However, if you like to play with your food as much as I do, you might actually think it’s kind of fun, in addition to being slightly ridiculous and insane. Popping each little chickpea out of its skin was strangely satisfying, and it didn’t actually take much extra time, especially considering that hummus is very quick to make in the first place.

But the textural difference is pretty great: without the skins, the hummus ends up lighter and creamier and so much smoother than you thought possible. I know that some people prefer a chunkier hummus, but if you like it creamy, this is the method for you!

The Creamiest Hummus

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, the basic premise of which can be used with any hummus recipe.

Drain and rinse 1 15-oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans). Grasp one chick pea between your thumb, forefinger, and middle finger and squeeze it gently to pop it out of its skin and into the bowl of a food processor. I got into a good rhythm doing this with both hands. Discard the skins.

Blend the peeled chickpeas until they form powdery clumps, then add:

1/4 cup tahini

the juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 – 2 cloves of crushed garlic (I like garlicky hummus so I went with two cloves, but the flavour intensifies over time, so go easy if you’re worried – you can always add more garlic later)

a good pinch of salt

Blend for a few more minutes, adding 3 – 4 tbsp of water a little at a time until the hummus is very light and creamy – it almost takes on a whipped consistency. Scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is evenly blended. Taste and add more lemon juice or salt as needed.

Once you get the desired taste and texture, it’s best to refrigerate the hummus for at least 30 minutes, but I ate it immediately and it was really good. To serve, scoop the hummus into a bowl and drizzle the top with about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with smoked paprika (hot or sweet) and chopped fresh herbs of your choice. Serve with plenty of fresh vegetables and toasted pita bread wedges.

Turns out that sourdough brownies are awesome. These ones in particular are made even more awesome by chunks of white chocolate and a swirl of raspberry, which helps cut through the chocolate, while the sourdough adds a certain depth of flavour and richness. In my opinion, the best brownies are fudgey and velvety, and these ones fit the bill. I would even venture to say that they are almost as good as Mark Bittman’s brownies, which is high praise because OHMIGOSH those are some good brownies.

This recipe makes a giant pan of brownies, so make sure you have someone (or several someones) to help you eat them, otherwise look out – you’re going to want to eat the whole pan yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Click the link below to see all the other decadent sourdough brownies that were made this month.

White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Sourdough Brownies

Adapted from Wild Yeast via The Gingered Whisk. Makes one 9″ x 13″ pan of brownies (24 squares).

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang of paper on the sides, then grease the paper. Set aside.

In a large heat-proof bowl, combine:

300 grams chopped dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

226 grams unsalted butter

Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water à la bain marie and heat, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Remove it from the heat and whisk in:

175 grams granulated white sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp instant coffee granules

2 tsp vanilla extract

One at a time, whisk in:

3 eggs

Once the eggs are fully combined, sift in:

40 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder

Stir to combine, then stir in:

220 grams mature sourdough starter (this can be discard starter)

Add:

150 grams white chocolate chunks

Fold to combine, then spread the thick batter into the prepared baking pan. Set aside while you make the raspberry swirl.

In a liquid measuring cup, measure:

1 cup fresh or frozen whole raspberries

Mash the berries with a fork (thaw them first if necessary) and stir in:

1 tbsp icing sugar

Dollop spoonfuls of the raspberry swirl mixture over the brownie batter in the pan, and swirl it through the batter with the tip of a blunt knife. Spread the batter evenly.

Bake in the preheated 325˚F oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until set in the middle and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (this took exactly 34 minutes for me). Let cool on a rack, then remove the brownies from the pan by grasping the overhanging paper on the sides of the pan. Cut into 24 pieces with a large knife (wipe off the blade between cuts for neater squares).

These would probably be OK stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for a few days – but I doubt they will hang around long enough to find out!

Grilled bone-in chicken, whether whole or in pieces, is best cooked over indirect heat and then finished off over higher heat to crisp it up and turn it golden brown. I followed the cooking method from Serious Eats and was rewarded by one of the better whole chickens I’ve ever cooked. It smelled amazing and was perfectly done all the way through, which is hard to do with a whole chicken because inevitably, the breast meat dries out before the dark meat is cooked. However, there are some tricks in this cooking method that get around this problem to give you some seriously delicious chicken.

