Russian Easter Cake
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter in a slightly different way. Our main dish on the table is usually Kulich or Easter cake. Traditionally it is made on Clean Thursday (3 days prior to Easter) along with the eggs, blessed in the church and then eaten the next morning.
The recipe is kind of similar to Italian panettone and some Russians even buy panettone in store, decorate them accordingly with the traditions and put it into the center of the table on Sunday morning.
The shape of Kulich is traditionally tall and cylindrical just like Russian monastery bread – Artos that is unlike Kulich traditionally made out of kvas (fermented Slavic and Baltic beverage commonly made from rye bread).
Kulich was influenced by the Slavic tradition of spring ceremonial baking. It is served as ceremonial bread, which was usually baked on the eve of sowing works out of fermented dough. This sacred bread was used by peasants in rituals, and its remnants were used in fortune telling about harvest and offspring of the cattle.
This recipe contains video instructions.
Pro tip: in Russia, there are tons of cylindrical baking tins for this cake especially before Easter but in places like Europe and the US it is much harder to find. To recreate the shape I made it out of a few layers of foil.
Serving size:
2 medium-sized cakes/8 pieces
Ingredients:
250g flour
2 eggs
250ml of milk
1 packet of dry yeast
Zest from 1 orange
30g of chocolate chips
30g of roasted almonds
40g of candied citrus peel (see recipe)
100g of sugar
50g butter (softened)
4-6 tablespoons of vanilla frosting or more to taste
Sprinkles, fresh fruit or herbs for decoration
Nutrition (with frosting):
353 Calories
13.3g Fat
63.5g Carbs
8.7g Fiber
20.3g Protein
Method:
Divide the flour into two equal parts (125g each).
Warm up the milk and put the yeast and a pinch of sugar into a cup. Wait for 2-3 minutes until it starts foaming.
Once the yeast or foamy enough, pour the liquid over one part of the flour (125g). The mixture will be sticky. It’s okay. Mix well, cover with plastic or towel and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
Meanwhile, roast the almonds if you haven’t done so. Mix with a little bit of olive oil and roast at 375F/180C for 7 minutes. Cut with the knife and set aside.
Separate egg yolks from the egg whites.
5 minutes before the timer goes off for your dough, In a large bowl mix egg yolks with sugar until it turns creamy yellow. Add orange zest and set aside.
Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks.
Once the dough is ready, mix it with egg yolk mixture, almonds, candied citrus peel, chocolate chips, and softened butter.
Start adding egg whites bit by bit carefully folding them into the dough.
Finally, add the remaining flour, mix well, cover with plastic or a towel and let it rise once more for an hour.
Make cylindrical tins out of foil and grease them with butter or olive oil.
Divide your dough between the two filling them up only by 1/3.
Cover with a towel and let it rise for 40 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 210F/100C and bake the cakes for 10 minutes.
THEN bring the temperature up to 360F/180C and bake for another 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
DO NOT open the oven for the first 20 minutes into baking or the kulich will never turn out well and fluffy.
Decorate your kulich with frosting, sprinkles, and fruit and serve warm.
Keep your kulich in the fridge wrapped in a tea towel and warm it up before serving again. It will be good for another 4-5 days.
The Easiest Lobster Tail Recipe
Remember that one time you ordered lobster at the restaurant and paid an idiotically high price for it? Well, this should stop! The thing is, lobster tails are usually inexpensive and the price range could vary from $8 to $15 depending on the area you live in. Hint: the one who live near the sea or the ocean typically pay a little less. You can find lobster tails in your local supermarket in the raw fish department or frozen in the seafood section.
The recipe I’m about to share with you is absurdly easy and can spice up your dinner within 15 minutes.
Serving size:
2 tails or 4 small servings
Ingredients:
2 lobster tails (whole, uncut)
2 tablespoons of butter (you can use truffle oil if you like)
2 sprigs of thyme
0.5 cooked pumpkin
Greens for garnish
1 lemon
Salt
1 tbsp of parmesan cheese
Nutritional info per serving:
216 Calories
13g Fat
7.2g Carbs
1.4g Fiber
27.3g Protein
How to cook:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F degrees.
Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut the tails into halves.
Put 0.5 tablespoons of butter into each side of the meat, salt, add thyme and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
While the lobsters are cooking, puree the pumpkin in a blender, add salt, parmesan and make a salad. Place ingredients on a plate.
