Pasta with Spinach, Chickpeas, and Sausage

This is a not-quite-meatless dish. A little bit of meat, in this case some sausage, can add a big dose of flavor. The dish is hearty because of the pasta and the chickpeas, not because of a large portion of meat. Many of us don't want to give up the flavor of meat. Using just a little bit gives the flavor satisfaction at a lower cost and higher sustainability. You win and the planet wins.

Pasta with Spinach, Chickpeas, and Sausage
(serves 4)

2 Tablespoons olive oil + more for garnish
2 cloves garlic, minced
about ⅓ pound flavorful sausage, such as basil or Italian
5 oz. fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas
2 Tablespoons minced fresh sage
salt
10 oz. dried orecchiette pasta or some similar frilly shape
black pepper
grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to boil.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until no longer pink and starting to brown. While the sausage is cooking, drain the chickpeas, reserving 1 cup of the liquid.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the chickpeas, sage, reserved liquid, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook this while you cook the pasta, which will take about 10-12 minutes. When the pasta is done, drain, and add to the chickpeas. Stir in more salt if needed and cook for another minute. To serve, garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, black pepper, and some grated Parmesan cheese.

Adapted from Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett, Rodale, 2004.

Meatless Monday: Spinach Lasagne

Previously, I posted a recipe for meatless Spinach Lasagne that is "baked" in the microwave. Here's a similar recipe that is cooked in the oven and it uses no-boil noodles. This makes the recipe easier, though the time is about the same. You have to give the noodles time to cook once it's assembled but you don't have to deal with cooking the noodles ahead.

Oven-Baked Spinach Lasagne
(serves 6-8)

9 no-boil lasagne noodles (2" wide by 10" long)
non-stick cooking spray
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 ½ cups water
1 Tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate or dry vegetable soup mix
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
12 ounces frozen spinach, thawed but not drained
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, a 16 ounce container
2 eggs
8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
½ cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9"x 11" baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté onion for 4 minutes. Add garlic, cook for another minute. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, vegetable soup mix, salt, sugar, basil, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Keep warm while you mix up the filling.

Combine the spinach, cottage cheese and eggs in a medium bowl.

To assemble, lay 3 noodles in dish  Ladle on ⅓ of the sauce, ½ the spinach mixture, then sprinkle on ¾ cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, finishing with another 3 noodles covered by the remainder of the sauce, making sure that the noodles are completely covered. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle on the last ½ cup mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow cheese to set up which makes lasagne easier to cut.

Freezes well.

Turkish (or maybe Greek?) Stuffed Peppers

Turkish cooks are experts at stuffing all sorts of vegetables. This recipe is a mash-up of a classic Turkish vegetable stuffing and some Greek flavors. It's not so crazy; they are neighbors.

The filling itself is easy. Stuffing peppers isn't that hard either. But, it all takes a while, particularly the cooking of the peppers. You need to braise them a long time until they are tender. The great thing is they reheat well so you can make a panful and have a quick meal by throwing a pepper in the microwave.

The filling contains short-grain rice (such as sushi rice) which is stickier. It holds together as a stuffing better than long-grain rice.

Stuffed Peppers

(serves 6)

6 large bell peppers, whatever color you like

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons raisins or dried currants, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water

1 10-12 oz. package frozen chopped spinach

1 ¼ cups short grain rice

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

juice of 1 lemon

stock or water

Cut off the top of the peppers as high as you can to leave a large cavity. Remove the core and seeds. If the peppers won't stand up straight, you can take a very thin slice off the bottom to make them flat. Then they won't tip over in the pan. Set aside the peppers.

Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large covered skillet or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until onions are soft but do not brown them. Drain the raisins. Add raisins and spinach and raise the heat to medium. Cook until spinach has thawed. Add the rice, ¾ teaspoon salt, pepper, and 1 ½ cups of water or stock. Stir to mix, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Mix in herbs and cheese. Taste the filling and add more salt if needed. If the filling is bland, it will be even blander after steaming for nearly an hour so season well.

