Orecchiette with courgette and goat’s cheese sauce

This food stylist wannabe got crazy when she saw yellow courgettes in farmer’s market for the first time – until then I had only seen it on books, magazines and food TV shows. Of course I brought some home and immediately thought of something tasty and visually beautiful to make with it.

For this recipe I used red onion so I could have a nice color contrast, however after that day I made this pasta several other times using regular onions and courgettes and it was flavorsome anyway.

Orecchiette with courgette and goat’s cheese sauce
own recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ large red onion, thinly sliced in half moons
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 courgette (about 350g/12oz), sliced in half lengthwise and then sliced into thin half moons
finely grated zest of 1 lime
handful of fresh marjoram leaves
2 tablespoons dry white wine
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
35g goat’s cheese, coarsely grated or crumbled
200g orecchiette pasta

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente (follow the instructions in the package). In the meantime, make the sauce: in a large frying pan, heat the butter and olive oil until butter is melted. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute only – do not let it burn or it will be bitter. Add the courgette and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until softened. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lime zest and the marjoram. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates. Stir in the cream and the cheese and cook just until the cheese melts.

Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water, and stir into the sauce – if sauce is too thick, stir in a bit of the cooking water to loosen it up. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Other ideas: this recipe tastes great if gorgonzola and fresh oregano are used instead of goat’s cheese and marjoram.

Roast onion tart and giveaway winners

Hello, everyone!

A new year has begun and to kick things off in a great way I have the list of the giveaway winners! The comments were drawn using Random.com. Please send me an email (patricia [dot] scarpin [at] gmail.com) with your first and last names and your magazine of choice until January, 10th, 2013:

- Silvana
- KJB
- Kyrsten
- Laura (Tutti Dolci)
- Isla Bonita

Congratulations!

***

I don’t know about you, but year beginnings are pretty busy to me – therefore, I’ll leave you with an easy and delicious tart, a recipe I’ve made twice already.

Roast onion tart
from the always yummy and beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 red onions, thinly sliced horizontally
2 onions, thinly sliced horizontally
350g puff pastry sheet
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing
85g creamy goat’s cheese*

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine oil, vinegar, thyme and lemon zest in a small bowl and season to taste. Place onion slices in a single layer on prepared sheet, keeping slices intact (don't separate into rings). Drizzle over half the oil mixture and roast until very tender and lightly browned (20-25 minutes), cool to room temperature.
Turn oven temperature to 200°C/400°C.
Trim pastry to a 20x25cm (8x10in) rectangle and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Score a 1cm border partway through pastry, prick inside border with a fork, brush edges with the beaten egg. Spread goat's cheese within border, arrange roast onions on top, bake until pastry is risen, golden and cooked through (about 20 minutes). Drizzle over remaining oil mixture, serve hot with a leaf salad.

* I’ve made this tart twice, and once I used homemade ricotta seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice – it worked out fine

Serves 4

Roast tomato and goats cheese frittata

Another great idea for a quick and easy dinner or lunch, this frittata recipe can work as a blank canvas: I went for roast tomatoes, which I love, and goats cheese, which I also love and had to use up before it went bad, but you can use other types of cheese, vegetables and herbs (zucchini, feta and mint come to my mind right now, yum!). And as Jamie's tart, the frittata tastes great either hot or cold, which makes it perfect for picnics and/or a brown bag lunch at the office.

Roast tomato and goats cheese frittata
adapted from the wonderful Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

180g cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
a few thyme sprigs
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 eggs
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
handful of chopped parsley
handful of basil leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
56g (2oz) creamy goat’s cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Grab an ovenproof dish or baking sheet that can hold the tomatoes without overlapping them and lightly brush it with olive oil. Place the tomatoes onto the dish, cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and scatter with the thyme sprigs. Roast for about 25 minutes or until tomatoes are tender. Set aside. Preheat the broiler.
Beat the eggs with a few pinches of salt, then add the scallions, garlic, and herbs.
Heat the butter in a 20cm (8in) frying pan. Pour in the eggs, lower the heat, and distribute the tomatoes and cheese evenly over the top. Cook until the eggs are set, then slide the pan under the broiler and cook until the top of the frittata puffs up and is golden.