On top of the pumpkin lay out lobster tails, season with lemon juice and serve.
Bon Appetit!
Easy Salmon Patties
Being pescetarian at a BBq party may seem hard: everyone having sausages, ribs, and burgers but you can not eat a gram of this. Since there are not a lot of pescetarian friendly sausages and patties in stores, I came up with this easy recipe of fish patties, that I can bring for myself. They are also great for burgers and smoking.
What’s good about these patties, is that the minute I put them on the grill, everyone start smelling fresh salmon and will be dying to try. So make sure to double the recipe if needed
This dish can be made 2 days ahead if the fish is fresh.
Serving size: about 5 patties
Ingredients:
1 lbs of fresh salmon, no skin or bones.
2 tbs of dijon mustard
2 tbsp of capers
1 shallot
1/2 cup of rolled oats
Lemon juice
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
0/5 tsp f olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Nutritional value per serving:
236 Calories
6.4g Fat
11.2g Carbs
1.4g Fiber
30.9g Protein
Method:
In a blender, combine salmon cut into small cubes, capers, chopped shallot, Meyer lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Puree until well blended.
Transfer everything into a bowl and mix with olive oil, oats, and pepper.
Roll out the patties by hand and wrap in plastic if you are not cooking it right away.
Heat some olive oil in a pan, lower temperature to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes on both sides covered.
Goes well with roasted spring veggies and new potatoes with malt vinegar and sage.
Coconut Pumpkin Curry With Salmon
I love everything that involves people connecting through food. Food is the only subject that will (probably) never start a war, an argument (only with your mom in the kitchen) and never cause negative emotions (only if the food is prepared the wrong way).
Thanksgiving is a truly unique celebration that ALWAYS brings families together big and small at a table full of homemade dishes, most of the time prepared from scratch.
I am not an American. I was never born in this county, I don’t carry a passport, and I have a family very far away from here, but somehow I can relate to what people celebrate in here. The aspect of it – all that matters. We should connect through eating homemade food more often. Maybe then there will be less anger and more love.
I don’t want to bring anything else up for now. The history of thanksgiving will appear in this blog later. For now, let’s remember those who will never make to the celebratory table and let’s MAKE SURE we give more love to those in need and give more attention to those who may be depressed and not feeling well.
Food – is what indeed can bring us together. Food is calming. Food is therapy.
Today I am revealing the recipe that I have only cooked for the dearest and nearest. For some reason, I didn’t have time to make it public, but I am now.
Sincerely yours, Chef Tania.
Pro Tip: make sure you get the freshest skinless salmon that smells so damn good, you would want to eat a piece of it raw. Canned San Marzano tomatoes are the best for the recipe.
Serving size:
About 6 portions
Ingredients:
400ml San Marzano tomatoes in a can
200 g Pumpkin puree
2 tbsp of tomato paste
600 ml coconut milk
240 ml coconut cream
1 pumpkin
800g – 1kg fresh salmon no skin
1 tbsp coriander seeds
5 garlic cloves
3 tbsp of olive oil
5 cloves
1 tsp of chili pepper flakes
1.5 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tbsp of grated ginger
2 tsp of cinnamon
Salt
Pepper
2 cups of cooked rice
Nutrition(no rice):
563 Calories
32.3g Fat
29.1g Carbs
9.3g Fiber
48g Protein
Method:
Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Clean the pumpkin, cut in cubes and roast for 25 minutes with olive oil.
Combine spices: turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, 2 tbsp of olive oil, garlic, cumin, coriander seeds, cloves, chili flakes in a blender or mortar and pestle and mix very well.
Put 1 tbsp of olive oil into a deep pan and add spices. Warm up over medium heat, so they reveal their smell, Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add tomato paste, mix well and cook for 1 more minute.
Crush San Marzano tomatoes, combine with pumpkin puree and add to the pot. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes.
Combine coconut cream and milk. Add to the pot and cook for 25-35 minutes until the texture emulsifies and comes together. Sometimes it needs 45-50 minutes depending on the type of our pot. Cook over medium heat no lid on.
Cut salmon in cubes and add to the mixture when it’s thick. Cook for 7 minutes on low heat and remove the pot from the stove.
Serve with roasted pumpkin, cooked rice/side salad.