I seasoned the chicken pretty simply with a generous amount of salt and pepper along with some smoked paprika and minced fresh thyme, and then let the grill do the rest. It’s raining this week, so I’ll have to wait until the weather gets better to cook outside again, but when I do, I will definitely be making this chicken!

Grilled Butterflied Chicken

Adapted from Serious Eats. This method works best with a 3 – 4 lb chicken.

Prep the grill

Prepare your grill for indirect cooking by lighting only one side of the grill and turning it to high heat, leaving the other side of the grill off. You will place the chicken over the “off” side, and the heat from the “on” side will cook it indirectly.

Butterfly/spatchcock the chicken

Turn the chicken breast-down so that the backbone faces up with the tail towards you. With a pair of kitchen shears, cut up along both sides of the backbone, removing it completely so that the chicken can be laid flat.

Turn the chicken breast-up and with the heel of your hand, press down on the breast to break the breast bone so that it lays even flatter. Thread one long skewer through the wings/top of the breast breast and another through the thighs/bottom of the breast, which will make the chicken easier to handle on the grill. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper, then turn skin-side up and sprinkle with smoked paprika and some minced fresh thyme.

Grill the chicken

Place the chicken, skin side up, on the “off” side of the grill with the legs facing towards the hot side. Cover and cook over indirect heat until the chicken registers just below 180˚F in the thighs. Flip the chicken, skin side down, onto the hot side of the grill and close the lid immediately – this will help minimize flare-ups (there will be some, but that’s OK). Cook for a few minutes, until the skin is golden brown with grill marks. The chicken should now be at 180˚F in the thighs – if not, return it to the “off” side of the grill (skin side up) and cook for a few minutes more.

Remove from the grill and sprinkle with a little more fresh thyme before serving.

I discovered them first in this totally amazing raw brownie recipe (seriously, they are awesome brownies, raw or otherwise) and I was basically flabbergasted that you could make something that tastes this good out of nothing but pulverized nuts, dates, and cocoa powder.

Not only are dates good in brownies, they also make killer no-bake peanut butter bites (I added some chopped chocolate to these):

AND they are a wonderful addition to a morning smoothie. My current favorite combination is a banana, a handful of frozen strawberries, a scoop of Greek yogurt, a little flax seed meal, a spoonful of almond butter for protein, a cup of water, a dash of cinnamon, and one or two pitted dates. It’s quite yummy and it packs some good nutrition thanks to the dates.

And finally, the subject of this post: these cookies. A friend sent me a recipe for energy bars made with basically just eggs, shredded coconut, and chocolate chips, and I turned it into these cookies, sweetened with dates. In future batches I might add some chocolate chips or cocoa powder, but I wanted these to be a healthy treat. They taste like a combination of a coconut macaroon and an oatmeal cookie, yet I feel no guilt at all eating these particular cookies for breakfast (along with a smoothie ).

Coconut Oatmeal and Date Cookies

Makes 20 or so cookies. If you happen to buy dates with pits, the best way to remove them is by squashing the date under the wide flat blade of a knife to expose the pit so you can pull it out.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine:

2 eggs

10 pitted dates

a pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until the dates are totally pulverized and the eggs look creamy.

Pour into a medium bowl and add:

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 cups rolled oats (I used old fashioned)

1/2 cup dried fruit (I used dried strawberries)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Mix until combined.

Press spoonfuls of the mixture into balls (it will be crumbly) and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Bake at 350˚F for about 12 minutes, until browned around the edges, and cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container.

I based this on Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, which she calls her culinary Mount Everest – and with good reason. This is an epic dish. I modified the bolognese recipe to accommodate what I had in my pantry, used my own pasta recipe for the lasagne sheets, and stupidly only made half as much béchamel as I needed, but it was still awesome. I guess I can’t call it “true” lasagne bolognese because I did sneak some mozzarella in there along with the parmesan, but whatever. It’s definitely the most authentic lasagne I’ve ever made, and it sets the bar high. Homemade pasta sheets for the win!

Because you’re making literally everything from scratch, the whole thing takes a while to put together. You could make it easy on yourself by simmering the sauce on day one and making the rest of the thing on day two, but I like taking the hard road, so I made it all in one day, starting with the bolognese first thing in the morning, making the pasta later in the afternoon, and assembling the lasagne for dinner. But I like I said: hard road. My feet were killing me by the time we had dinner (did I mention I was also making this cake at the same time?), but it was totally worth it.