Season the insides of the peppers with salt. Fill each pepper with stuffing. When you have used up all the stuffing, wipe out the pan and place the peppers in the same pan (you don't want to have to do more dishes, do you?). Pour enough stock or water into the pan to cover the bottom of the pan. If you are using water or unsalted stock, add ½ teaspoon of salt to season it. Drizzle the lemon juice and the remaining olive oil over the peppers. Put on their tops. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, just enough to maintain a simmer. Cover the pan and steam the peppers for about 50 minutes until quite tender. If you pierce one with a knife, it won't resist at all.

Serve hot or at room temperature. A little bit of extra virgin olive oil, chopped fresh parsley and/or dill, or crumbled cheese are all nice garnishes. I also like it for breakfast, topped with a fried egg.

Spinach and Rice Casserole

Another recipe for my Greek class. It draws from the very popular Spanakopita which is a Greek spinach pie. Spanakopita is made with phyllo dough but that's not the easiest thing to deal with for beginning cooks. Here, we make it easier by mixing the spinach filling with some brown rice. This is a stick-to-your-ribs vegetarian entree.

Frozen spinach comes in packages ranging from 10 oz to 16 oz. Use whatever you can find. You do need to thaw it and drain it, but no need to squeeze out the water, as is usually done with spinach filling recipes.

Spinach and Rice Casserole
(serves 6-8)

about 5 cups cooked brown rice*

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

4 eggs
1 cup low fat or whole milk
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, about 4 oz.
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, about 4 oz.
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped dill
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
½ teaspoon black pepper

non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach. Cook for a few minutes until heated through. Remove from the heat, transfer to a large bowl, and allow to cool for a few minutes, so you don't scramble the eggs when you mix them into the spinach. Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Beat the milk into the eggs. Add this and the remaining ingredients into the spinach and stir to combine. Spread into the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature; refrigerate any leftovers.

*Cook 1 ¾ cups raw brown rice in 3 ¼ cups water to yield 5 cups of rice. Depending on the rice, they take 40-50 minutes to cook. If you cooked the rice ahead and it is cold, zap it for a minute to warm it up. Precooked brown rice cooks up in less time than white rice and is a good option if you want this dish in under an hour. Check the box for how much rice you need to cook because the yield is different than for raw brown rice.

Sesame Spinach

Now that we have pre-washed spinach in most every supermarket, spinach is a quick and easy vegetable side dish. This dish is similar to many Asian dishes, lots of garlic, soy, and that powerhouse of flavor, Asian sesame oil. You can eat it cold too. Add a pound of stir-fried tofu cubes, serve over rice, and you have a super-quick vegetarian dinner for 4.

Sesame Spinach
(serves 4)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound pre-washed spinach

½ Tablespoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ Tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

Combine the soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl and mix to dissolve the sugar. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok until smoking hot. Add garlic, stir for 10 seconds, then add the spinach and toss. Continue to toss until spinach is wilted. Add soy-sugar mixture and toss again. Remove from heat. Add sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds (if using) and toss. Serve hot, room temperature, or cold as a salad.

Wilted Spinach

Looks like a lot of spinach, but really only 3 servings once it's cooked

This is the last recipe from my class last week. I hesitate to call it a recipe because it's so simple. The secret is to only wilt the spinach. It will continue to cook after you remove it from the skillet. As spinach is perfectly tasty raw in salads, you barely need to cook it. Which makes it a great vegetable for any night because it's done in a flash.

Spinach cooks down a lot. You will need 4 to 5 oz. per serving, which seems like a ridiculous amount when you see it raw, but it does the magical disappearing act when cooked.

This recipe uses a simple flavoring technique - garlic cooked in oil. Watch the garlic carefully while cooking. You want it toasted brown but not burned. Burned garlic is horribly bitter. If you burn it, you'll need to start over with new oil and garlic. We remove the garlic before tossing in the spinach. You can use the cooked garlic as garnish or discard them. 