Enjoy the smoothness!
Eggplant Involtini
Eggplant Involtini is a southern Italian dish and can be met in many different varieties. Some of them come with breadcrumbs, others, with ricotta. It’s hard to say which variety is the most traditional, but I can tell you for sure, my way is the most simple and delicious I have ever tried. I learned this recipe while working at the kitchen and it got stuck in my head ever since, so let’s get started.
Pro Tip:
Eggplant releases moisture when salted, so make sure to keep it over a rimmed baking sheet or paper towels.
Serving size:
About 10 involtinis
Ingredients:
10 planks of eggplant, thinly sliced
20 leaves of basil
5.3 oz of fresh mozzarella
13.5 oz tomato passata (tomato sauce)
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp of pecorino cheese, grated
Salt to taste
Canola oil spray
2 tbsp of olive oil
Nutritional value per 1 involtini:
90 Calories
5.9 g Fat
5.1 g Carbs
1 g Fiber
1.1 g Sugar
2.3 g Protein
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
For this recipe, I picked the largest eggplant ever so my portion size was incredibly generous and two was enough for each guest to try (I was hosting a party for 5).
Slice eggplant into thin planks, put salt on both sides and let it sit for 10-20 minutes. Eggplant will get soft and release moisture, so it is easy for you to make a beautiful roll.
Cut mozzarella into even circles. Ideally, you should have two circles per roll.
Pick basil leaves and discard the stems.
When eggplant is ready, start making your rolls. Put two pieces of mozzarella and two basil leaves into each plank and carefully roll it out.
Mix your tomato passata with olive oil and salt if needed.
Chop two garlic cloves.
Spray an ovenproof baking dish with canola oil and put garlic in first.
Spread your eggplant rolls over the dish and pour tomato passata over the top.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until eggplant is fully cooked.
Sprinkle two tablespoons of pecorino cheese over the top and broil for 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Summer Squash Linguine
In most countries, summer squash season is incredibly short: at best from the beginning of July to the middle of September. Of course, they can be found in other seasons, but the most delicious dishes come out when you use seasonal ingredients.
The variety of yellow squash refers to a type of pumpkin, and it has quite a few relatives, one of which is zucchini. So far, much is being said about whether there is a difference between these two vegetables, but none of the arguments have so far been resolved. Although some chefs say that zucchini is a little sweeter, and that’s why people add it to desserts.
While the summer is still around, and the squash is still in season, let’s see how you can cook a delicious and healthy pasta without using a piece of meat.
Pro tip:
The ideal pasta for this dish would be long, flat and narrow, like linguine. Even better, if the pasta has a flavor, like basil and garlic.
Serving Size:
2 servings
Ingredients:
4 cloves of garlic
0.8 oz of zucchini
12.3 oz of yellow squash
3.8 oz of linguine pasta with a taste of basil and garlic
1 cup basil leaves
2 pinch chili pepper flakes
5 tablespoons of pecorino romano, grated.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition Per Serving:
292 calories
10.9 g Fat
49.9 g Carbs
4.5 g Fiber
4.5 g Sugar
15.3 g Protein
How to make:
Crush the garlic and finely chop it.
In a frying pan, heat olive oil and fry garlic over medium heat until fragrant, this will take approximately 1 minute.
Cut the zucchini and the yellow squash into semi-circles and toss with garlic in a pan. Cook over medium heat for 7 minutes until the vegetables become soft. Season to taste.
Cook pasta following the directions on the package.
Leave a little broth from the pasta in a separate bowl; we will need it later.
Add basil, pasta and chili flakes into the pan with vegetables. Mix well, add a ladle of broth, a little olive oil, and cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes.
Broth + olive oil helps to collect the remains of ingredients from the bottom of the pan and emulsify them into a thick sauce.
Lower the heat, add pecorino, toss pasta a few times and serve.
Bon Appetit!
Bruschetta With Goat cheese Pesto and Kumato Tomatoes
Ciabatta bread has a very short shelf life (48 hours max). I bought a loaf for dinner yesterday and realized that I wouldn’t finish it all. I wrapped it in a tea towel and came back to it this morning. I made some bruschettas for breakfast and planning to make more for lunch. It’s one of my favorite dishes from Italian cuisine.
Pro Tip:
Let tomatoes drip very well before serving. This dish cannot be prepared days ahead.