Lasagne Bolognese

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen. Makes a 9″ x 13″ pan of lasagne (9-12 servings).

Bolognese Sauce

Makes about 4 cups. This requires 3 – 4 hours simmering, so feel free to make it the day before.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse until finely chopped (but not puréed):

1/2 a large onion, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

1 rib of celery, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a Dutch oven and heat over over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables and sauté until they start to brown. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Add:

1 lb of ground beef

Break it up with your spoon and cook until well browned. Season with more salt and pepper.

Add:

1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup water

1 generous tbsp of fruity balsamic vinegar (I used a blackberry balsamic vinegar – or you could omit the water and balsamic vinegar and instead deglaze the pan with 1 cup of red wine)

a big pinch each dried rosemary, oregano, and thyme

2 bay leaves

Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 3 – 4 hours until thick, rich, and succulent. Cool slightly before using to assemble the lasagne. Can be refrigerated overnight.

Pasta Sheets

With a fork, mix together:

2 large eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

Combine the egg mixture n a food processor bowl fitted with a dough blade (if you have one, otherwise the chopping blade is fine) with 2 cups of all purpose flour. Process until the dough starts to clump together, adding a few drops of water if necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, divide the dough into 6 pieces. Working one piece at a time (keep the rest covered to prevent them from drying out), roll the dough through a pasta machine, stopping at the next-to-thinnest setting (see this post for detailed pasta rolling instructions). Place the rolled-out sheets in a single layer on a tea towel, cut them into square-ish pieces, and cover them with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out too much.

To cook, drop a few squares at a time in rapidly boiling, salted water for 2 – 3 minutes. Plunge the boiled pasta into ice water to stop it from over-cooking, then shake off the excess water and place the pasta sheets on a baking sheet sprayed with oil. Stack the noodles, spraying them lightly with oil if you are worried about them sticking together.

Béchamel Sauce

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I only made half the amount listed below (it was a long day!) and definitely wished there had been more béchamel. Don’t be like me – make the full amount!

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup unsalted butter. Whisk in 1/2 cup all purpose flour and cook, stirring, until it starts to smell nutty. Little by little, stir in 4 cups milk, whisking vigorously until smooth (it will get clumpy after each addition of milk but whisking will smooth it out).

Add:

1 clove of garlic, very finely minced (I used a microplane grater)

1 tsp salt

freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

freshly ground pepper

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until thickened.

Lasagne Assembly

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Finely grate 1 cup mozzarella and 2/3 cup parmesan, then mix them together and set aside.

Spread 1/4 cup béchamel in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Top it with the pasta squares in one layer (they can overlap a bit) and then spread with 1 cup of bolognese sauce. Drizzle with 1/2 cup béchamel and top with 1/3 cup of cheese. Repeat the layers of pasta, bolognese, béchamel, and cheese three more times until you have four layers, then top with a fifth layer of pasta. Spread it with the remaining béchamel and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake in a 400˚F oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until bubbly and browned on top. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

When I asked Nate a few weeks ago what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he gave me free reign to make whatever I felt like. I was all set to make a tres leches cake, but when I told him this the day before he didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as I was. So I asked him exactly what he wanted, and he gave me these particulars: chocolate, maybe some bacon, perhaps some caramel. Basically, “It should be… insane.”

Normally I spend days planning how I’m going to make a cake, but I only had twenty-four hours to figure this one out. I thought the best plan of attack would be to add candied bacon to a chocolate and caramel cake, so with Martha Stewart’s Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake for inspiration, I made the Cooks Illustrated Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes into two six-inch cake layers, sandwiched them together with a filling of salted dulce de leche and brown sugar-candied bacon bits, and frosted it with the richest chocolate frosting you’ve ever met. The result was as requested: insane.

Have you ever had candied bacon? It’s pretty amazing if you like the salty-sweet combo, and even more amazing dipped in chocolate. It plays two roles in this cake: chopped up and added to the dulce de leche filling between the cake layers, and the aforementioned chocolate dipped pieces on top. It becomes chewy in the filling rather than keeping its crunch, but it is no less delicious. And the chocolate dipped stuff is, well, insane.

Beware though – while this recipe only makes a six-inch cake, it is incredibly chocolately and rich. Small pieces (accompanied by a large glass of milk) are plenty!