The recipe is for 1 serving. It can be doubled, tripled, whatever you need at the time, though if you cook more than a pound of spinach, you are going to need a very large skillet! You can dump leftover cooked spinach in soup, tomato sauce, or stew but I recommend you cook only what you need at that moment. It only takes about 3 minutes. It's wonderful as a bed for our Salmon with a Potato-Scallion Crust.

Wilted Spinach

(serves 1, costs 75¢ )

1 teaspoon vegetable or olive oil

1 small clove of garlic, cut in half

4 oz. raw spinach

salt

Heat up a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and garlic. Cook the garlic until a toasty brown all over but be careful not to burn it. It will only take a minute. Remove the garlic (reserve for garnish if you like garlic a lot or discard if you don't). Add in the spinach and toss in oil. Cook for about 1 minute until some of it starts to wilt. Season lightly with salt. Serve immediately.

Baked Meaty Pasta

Don't you love recipes where you dump the pasta in with everything else, and it magically cooks just right? I do! I used ground bison, you could use any ground meat: beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, even vegetarian "meat." This is extremely simple and extremely satisfying, with a layer of gooey cheese on top. Gets even better on reheating.

This recipe uses homemade creamed spinach, which is easy to make. You make a Bechamel sauce (a milk sauce thickened with butter and flour, one of the classic French sauces) and mix in chopped spinach. You could use a package of frozen creamed spinach, but it's so easy to make your own, why not make it from scratch? Tastes a lot fresher too.

Baked Meaty Pasta
(serves 6-8, costs $9.50, though the cost will vary depending on meat used)

non-stick cooking spray
1 pound ground meat
about 1 teaspoon salt
about ½ teaspoon black pepper
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water
8 ounces dry penne, regular or whole-wheat
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup milk (skim, low-fat or whole)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (see Note)
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 3 quart baking casserole dish with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Spray non-stick cooking spray on a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and brown. Break up the big chunks into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the tomatoes, garlic powder, dried onion, oregano, basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Spoon enough sauce into the baking dish to cover the bottom. Add the penne. Spoon the rest of the sauce over the penne.

In the same skillet that you cooked the sauce in (no need to clean it out), melt the butter. Add the flour and stir to combine. Add the milk, stirring to smooth out the lumps. Cook until the milk thickens. Add the spinach, stirring to combine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour spinach over sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle on the cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Note: Instead of frozen spinach, you can use a 10 ounce package of fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped, or 2 cups cooked broccoli. You can even use a combination, which is what I used.

Shrimp Florentine - something special for Mother's Day

Florentine is a classic French recipe. Florentine means it contains spinach, usually along with a rich sauce. As shrimp is a bit pricey, and the classic French rich part is a bit of a treat, I think this makes an appropriate Mother's Day dish. You can serve it for brunch, lunch or dinner. Serve it over rice and make a fresh green salad with a classic vinaigrette for a proper French meal. It's cheaper than taking Mom to Paris. :-)

Shrimp Florentine
(serves 2-3, can be doubled)

1 10-12 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed
non-stick cooking spray
½ pound raw medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 Tablespoons butter
¼ cup finely minced onion
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
pinch of nutmeg, optional
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
½ Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ Tablespoon minced fresh or frozen basil  (a few leaves)
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Squeeze out most of the moisture in the spinach and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 1 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Heat a medium skillet until very hot. Spray the pan with cooking spray and immediately add the shrimp in one layer. Cook on one side until just pink, turn over and cook on the other side until pink. The center may still not be cooked, which is fine. It will finish cooking in the oven. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add 1 Tablespoon butter to the skillet. No need to clean it out; any bits sticking to the pan will add flavor to the sauce. When the butter is melted, add the onion and cook for a minute. Add the spinach, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, if using. Stir and cook until the spinach is hot. Pour the spinach into the prepared baking dish.