Serving size:
8 bruschettas
Ingredients:
40 grams Creamy Goat Cheese
4 clove Garlic
2 Tbsp. Capers
2 tbsp Toasted Pistachios
4 Tsp. Olive Oil
4 psc Kumato tomato
8 psc Ciabatta bread
8 pscAnchovye Fillets
Chives
Nutrition Per Serving:
131 Calories
4.8 g Fat
14.1 g Carbs
1.3 g Fiber
1.5 g Sugar
4.3 g Protein
Directions:
Make pesto first. Combine 10g of creamy goat cheese, one small clove of garlic, 0.5 tbsp of capers, 0.5 tbsp of toasted pistachios and 1tsp of good olive oil.
Place a pot with water over high heat and wait until it’s boiling.
Place one tomato into the pot so that water covers it all and wait for 2-3 min.
Take the tomato out and peel.
Cut it into small dice and strain some liquid for about 5-10 min.
Slice ciabatta and toast it.
Spread pesto over the top of bread.
Decorate with tomatoes, anchovies, and some chives.
Check out my Instagram story for more details about this recipe.
Bon Appetit!
Ciabatta With Poached Egg, Avocado And Sage Salsa
Morning is my time to create. The first thing I do after I wake up – analyze my fringe and try to use leftovers from dinner or things that have been in there for quite a while. Today I had the whole avocado which I bought a few days ago and entirely forgot about, tiny piece of shallot, half of green sweet pepper and variety of fresh herbs that always go bad before I use them all.
I made my breakfast green and nutritious.
Serving size:
2 servings
Ingredients:
30 g Goat cheese
2 tsp Chopped fresh sage
half of Avocado
2 tsp Water
Salt
30 g Finely chopped shallot
1/2 cup Diced bell pepper
2 pieces of ciabatta
2 Eggs
Nutrition Per Serving:
286 Calories
16.8 g Fat
21.2 g Carbs
5 g Fiber
2.5 g Sugar
13.3 g Protein
Directions:
I would suggest using a mortar and pestle for this recipe. The chunkier your salsa is – the better.
Combine 15g of goat cheese, 1tsp of chopped fresh sage, 1/3 of avocado, 1tsp of water, salt, 15g of finely chopped shallot and 1/4 cup of diced sweet green pepper in mortar and pestle and make salsa.
Toast your bread of choice.
Poach your egg in boiling water with a little bit of vinegar for 60-90 seconds.
Spread salsa over the top of your toast, put egg on top and finish with ground black pepper.
Enjoy your morning!
Homemade Olive Tapenade
Some of you who follow me on Instagram know about the “toast Wednesday.” I post pictures, and a short description of the toasts that I make for breakfast, and they are quite easy to prepare at home.
Due to the great demand for recipes, I sometimes decided to post them on the blog with a detailed description.
Today we are preparing a classic olive tapenade – the traditional French spread, which came to us from the Provence region. Most often consists of ground dark olives, olive oil, and capers. Our variation today also contains basil and anchovies.
Pro Tip:
The tapenade can be made 3 days ahead. Store in a glass container in a fridge.
Serving size:
8 servings
Ingredients:
100 grams of Kalamata olives
2 cups basil
4 anchovy fillets
2 tsp. capers
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons olive oil
Nutrition Per Serving:
102 Calories
9.8 g Fat
2.7 g Carbs
0.2 g Fiber
0.2 g Sugar
0.5 g Protein
How to make:
There are two possible ways to make tapenade: in a blender and a mortar and pestle. My version is made in a mortar and pestle since the blender sometimes is not able to interpret the texture, which I tried to achieve. Also, there is a possibility that a blender will turn tapenade into a liquid puree which you don’t want.
Add garlic and basil to the mortar and pestle and mash it well until there are no large leaves left from the basil.
Strain the liquid from the olives and add them to the basil with garlic and again mash 3-4 minutes. To save time, try to get pitted olives.
When the desired texture is reached, add the anchovies, capers and mash again. Add the olive oil, stir well and transfer to a separate container.
Tapenade can be done in advance. You can keep it in the refrigerator for about 6-7 days.
You can serve tapenade with fried ciabatta, on toast, with steak or even with white fish.
Pumpkin Soup With Cheese Broth
Admit it, you waited for this recipe throughout September, and I finally got the hands to write it.