Chocolate Caramel Bacon Insanity Cake

Makes one 6″ layer cake, about 8 – 10 servings.

Dulce de Leche

Peel the label off one can of sweetened condensed milk, then place it in a pot and cover it with water so that it is completely submerged. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover, reduce to low, and simmer for 3 hours, topping up the water lever as needed to make sure that the can stays completely covered the entire time (otherwise there’s a danger of it exploding). Once the 3 hours are up, remove the pot from the heat and let the can cool completely in the water, ie overnight. Once cool, scoop the caramelized contents of the can into a bowl, sprinkle it with a good pinch of flaky sea salt, and stir until smooth. (If necessary, stir in a few drops of milk to make it easily spreadable.)

Chocolate Cake

Follow the recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes, but divide the batter between two 6″ round cake pans than have been greased, lined with parchment paper, and dusted with cocoa powder. Wrap each pan with a strip of damp towel (this will help the cakes bake into flat, even layers) and bake at 350˚F for 25 – 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Invert the cakes onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment paper, and allow to cool completely.

Candied Bacon

Coat 6 slices of thick-cut, double-smoked bacon in about 6 tbsp of brown sugar, pressing it thickly onto both sides of the bacon. Place the bacon on a rack on a foil-lined baking sheet (otherwise, like me, you will have a mess of burnt-on sugar and bacon fat to scrape off your baking sheet) and bake at 350˚F for about 15 minutes, then flip, sprinkle with a little bit more sugar, and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes, until deeply caramelized. Let cool on the rack (the bacon with get crispy as it cools).

Once cool, chop 3 slices into small pieces. Cut the remaining 3 slices into larger pieces and dip them in 50 grams of melted dark chocolate. Place them on waxed paper to dry.

Chocolate Frosting

From Martha Stewart

Melt 250 grams of dark chocolate and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine:

3 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder

3 tbsp hot water

Mix thoroughly and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (a better idea than the whisk, as I discovered), beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft

1/4 cup icing sugar

a good pinch of sea salt

Beat in the cooled melted chocolate, then the cocoa powder mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined, then set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature before frosting the cake (don’t refrigerate it or it will be impossible to spread over the cake).

Assembly

Cut each cake horizontally into 2 layers, for 4 layers total. Place one layer on a cake base and spread it with about 2 tbsp of dulce de leche. Sprinkle it with a little pinch of sea salt, then with 1/4 of the chopped bacon pieces. Repeat with the second and third cake layers and top with the fourth, pressing down firmly to stick them together. Set aside the remaining chopped bacon pieces and dulce de leche.

Frost the top and sides of the cake evenly with the chocolate frosting using an offset spatula (you can do a crumb coat if you wish, but I found it wasn’t necessary). Run the spatula under hot water and wipe it dry, then use it to smooth out the frosting. Chill the cake until the frosting is set, then spread the top with about 2 tbsp of the remaining dulce de leche and sprinkle it with the remaining chopped candied bacon.

Decorate with the chocolate-covered bacon and chill to set everything, then bring to room temperature before serving.

Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

Before this month, I had of course heard of the great epicure and gastronome Brillat-Savarin, but not of this cake by the same name – which is quite unlike any other cake I’ve ever made. It starts with a rich brioche dough baked in a ring pan (there are special Savarin pans, but a bundt or angel food cake pan works too). The baked cake is soaked in a flavoured syrup, which it soaks up like a thirsty sponge, and then the hole in the middle is filled with pastry cream and topped with fruit. Savarin is very similar to baba au rhum, which is soaked in rum syrup and usually made into individual cakes, and both baba and Savarin are somehow related to Polish babka (sort of like this babka – it’s all one big extended brioche family).

The recipe Natalia provided makes a huge cake, but seeing as there are only the two of us, I cut it down to one third and still ended up with six mini Savarins (or are they babas?). I put some lemon and orange rind in the dough (which smelled amazing when it was baking) and soaked it in an orange-lemon-Grand Marnier syrup. Then I made a strawberry purée, some of which I folded into the pastry cream, and the rest of which I served underneath the Savarins.

