Broccolini rigatoni - delicious food in almost no time at all

I love being in the kitchen, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying quick meals too – they have been a great idea in these cold days, when all I want is to be wrapped in a blanked, reading or watching TV.

After watching several episodes of the wonderful “Jamie’s 30-minute meals” I ended up buying the book - which is absolutely beautiful - and the first recipe I tried was this pasta dish: broccolini is in season and the hubby loves it. It instantly became one of his favorites – and heaven knows how rarely that happens. :)

Broccolini rigatoni
slightly adapted from the wonderful Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes; I bought it on amazon.co.uk

250g broccolini or broccoli
½ small onion
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, stalks removed
200g rigatoni
generous handful finely grated parmesan, plus more to serve
handful of basil leaves

Slice all the broccolini florets from the stalks and set the florets aside. Place the stalks, the onion, the garlic and the capers in a food processor and process until a rough paste forms.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the broccolini paste. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add ¼ cup (60ml) hot water, season with salt, pepper, the lemon zest and the thyme leaves and stir.
Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente, adding the broccolini florets to the water in the last minutes of the cooking time.
Drain the pasta and broccolini florets reserving about ½ cup (120ml) of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta and broccolini to the pan with the paste, add the parmesan and basil leaves and mix to combine everything together. If necessary, add a little of the reserved cooking water to loosen the pasta sauce.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with more parmesan and serve at once.

Serves 2

Apple cranberry croustade with cornmeal crust and another childhood favorite

Because I’ve been on a nostalgic mood lately, I bought an insane amount of Granny Smith apples last week – they were my favorite apples growing up (actually, they’re still are), and would lose only to strawberries in a favorite fruit contest. My dad used to find it quite funny that I loved something that tart as a kid – maybe it was a sign of the sour future to come in terms of flavor preferences, I guess. ;)

Being unable to eat all those apples on my own – believe me, I tried - I decided to bake with some of them. And a delicious croustade was the result – raisins would be a nice substitution for the cranberries if you can’t find them: just pop them in a small bowl with some rum and set aside until they plump up.

Apple cranberry croustade with cornmeal crust
adapted from the always wonderful and delicious Bon Appetit Desserts

Crust:
2/3 cup (94g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (35g) icing sugar
2 ½ tablespoons cornmeal or polenta
pinch of salt
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
1 chilled large egg, lightly whisked with a fork

Filling:
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter
670g (about 3 medium) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, each cut into 12 wedges
3 tablespoons superfine sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup (28g) dried cranberries
whole milk, for brushing
1 tablespoon demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Start by making the crust: place flour, icing sugar, cornmeal and salt in a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg gradually and pulse again until moist clumps form – you might not use the entire egg. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Make the filling: melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and sprinkle with the superfine sugar. Cook, turning the apples occasionally, until they’re golden brown, about 12 minutes – mix gently to avoid breaking the apple slices. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, mix in the cranberries and set aside to cool completely.
Assemble the croustade: preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Roll out dough between two large pieces of lightly floured baking paper to form a 30cm (12in) round – if dough gets too soft, place it in the freezer (still between the paper pieces) for 5 minutes. Slide the bottom sheet of baking paper with the dough onto a heavy cookie sheet. Starting at the center of the dough, arrange the apple slices, spreading towards the edges, but leaving 3.5-5cm (1 ½ to 2in) plain border. Using the paper as aid, fold border over filling. Brush the border with the milk and sprinkle crust border and filling with the demerara sugar.
Bake until crust begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce the oven to 190°C/375°F, then continue baking until crust is golden brown and filling is heated through, 20-25 minutes. Cool until warm over a wire rack, then carefully run a thin knife under the tart to loosen it from the paper. Use the bottom of a tart pan (the removable bottom) to transfer the tart to a serving plate.

Serves 6

Lime cupcakes and a crazy dream I had the other night

I had one crazy dream a couple of nights ago: I dreamt that people were planning a remake of “Blade Runner” (can’t tell you how much I adore that movie) and Daniel Craig had been chosen to play Roy Batty. Don’t know about you, but in my dream it seemed to be a very smart decision. :D

I guess that the only thing I love as much as movies are citrus flavors. So there you have it, lime cupcakes. :D

Lime cupcakes
slightly adapted from the fantastic Bon Appetit Desserts

Cupcakes:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (250g) superfine sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk

Frosting:
225g (8oz) cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (210g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3 cup – 80ml) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. Using the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in lime juice and zest (batter might look curdled). In low speed, beat in flour in three additions alternately with buttermilk in two additions. Fill each paper case by 1/3* with the batter and bake for 20 minutes or until risen and beginning to color and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Make the frosting: place cream cheese and butter in the large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Add the sugar, zest and vanilla, beat to combine. Spread over completely cooled cupcakes.

* the icing is really soft, so you need extra room inside the paper cases to “accommodate” it; I filled each cupcake liner by half and still got room for the icing

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe and got 9 cupcakes

Chocolate chip peanut cookies

When I was a kid my favorite chocolate bar was one studded with peanuts – my dad would bring one from work from time to time and mom would only let me eat it after dinner (of course), when I would sit on the couch and read comic books till bed time.

Biting into one of these cookies made me instantly think of those chocolate bars – the difference was that this time I was reading a graphic novel instead of comic books. :D

Chocolate chip peanut cookies
slightly adapted from The Commonsense Kitchen

2 1/3 cups (325g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (437g) semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (225g) salted roasted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar just until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips and peanuts. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared sheets. Bake just until the tops are no longer shiny, 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for a moment, then carefully transfer to a rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe above and still got 32

Raspberry Port linzer tartlets and a list of the movies I love

I’ve finally finished something I’d been meaning to do for ages: a list with my all time favorite movies – the ones I deeply love. It was rather difficult putting the list together – and I might have forgotten something, only time will tell – but it was a lot of fun doing it. It is posted here, if you’re curious. :)

These lovely tartlets were a similar challenge: the pastry was very difficult to work with – too crumbly – but it tasted so good it was all worth it. And the filling was delicious, too – raspberry jam spiked with booze? I’m in. ;)

Raspberry Port linzer tartlets
slightly adapted from The Boozy Baker

Dough:
1 ½ cups (157g) sliced almonds
2/3 cups (133g) superfine sugar
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg yolks

Filling:
1 ½ cups raspberry preserves
3 tablespoons Port wine

Start by making the dough: combine the almonds and 1/3 cup (66g) of the sugar in a food processor and pulse until coarse. Add the remaining sugar (66g), flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and the yolks and process until a dough begins to come together. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to make it come together. Divide in two pieces, one slightly larger than the other, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Make the filling: place the preserves in a small bowl and break it with a fork. Add the wine and mix to combine.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Roll the larger piece of dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you have a 30cm (12in) circle. Transfer to a lightly buttered 23cm (9in) tart pan with a removable bottom and press up the sides.
Roll the second piece of dough to a 30cm (12in) circle. Cut into strips, transfer to a baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes.
Pour the filling into the tart shell and smooth the surface. Remove the dough strips from the freezer and arrange half horizontally and half vertically across the tart, creating a lattice pattern.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Remove the outer ring of the pan, cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 8 – I halved the recipe above, used 9cm tartlet pans and got 6 tartlets