I make pumpkin soup every fall several times because this is one of the most delicious ways to use a pumpkin. The soup base usually varies and is highly dependent on the weather. For example, if it’s rainy and cold outside, then I make it fatter using some cream. If the fall is quite warm, then I use vegetable broth that I prepare in advance.
For this version, I decided to try something new, and it is now my favorite recipe!
Pro tip:
For this soup, I used homemade cheese broth. I’m not gonna line, I have been collecting cheese rind in my freezer for the entire summer to make this recipe happen. I encourage you to do the same!
Serving size:
4 servings
Ingredients:
1 kg of pumpkin (butternut)
3 cloves of garlic
7 sprigs of thyme
1.3 liters of water
7 cheese rinds
Salt
Nutrition Per Serving:
135 Calories
0.3 g Fat
35 g Carbs
5.5 g Fiber
8.3 g Sugar
2.8 g Protein
How to make:
For this recipe, I decided to bake a pumpkin with garlic and thyme to get the most flavor.
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C degrees.
Cut the pumpkin into medium cubes, add salt, finely chopped garlic, oil, thyme and cook for 25-30 minutes. Pumpkin should be very soft.
Make the broth. Wrap the cheese rind in cheesecloth, put into a deep pan and fill with 1.2 liters of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Remove from heat and season with salt.
Transfer the pumpkin to a blender, combine it with the cheese broth and puree well, so that no lumps remain. If the consistency of the soup seems too thick, add a little water.
Serve hot with balsamic vinegar, fried onion or chopped basil.
Bon Appetit!
Pan Roasted Butternut Squash With Spinach And Parmesan
In the midst of the pumpkin season, I promise to indulge you with such recipes until the end of the fall. It is going to be approximately another 1.5 months
I spent a long time looking for a lovely recipe from butternut squash, that was neither a pie nor pasta, but the Internet seems to be obsessed with these classics. I’ve heard a lot that many people don’t like pumpkins because they are neither sweet nor savory and in fact are plain and not tasty at all.
I planned to create a recipe that would change your mind.
Before I came up with this recipe, I set myself the task of showing you, the reader, that a pumpkin can and should be tasty. And if you tried something with, for example, butternut squash, that wasn’t tasty, then I assume it was just poorly prepared.
Serving size:
4 servings
List of ingredients:
1 whole medium-sized butternut squash (about 700 grams)
5 cups of fresh spinach
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of parmesan grated
4 tablespoons of toasted pumpkin seeds
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Nutrition Per Serving:
220 Calories
13 g Fat
23.7 g Carbs
5 g Fiber
4 g Sugar
6 g Protein
How to make:
Peel the pumpkin, take the seeds out and cut into medium cubes.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and put a pumpkin on it. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes under the lid, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid and cook for 5 more minutes.
Start adding the spinach. Work in batches adding 1 cup at a time.
Cook until the spinach begins to soften for 1-2 minutes, before adding the next cup.
Add salt, Parmesan and mix well.
Serve with toasted pumpkin seeds and freshly ground pepper.
Bon Appetit!
Pumpkin Zig Zags With Roasted Pepper Sauce
I am definitely all for the pumpkin season this year, and today I have something special for you.
I found these cute mini zig-zags at Trader Joe’s and could stand buying a package. Since I’m trying to eat healthily and consume more vegetables, zig-zags turned out to be an excellent substitution for actual pasta.
Keep this recipe in your bookmarks if you don’t want to overindulge yourself with turkey and gravy this Thanksgiving
I have been trying to expose myself to pumpkin for many years but couldn’t find a tasty dish or recipe that would make me fall in love with this ingredient. It took me a few years learning culinary arts and then working as a chef to actually start creating delicious recipes using ingredients that I don’t really like.
Recently I started experimenting with pumpkins so much, that I actually ended up with a couple of go-to recipes.
Now, let’s see how we can make you fall in love with the pumpkin.
Serving size:
2 plates
Ingredients:
2 red peppers
15 cherry tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
350 g of pumpkin zig-zags
3 tbsp of parmesan cheese grated
15 g butter
4 tbsp chives chopped
4 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of olive oil
Salt
Nutritional value per serving:
Calories 222
Fat 13.4g
Carbs 21.1g
Fiber 5.7g
Protein 6.4g
Method:
Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Cut the peppers into small strips and tomatoes in halves. Mix with olive oil salt and roast for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a nonstick stainless steel pan. Reduce the heat to medium and add minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds and then add pumpkin zig-zags and 3 tablespoons of water.
