Beef and Cheese Cannelloni

This recipe started because I saw a box of oven ready cannelloni at Migros.  I`d never had it before (and while the box said to fill it with salmon, which I had no interest in), it looked like fun. I hadn`t yet chosen as for who: fun noodles for the kids, or a new dish for us. Well, I didn`t have enough fish sauce to create the bao I wanted to tonight, so made this instead.  I know there are tons of different ways to make it. Mine turned out kind of like lasagna, but without all the layers of noodles. We both thought it was quite good and have leftovers for the next few days for lunch :)

What you need:

Box of oven ready cannelloni
ground beef - I used 350 g
250 g ricotta cheese
basil
1 medium onion
1 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves chopped
3/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
150 g fresh mozzarella (or grated)
1 large jar pasta sauce (about 2 1/2 cups)
butter for greasing.




First, dice the onion and saute it in a little olive oil. Let cook for a few minutes until the onion is softened.

Add the garlic and stir for about 45 seconds.

Add the beef. Mix until cooked.

Add 1 cup of pasta sauce, stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add about 1 tsp of basil (I used dried).

Remove from heat.

Put in a medium mixing bowl and add the ricotta cheese.  When thoroughly mixed, add 1/4 cup of Asiago cheese.

Butter the bottom of a baking dish and turn the oven to 200 C. No need to add sauce to the bottom of the pan with the butter.

Carefully fill the cannelloni. I`m sure there is a proper way to do it, but I just held them in one hand and spooned the mixture in with the other, using the end of the spoon to push it through to the other end.

Lay them in the baking dish and then cover with the other 1 to 1/2 cups of sauce (depending on how big your dish is).

Slice (or use grated) the mozzarella cheese and lay on top. Add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the grated Asiago.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is browned.

Enjoy!

Spanakopita-ish

I love spanakopita. It is a fantastic snack, lunch, or dinner. Hubby thinks its a bit bland, so I haven`t made it in a while though.  I decided to yesterday, but with chicken, with the intent on having them for lunch the rest of the week. Unfortunately, the phyllo (filo) dough that I had put in the freezer did not survive. Apparently you can`t do that. You can with the blätterteig though. So, change of plans. I had to improvise, and it turned out quite well. I made tzatziki dip to go with it, and it was quite filling. Oh, and hubby thought this was really good!

What you need:
800 g frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
500 g chicken, cooked and cut into bite size pieces
200 g feta cheese
2 eggs
2 Tbls butter, melted
2 packages blätterteig - puff pastry

One package was 6 rolls, though I could have made them a bit smaller and probably gotten 8. I had leftover filling, so you would do better with 2 packages.

For the dipping sauce, see my tzatziki recipe, but what you need is:
2 containers natural Greek yogurt
1 cucumber
1-2 cloves garlic
1 Tbls dried dill

First, thaw your spinach and cook your chicken. When everything is cooled and pulled apart into small pieces, add the feta and eggs. Mix well.

Melt the butter

Roll out your dough and cut it into 6-8 squares. Brush the edges of the dough with a little melted butter.

Put about 2 Tbls of filling across the edge and roll up, pinch the edges closed. Brush the top with a little of the butter

Bake at 200 C for about 20 minutes.  You can eat these hot, or once cooled, put them in the fridge, and they are great cold as well.

Serve with the dip.

Enjoy!

Thai {Chicken} Salad

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....oh wait. Scratch that. A while back, I made a Thai chicken pizza. It was delicious.  I had thought about turning it into a salad as I had a bunch of left over sauce for the base. Well, I finally did it. I`ve made this 3 times now, once with chicken, once without for lunch (hubby thinks the dressing is so good he`s happy to eat it just on lettuce), and once as a spicy version. I have let the sauce/dressing sit in the fridge for a week and then heated it up in the microwave and it was perfectly fine.

