Spinach and Salty Cheese Kugel

WordPress was misbehaving when I wanted to post this last week, so I posted it directly to Facebook, and  now I can finally add it here. So it’s a bit late for Shavuot here, but you really can serve this whenever you want with any dairy meal. It’s a modern twist on the old fashioned kugel. Instead of the traditional sweet elements like sugar and raisins, this version uses spinach and salty cheese for a slightly healthier take. Don’t worry – it’s still full of starch and oil, so the Ashkenazi cuisine markers are still present.

Spinach and Salty Cheese Kugel

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb) fettuccini (or any other flat) noodles
600 g fresh spinach
1/3 cup olive oil
4 large eggs (or 5 medium)
250 g (1/2 lb) feta or Bulgarian cheese (feta is saltier…) cut into small cubes
200 g ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste (adjust depending on the saltiness of the cheese you use)

How to do it
1. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C (325°F).
2. Cook the pasta in salted water according to the instructions will just al dente. Strain and add some olive oil and mix so the pasta doesn’t stick together. Set aside to cool.
3. While the pasta is cooking, rinse and chop the spinach finely. In a large unoiled skillet or wok, saute the spinach until soft. Remove from the heat and place in a strainer to get rid of excess liquid.

Mix the spinach with the pasta and eggs

4. In a very large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the oil, cheeses, salt pepper and mix. Add the pasta and the spinach and mix so that the spinach is evenly mixed throughout.
5. Grease a large deep baking dish. Place the kugel mixture into the dish and flatten with a spoon. Cover with foil. Bake for between 1.75-2 hours. Remove the foil. If the kugel hasn’t slightly browned, then increase the temperature of the over to about 200°C (400°F) and bake for another 5 minutes. Otherwise remove from the oven, cut into small wedges or squares and serve.

Serves about 12-15 as a side dish.

Potato and Parmesan Muffins

Ahead of Shavuot, I tried out a recipe for potato muffins that my husband found in a local newspaper. Every now and again he shoves a recipe cutting at me to try out (he has a good eye…). So with nothing on the menu for dinner last night, I decided to give these a go. As with all new recipes I try out, I am very critical and look to see how to improve on them. But as my family was devouring them rapidly, I realized that this recipe works very well as is and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find too much to change (I have upped with original cheese quantity…)

I love the combination of fresh herbs that give these muffins a really aromatic flavor. You can add the herbs you like and you can increase the quantities as well. I tried to maintain a balance so the kids wouldn’t turn up their noses. If you want to add a little decadence to this recipe, grate extra cheese and sprinkle it over the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.

Serve these warm out of the oven for best results.

Here’s a PS…one day later, I had these cold, and as delicious as they are warm, I think they’re even better cold! Serve them as a substitute for rolls at a dairy meal, just don’t eat them all before they make it to your table.

POTATO AND PARMESAN MUFFINS

Ingredients

2 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes (1cm)

1 large onion finely diced

3-4 cloves of garlic crushed

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

About 1 tablespoon each of fresh chopped parsley and rosemary (you can increase these quantities to taste)

3 large eggs beaten

200 g (7 oz) sour cream (one container)

100 g (3½ oz) softened butter

150 g (about 1½ cups) grated Parmesan cheese

1¾ cups self raising flour

1 teaspoon salt

How to do it

1.  In a pot of salted water, boil the cubed potatoes until just soft, drain and allow to cool down.

2. Saute the onions in the olive oil until just golden brown. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute. Remove from the heat.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F)

4. In a medium size down, combine the potatoes, onions, garlic and the rest of the ingredients.

5. Fill your muffin cups to ¾ full. They will not even out in the oven, so you can smooth them out if you are concerned about appearances.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins start getting golden brown on top.

Optional: Grate extra cheese and sprinkle it over the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.

Serve warm. Makes about 18-20 muffins.

Black Beer Cupcakes

Putting Pesach behind us, let’s get back to real baking.

When I first visited Israel as a child, one of the new tastes I experienced and loved was the iconic Nesher Black Beer (birah shchorah). As a child, the concept of drinking beer, even though it was alcohol free, was so exciting. The taste of this local malt brew was wonderfully caramelly and rich, and to this day, I love the taste, which takes me back to my first visit to Israel.