Add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter to the skillet. When it's melted, sprinkle in the flour. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes. If your roux (that's the butter-flour mixture) starts to brown quickly, your pan is too hot and you need to lower the heat. Add the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, basil, and cream. Stir gently until there are no lumps. Cook until the sauce thickens; it should coat the back of a spoon. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Add in the shrimp. Pour over the spinach. Bake for 20 minutes until sauce is bubbly.

Meatless Monday - Microwave Spinach Lasagna

We are not vegetarians but we are all for eating more delicious vegetarian food. It's a great way to eat well for less since meat is a fairly expensive way to get your protein.

This is a recipe for microwave spinach lasagne that I have been making for many years. It has a lot of ingredients, all easy to get, and the dish comes together easily. The toughest part is the assembly. You can do this. A tip on the noodles, after cooking and draining them, lay them out flat in one layer. Then they won't stick together, making assembly easier.

This is a great one-dish meal, good enough for company but so easy to make.

Microwave Spinach Lasagna
(serves 6, costs $11.00)

6 lasagne noodles, cooked according to package directions and drained
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil + some more to oil dish
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
¾ cup water
1 Tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate or dry vegetable soup mix
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
12 ounces frozen spinach
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, a 16 ounce container
2 eggs
12 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (3 cups)
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, about 1 ounce

Thaw spinach by microwaving for 3 minutes in a 1 ½ quart microwaveable bowl or dish. Put spinach in a colander to cool while you cook the sauce.

Combine oil, onion, and garlic in the same dish you cooked the spinach in. Microwave for 3 minutes, stirring once. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, vegetable stock concentrate, sugar, basil, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and microwave for 4 minutes. Stir and microwave for 4 more minutes. Stir again and set aside.

Squeeze most of the liquid out of the cooked spinach and coarsely chop. Put in a medium bowl. Add cottage cheese and eggs. Stir to combine.

Spray a 12"x8" microwaveable glass dish (this size will fit in most microwave ovens) with nonstick cooking spray or lightly oil to prevent sticking. To assemble, lay 3 noodles in dish  Ladle on ½ of the sauce, all the spinach mixture, then sprinkle on 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Put on remaining 3 noodles, and the rest of the sauce. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Then microwave at 70% for another 12 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Microwave on high, uncovered, for 3 minutes until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Adapted from Microwave Cooking Lite, Contemporary, 1985. I've changed the cooking times a lot because microwave ovens in 2013 are a lot more powerful than microwave ovens in 1985.

Another chicken roll-up recipe

Last year, we posted a recipe worthy of date night: Chicken Stuffed with Fontina Cheese and Prosciutto. This a very different dish but the concept is the same. It's a bit of work (just a little bit) to pound out and roll up the chicken breasts, but the final dish is impressive. It's pretty economical too, but no one needs to know.

We have noticed that chicken breasts have grown quite a bit. We routinely see breast halves nearing a pound in weight. If you find that all the breast halves in your local supermarket are large, cut them in half horizontally, then pound them flat. Don't have meat pounder? Any glass bottle with a long neck, like a wine bottle, works too.

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Feta Cheese
(serves 4, cost is $10)

3 ½ Tablespoons Olive Oil
¼ medium Onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces Frozen Spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
½ teaspoon Dried Oregano or Dried Dill
¾ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
½ cup Crumbled Feta Cheese, about 2 ounces
4 Chicken Breast Halves, about 5-6 ounces each
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
12 Toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350℉.

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook onion for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, spinach and oregano (or dill) and cook for another 3 minutes Season with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Pour into a medium bowl and add the feta cheese and stir to mix well. Wipe out the skillet but no need to wash; you'll use it again to brown the chicken.

Lay the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound with a meat pounder or wine bottle until a uniform ½" thick. Season both sides of each breast with remaining salt and pepper.