What you need:

For the dressing:  1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (getting harder to find it seems)
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup sake, I have been using white wine vinegar since I couldn`t find any the first time, and since it`s tasted great, have not yet tried the sake.
2 tsp grated fresh ginger (or 1/2 - 1 Tbsp powder)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp fish sauce

For the rest:
about 400 g chicken (if using)
your favorite greens
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1 avocado, cubed
coconut milk
cilantro (koriander)

First, add the dressing ingredients to a pot and cook on medium until well mixed. Set aside and let cool.

When the sauce is cool, if you are using chicken, add 1-2 Tbsp of sauce to the chicken and mix well. Refridgerate at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Put about 1 Tbsp of sesame oil in a pan and let it get hot. Add the chicken and stir fry until cooked through. If you would like to make it a little spicy, use chili oil. You can make your own if you don`t have any available. I shall post that recipe soon. Time the cooking of the chicken to how you would like to eat it. You can have this salad either hot, or let the cooked chicken sit until you are ready. I find that easiest.

Peel some cucumber into strips and dice an avocado (my avocado decided it didn`t want to be ripe enough to eat today, but that`s ok, it will be ready for leftovers!)

Put your greens on a plate or in a bowl, add the cucumber and avocado and toss. Top with chicken.

Take the cooled dressing and add about 2 tsp of coconut milk and mix thoroughly. You want to add enough to get it to the consistency you desire, so add more or less as you prefer. It should be thicker than a normal dressing, but easy to mix in.

Top with a few pieces of cilantro.

If you would like, you could also spread the dressing on a tortilla, add your salad ingredients and wrap it up like a burrito.

Another option is to have it as a side, without the chicken in the salad, but instead making chicken satay. Yum!

Enjoy!

Vegetable Goat Cheese Tart

This is something I saw a picture of on Pinterest. Unfortunately, it was just an image, but if what I made isn`t the exact same as what I saw, at least it looks similar, and what it looks like I thought was very pretty.  Next time I make this, I will make individual ones. It is super simple, with only a few ingredients. So if you want something that looks beautiful, doesn`t cost much, or take a lot of effort, then this is for you.


What you need:

2 large or 3 medium zucchinis
2 large or 3 medium carrots
thyme (fresh or dried)
olive oil
goat cheese (or feta, or any other kind you like)
1 sheet of blätterteig - puff pastry
pie dish, or individual small baking bowls.

You can also use any other veggies that can peel into strips easily, yellow squash for example.

First, peel the outer layer off the vegetable. You do not need to be perfect.

Next, continue using a peeler, and peel strips until you get to the core of it.  Heat some water in a large pot, and when it boils, add the veg strips. The carrots will need a few minutes to begin to soften, the zucchini not more than a minute. Take them out and let them drain on a paper towel.  If you prefer crunchy veggies, you can skip this part.  Also, another option may be to carefully saute them. You want to keep them in long strips as much as possible as it will be easiest to make the tart.

When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, put 1 Tbls olive oil into a bowl and gently mix to coat. Add 2 Tbls fresh thyme or 1 Tbls dried and mix again.

Put your pastry a pie dish (or individual bowls) with some baking paper underneath, long enough to hang over the sides. This will allow easy removal after cooking. Spread some goat cheese on the pastry base (I used about 1 Tbls) and then you are ready to begin. I also added a little goat cheese around the sides of my last veg strip before folding over the dough. If you are using a different cheese, you can mix it in with the vegetables.

Pick up a vegetable strip - whichever you want, and roll it up like a tape measure so it is in a semi-tight coil. Continue to alternate with the different vegetables. When it gets too big to handle, set it in the middle of your pastry dough and then continue to wrap around it. If you do not have enough vegetables to fill your pan, you can push the dough in a little and then with the excess, use a cookie cutter and make shapes to layer around the edge.

Bake at the time and temperature indicated on your puff pastry, or at about 220 for 15 minutes.
For a golden crust, brush some egg on top of the pastry edge or shapes. Sprinkle with more cheese if desired.

brushed with egg

cut in half, you can see the goat cheese underneath

Individual tarts. These I hand rolled before putting them inside. There is parchment paper underneath so I could lift them out easily.