While cupcakes are definitely a non-Israeli confectionery, one way of bringing a little local into these little cakes is by baking them with black beer. When I came across a wonderful parev cupcake recipe that uses stout beer on Chef Chloe’s wonderful vegan cooking website, I knew I had to make a few adaptations to make it more Israeli by using black beer instead. Black beer is said to also have additional health benefits (although I’m not sure if they survive baking at 180 degrees). The result is a very moist, wonderful chocolate cupcake that’s parev and uses no eggs either.

You can frost these cupcakes with any frosting you wish. I use a Tofutti-based cream cheese frosting for parev, otherwise any butter or cream cheese frosting will work well.

BLACK BEER CUPCAKES

Ingredients

1½ cups flour
2/3 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup black beer (birah shchorah – there’s the Nesher brand or Coca Cola’s Malti brand)
½ cup oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla

How to do it

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix till just combined.

3. Line a muffin tin with #5 cupcake liners and fill each to about two-thirds full with batter.

4. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

Makes 14-16 cupcakes

PAREV FROSTING

Ingredients

A few drops of vanilla extract

How to do it

1. In a medium bowl, mix 90g (3 oz) Tofutti cream cheese and a few drops of vanilla until combined.

2. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix till combined. Continue adding the powdered sugar until you get a good spreading consistency – about 300g (10 oz) powdered sugar (3 cups). (Note: When you use the Tofutti cream cheese to make frosting, you won’t reach a stiff spreading consistency as you do when using butter or cream cheese. This frosting will always be glossy and soft.)

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of soft butter, 100 grams of 25% fat cream cheese (Napoleon) and a few drops of vanilla.

2. When it is smooth, gradually start adding powdered sugar (about 300 grams of powdered sugar in total) and mix until you get a good spreading consistency (the mixture should not fall off the spoon or should not run off the beaters).

VANILLA BUTTER FROSTING

1. In an electric mixer, beat 110g (4 oz)  unsalted butter, 60 ml milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 250 g (10 oz) powdered sugar until completely smooth.

2. Gradually add up to another 250g (10 oz) powdered sugar and beat until the frosting is a smooth spreading consistency.

Middle Eastern Quinoa Salad

While the debate about Quinoa’s knitniyot status continues to rage on, I would like to encourage you all to make the most of this wonderful source of protein, which is an edible seed that is related to vegetables such as beets and spinach, because next year it may be off the table for Ashkenazim.

Here’s a really great way to use quinoa in a salad and make it very Mediterranean in flavor. Tabbouleh salad is very popular round these parts. Personally, I’m not a big fan of bulgar, so I don’t make this. By substituting quinoa for bulgar, not only do you make this salad kosher for Pesach, you also, in my opinion, make it a lot tastier.

After making this salad, I then threw some mini red peppers into the oven to roast, and stuffed them with the salad as a really pretty and delicious starter. Israeli supermarkets and green grocers have been flooded lately with these wonderful mini red peppers, which are sweet and crunchy, and great to snack on. I took some of the bigger ones to roast and stuff, and it’s a hit. It is a little finicky, but work around the table was that it’s worth it.

MIDDLE EASTERN QUINOA SALAD

Roasted mini peppers stuffed with quinoa salad

Ingredients

1 cup raw quinoa

½ red onion very finely chopped

2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 cup of chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (optional)

Juice of half a lemon

About ¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

How to do it

1. Preparing the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa in a strainer under running cold water for about 2 minutes. Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan, and add the strained quinoa, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to the boil, and turn down the heat to low. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the water has cooked away (I always check after it’s been cooking for about 15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t overcook.) Turn off the heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Allow to cool completely.

2. Soak the chopped onion in a bowl of cold water for a minute or two – this will eliminate the very pungent flavor and mellow the onion a bit. Strain.

3. Place the cooled quinoa into a medium-sized bowl and add the vegetables and herbs. Mix through.

4. Dress with the lemon, oil, salt and pepper, and mix. Taste and add more of any of the dressing ingredients to taste.

Serves about 6.

Mini Peppers

FOR STUFFED MINI PEPPERS

Ingredients

20-24 large mini red peppers

About one third of the salad

How to do it

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Slit the peppers from top to bottom

2. Wash and dry the peppers, do not remove the stalks. Using a small serrated knife, cut a slit down the length of the pepper leaving just a few millimeters at the top and at the bottom.

3. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and grease it with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place the peppers on the baking tray and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. Then turn the peppers over and roast for another 10 minutes or until the peppers start taking on dark brown patches. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Roasted mini peppers

4. Using a very small teaspoon, stuff some of the quinoa mixture into each pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Serves about 4.

