Spinach Pie Roll-Ups

Several months ago, Gayatri and I cooked up one of our elaborate multi-course dinners. This one had a Mediterranean flair, with eggplant fanned and stuffed with a savory tomato-feta sauce, and baklava ice cream for dessert. For an appetizer, we put our own spin on the traditional spanakopita and served these delightful mini-spinach pies. Using pre-made dough, prep and assembly were super easy - and eating them was even easier! This is a delicious, appropriately hued dish to accompany any shamrock-related shenanigans today - happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients: (makes 16 mini pies)

~1 cup chopped spinach (fresh, or frozen that has been thawed and drained)

~1 cup ricotta cheese

~¼ cup feta cheese

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 TBSP chopped onion (fresh or dried)

ground pepper, paprika to taste

2 cans crescent rolls

salt to taste (optional)

cooking oil

Heat oven to 375°F.

In a pan over medium heat, sauté spinach, garlic, and onion in a little oil until the onions are soft. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the ricotta and feta cheeses, stirring to break down any lumps until the mixture is smooth. Season with ground black pepper and paprika to taste. Remove from heat and let it cool 5-10 minutes.

While the spinach-cheese mixture is cooling, roll out the crescent roll dough and separate each wedge. Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of spinach mixture onto the wide end of each wedge, then roll it up starting with the wide edge and pinch the end shut.

 

Arrange on a baking sheet, leaving at least an inch of space (they will puff up a little bit). Bake at 375°F for 10-12 minutes until the edges have a nice golden-brown color. Serve warm and enjoy!

~Karla

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Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's a gratifyingly green snack to kick off your festivities!http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/03/spinach-pie-roll-ups.html

Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Thursday, March 17, 2016

Ricotta pancakes with carrots and chives

This recipe is a result of a whatever I had available in the fridge on one particular evening, when I got home from work and was too hungry to make anything that needed more than 15 minutes total. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed these soft fluffy pancakes speckled with little bits of carrots and chives. The creaminess of ricotta cheese elevates both the taste and the texture.

Ingredients:

¼ cup ricotta cheese (I used low fat)

1 egg

¼-½ cup milk

½ cup of whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)

2-3 tbsp finely grated carrots

1-2 tbsp chopped chives

1 tbsp Chia/Flax Seed powder (optional)

salt

pepper

~1 tsp oil/butter for frying the pancakes

Beat egg, add ricotta, carrots, chives and mix well. Add flour and milk (adjust milk quantity till you get desired consistency to make pancakes). Add chia/flax seed powder (optional). Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

In a pan over medium-low heat, add a couple drops of oil. Add about ¼ cup of batter. Cover and cook for about a minute until the bottom is cooked and the pancake can be lifted without breaking. Uncover and flip the pancake. Let the other side cook for a minute or so. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serving suggestions:

1. Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with chopped chives.

2. Serve warm topped with a poached egg. The runny yolk makes for a wonderful sauce.

3. Make a “sandwich” with two pancakes. I did this with the leftovers as lunch for the next day (it reheats nicely in the microwave in just a few seconds). For the filling, I thinly spread sour cream on one side, avocado on the other side, and the filling was thick and chunky tomato sauce that I had leftover from something else. You can get creative with the fillings.

Any way you choose to eat it, it will make a delicious snack/meal!

~Gayatri

Ricotta Biscuits

As with many recipes posted here, this one for Ricotta Biscuits came out of the desire to make something before something in the refrigerator went bad. This time around it was half a container of ricotta cheese that remained after attempting to cobble together a lasagna from other leftovers. I didn’t want to make another lasagna, so it was between a quiche and something cookie-like. Cookies are better for snacking on, so the hunt was on for a cookie recipe that incorporated ricotta cheese. I found several recipes that sounded heavenly, so tried to mix a few, and the result was something more akin to tea biscuits or scones. They still made wonderful bite-sized snacks (it was quite easy to scarf down three or four of them without even thinking), so the mission was still accomplished!

Ingredients

1 cup butter (or ¼ cup applesauce, ¾ cup canola oil)
1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

16 oz. ricotta cheese (I had low-fat on hand)

2 TSP vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups fine-ground whole wheat flour

1 TSP baking powder

1 TSP baking soda 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a cookie sheet. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in ricotta cheese and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then stir into the wet mixture. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges start to brown.
 

~Karla