The soaking syrup makes the final cake super moist – almost juicy – yet it manages to maintain its structural integrity and be springy rather than soggy, thanks to the highly-developed gluten in the dough. Bread flour is used to insure that gluten development, which can be inhibited by the fat from the egg yolks and butter in the dough. This is compensated for by the order in which the ingredients for the dough are mixed: flour and egg whites first to get a head start on the gluten development, and then the yolks and butter later. This results in an incredibly elastic and stretchy dough that rises very well, however because it is an enriched dough, it does need a warm place to rise – ie, the oven with just the light turned on.

There were lots of components to this dessert – cake, syrup, pastry cream, sauce – but with a little planning it came together pretty easily. The cake is best if it soaks in the syrup at least overnight (it gains more flavour the longer it soaks), and the pastry cream needs to be chilled for several hours, so give yourself two days to make this. I made it over a weekend and woke up super early on Sunday morning, so I decided to make the pastry cream and get ahead of schedule – only to knock it out of the fridge a few hours later, shattering the bowl and spattering pastry cream all over the floor (there may have been some swearing). Luckily this is a pretty simple pastry cream, so I whipped up another batch in no time, and I remembered a good trick: instead of putting the pastry cream in a bowl to chill, spread it out on a plate and it will cool much faster.

This is a very versatile dessert, what with all the possible flavour combinations for soaking syrup and pastry cream. For a sampling of the Savarin variations offered up by the Daring Bakers this month, check out the Daring Kitchen. Thanks for hosting this challenge Natalia, and for introducing me to this new recipe!

Mini Strawberry Savarins

Adapted from the April 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge recipe. Makes 6 small Savarins.

Savarin Dough

In a very small bowl, mix together the sponge:

8 grams bread flour

1/2 tsp instant yeast

10 ml (2 tsp) lukewarm water

Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 60 minutes.

After 30 minutes, begin mixing the dough. In the bowl of a mixer, combine:

2 egg whites, at room temperature (reserve the 2 yolks for later)

90 grams bread flour

Mix with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed to make a soft sticky dough, then continue mixing until it comes together.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes, but which time the sponge should be ready. Measure out 19 grams of bread flour and set aside.

Add the sponge to the egg white-flour mixture along with:

1/4 of the reserved bread flour

1/2 tsp each grated orange and lemon zest

Mix at low speed until combined, then add:

1 of the reserved egg yolks

1/4 more of the reserved bread flour

Mix again at low speed, then when it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add:

the 2nd reserved egg yolk

1/4 more of the reserved bread flour

scant 1/2 tsp salt

7 grams granulated white sugar

Increase the mixer speed a little bit and mix until the dough is elastic and starts stringing threads from the paddle to the sides of the bowl. Add:

20 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

As soon as the butter is absorbed into the dough, add the remaining 1/4 of the reserved bread flour. Continue mixing the dough until it is elastic and stretchy enough to pass the window pane test – that is, you can stretch it into a transparent membrane without it tearing.

Once it gets to this stage, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the dough in a warm place to rise until tripled in volume, 2 – 3 hours.

Place the risen dough on a buttered surface, and with buttered hands and a buttered dough scraper (or a buttered pie server!) stretch and fold the dough from the edge into the middle, 4 or 5 folds in total. Cover the dough with the upturned bowl and rest 15 minutes, then repeat the stretching and folding. Again, cover and rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough rests, butter 6 mini bundt pans, making sure that each little nook and cranny is greased but without leaving too much excess butter in the pan.

Divide the rested dough into 6 equal pieces and with buttered fingers, shape each one into a ball and then poke a hole in the middle to make a doughnut shape. Place each doughnut in the prepared mini bundt pans, then cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost level with the top of the pan, about 1 hour. While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Bake the risen Savarins in the 350˚F oven for 20 – 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan, then remove them, just to make sure that you are actually able to get them out (this might take a little bit of tugging – don’t worry, they are fairly sturdy). You can soak the cakes in syrup as soon as they are cool, or let them dry out a little bit so they soak up even more syrup (this shouldn’t be a problem even if they are fresh though!)

Lemon-Orange-Grand Marnier Syrup

In a small saucepan, combine:

175 ml water

100 grams granulated white sugar

Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer until the sugar dissolved completely. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes, then add:

65 ml each (130 ml total) freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice

50 ml Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

Stir to combine.

To soak the cakes, place them back in the bundt pan and with a long skewer, poke several holes in the top of each cake. Ladle spoonfuls of the warm syrup evenly over the cakes, which should soak it up readily. Add all the syrup, or enough that you start to see it pooling around each cake. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let soak at a cool room temperature overnight or up to 2 days.