Almond Cookies

One of my favorite ways to find new Pesach recipes is to discover them hidden in the pages of regular recipes books. Every now and again, you will stumble on a flourless confectionery that is perfectly kosher for Pesach without meaning to be.

Just last week, a new cake recipe book I’d ordered online arrived (just in time for Pesach!). As I was flipping through the pages, I came across a recipe for Swiss cookies made with ground almonds that are 100% KFP, have no kitniyot and are parev – the Ashkenazi Pesach trifecta! But, turns out the recipe was useless, but I liked the concept. So after a bit of experimentation, I “made it my own” and now I have a wonderful recipe for the most delicious cookies.

The best thing about these cookies is that they don’t have that “pesach” taste that comes from the KFP cake flour or potato flour. You also can make these all year round, and no-one will complain.

I made mine dipped in chocolate – they are really delicious with this extra layer of flavor. You can just as easily make them without and keep it really simple.

As we start the one-week countdown to seder, this is one recipe you can make ahead of time and keep them in an airtight container ready for serving as an after dinner treat.

ALMOND COOKIES DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE FOR PESACH (No kitniyot)

Ingredients

225 g (8 oz / 2 cups) ground almonds (Note: If you’re in Israel, your local spice store will grind almonds for you on the spot.)

450 g (16 oz / 2 cups) caster sugar (Note: In Israel you can get Sugat’s “Sucar Dakdak” in any supermarket today)

2 egg whites (unwhisked)

About 100 g (3 oz) flaked almonds

150 g (5 oz) parev dark chocolate for dipping

How to do it

Chocolate Lined Cookie

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F)

Chocolate Dipped Cookie

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ground almonds and the sugar. Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing them in until the mixture forms a dough-like ball (I use my hands to bring all the dry ingredients together)

3. Line baking trays with baking paper and grease the baking paper lightly.

4. Pour the almond flakes onto a flat surface – a plate or clean counter top. With dampened hands, form balls with about 1 teaspoon of the dough. Flatten the dough slightly into the flaked almonds, coating each ball of dough on both sides. (If the almonds don’t stick, then wet your hands again and rub them over the dough ball). Place on the baking tray with about 5 cm/2 inches between each ball.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or just until the cookies are just starting to get golden brown. You’ll want to keep an eye on the cookies as they are quite delicate and can easily become too brown. Remove and allow to cool completely before you dip them in chocolate.

6. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Dip each cooking half-way into the chocolate. I tip the pot with the chocolate at an angle so that the chocolate pools on one side and it’s easier to dip.  If you want to drizzle lines of chocolate over the cookies, place the cookie on some baking paper, and using a spoon of chocolate, carefully drizzle lines of chocolate in both direction over the cookie.

7. Place the cookies on baking paper until the chocolate has completely set.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Stuffed matza balls in chicken soup

Back in the days of the shtetl, Lithuanian cooks would make their kneidlach (matza balls) stuffed with pieces of fried chicken fat in the center – oy vey! The name they gave this dish was kneidlach with “neshoma,” or matza balls with soul. There’s something touching about this name, which symbolizes that even in the simplest things in life we can add a spark of spirituality. The seder meal is so filled with meaning and symbolism that it’s nice to be able to add another layer of meaning to the food we eat on that night.

There are many ways to make these kneidlach. I have amalgamated a few recipes and methods to come up with what I think works well. And mine have no fried chicken fat in them!

I kept the filling flavors relatively simple in keeping with the Ashkenazi kitchen. You can, of course, add whatever spices you enjoy, and even add a little chili powder or cayenne pepper for a little zing. Some recipes call for baking the kneidlach in the oven after you’ve boiled them. I am not sure what the logic is if you’re going to be serving them in the soup, as they will get wet again. This is also an unnecessary step that adds time to your already packed pre-seder cooking schedule.

For me, the most important part of making these is getting the filling in the freezer before you stuff the kneidlach. I give credit to Israeli chef Haim Cohen for this excellent technique, which he uses in his kube soup recipe (not Kosher for Pesach). By making small balls of filling and freezing them, you make the stuffing process so much easier, and you won’t have to fiddle with bits of filling that fall all over the place and make it hard to seal the balls properly. It’s an extra step, but pays off in the end. You can also make the stuffing a few days in advance.

