base.

2. On top of the pasta, spread (or in my case crumble) the ricotta/parmesan mix and then layer the remaining vegetables as you wish, adding a nice layer of sauce as you go. Top with more pasta sheets and repeat.

3. On top of the final layer of pasta sprinkle mozzarella.*

4. Place into a moderate oven and bake for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

* I have to admit that somehow during the assembly of my lasagne I missed my large bowl of potato that I had set to one side, so ours had a nice potato and cheese topping rather than the potato being layered into the dish. I'm claiming it's creative licence, Rory is just laughing at me...

Eggs Benedict

This one went onto the hit list for the benefit of Rory, as today is his birthday and it's the weekend, I thought I'd be daring and try it out. There's not a lot of photographic evidence (aka none) of the cooking process. I was a bit panicked about sauce separating and eggs dissolving as I tried to poach them, so here is the final product...

Eggs Benedict is served!

Eggs Benedict

Makes: 4 serves (1/2 an English muffin each)

Prep Time: 5 mins  Cook Time: 15mins

For the Hollandaise Sauce
125g unsalted butter (melted)
3 eggs yolks
1/2 tbsp vinegar (1tbsp of lemon juice does the same job)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp plain flour

1. Put 3 eggs yolks, vinegar and salt into the blender. Mix on Medium speed for 20-30 seconds (until the eggs lighten in colour)

2. Turn the blender down to the lowest setting and slowly add the melted butter while continuing to blend. (Check the flavour at this point and add salt/vinegar as preferred)

3. Transfer the sauce into a heat proof container and place in a warm spot on the stove, allowing it to thicken while you poach the eggs (see below) 

4. As the eggs are finishing, if the sauce hasn't thickened (as mine hadn't) turn a hot plate to the lowest setting, add a bit of flour (I used about 2 tsp) and stir constantly over the low heat until the sauce thickens to the right consistency.


For the Poached Eggs
4 eggs
2 tsp vinegar
water

1. Bring a large saucepan, two-thirds-filled with water, to a boil and then add the vinegar. Bring the water to a boil again and then lower the heat to a bare simmer.

2. Working one egg at a time, crack it into a ladle (or small bowl) and slip it into the barely simmering water. Once it begins to solidify, slip in the next egg until you have all four cooking. 

3. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it sit for 6 minutes. When you need to remove the eggs, lift them out gently using a slotted spoon. (Timing will vary based on the eggs, size of your pan and how runny you like them to be! Experimentation is the key here!)

For the Eggs Benedict
2 English Muffins
4 slices of Smoked Salmon (you could use bacon if you prefer but Rory likes salmon so we went with that)
Chives
Cracked pepper

1. Toast the English Muffins and lay the salmon on top. Then add the poached eggs and pour the hollandaise over them. Chop some chives and/or crack some pepper on top.

2. Serve with extra salmon if you wish.

Working on the premise that Rory sat there almost licking the plate clean and looking at it expectantly as though it was going to magically reproduce more of the same I would say this was possibly Rory's favourite dish so far. I found making the sauce wasn't what I was expecting so I needed to do some tweaking. Another recipe I looked at used a double boiler to make the sauce which might have been better - if I owned a double boiler, alas I do not, so I went with the blender method which seemed to do the trick.

I now have a pile of egg whites sitting on my bench calling my name and whispering Lemon Meringue Pie, but without a yellow lemon to be found in Bogota that could be a little tricky...