Strawberry Pastry Cream

In a medium bowl, whisk together until well combined:

1 egg

12 grams cornstarch

40 grams granulated white sugar

Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat just until boiling:

167 ml milk

As soon as the milk reaches a boil, pour it very slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it just comes to a boil and thickens. It might start to look curdled but just whisk like crazy and it will smooth out.

Remove from the heat and stir in:

1 tsp unsalted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the pastry cream into a medium-sized bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until completely cool.

Hull and halve 1 lb of strawberries, reserving 6 perfect berries for garnish. Place the berries in a bowl along with 1 heaping tsp granulated white sugar and let them macerate for about 15 minutes, until the berries start releasing some juice. Put the berries and their juices in the bowl of a food processor and purée until completely smooth. Press through a sieve to remove the seeds and add a squeeze of lemon juice and more sugar to taste, if needed.

Whip 1/3 cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside half the whipped cream to garnish the Savarins. Fold the other half into the chilled pastry cream, then fold in 3 – 4 tbsp strawberry sauce (reserve the rest for serving). Can be used immediately or chilled to thicken if necessary.

Assembly

With a serrated knife, trim the soaked Savarins so they will sit level.

(If desired, you can make a glaze for the Savarins so they are nice and shiny (I didn’t do this): mix together 1 tbsp apricot jam and 1 tbsp boiling water, then press through a sieve to remove any lumps. Brush the glaze over the outside of each Savarin.)

Spoon a puddle of strawberry sauce on each plate and place a Savarin in the middle. Pipe the strawberry pastry cream into the hole in the middle, then pipe the reserved whipped cream decoratively around the top and bottom of the Savarin. Garnish with a halved strawberry and serve immediately.

This post has been YeastSpotted and submitted to Panissimo (hosted by Barbara and Sandra).

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The picture came from a British food TV show called Simply Italian, which of course I couldn’t watch in Canada, but I did manage to find the recipe for “wedding tortelli“. Unfortunately it didn’t give very clear instructions for how to shape the tortelli, so I turned to the Google machine and found a related pasta shape called culurgiones:

Culurgiones are also known as Sardinian ravioli and usually have a potato filling, sort of like a cross between a ravioli and a pierogi. They are formed in a manner similar to the tortelli in question, however they are more round and plump like dumplings versus the tapered, almost leaf-like shape of tortelli, which is what I was after.

Finally, months later when Sourdough Surprises announced that April’s project would be sourdough pasta, I revived the search and managed to find the YouTube’d episode of Simply Italian where the tortelli is made. Turns out that it’s actually called tortelli piacentini, not just tortelli, which explains why I had so much trouble finding any tutorials for shaping it. But luckily, here’s a good one:

The traditional filling is spinach and ricotta, but I went with a butternut squash and ricotta filling instead, which I could happily eat with a spoon. (Apparently there is another traditional filling that contains squash along with mostarda – fruit candied with mustard! – and amaretti biscuits, but I’m not quite ready to go there yet…) Topped with browned butter, fried sage leaves, toasty hazelnuts, a drizzle of crema di balsamico, and of course grated parmesan, this is indeed a very special pasta. So delicious, and pretty frickin’ beautiful, if I do say so myself.

In honour of the first anniversary of Sourdough Surprises this month, the recipe for the sourdough pasta dough (from Jenni at The Gingered Whisk) is the one that started it all. It’s a little bit stickier than regular pasta dough so be sure to flour it liberally when rolling it out, but it’s a fun way to use up excess starter and it cooks up with a really great, tender yet firm texture.

Check out the other Sourdough Surprisers’ pasta:

Sourdough Tortelli Piacentini

Makes about 6 dozen pieces (6 servings).

Sourdough Pasta Dough

From The Gingered Whisk.

In a mixer bowl, with the dough hook attachment, combine:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup 100% hydration sourdough starter (does not have to be super active)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Mix on low speed to bring it all together, then increase the speed to medium-low and mix until it comes together in a smooth, cohesive dough (you may need to scrape it off the dough hook a few times). You could easily mix and knead the dough by hand, but I am still nursing tendonitis in my elbow (seriously lame!) and kneading anything is not cool at the moment. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it sit for a few hours (up to overnight) to relax the gluten.