Cook, stirring until the pumpkin softens for about 10 minutes.
Take the peppers and tomatoes out and put the into a blender. Add salt, olive oil and purée until smooth sauce is formed.
Add the sauce to pumpkin zig-zags and cook for another 2 minutes.
Serve with gated parmesan cheese and freshly chopped chives.
Bon Appetit!
Sunchoke Salad With Sunflower Seeds
First of all, let’s figure out what is a sunchoke.
This root can be found at your local farmers market, grocery store and even corner store. Some places also label it as Jerusalem artichoke, sunroof, sunchoke, earth apple, or topinambour.
It is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America and found from eastern Canada and Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas.
I first tried this ingredient when I worked as a chef at one of San Francisco’s restaurants, and they were extremely good with sunflower seeds cooked or raw.
I created this recipe on the fly as if I had a meeting later that day and really needed some vitamins to get me through the rest of the evening.
You can choose to cook sunchokes in the oven or serve it raw, soaking it in ice water with a little bit of lemon juice.
Serving size:
2 plates
Ingredients:
4 medium sunchokes raw or cooked
20 cherry tomatoes
0.5 of a small eggplant
2 cups of spinach
3 tbsp of feta cheese
2 tbsp of sunflower seeds roasted
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Nutritional value per serving:
272 Calories
11.9g Fat
33.7g Carbs
5.3g Fiber
8.3g Protein
How to make:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Cut tomatoes in half and eggplant into medium strips.
Mix with olive oil, salt and roast for 15-20 minutes.
Cut your sunchokes into medium circles and mix with spinach. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and put onto a plate.
Put the tomatoes and eggplant on top, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and feta cheese and serve immediately.
Bon Appetit!
Homemade Beet Pasta
Purchased pasta with homemade sauce – good. Homemade pasta with homemade sauce – even better!
Pasta making is one of the things that I miss the most after leaving the professional kitchen. This process was a significant stress relief, and I could do it for hours listening to jazz music.
A few days ago I felt down and stressed and thought about refreshing my skill and making some pasta at home. The only obstacle for me was the absence of any pasta machines at home. Since I have never tried making pasta with only a knife and a ruler, I went for it and gave it a try. To my own surprise pasta came out great but needed a little bit of work on the shape. That was nothing comparing to what I expected.
If you don’t own any pasta machines – that’s fine, you can do it using a sharp knife, a ruler and a rolling pin. The process requires a little bit of strength and time, but trust me, you will never come back to pre-packed pasta again!
The recipe yields about 10-15 nests of pasta or about 5-7 servings, so you can make it ahead, freeze it and use whenever.
Serving size:
About 5-7 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup of 00 flour
1 cup of regular flour
5 pinches of salt
0.5 cups of cooked and pureed beets
2 eggs
Nutritional value per serving (approx):
207 Calories
2.2g Fat
38.5g Carbs
1.8g Fiber
7.8g Protein
Method:
If using raw beets, boil them or roast them in the oven and chill completely. Then peel the beets and puree in a blender. Make a little bit extra in case your dough comes out dry.
Combine 00 flour with regular flour and add salt in a bowl. Mix well. I would suggest using a bowl, so you don’t make a huge mess in the kitchen.
Make a hole in the middle of the flour, add eggs and beet puree.
Start folding the dough until it comes together. If it looks too dry, add more beets. The dough should not be sticky at all.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and keep kneading for about 10 minutes until it gets smooth.
Wrap it in plastic and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and transfer it to a floured surface one more time.
Start rolling out the dough into a thin (2mm max) sheet using a rolling pin.
After the sheet and nice, even and flat, take a sharp knife and cut off the edges, so the sheet is square or rectangle shape.
Start cutting the strips of dough by using a ruler and a sharp knife. My strips were 1 cm wide. You can choose any length.
Then, lay out your strips parallel to each other and shape them into nice nests. Ideally, the weight of one nest equals one portion so try to make them 55 – 60 grams each.
Boil your pasta in salted water for 3-5 minutes or freeze it up to 6 months.
