Perfect Pasta Frittata

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2-3 cups (or whatever you have left) Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Capers, Anchovies
5-6 large eggs, beaten
handful of grated cheese of your choice.  I prefer Parmesan or Gran Paderno, but sometimes a melty cheese is the only thing that will do.   

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.

2.  I like to "warm up" my left over pasta in the microwave for 2 minutes.

3. In a small, oven safe nonstick skillet, over medium high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the warmed leftover pasta to the pan and toss. Allow to cook for a minute to reheat. 

4. Add the beaten eggs over the contents of the skillet, toss to blend with the pasta and cook over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes, lifting the edges and tipping the pan so that the uncooked egg can get closer to the pan around the edges.

5 Once the edges are set and the top still moist, but no longer runny, transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes and then add the cheese.  Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the top is golden, and the eggs completely set. The top should be bubbling from the olive oil in the pasta.

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Homemade Creme Fraiche
From In the Sweet Kitchen

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Resting time in a warm place: 24 hours

Makes 2 ¼ cups
Keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge

Ingredients:
¼ cup buttermilk
2 cups heavy cream – 35-36%)

Directions:
1. In a non-reactive pitcher or bowl, stir the buttermilk into the cream. Cover the container with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draught-free place. Be careful that where you put the cream is not actually hot or the bacteria in the mixture will be killed. Think of a nice hot day; Leave the mixture covered for about 24 hours. Don't worry about the cream going bad; the benign live bacteria in the buttermilk will multiply and protect the cream from any harmful bacteria.

2. Remove the cover and gently jiggle the pitcher or bowl. The creme fraiche should be thickened and somewhere between the consistency of jelly and sour cream. If it still looks runny, the temperature was likely too cool. Move the container to a warmer spot, cover again and leave for another 12 hours. When the consistency looks right, recover the container and transfer to the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Spicy Baked Mac 'n Cheese

Spicy Baked Mac ‘n Cheese
From All the Best Recipes:

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 25-30 minutes
Rest time: 5-10 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups dried macaroni (I ran out so I used small bowties that I usually use in soups)
¼ cup butter
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup all purpose flour
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups milk (you might need more if you like it creamier)
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
Parsley Crumb Topping: (Makes 1 ½ cups)
1 ½ cups fresh coarse white bread crumbs (I used Panko crumbs)
2 tbsp Italian/flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
3 tbsp butter, melted


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180°C, and lightly oil or butter a 11”x7” (2L) baking dish and set it on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet for easy clean ups.

2. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente (about 1 minute less than the directions call for, the pasta will continue to cook in the oven). Drain and set aside.

3. In the meantime in a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and transparent. Add the flour, cayenne, salt & pepper and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.

4. In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until steaming. Once the flour mixture is ready, slowly add the hot milk, whisking briskly until the sauce is smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses until well blended and the cheese has melted.

5. Return the drained pasta to its pot (no need to dirty another vessel) and add the cheese sauce. Gently stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
6. Prepare the breadcrumb topping: - in a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, pepper and cayenne. Pour the melted butter over it and toss to coat the bread crumbs evenly.

7. Pour the macaroni and sauce into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the parsley breadcrumb mixture over the top. Bake until the sauce is bubbling (25 minutes or so). Broil for a minute or two to brown the top.

8. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Cheese Blintzes

Cheese Blintzes
From Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Makes 1 dozen blintzes

Ingredients:
Crepe/Blintz:
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup flour
Filling:
1½ lbs/680 g dry cottage cheese
3 eggs
1½ tbsp melted butter
1-2 tbsp sugar
lemon juice to taste (½ lemon to start)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla (I only use this when I’m making dessert blintzes)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C

2. Combine eggs, water, salt and oil in blender until well mixed. Then add flour in 2 batches. Mix until there are no lumps. Gently stir to remove air bubbles and let sit for at least 30 minutes before frying (this eliminates holes in the crepes).

Tip: When I have the time (or remember), I actually let it sit overnight in the fridge. It’s amazing what a difference it makes. You’ll rarely have to waste the first couple of crepes because they have too many holes.