During its rest it might puff up a little from the starter, but a rise is not necessary. Prepare the squash and ricotta filling while the dough rests.

Squash and Ricotta Filling

From Canadian Living. Makes a little bit more than you’ll need but it freezes well for next time.

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Cut one small-ish butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and place it cut-side down in a parchment paper-lined baking pan. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Let it cool for a few minutes them remove the skin – it should peel right off. Set aside to cool completely, then measure out 1 1/2 cups of mashed squash.

Combine the mashed squash with:

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 cup grated parmesan

a good sprinkle of freshly gated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Place the filling in a piping bag or large Ziplock, snip off the tip, and set aside while you roll out the pasta dough.

Shaping the Tortelli Piacentini

From Simply Italian and this video.

Tip: Roll out and shape the tortelli one sheet of dough at a time, rather than rolling out all the dough first and then shaping them all at once afterwards. It is much much easier to fold the dough when it is fresh and soft – it tends to dry out and get too stiff if it sits.

On a well-floured surface, divide your rested pasta dough into 6 pieces. If you have a pasta machine, roll one piece at a time through the rollers, starting at the widest setting all the way down to the thinnest. Do 3 passes through on each setting, folding the pasta in half after each pass and keeping it well floured to prevent sticking. The finished pasta sheet should be about the thickness of one playing card. If you are rolling the dough out by hand, good luck!!

Cut out circles of dough, 7 or 8 cm in diameter, and pipe a tear drop of filling from the middle to half a centimeter from the bottom edge of the circle (about 1 tsp of filling).

I’m right-handed, so shaping the tortelli went like this: hold the circle in your left hand and fold the bottom edges into a wide V (wider is better). Using the index finger of your right hand, delicately fold the right outside edge in to the middle to make a pleat. Use your right thumb to bring the left outside edge in to the middle to make a second pleat. Repeat, going back and forth from either side, making pleats with your index finger and thumb, until you run out of dough. Pinch off any filling that escapes and squeeze both ends closed. Here’s that video tutorial again -make sure you watch it before trying this.

Place the completed tortelli on a baking sheet sprinkled with semolina flour to prevent them from sticking (avoid using regular flour for this – it will just get clumpy and soggy). Repeat the rolling out and shaping with the remaining pasta dough, one sheet at a time.

The tortelli can be cooked immediately in rapidly boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes until al dente, or they can sit uncovered for a few hours, but you might need to flip them over if their bottoms start to get a bit soggy. Alternatively, you can freeze them in a single layer on the baking sheet and then transfer them into a Ziplock bag once frozen (they can be cooked right from frozen).

Tortelli Piacentini with Browned Butter, Sage and Hazelnuts

Adapted from Simply Italian. This comes together very quickly, so make sure you have all your ingredients for the sauce ready to go before you put the pasta in the boiling water. Serves 2.

In plenty of boiling, salted water, cook 2 dozen tortelli piacentini for about 3 minutes, until the pasta is al dente.

Meanwhile, melt in a 9 or 10-inch saucepan over medium heat:

3 tbsp unsalted butter

Add:

a small tbsp of chopped hazelnuts

a few fresh sage leaves

Cook until the butter just starts to brown – remove it from the heat to prevent it from getting too brown and burning, if necessary.

When the butter is brown, add a few spoonfuls of the pasta water to create an emulsion. Spoon the cooked tortelli directly into the pan and toss gently to coat in the browned butter sauce.

Divide between two bowls, drizzle with a little bit of crema di balsamico* or balsamic vinegar, and top with shards of parmesan cheese and some fresh sage leaves.

*Make your own balsamic syrup by reducing balsamic vinegar with a bit of honey until thick and syrupy.

This post has been YeastSpotted!

This beautiful, holey, airy, chewy bread is exactly what homemade bread should be: rustic and delicious and better than anything you can buy in the store, partly because it only contains five ingredients (flour, water, yeast, salt, and olive oil) but mostly because you made it yourself. That’s the part about baking bread that I love the best.

Ciabatta means “slipper” in Italian, and this bread is called that because apparently it looks like a worn-out old house slipper – ie: flat and kind of shapeless. It is made from a super high hydration dough, which gives it all those characteristic lovely bubbles and holes in the interior, but which also makes it hard to shape into anything other than a blob. But no worries – what it lacks in conventional good looks it more than makes up for in deliciousness, and when you cut into the wrinkled brown crust to reveal the creamy white, almost lacy interior, well… that, my friends, is beauty.