Serves 2

Red peppers stuffed with quinoa, Fontina and goats cheese + "Moon"

I have been on a good movie wave lately – in about one week I watched five good movies (including “The Dark Knight Rises”), four of them really great ones. One of those movies was “Moon” – after watching “Source Code” last year I got interested in Duncan Jones’ work as a director, and it seems that the man has inherited his old man’s creative genes. :)

* spoilers *

Sam Rockwell was another reason why I wanted to watch “Moon” – I understand that preference for certain actors is a really personal thing, that is why I wouldn’t be able to watch a movie centered around only one character had that character been played by someone I find mediocre, like Johnny Depp, for example. Rockwell owns the movie, frame by frame, and moves with ease from one version of Sam Bell to another, giving us a stunning performance. And what to say about Gerty? The robot is voiced by Kevin Spacey and that alone would be genius already, but the changing faces and the “feelings” it has for Sam brings out great empathy for the robot throughout the movie, especially in the end. But to me the most unforgettable thing about “Moon” is the music: not only is it powerful and suits the movie perfectly, it is also so beautiful and fantastic that I bet you won’t be able to get Clint Mansell’s score off of your mind even if you try to.
I like the science fiction genre a lot – "Alien", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Blade Runner" were part of my teenage years – but like those classics “Moon” is so much more than that: it’s about human nature, and that fascinates me the most.

* end of spoilers *

These roasted peppers, so tender and delicious, are easy and quick to prepare: I put them together in a couple of minutes, threw the roasting pan in the oven and sat in the couch with the hubby to watch the Olympic Games – a lazy meal for a lazy day.
The recipe was slightly adapted from Mark Bittman’s wonderful vegetarian bible, which I bought by suggestion of my good friend Ana Elisa.

Red peppers stuffed with quinoa, Fontina and goats cheese
slightly adapted from the fantastic How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food

2 red bell peppers
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked quinoa
¾ cup finely grated Fontina
1/3 cup crumbled goat’s cheese
handful of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil + a little extra for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F. Line a small roasting pan with foil.
Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and white pith. Season the insides of the peppers with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, the Fontina, the goat’s cheese, the parsley and the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the pepper halves with the quinoa mixture, drizzle with a little olive oil and place in the prepared pan. Roast until peppers are tender, 20-30 minutes.

Serves 2

Spinach casserole with orecchiette and cheeses

Talking to a coworker who has lost several pounds, I found out that the on the diet she’s been on gluten and dairy are forbidden. I must say that as much as I would love to lose a couple of pounds, I would never be able to follow that kind of diet: I cannot survive without bread and cheese; I know there are ways of replacing wheat flour for other kinds of flour – the spelt muffins I made a while ago were pretty decent – but the thought alone of not eating cheese makes me moody already. :)

This cheeseaholic loved Amanda Hesser’s pasta dish not only because there are two types of cheese involved, but also because it’s delicious, hearty even without any kind of meat and perfect for the cold days we’ve been having here.

Spinach casserole with orecchiette and cheeses
slightly adapted from Amanda Hesser’s wonderful recipe bible

300g spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cups finely chopped canned plum tomatoes
225g (½ pound) orecchiette
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Have ready a 6-cup capacity casserole or baking dish.
Rinse the spinach and remove the stems. Gather all the leaves and roll them together like a cigar then finely slice.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the onion, sauté over medium heat until tender but not brown, then stir in the garlic. Add the tomatoes, then add the spinach. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the spinach has wilted.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the orecchiette until al dente. Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the goat cheese and half the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce, then transfer to the casserole. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top. Bake for about 15 minutes or until heated through. Serve at once.

Serves 2

Beetroot risotto with goat's cheese - to celebrate Valentine's Day

Unlike most places in the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated here in Brazil today, June 12th. And to celebrate it I bring you a delicious and nutritious risotto – my mom used to tell me all the time that “beets are good for you!” – easy to put together and very, very red: the color of passion. ;)

I know that goat’s cheese might sound a bit luxurious here and that not everyone likes it, but try to use it in this recipe if possible: I was blown away by how perfectly its tangy flavor compliments the sweetness of the beetroot.