3. Pour batter (about ¼ cup) into a hot, lightly greased 8” non-stick frying pan. Rotate the pan quickly so that mixture covers the bottom completely and evenly. Fry on one side only. The crepe is ready when it appears dry on the top. The underside will be golden in parts.

4. Turn out the crepe, gently prying the edges, onto waxed or parchment paper, with browned side up. You can overlap the crepes slightly, but don’t completely overlap them while they are hot as they will stick together.

Filling:
1. In a large bowl, mix all the filling ingredients together and place 1 heaping soup spoonful (about ¼ -⅓ cup) of filling in center of crepe.

2. Make an envelope (bottom of crepe over filling, then one side, other side and lastly the top).

3. Fry briefly in butter on both sides and then bake seam side down for 15 minutes at 300°F/150°C to heat through without burning the crepes.

Tip: Sometimes, if I make a small batch I just stick the skillet in the oven, so make sure yours is oven proof. Usually I use a lightly greased Pyrex baking dish that will hold all the blintzes with a little room between each of them…the blintzes will swell a little in the oven (see photo) and then deflate when you serve them.

Serve with sour cream.

Wild Mushroom Mac 'n Cheese

Wild Mushroom Mac ‘n Cheese
From Gourmet Magazine, February 2008 issue

Hands on time: 2 hours plus
Baking time: 30 minutes

Serves 6-8 (ingredients are for 13”x8” oven-proof deep dish pan)

Ingredients:
Mushroom Mixture:
1 oz/3g dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
1 cup boiling water
2 medium leeks (white & pale green parts only)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sliced fresh shitake mushroom caps
2 cups sliced fresh cremini mushrooms
½ cup diced fresh Portobello mushroom cap (scraped of black gills)
Note: I didn’t exactly measure the amount of individual types of fresh mushrooms but they did equal about 4 cups in total
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream (I used 2% evaporated milk…ridiculous I know given I used all the butter it called for)
Salt & pepper to taste

Mac ‘n cheese:
½ lb/500g elbow macaroni (I didn’t have any –even with 3 trips to the store so I used multigrain fusilli)
3 cups whole milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter
5 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
5 cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (I used white) divided as per instructions below

Directions:
Mushrooms:
1. Soak the porcini mushrooms in boiling water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are soft.

2. In the meantime, clean the leeks…cut off the root, darker green part and outer skin, slice in half lengthwise and rinse well under cold water, flipping the layers apart to make sure there’s no dirt. Dry and thinly slice across.

3. Strain the porcini through a cheese cloth or paper towel lined sieve over a bowl. Reserve the liquid, squeezing as much liquid as you can into the sieve. Rinse the mushrooms to make sure there’s no silt or dirt and chop.

4. In a large skillet, sauté the leeks in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until tender (about 10 minutes). Increase the heat to high and add all the mushrooms, the reserved soaking liquid and wine and toss well. Stir occasionally until the mushroom are softened (about 5 minutes). Strain again through clean sieve over a measuring cup or bowl and press hard on the mushrooms. Set aside the mushrooms and return the liquid to the skillet. Boil until the liquid has reduced to about 1/3 cup (5 minutes or so) Add the cream (or evaporated milk) and boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until thickened (3-5 minutes). Add the mushrooms with salt & pepper and boil, stirring for a minute.

5. Transfer to an oven proof dish (I used a medium sized “lasagna” pan)

Mac ‘n Cheese:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C

2. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside.

For the Béchamel sauce:
3. Heat the milk in a small heavy bottomed saucepan over medium low heat until the milk is hot.

4. Melt butter in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan over medium low heat and then add the flour. Whisk for about 3 minutes to “cook” the flour. Whisk in the hot milk slowly to avoid lumps. Add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and pepper and whisk constantly over medium heat for another 2 minutes or so (the sauce will thicken and boil a bit). Whisk in 3 cups of the grated cheese until melted.

5. Remove from heat and stir in the pasta and an additional 1 ½ cups of cheese. Spread over the mushroom mixture in the oven proof dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake until golden (about 30 minutes).

It’s very rich so all you need is a really simple salad