STUFFED MATZA BALLS (KNEIDLACH WITH NESHOMA)

Ingredients 

Filling

1-2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 small onion very finely chopped

1 small stalk of celery very finely chopped

1 clove of garlic crushed

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

90-100 g (3 oz) ground beef (for vegetarian, you can use finely chopped mushrooms – saute them separately and drain well before adding to the rest of the ingredients)

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons potato flour

¼ cup water

Matza Balls 

4 large eggs

4 tablespoons margarine

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon baking powder (if you can find kosher for Pesach baking powder you can make it without)

Salt and pepper

2/3 cups boiling water

About 1 cup of matza meal

How to do it

1. In a small pan, heat the oil. Add the chopped celery and onion and saute until very soft. Add the garlic and parsley and stir until the garlic has just cooked (about 30 seconds).

2. Add the ground beef and saute until it’s all cooked (no pink), making sure to separate the bits of beef so no large chunks form. (Or add the sauteed, well-drained mushrooms for vegetarian)

3. Add the seasoning and stir till combined.

4. Add the tomato paste,  potato flour and the water and mix. Simmer until the mixture is no longer watery (this won’t take very long – about 2 minutes). Allow to cool completely.

5. On a small baking tray or any pan that can go into the freezer, lay out some baking paper. Form small balls of the filling that are just under one teaspoon each. Place them on the tray and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them to a sealed container and keep them in the freezer for a few days.

Making the Kneidlach

1. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg well with a whisk. Add the margarine and beat it in as well as you can (it will stay lumpy but try to separate it as much as possible at this stage)

Flatten some kneidle mixture into your hand using wet fingers

2. Add the boiling water and whisk till the margarine has melted. Add the seasoning and baking powder.

3. Slowly add the matza meal, stirring the mixture with a spoon. You need to do this slowly and in stages, as the matza meal hardens the egg mixture quite quickly and you don’t want your mixture to get hard. Once the mixture starts to be less runny, start testing the consistency by dropping spoonfuls into the bowl. As soon as it stops being runny and falls from the spoon in a blob, then you are done. You will always use a slightly different quantity of matza meal because the sizes of the eggs vary.

Place one ball of filling in the middle of the kneidle mixture

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or until the mixture is well set. You can leave this overnight as well.

Stuffing the kneidlach

1. In a medium-large pot, bring about 4-5 liters of water and add a tablespoon of chicken soup powder to a rolling boil.

2. Remove the filling balls from the freezer; take the kneidle mixture out of the fridge and prepare a bowl of water for dipping your hands.

Pinch the kneidle mixture around the filling with wet hands, sealing the seams well

3. Take about 1½ tablespoons of kneidle mixture in your wet hands (about the size of a small golf ball) and flatten it a little until it’s about 1 cm (½ inch). Take a filling ball and place it in the middle, then work the kneidle mixture up around the filling, making sure not to make the kneidle too thin. If you can’t get it all around the filling, then add a little bit of extra kneidle mixture to close the ball. With wet hands, smooth the kneidle so that you make a ball shape. Carefully place into the boiling water. Keep going until you’ve used up all your kneidle mixture.

Ready for the pot

4. Once all the balls are in the pot, cover, make sure the water comes to the boil. Then reduce the flame and simmer, cooking for 25-minutes.

5. Serve the kneidlach in bowls of chicken soup.

Makes about 18 balls.

Less than a year will have passed since last Pesach before we’ll be sitting down to our seders for 5773. It’s time to start planning menus and meals, and head to the supermarkets and delis to see what’s available for this year.

I am re-posting all my Pesach recipes from last year. When it comes to cooking for Pesach, I believe that you go with what works for you. My family certainly waits for their Pesach favorites, which I love to cook. I will be adding a few new recipes in the next couple of weeks as well.

Here’s the list of recipes I have for Pesach, and you can also find them on the “Passover” tab on my home page.

Chicken Soup and Matza Balls

Chicken soup and kneidlach/matza balls - No seder is complete without this Ashkenazi classic…

My family’s tzimmes - Another tradition in my family is this tzimmes, made with kneidel mixture in the middle of a sweet carrot and sweet potato mix.

Flaumen (Potato and Prune) Tzimmes - A really delicious side dish for the seder table and throughout Pesach.

Brisket with potatoes and carrots

Brisket -  Because how can you have a Seder without brisket (or at least that’s the rule in my house).

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce for Pesach – A great dish to put on your Seder table for the kids who don’t like brisket! It’s really similar to my regular recipe, but made without bread crumbs, and using matza meal instead.

