baked pasta, butter cake and butter cookies!
Long time no post! A mix of savoury and sweet recipes today, all lovely. Let's begin with the baked pasta.
I love anything pasta-y and cheese-y, so this was especially satisfying and really quick to whip up, too. It also makes enough for at least 5-6 people so go cautiously when following the recipe. All in all something healthy [and vegetarian, which is great] that doesn't require much fuss at all but delivers quite a lot of belly contentment.
Recipe from Budget Bytes, which is pretty America-specific because some of the items, like the cheeses, aren't budget at all where I live here in Singapore.
1 lb. ziti or another tubular pasta
15 oz. ricotta
1.5 cups (divided) shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 large egg
3 cups fresh spinach
8 oz. fresh mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
4 cups marinara
STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic. In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil and saute the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach, letting it wilt from the remaining heat.
STEP 2: In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (boil for about 5-7 minutes). Only cook the pasta until it is tender because it will continue to cook in the oven once the casserole has been assembled (you don’t want super mushy ziti).
STEP 3: While the mushrooms and pasta cook, mix together the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, parmesan and egg. Once the spinach and mushrooms have cooled, stir them into the cheese mixture. Drain the pasta and let it cool slightly then stir it into the cheese mixture as well.
STEP 4: Layer the marinara sauce and pasta/cheese mixture in a casserole dish starting with marinara sauce on the bottom. Use just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish (1 to 1.5 cups) then top with half of the pasta/cheese mixture. Cover the pasta/cheese with another layer of sauce then layer the remaining pasta/cheese mix on top. Cover the second layer of pasta/cheese with one final layer of sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (less if you are doing a half recipe). Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
I used penne instead of ziti, which really doesn't make any much difference. Like I said, this makes a LOT of food so halve it if you aren't feeding an army a few people.
Sorry for the bad picture, but this went so fast I didn't even have time to take a photo of the whole bundt. Butter cake isn't exactly considered a showstopper when you've got cakes like sachertortes and chocolate gateaux and rustic mile-high cream cakes with summer-fresh fruit but it is undeniably heartwarming when done right. Simplicity at its best, I think - soft, tender cake that almost melts in the mouth in a beautiful golden colour. This recipe from Messy Witchen is a keeper.
300g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
5 grade A eggs, lightly beaten
375g self-rising flour (or replace with 375g cake flour with 19g baking powder), sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
250ml milk, buttermilk or sour cream
The use of milk produces a light and moist cake, for a light and airy cake, replace the milk with buttermilk, and for a denser cake, use sour cream.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line two 23cm (9″) round cake pans or a 25cm (10″) round cake pan. Grease and flour the lined cake pans. I used one 23cm cake pan which was fine.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Then add sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. Add eggs in batches, beating well after each addition. Beat for 1 minute after the last addition.
4. On low speed, add 1/3 of the flour together with the salt, and mix until combined. Add remaining flour and milk in two batches.
5. Turn batter out into pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 150C. Bake 25 minutes for the 23cm pans and 60 minutes for the 25cm pan. Baked mine for 60 minutes + additional few minutes.
7. Remove cake from oven and cool completely, upside down, on the wire rack before removing from pan.
As you can see, it's so easy. I used a 10-inch bundt pan, and chose milk. The cake really did come out unbelievably moist and beautiful, and the leftovers stayed that way for 3 days. Amazing. Good quality butter and vanilla really are what make this cake, so splurge a bit there. Get vanilla extract if you can instead of vanilla flavouring.
Another simple one - butter cookies! I will explain their appearance in a minute, but first let me talk about how much I love butter cookies. They melt in your mouth, they're so light and crumbly so you can eat as many as you want without feeling guilty [you should never feel guilty about eating what you like, IMO], and I truly love the saltiness that crowns a really good butter cookie. It should never be just sweet. These are even approaching shortbread standards of yum - very crumbly and melty, and just the right amount of saltiness and hint of vanilla.
The reason why my cookies look so uneven is twofold - 1) because of the insane Singaporean weather and 2) I used self-raising flour instead of all-purpose, because I just didn't have self-raising. The batter pretty much melted on me as I was putting it together so I put it in the fridge for an hour before taking it out and trying to roll it, but it just melted on me again. Instead of getting to use my adorable new cookie cutters [animal-shaped!] I had to pipe the batter out of a bag, believe it or not, that was how liquid it was. And so when they baked they turned out slightly puffy [because of the wrong flour] and instead of cute shapes I got vague circles. Oh well.
Recipe from Rasa Malaysia and makes about 80 if you use 1.5inch cookie cutters, according to the author.
10 oz. butter
1 tablespoon Pam cooking spray (for baking)
1 egg yolk
3 oz. + 1 tablespoon icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 oz. all-purpose flour
4 oz. corn starch
2 tablespoons full cream milk/whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Cream butter with spray, sugar, egg yolk, salt and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add in milk and mix well.
Fold in multi-purpose flour and corn starch. Mix until dough become soft and not stick on hands.
Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds or whatever shapes you wish using cookie cutters. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly brown. Cool on rack.
I didn't see the point of using the cooking spray so I just left it out. One day when it's cold maybe I'll try these again, but my boyfriend's mother said they were as good as 'New Year cookies' [those bought for Chinese New Year] so I think that compliment speaks for itself no matter what they look like.