Place a breast on a cutting board and place ¼ of the stuffing on the chicken breast. Spread it out towards the edges, but not all the way to the edge so the filling doesn't leak out. Roll up chicken breast the long way and secure with toothpicks so that the chicken stays rolled up. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Heat up 2 Tablespoons oil in the skillet over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the chicken. Cook until golden brown on all sides (or as many sides as you can given there are toothpicks sticking out). Toss the tomatoes with ½ Tablespoon oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour into a 8 x 8" baking dish. Arrange chicken on top of tomatoes in a single layer. Bake for 35 minutes until cooked through. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Let stand for 5 minutes and remove the toothpicks. Serve by placing a chicken roll-up on the plate and spooning tomatoes and juices over chicken. For a pretty presentation, slice the roll crosswise with a very sharp knife and arrange slices on the plate. Spoon tomatoes and juices on top of slices.

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzos & Feta Cheese

A pot full of tasty pasta

Here's the second pasta dish from out latest class. Super easy and quick. It actually takes longer to boil the water and cook the pasta than it does to put the final dish together. The lemon zest is key. Along with the feta cheese and tomatoes, it brings some bold bright flavors to a pot full of earthy ingredients.

The recipe calls for orecchiette (which means "little ears" in Italian) or small shells. Any smallish pasta will work. We used campanelle (which means "bellflower" in Italian) and that worked just as well. We found that it was necessary to cook the pasta for nearly 12 minutes, but we are cooking this at an altitude of 5400 feet. If you are at sea level, it will probably be al dente in 10 minutes.

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzos & Feta Cheese
(serves 4, cost is $10.30)

8 oz. orecchiette or small shells
¼ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
12 ounces baby spinach
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup small cherry or grape tomatoes
4 ounces feta cheese, cut into ¼“ cubes or crumbled
1 teaspoon lemon zest (see Note)
Salt and black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm, stirring occasionally, about 8-12 minutes. Reserve about a 1⁄2 cup of the pasta water and drain pasta.

Wipe the pasta pot out with a towel, and over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Using a spoon, remove the garlic and discard.

Add the spinach, the beans and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the pasta, half of the cheese, the lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. The feta cheese is quite salty so be careful not to over-salt. Toss well and thin out the sauce with a little of the pasta water. Garnish with the remaining cheese and serve.

Note: How do you zest an lemon if you don't have a lemon zester? Use a vegetable peeler to carefully peel off strips of lemon peel. Try to get as little of the white pith as possible since it is terribly bitter. After you have peeled about ½ the lemon, which should be enough for this dish, mince it. It smells intensely lemony and provides great flavor to this dish, so don't leave it out.

One of our students checking out the intense aroma of lemon zest

Spinach and Feta Pinwheels

Here's a delicious appetizer using puff pastry (check out our samosas for another one), one of our favorite store-bought products. Just remember that the puff pastry can't get too warm or it will be very difficult to work with. Thaw it overnight in the fridge for best results. You can thaw it on the counter (follow the directions on the package) if you need to use it sooner, but if your kitchen is hot, you may find the puff pastry too sticky to roll out. Stick it back in the fridge for a little while to let it firm up.

Some very impressive finger food to bring to a party, and you don't have to tell anyone how easy it is to make.

Spinach and Feta Pinwheels
(makes 16, total cost $5.30)

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed and cold
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon water
10 ounces chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove most of the moisture
2 ounces (about 2 slices) muenster cheese, chopped
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1 scallion, washed and thinly sliced (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Mix together egg and water and set aside. Combine cheeses, pepper, salt, and scallion in a small bowl and set aside. Unfold sheet of puff pastry and on a lightly floured counter, roll out until it is 9" x 12". Brush the puff pastry with egg. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over puff pastry then spread the spinach over the cheese. Starting on one of the 9" ends, roll up the puff pastry so you end up with something that looks like a jelly roll. Using a very sharp knife, slice the roll into ½ inch slices. The end slices won't have much filling, which is normal. Place them about 1 ½" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (you'll need 2 cookie sheets for all the pinwheels). Brush the tops with the egg. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and serve.