Kosher for Pesach Sticky Asian Chicken

Sweet Asian Chicken Pieces (kitniyot) - With sweet chili sauce available as KFR (kitnoyot), you can make this great recipe for crispy chicken in a sweet Asian sauce that you will want to make all year round.

Ratatouille - The perfect side dish for Pesach – ratatouille has only KFP ingredients, is parev, tastes good and looks really colorful.

Roast Potatoes Perfect for Pesach - An easy and basic recipe for roast potatoes that will make everyone forget it’s Pesach.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage for Pesach - This side dish is the perfect accompaniment to anything Ashkenazi especially your brisket.

Spinach Gnocchi – This is a really fun KFP gnocchi dish that really works and tastes good. It’s great for a mid-week meal when you’re done with Seder leftovers and don’t have room for another morsel of brisket!

Kosher for Pesach Enchiladas- Kitniyot Only – Here’s a fun dairy, kitniyot recipe. I am sure that Mexicans would scoff at the bastardization of this wonderful dish, but when it comes to Pesach, anything that can be made kosher is fair game.

Quiche for Pesach- Using an alternative crust that is very delicious, but does require more work than a butter crust.

Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa Salad in a Citrus Dressing

Quinoa Salad – This is the recipe I came up with one Pesach when I had last minute vegetarian guests. It’s a great dish and makes a really nice salad that’s full of flavor. There is some disagreement as to whether quinoa is kitniyot or not. OUKosher says, “since quinoa, which has only recently been introduced to the Northern Hemisphere from its native South America, was never considered kitniot, it remains permitted on Pesach even though logically it should be included in the minhag…” But please read the full article for all the info and make your own choice.

Easy Roasted Red Onion and Lettuce Salad- When you’ve been toiling all day in the kitchen making all that seder food, the last thing you want to do is slave over a salad. How about this easy stand-by? You can roast the onions in advance, and throw it all together in minutes. You will want to double this recipe if you’re having a big crowd.

New Pesach Slaw

New Pesach Slaw (can contain kitniyot) This is a colorful salad that will look beautiful on your table, even if it doesn’t have the Asian flavors that give it a kick in the rest of the year. I have posted a recipe for making your own KFP peanut butter (for kitniyot eaters).

Carrot Soup – One of my favorite everyday soups that’s also KFP and can be made parev, so how can you lose by adding this to your own KFP repertoire?

Chocolate Vanilla Cream Cake – This is a regular recipe that just happens to also be KFP! This is a dairy cake, so you won’t want to serve it at your Seder (unless you’re doing a vegetarian Seder, in which case, I highly recommend this as a great dessert). But as a wonderful treat, this cake’s a winner, especially since it’s really simple to make.

Coconut Mounds - Pesach isn’t Pesach without coconut cookies.When I first made this recipe, I was sure it would be disastrous because it just seemed way too easy. I was wrong. They are delicious and crazy easy, so do make them with your kids.

Apple Squares for Pesach – This is a regular on my Seder dessert table. It’s easy to make, tastes good and isn’t overly sweet. And of course, it’s parev, so works on many levels. There’s nothing like fruit to cover the taste of the kosher for Pesach “flours”!

Chocolate Roll For Pesach – Here’s a fun dessert that’s versatile, tastes good and looks good. Have fun with fillings of your choice. I offer two options, but you can get creative and add whatever you and your family like.

Hummus Cake for Pesach

Chocolate Truffle Cake – This is a most incredible cake, which I adapted from the hametz version with relative ease. For chocolate lovers, this cake is a dream. It’s really rich so can serve a lot of eaters, and because it’s parev, it’s a great Seder dessert option. You can also make this ahead of time and freeze it.

Hummus Chocolate Cake (kitniyot) – This simple to make recipe turns out a delicious chocolate cake that tastes like brownies and has no trace of garbanzo beans.

Upside-Down Lemon Meringue Cake

Upside-Down Lemon Meringue Cake for Pesach- The first time I made this I was so excited because I saw that it could also work for Pesach with no adaptations and it can be made parev. This is one of my favorite desserts for any time of year, so being able to serve in at a Seder table is a huge bonus. Watch your guests gasp with delight when you bring this onto the table. It will give them the strength to make it to Chad Gadyah with ease.