Foolproof Mushroom Soup
I bet you’ve tried puréed mushroom soups many times, and they may have been delicious, but… Many restaurants and packaged food manufacturers add one thing that can mess up your diet, stomach and even pallet and the ingredient is – cream.
Don’t get me wrong, cream makes everything taste better, but it can also be bad for those trying to lose weight and those with lactose intolerance. Besides that, you don’t really feel that much flavor if your soup is packed with cream.
I have a recipe that tastes almost like the mushroom soup with cream but without it. I have one secret ingredient that actually makes the entire soup. Ready? Check the recipe below then!
Okay, you made it to this paragraph, which means I got you excited!
The secret ingredient is a bag of dried porcini mushrooms which you can get anywhere at a grocery store. They are a little on a pricier side but trust me, they are absolutely worth it!
If you can’t find Porchinis, use lobster mushrooms and make sure they are dried.
Also try to avoid concentrated bullion aka cubes, pastes, and powder, use either homemade vegetable stock and get one from the supermarket and make sure it’s liquid, not dry. Powdered bullion can really mess up with the flavor.
Serving Size:
4 bowls
Ingredients:
25g of dried porcini mushrooms (soaked and drained)
2 white onions finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup olive oil
500g of mushrooms (crimini, white or portobello)
2 tbsp of corn flour
2tbsp of olive oil
2 cups of vegetable broth.
Nutritional value per serving:
310 Calories
22.7g Fat
25.6g Carbs
6.2g Fiber
14.7g Protein
How to make:
Gently fry chopped onions in a large pot over medium heat until golden brown and soft. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
Finely chop dried and soaked porcini.
Chop fresh mushrooms into medium chunks.
Add all the mushrooms into the pot and cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add broth and bring to the boil then turn the flame to medium and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
In a separate bowl combine corn flour and olive oil.
Slowly add hot mushroom mixture into the bowl with flour and oil and whisk until blended.
Return to heat and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens a little.
Put all the ingredients into a blender and purée on medium so some mushroom chunks are remained whole.
Serve with toasted bread, green onions or salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
Cranberry Balsamic
Serving size:
About 1 cup
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
4 tbsp of good balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of olive oil
Pinch of salt
0.5 tsp of sugar
Nutritional value per serving:
227 Calories
13.5g Fat
10.3g Carbs
1.7g Fiber
0.3g Protein
How to make:
Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Mix cranberries with a little bit of olive oil and roast for about 10-15 minutes or until mushy.
When cranberries are ready, let them cool and then mix with salt, balsamic and sugar. Stir well and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
Add cranberry-balsamic mixture to a blender and mix well on high speed. Start adding olive oil 1 teaspoon at a time so the mixture don’t separate.
Pour cranberry balsamic into a separate container and store in a fridge.
Baked Cauliflower With Peperonata Sauce
Serving size:
2 servings
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
1 tbsp. yogurt from goat’s milk (or usual)
0.5 tsp smoked paprika
2 Bell peppers
2 cloves of garlic
0.5 tbsp. capers
Half a bunch of cilantro
Salt to taste
Olive oil in a spray or 1 tbsp.
Nutritional info per serving:
Calories – 175
Fat – 2.6 grams
Protein – 8.2 grams
Carbohydrates – 32.5 grams
How to cook:
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Cut the peppers into small strips and crush 2 cloves of garlic. Transfer to a baking tray.
Salt, season with a little oil and bake for 20-25 minutes until soft.
Boil a pot of water.
Cut the head of cauliflower in half and remove the leaves. Do not divide the head into florets if you want to serve the dish as main.
Cook the cauliflower in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Take the peppers with garlic out of the oven and put them into a blender. Combine with capers, yogurt, paprika and puree well.
Thickly cover cauliflower parts with pepper sauce put into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Serve with finely chopped cilantro and your favorite side dish or without.
Bon Appetit!
BeetBurger
Since I decided to become pescetarian/vegetarian for a while, I realized that this year’s menu should look a little different, at least for myself. Sticking to the burgers was a great option because who doesn’t love them? I came up with a fancy recipe for burger patty made of beets, experimented for the first part and the week and voilà!