Indian Spinach & Fresh Cheese

We recently held a class on easy Indian cooking. It would be presumptuous of us to say that this recipe is actually Indian. It's more in the Indian style and it is a tasty version of the Saag Paneer that is very popular in Indian restaurants in the US. We use a Mexican cheese called queso blanco or queso fresco (which translates to white cheese or fresh cheese) as a substitute for paneer. Paneer is made the same way and you can even make it yourself. But, that wouldn't be quick and easy, would it?  Queso blanco is available at supermarkets with a good selection of Mexican products and it comes pretty close to paneer. We found it a bit saltier than paneer, so we recommend you go easy on the salt if using it.

Indian Spinach and Fresh Cheese (Saag Paneer)
(serves 4-6, total cost $8.23)

4 Tablespoons butter
A 1-inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½-1 fresh hot green chili, seeded and minced
2 10-12 oz. packages of chopped frozen spinach, thawed
½-1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon garam masala (see notes)
1 pound of paneer or queso blanco, cut into 1” cubes (see notes)
3 Tablespoons heavy cream

Heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, and green chili. Stir about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add spinach, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon garam masala. Stir to combine. Cover, lower heat to low, and cook gently for 15 minutes. Add paneer. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and remaining ¼ teaspoon of garam masala. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Serve over rice or with Indian naan.

Notes: Garam masala is an Indian spice blend usually made with cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves. Unlike curry powder, it contains no turmeric. It is available at most supermarkets. Paneer is an Indian cheese. Mexican queso blanco (also labeled queso fresco) is the best substitute and is readily available in supermarkets with a good selection of Mexican products.

Spinach, Red Pepper, and Goat Cheese Quiche

Spinach, Red Pepper, and Goat Cheese Quiche
(serves 8)

For the pastry:

1¾ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 stick cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

1 box frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained very well

1 small jar roasted red peppers (about 1 pepper), drained and chopped into ¼“ dice

1½ cups half & half

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ pound (8 oz.) goat cheese log, cut into ¼-inch rounds

⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

For the pastry, in a large bowl whisk the flour with the salt.  Using a pastry blender cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Lightly beat the egg with the water.  Sprinkle over flour mixture.  Stir with a fork to lightly blend, then squeeze gently until a dough forms.  Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 14 inch round about ⅛ inch thick. Fit the round into a 10’ deep dish pie plate or quiche pan and trim the overhang. Refrigerate the pastry shell at least 20 minutes. Line the shell with foil and fill the pie with weights or rice. Place the pie pan on a sheet pan and bake until the pastry is firm, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake about 10 minutes longer or until golden brown.

For the filling, squeeze the spinach very dry and spread onto the cooled pastry shell.

In a medium bowl, whisk half & half, eggs, egg yolks, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Arrange goat cheese rounds and red peppers on the spinach. Pour custard into the shell, making sure it seeps through the spinach, and bake quiche about 40 minutes or until just set. Cool slightly before serving.

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzo Beans, and Feta

I've had enough of cold, windy, and snowy weather and am so ready for Spring. This pasta recipe reminds me of that time of year when you have wonderful, fresh produce from your garden or the local farmer's market. It's so colorful and hearty, even though there isn't any meat in it.  You can cut the tomatoes in half to make a bit more of a sauce, but, leaving them whole gives you a pop of flavor when you bite into them. And, the addition of a little lemon zest gives it that hint of freshness that portends the growing season to come. It was my first introduction to Swiss chard and I love it!  Try it and let me know what you think.

Pasta with Greens, Garbanzo Beans, and Feta
(adapted from a recipe by Giada DeLaurentis)
Serves 3-4, total cost is $10.40

8 oz. orecchiette or small shells

¼ cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

6 oz. or 1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and dried and ripped into 2-3” pieces

6 oz. baby spinach

1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup small cherry or grape tomatoes

4 oz. feta cheese, cut into ¼“ cubes or crumbled

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm, stirring occasionally, about 8-10 minutes. Reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Wipe the pasta pot out with a towel, and over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and discard. Add the Swiss chard and cook until wilted. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the beans and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the pasta, half of the cheese, the lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. Toss well and thin out the sauce with a little of the pasta water.  Sprinkle some of the remaining cheese on top when you serve it.