Home Made Peanut Butter for Pesach –  In my house, peanut butter is a staple, and no chag is going to force us to give up on it. Here’s a quick and very easy way to make your own peanut butter for Pesach. Because it’s a healthy version, with no additives, you may even want to make it during the year…

KFP Peanut Butter

Chocolate covered cookie dough balls

Purim’s early this year, so I’m in a mad rush to organize my mishlochei manot and get going on my Purim baking. Last year, I posted lots of recipes that you can use to make some fun, home made goodies to add to your mishlochei manot – check out parts I, II and III (Oznei Haman)… But that’s not enough!! A few months ago, I made these really delish chocolate covered cookie dough balls. Now who doesn’t like cookie dough? Then cover them in chocolate, and what’s not to love?

This recipe ensures that the cookie dough is safe as it’s made without eggs. It can also easily be made parev so it’s a great little addition to your give-aways for the chag.

Chag Purim Sameach!

Ingredients

½ cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons water

1¼ cups flour

1/3 cup parev chocolate chips

350 grams (12 ounces) parev dark/semi-sweet chocolate

How to do it

1. Using an electric mixer, beat margarine and brown sugar on high speed until properly creamed for about 5 minutes (to ensure that there are no gritty bits of sugar left)

2. Add vanilla, salt and water and mix till combined.

3. Add flour and mix till combined.

Dipping the chilled cookie dough balls into the melted chocolate

4. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand. Cover dough and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

5. Line two baking sheets with baking paper. With your (very clean) hands, roll the dough into balls that are about 2 cm/1 inch in diameter, and place them on the baking sheets. Freeze for at least 20 minutes.

6. Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler (bring about 5cm/2 inches of water to the boil in a medium-sized pot. In a smaller pot that can easily fit over the bottom pot, break up the chocolate and melt it over the simmering water, making sure that the top pot does touch the water below. Stir until all melted). Allow the melted chocolate to cool to nearly room temperature.

7. Dip the dough balls. Remove one tray of cookie dough balls from the freezer. One by one, drop each ball into the melted chocolate, using two forks, roll it in the chocolate until it’s completely covered. Remove the ball and place it back on the baking sheet. When you’ve done all the balls, put the tray back in the fridge and repeat the process with the second tray.

8. Chill for at least 20 minutes and store in refrigerator until your serve them or give them as a gift.

This pasta salad is really the quickest you can imagine. In the time it takes to cook the pasta (which is usually around 10 minutes, hence the headline), you prepare everything else and it’s done. You can use regular spaghetti – number 3 works well – or you can use egg noodles. Both will come out equally well. You can add any additional vegetables you want. I make it plain because the kids love it that way, but this is a really good base for whatever you want to add.

QUICK ASIAN PASTA SALAD

Quick Asian Pasta Salad

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb) spaghetti (#3) or egg noodles (Note: The egg noodles usually come in 400 g packages, so just use the same quantities of dressing – it won’t be a problem)

Dressing

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons vinegar or rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

a few drops of sesame oil

1 teaspoon mirin (optional)

Optional vegetables (use all or any if desired)

3 green onion chopped

1 small red pepper sliced and halved

½ small red onions thinly sliced

½ cup cooked corn kernels

1 medium carrot julienned or very thinly sliced

1 stick celery thinly sliced

How to do it

1. Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the package (do not overcook). Drain and rinse with cold water until the noodles reach room temperature.

2. While the pasta is cooking, mix all the dressing ingredients till combined.

3. Toss the dressing through the pasta and add the vegetables if desired.

Serves about 6.

But not everyone has the time or ingredients to whip up ribollita, so I am going to share with you my “whatever’s in the fridge” minestrone soup. The basic recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens recipe book, but I have taken it in all sorts of directions and I very rarely make it the same way twice. The basic broth with the onions, tomato, zucchini and cabbage, and the additional spaghetti bits get built on top of with whatever veggies you have in your fridge. Have fun with it and add whatever you love.

Stay warm!

BASIC MINESTRONE

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves crushed garlic

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium carrots diced

3 sticks of celery diced

1 large red or sweet pepper diced – optional

½ teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

2 liters broth (chicken or vegetarian)

1 medium zucchini diced

4-5 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped or one can 400 g  (14 oz) of crushed tomatoes

2 cups finely shredded cabbage

About a cup of spaghetti broken into small pieces

1 400 g (14 oz) can red beans, rinsed and drained (not baked beans) – optional

1 cup green beans cut into small pieces (frozen is good)

How to do it

1. In a large pot, heat the oil and saute the onions, carrots, celery, peppers and garlic until just soft.

2. Add the tomatoes, herbs, sugar, broth and green beans and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add the zucchini, cabbage, red beans and spaghetti and bring to the boil again. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the spaghetti is tender.