There is a huge trend in culinary world that makes some burgers little less unhealthy (btw, the recipe that is given below is actually healthy). Some restaurants wrap their burger patties in lettuce to give their clients a chance not to spoil their diet plan or simply because they are gluten free. If you are gluten free or strict in your diet, feel free to use a piece of lettuce instead of a bun
Serving size:
3 large patties
Ingredients:
60 g of brown rice
80 g of green or brown lentils
40g of oats
100 g of white mushrooms
150 g beets
2 cloves of garlic
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
Burger Buns
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Your favorite burger sauce or cheese
Nutritional value per serving:
116 cal per patty alone
2.3 g Fat
18.1 Carbs
3,8 Fiber
5.7 Protein
Method:
Cook the beets, mushrooms rice, and lentils and let them cool completely. If you don’t know how to cook lentils and rice, you will always find hints and tips on the back of the package.
In a blender combine mushrooms, beets, rice, lentils, salt, garlic, and pepper. Pulse until the mixture becomes smooth.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl and mix in the egg.
Add oats and give it a nice stir.
Using kitchen scales and parchment, weight out the entire bowl and the divide it by 3 (or more if you would like. The nutritional info per petty would be different)
Using wet hand roll the ball of mixture and place it on a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap.
Flatter the ball with your hand, so you get a patty shape.
Place the patties into the fridge for 1-2 hours.
To cook the patties, you can fry them in a pan with plenty of oil. Fry them covered on medium heat for 2-3 minutes for each side.
You can also bake them at 400F/200C for about 15 minutes.
Serve hot on a bun with sauce, cheese and veggies.
I had it on honey wheat bun from Trader Joes with plenty of blue cheese, kumato tomatoes, mustard and lettuce!
Bon Appetit!
Beet Hummus
I had some beets left from the previous recipe and decided to make something from leftovers. Since i love hummus a lot, it became my first choice.
Do not hesitate buying a jar of tahini sauce. It can serve you well in other dishes including burgers or even cookies.
If you are hosting a superbowl party this weekend, your guests will highly appreciate this healthy option. This hummus goes incredibly well with pita chips, celery or cucumbers.
Let’s just begin.
Serving size:
1 medium jar
Ingredients:
200g cooked beets
45g Tahini sauce
2 cloves of garlic
40ml of lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
40 ml of olive oil
3-4 pinches of cumin
Salt to taste
Seeds of choice
Nutritional value per serving(if you end up eating the entire jar):
373 Calories
24.2g Fat
35.1g Carbs
6.4g Fiber
11.7g Protein
How to make:
If you haven’t cooked beets, cook them first. Bring water to a boil and cook them for about 1 hour or so.
In a blender mix all the ingredients except seeds and pulse.
Mix with seeds and serve with chips, celery or sliced cucumbers.
Bon Appetit!
Classic Mushroom Pasta
Whenever I travel somewhere, I always want to make sure to get the most authentic experience from the country. Especially food experiences. When I was in Rome, it was hard to recognize authentic restaurants since there are so many tourist traps with overcooked pasta and cream in the sauce ( how could you treat your pasta this way?!)
My most favorite pasta is orecchiette because it’s hard to overcook and it goes brilliantly with mushrooms!
The recipe I made is very typical and had no cream at all. Ideally, no pasta in Italy is made with tons of cream because they use cheese instead.
Serving size:
4 portions
Ingredients:
250g pasta orecchiette
350 g white mushrooms
3 tbsp of butter
2 cloves of garlic
3 cups of arugula
30 grams of capers
Salt
Pepper
100 grams of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Nutritional value per serving:
291 Calories
9.8g Fat
20.7g Carbs
2.3g Fiber
16.2g Protein
Method:
Cook pasta NOT following the instructions on the package. Why? Because some manufacturers prefer to stay on the safe side and better make you overcook your pasta, then be disappointed by your al dente. I usually cook my pasta 1-3 minutes less than listed on the package.
Save 1 cup of pasta broth, we’ll need it for the sauce later on.
Mince your garlic, roughly chop capers and slice mushrooms.
In a large pan melt the butter in a pan and add minced garlic. Cook for 50 seconds on medium heat and add mushrooms. Cook for 3-5 minutes and add capers. Cook for 2 minutes longer.
Add pasta and a little bit of broth.
Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the butter and the broth emulsify into a nice smooth sauce.
Add more water if the pasta looks too dry.
Add parmesan cheese, arugula, mix well and serve.
Bon Appetit!