Beetroot risotto with goat's cheese
from the oh, so beautiful Good Things to Eat (mine was bought here)

4 cups (960ml) vegetable stock
250g raw beetroot, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
180g Arborio rice
½ cup (120ml) dry white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
125g mild, soft, rindless goat’s cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped chives

Put the stock in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and add the beetroot. Keep it warm, just below simmering point.
In a large heavy saucepan, heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic just until soft but not colored. Add the rice and stir to coat it with the oil. Add the wine and stir until the liquid has been absorbed. Now add 2 ladlefuls of stock, scooping some of the beetroot with it, and continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. Add another ladle of stock and cook the same way. Season with salt and pepper and continue adding stock and stirring until rice is al dente. Stir in the butter and half the goats cheese, cover the pan and leave off the heat for 3 minutes. Spoon the risotto into the bowls or plates, top with the remaining goat’s cheese and a sprinkling of chives. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Roast sweet potato and goat’s cheese salad

I was a kid who loved salads and I have my mom to thank for that – I was never the kid who pushed the arugula leaves to the side of the plate, much to the contrary: I was the kid who would eat a tomato as someone would eat an apple between meals. But a whole new world opened up to me when I started collecting cookbooks: it was then that I learned that the salads I already loved could become even more interesting and delicious, that I could add fruit and cheese and nuts to my salads and they would be not only more flavorful but also more nutritious.

This beautiful salad, absolutely yummy and filling, was slightly adapted from Lucas Hollweg’s stunning cookbook – a book I plan on using to exhaustion.

Try placing a tiny bit of each element of the salad into the same forkful and you will create the perfect bite - Rose Morgan's style. :)

Roast sweet potato and goat’s cheese salad
slightly adapted from the glorious Good Things to Eat (mine was bought here)

1 cup whole blanched almonds
750g sweet potatoes
2 onions, peeled and cut into eight
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
finely grated zest of 1 orange
juice of ½ the orange
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
4 cups arugula leaves, packed
200g soft white rindless goat’s cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place the almonds in a small baking sheet and toast until fragrant and golden, stirring once or twice, 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool completely (leave the oven on).
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 2cm chunks. Place in a roasting pan, add the onions, cumin, garlic and orange zest. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Roast for 35-40 minutes, turning them over halfway through, or until sweet potatoes and onions are tender. Set aside to cool completely.

Remove the garlic and remove the pulp out of the skins. Transfer pulp to a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add the orange juice, lemon juice, salt, freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
Arrange the arugula leaves in the plates and scatter with the sweet potato mixture. Sprinkle with the almonds and scatter around the goat cheese pieces. Drizzle with the dressing and serve at once.

Serves 4

Roasted tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese

Weekends are when I have more time to cook and bake: that is wonderful and one of the many reasons why I love Saturdays and Sundays so much, but even I want quick meals sometimes, and these stuffed tomatoes are the perfect answer for that: the assembling is super quick and they don’t need much time in the oven. If you can’t find goat cheese easily I believe that these would be equally delicious with ricotta – homemade, please. :D

I know nothing about wines but I found these tomatoes really good with sparkling white wine – my weekends are not complete without a bit of booze, you know. ;)

Roasted tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese
slightly adapted from the gorgeous The Country Cooking of France

4 tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g goat cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and line a small baking dish with foil.
Slice off the top of each tomato and scoop out the cores and seeds. Cut a very thin sliver off of the bottom of each tomato to help them stand up straight and sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, crumble the goat cheese. Set aside.
In another small bowl, combine the garlic, parsley, chives, thyme, lemon zest and breadcrumbs. Season with salt. Fill the tomatoes with half this mixture, then crumble over the goat cheese, without packing it. Cover the cheese with the remaining herb mixture, arrange the tomatoes onto the prepared dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is very hot and the tomato skins start to split.

Serves 2

Roasted tomato and goat's cheese tart with fresh oregano

Apparently, it’s still winter here – after a week of 33ºC (91.4ºF) days, we’ve been having much colder ones.

I know that tomatoes are much tastier in the summer, but I would never be able to wait that long to make Pille’s wonderful tart. Would you? :)
The only change I made was to use fresh oregano instead of thyme - just because I happen to grow it.

I used to have a hard time digesting garlic but is all in the past now: my friend Clarice told me to remove the central root off the garlic cloves before using them and it has worked like a charm.

Oh, and a little side note: remember my sake panna cotta? It was the most voted recipe on the event I made it for! Yay! :D

Roasted tomato and goat's cheese tart with fresh oregano

500g puff pastry, rolled
150g soft and creamy goat cheese*
4 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
500g ripe plum tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

Roll out the puff pastry to 30x40 cm rectangle and place on a slightly oiled baking sheet. Carefully score a line about 1 cm from the edge along the pastry, but do not cut through! This will help the filling to stay inside the pastry and the edges to puff up nicely.