Till next time :)
I love anything pasta-y and cheese-y, so this was especially satisfying and really quick to whip up, too. It also makes enough for at least 5-6 people so go cautiously when following the recipe. All in all something healthy [and vegetarian, which is great] that doesn't require much fuss at all but delivers quite a lot of belly contentment.
Recipe from Budget Bytes, which is pretty America-specific because some of the items, like the cheeses, aren't budget at all where I live here in Singapore.
1 lb. ziti or another tubular pasta
15 oz. ricotta
1.5 cups (divided) shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 large egg
3 cups fresh spinach
8 oz. fresh mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
4 cups marinara
STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic. In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil and saute the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach, letting it wilt from the remaining heat.
STEP 2: In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (boil for about 5-7 minutes). Only cook the pasta until it is tender because it will continue to cook in the oven once the casserole has been assembled (you don’t want super mushy ziti).
STEP 3: While the mushrooms and pasta cook, mix together the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, parmesan and egg. Once the spinach and mushrooms have cooled, stir them into the cheese mixture. Drain the pasta and let it cool slightly then stir it into the cheese mixture as well.
STEP 4: Layer the marinara sauce and pasta/cheese mixture in a casserole dish starting with marinara sauce on the bottom. Use just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish (1 to 1.5 cups) then top with half of the pasta/cheese mixture. Cover the pasta/cheese with another layer of sauce then layer the remaining pasta/cheese mix on top. Cover the second layer of pasta/cheese with one final layer of sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (less if you are doing a half recipe). Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
I used penne instead of ziti, which really doesn't make any much difference. Like I said, this makes a LOT of food so halve it if you aren't feeding an army a few people.
Sorry for the bad picture, but this went so fast I didn't even have time to take a photo of the whole bundt. Butter cake isn't exactly considered a showstopper when you've got cakes like sachertortes and chocolate gateaux and rustic mile-high cream cakes with summer-fresh fruit but it is undeniably heartwarming when done right. Simplicity at its best, I think - soft, tender cake that almost melts in the mouth in a beautiful golden colour. This recipe from Messy Witchen is a keeper.
300g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
5 grade A eggs, lightly beaten
375g self-rising flour (or replace with 375g cake flour with 19g baking powder), sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
250ml milk, buttermilk or sour cream
The use of milk produces a light and moist cake, for a light and airy cake, replace the milk with buttermilk, and for a denser cake, use sour cream.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line two 23cm (9″) round cake pans or a 25cm (10″) round cake pan. Grease and flour the lined cake pans. I used one 23cm cake pan which was fine.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Then add sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. Add eggs in batches, beating well after each addition. Beat for 1 minute after the last addition.
4. On low speed, add 1/3 of the flour together with the salt, and mix until combined. Add remaining flour and milk in two batches.
5. Turn batter out into pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.
6. Reduce oven temperature to 150C. Bake 25 minutes for the 23cm pans and 60 minutes for the 25cm pan. Baked mine for 60 minutes + additional few minutes.
7. Remove cake from oven and cool completely, upside down, on the wire rack before removing from pan.
As you can see, it's so easy. I used a 10-inch bundt pan, and chose milk. The cake really did come out unbelievably moist and beautiful, and the leftovers stayed that way for 3 days. Amazing. Good quality butter and vanilla really are what make this cake, so splurge a bit there. Get vanilla extract if you can instead of vanilla flavouring.
Another simple one - butter cookies! I will explain their appearance in a minute, but first let me talk about how much I love butter cookies. They melt in your mouth, they're so light and crumbly so you can eat as many as you want without feeling guilty [you should never feel guilty about eating what you like, IMO], and I truly love the saltiness that crowns a really good butter cookie. It should never be just sweet. These are even approaching shortbread standards of yum - very crumbly and melty, and just the right amount of saltiness and hint of vanilla.
The reason why my cookies look so uneven is twofold - 1) because of the insane Singaporean weather and 2) I used self-raising flour instead of all-purpose, because I just didn't have self-raising. The batter pretty much melted on me as I was putting it together so I put it in the fridge for an hour before taking it out and trying to roll it, but it just melted on me again. Instead of getting to use my adorable new cookie cutters [animal-shaped!] I had to pipe the batter out of a bag, believe it or not, that was how liquid it was. And so when they baked they turned out slightly puffy [because of the wrong flour] and instead of cute shapes I got vague circles. Oh well.
Recipe from Rasa Malaysia and makes about 80 if you use 1.5inch cookie cutters, according to the author.
10 oz. butter
1 tablespoon Pam cooking spray (for baking)
1 egg yolk
3 oz. + 1 tablespoon icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 oz. all-purpose flour
4 oz. corn starch
2 tablespoons full cream milk/whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Cream butter with spray, sugar, egg yolk, salt and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add in milk and mix well.
Fold in multi-purpose flour and corn starch. Mix until dough become soft and not stick on hands.
Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds or whatever shapes you wish using cookie cutters. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly brown. Cool on rack.
I didn't see the point of using the cooking spray so I just left it out. One day when it's cold maybe I'll try these again, but my boyfriend's mother said they were as good as 'New Year cookies' [those bought for Chinese New Year] so I think that compliment speaks for itself no matter what they look like.
Till next time :)