Recipe: Creamy Polenta with Roasted Red Peppers and Sausage

Creamy Polenta with Roasted Red Peppers and Sausage

Polenta:                                                                      
5 cups water                                                              
Salt and pepper to taste                                              
1 3/4 cups polenta                                                      
1/3 cup whipping cream                                                
1/3 cup grated mozzarella or cheese of choice

Red Peppers and Sausage:
4 medium red peppers
1 lb Italian sausage
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch paprika

Preheat the over to 300°F.
Slice the peppers into thin strips and completely remove the seeds. Place into baking pan.
Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble onto the peppers. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well and bake for around a half hour or until the peppers are tender.
In the meantime, bring the water to a boil. Lower heat and slowly add the polenta while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the whipping cream and salt and pepper.
Serve with mozzarella, red peppers and sausage on top.

-- Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Gorgonzola Polenta with balsamic caramelized onions

Polenta:
5 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 3/4 cups polenta
3/4 cup crumbled sweet gorgonzola, crumbled
1/3 cup whipping cream

1. Bring the water to a boil. Slowly add the polenta while constantly stirring.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender. Add more water slowly if the polenta appears too thick.
3. Remove from the heat. Add the gorgonzola and cream, stir until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.


Onions:
2 tbs olive oil
2 large white or golden onions, sliced into rings
1-2 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt

1. Heat oil in a large pan over low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly for 10-15 minutes stirring periodically.
2. When onions are softened and tinged gold add the balsamic. Continue cooking over low heat for another 5-10 minutes.
3. Serve over the polenta.

-- Raspberrry Truffle

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
(optional 1/2 cup chopped walnuts)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease pan with butter.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In another bowl blend egg, oil, milk and vanilla extract. Stir into dry ingredients until just moist then fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts.
3.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

--Raspberry Truffle

The Sweetness of Honey

Before last year, I never liked honey. Actually, the list of foods I didn't eat before was ridiculously long: vegetables, fruits, certain meats, fish... I don't know why honey made it onto the blacklist. One of my favorite cartoon characters was obsessed with honey, which generally meant that I would happily eat said food. Cookie monster ate cookies (like a champ lol) and so did I.  Popeye ate his spinach for the awesome muscles and so did I. Winnie the Pooh Bear could not get enough HONEY into his belly and yet I couldn't be bothered. I have no idea what was going on in my baby brain but I would not eat honey.
Nowadays I've come to my senses. Honey is delicious! Honey is adaptable! I'll have honey in my tea. I make honey chicken fingers. I even put honey into my savory french toast mixture. Honey can be used in place of syrup for pancakes or it can be a replacement for refined sugar.
And it comes in such great varieties ranging from the very sweet to the less sweet. There are smooth honeys and harsher tasting honeys. Honey that tastes like flowers is delightful for some while chestnut honey is more the speed of others.
I love tasting and experimenting with the flavors!

Recipe: Spinach Pie

Growing up, spinach pie was absolutely one of my favorite things to eat. Yes, I admit it. I was a weird child. But what can I say? I just wanted to be like Popeye.
This recipe is a variation of the spinach pie my grandmother made. It's semi homemade (basically because I'm too lazy to make my own crust everytime I want to eat it).  I love how simple it is to make! Just be careful not to eat all of it at once!  Goodness know I have to be careful not to.

My Spinach Pie

1 premade pie crust
1000 grams frozen spinach
250 grams of ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Red Pepper flakes

Preheat the over to 350°.
In a large saucepan defrost the spinach over a very low heat with a little bit of salt.  Heat covered until most of the excess liquid has cooked off.  If necessary use a strainer to remove any other water.  Put aside to cool.
In a bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes until well-blended.  When the spinach has cooled, add to the ricotta and stir well.
Place the pie crust into a pie pan and use a fork to make a few holes so the crust does not bubble.  Fill with the spinach mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust has lightly browned.
This can be served warm or cold.


There are several other variations I make of spinach pie.  Sometimes I'll add a layer of thinly sliced pancetta to the crust before pouring in the spinach mixture.  On other occassions I have added a layer of mashed potatoes and spinach.  When making a simple pie sometimes I will add in a spoonful of honey and a dash of nutmeg for a slightly different feel.
Grandma's spinach pie used no ricotta, but instead utilized more eggs.

The possibilities are endless, so play around until you find your favorite version!

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: La Parmigiana #3

So I've decided to try a healthier version of the classic Parmigiana.

2 small eggplant (or 1 large) sliced thinly
1 jar of tomato sauce (homemade or store bought is fine)
Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
oregano

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Ladle a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of an oven proof dish.  Lay down the pieces of eggplant leaving as few gaps as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, salt, oregano and another layer of sauce. Cover with parmesan cheese. Repeat until you run out of eggplant. Cover the last layer liberally with sauce and cheese.
Bake for 35-45 minutes checking periodically that the cheese does not burn.
Serve warm.

This came out quite good and delicious, but since the eggplant was not fried in oil, there was a little less flavor. Next time I think I'll be adding some mozzarella and ricotta. Maybe even some prosciutto!  (So much for healthy ahaha).

-raspberry truffle