Mix the goat cheese, minced garlic, oregano leaves, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on the puff pastry sheet (remaining inside the scored line).
Cut the tomatoes into 3-5mm slices and place nicely next to each other on top of the goat cheese. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the pasty is golden and tomatoes have dried up a little.
Before serving, scatter some more oregano leaves on top. Cut into squares and serve.

* my cheese was a bit crumbly, so I added a bit of olive oil and mixed it all with a fork

Serves 6-8

Parmesan wafer salad

Donna Hay again. Bear with me, please. :)

This salad was published on her magazine #29, in 2006, and it was part of an article in which she showed the readers some of the recipes from a book she was releasing back then. Such a teaser! I chose this salad because I love each and every ingredient in it, but I must admit that seeing it on the cover of the book made me think of how special it would be.

If you want a light, different and tasty meal, look no further.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by the lovely Kalyn, the mind behind that wonderful event.

Parmesan wafer salad
from Donna Hay magazine

1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 red apples, thinly sliced
80g (3oz) arugula leaves
1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
150g (5oz) goat’s cheese

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF. Arrange 8 x 1 ½ tablespoons of parmesan in circles on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper* and bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Set aside to cool.
Place balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Arrange the arugula on serving plates, top with apple slices and goat’s cheese and drizzle with the dressing.
Finish it off with the parmesan wafer.

* I used regular baking paper coated with cooking spray. The cheese got stuck. So I tried it again, using foil coated with cooking spray and it worked out perfectly.

Serves 4

Cheese pinwheel scones

Don’t let these fool you: despite their pale look, they are pretty addictive. Don’t believe me? Joao had several. And he never eats my baked goods. Ever.

I usually don’t go for savory baking, but who can say no to bread filled with 3 types of cheese?

Even though the scones were delicious, there are two things I’d do differently: add more salt to the dough and use an egg wash to get them nicely golden.

Cheese pinwheel scones
recipe from this box

250g all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper – I used freshly ground black pepper
30g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
185ml milk

Filling:
40g goat’s cheese, crumbled
40g grated parmesan cheese
40g grated mature cheddar cheese – I used the yellow mozzarella we have here, made with cow’s milk
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF. Grease or line a baking tray with non stick baking paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the milk and, using a flat-bladed knife, mix to form a soft dough. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out to form a 20x25cm (8x10in) rectangle. Sprinkle the goat’s cheese over the surface, then sprinkle over the parmesan, cheddar and parsley. Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 10 equal 2cm (3/4 in) thick slices. Transfer the slices to a baking tray, spacing them 2cm (3/4 in) apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes (mine took 28 minutes in the oven) or until golden and cooked through. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm.

Makes 10

Crispy goat’s cheese, tomato and basil salad

Another recipe by Donna Hay – from her magazine, issue #35, to be more specific.

I’m a huge fan of hers and those of you who have been around my blog for a while already know that – Joey and I go hand in hand in our love for Donna’s recipes! :)

I tried goat’s cheese for the first time while on vacation last September and can’t imagine how I had lived without it till then. I tried it on salads, quiche, sandwiches, pasta… And love everything. “Gotta start using it in my cooking”, I thought.

Joao brought it from the grocery store one day – I didn’t even know they had started selling it there – and I knew exactly where to look for a good recipe: Donna’s books and magazines.

What a delicious salad! I know that doesn’t sound much modest, but this is one of the best dishes I have ever cooked. The cheese was so good after the shallow-frying process: crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. The tomato + basil combination is always a winner and the dressing worked perfectly with all the ingredients – I was amazed by how great everything was together.

I don’t like to repeat recipes – there are so many new things to be tried, right? – but this is a salad I can see myself eating again, and again, and again…



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Simona, from Briciole.

Crispy goat’s cheese, tomato and basil salad
from Donna Hay magazine

all-purpose flour for dusting
1 cup (110g/3 ¾oz) store-bought breadcrumbs
240g (8 ½oz) goat’s cheese, sliced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
1 cup basil leaves
1 bunch (100g/3 ½oz) rocket (arugula), trimmed

Balsamic dressing:
¼ cup (2fl oz) olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon caster sugar

To make the balsamic dressing, place the olive oil, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Place the flour and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Press the goat’s cheese slices into the flour, dip in the egg and press into the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the cheese for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden and crispy. Divide the cheese, tomatoes, basil and rocket between plates and drizzle over the balsamic dressing.

Serves 4