The typical ciabatta has a low rounded cross-section, a custardy interior crumb riddled with large holes, a thin-crispy-chewy crust, and a wrinkled-looking exterior from being coated in flour before baking. My loaves are lacking a few wrinkles – next time, more flour on the outside – but other than they are pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. The recipe couldn’t be much easier – you don’t even have to knead the dough, which instead employs the good old stretch-and-fold method combined with a long rest in the fridge to develop flavour and stretchy gluten strands.

This is the kind of bread you want to eat on its own, with maybe a smear of butter, just to enjoy the magic that happens when flour, water, and yeast combine. Sorry to wax all poetic here, but damn – bread is awesome, this one in particular.

Ciabatta Bread

From the “Pain à l’Ancienne” recipe in Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Everyday. Makes 2 large loaves.

Up to four days before you want to bake the ciabatta, mix the dough. In a large bowl, combine:

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast

In a measuring cup, mix together:

2 cups cold water

1 tbsp olive oil

Add the water/oil to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon for a minute, until it is all evenly moistened and sticky. It will be quite wet, almost more of a batter than a dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic and let it rest for 10 minutes. While the dough rests, lightly rub your work surface with a thin coat of olive oil – this will help keep the wet dough from sticking.

After 10 minutes, scrape the dough out onto the oiled surface – you should almost be able to pour the dough out of the bowl. Wash the bowl out and oil it lightly with more olive oil. Wet your hands (this will prevent them from sticking to the dough) and grab the dough on one side from underneath, stretching it up and then folding it over on itself. Repeat this stretching and folding in all four directions, then scrape the dough up and put it back into the now-oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and rest 10 minutes.

Repeat every 10 minutes three more times, for a total of four stretch-and-folds over 40 minutes. With each consecutive series of stretches and folds, the dough will become less of a sticky mess and more cohesive, elastic, and manageable. Keeping your hands wet when handling it will make it much easier.

After 40 minutes, place the covered dough in the fridge to ferment at least overnight and for up to 4 days. It will rise in the fridge, perhaps up to double its original size.

Remove the dough from the fridge 3 hours before you want to bake. If it hasn’t risen to 1 1/2 times its original size, give it an extra hour at room temperature to rise a bit more.

After an hour (or more as necessary), line the back of a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust it liberally with flour. Flour your work surface heavily as well.

With wet hands, very carefully scrape the dough out of the bowl into the floured work surface, being careful not to deflate it. It should be full of bubbles and feel almost bouncy. Still with wet hands, gently shape the dough into a rectangle, reaching underneath the dough with your fingers to stretch it as necessary. With a large knife (wet the blade), cut it in half. Gently fold each half into thirds, like a letter, and equally gently, roll the dough in flour to coat it.

Transfer each blob of dough to the floured parchment paper, placing it seam-side down. Mist with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 1 hour.

After an hour, transfer the dough back to your floured work surface, seam-side down to once again coat it in flour, then flip it over seam-side up. With your hands underneath the dough, gently stretch it into a rectangle and place it back on the parchment paper, seam-side up this time. Make sure the top surface is well-coated with flour to ensure that floury, wrinkled exterior. Cover gently with plastic and let the dough proof for one final hour.

Forty minutes before the hour is up, preheat the oven to 550˚F (or its highest temperature) with a rack and baking stone (if you have one large enough) in the middle position and a metal roasting pan on a lower rack. When the dough is finished proofing, place it in the oven with the parchment paper, either on the upside-down baking sheet or directly on the baking stone (mine wasn’t big enough for both loaves). Pour a mugful of hot tap water into the roasting pan, close the door, and turn the oven temperature down to 450˚F. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the loaves and bake 15-20 minutes more, until the bread is well browned and hollow-sounding when tapped.

Cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing (the waiting is torture!).

This post has been YeastSpotted, and submitted to Panissimo hosted by Barbara and Sandra.

This was the first time I’d cooked spaghetti squash and it couldn’t have been easier – almost as easy as boiling pasta. Simply hack the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and bake until tender. The fun part is using a fork to scrape it into noodle-like ribbons. While I wouldn’t consider it a replacement for pasta by any means, it was a nice alternative. As with most squash, it has a slight sweetness to it, and I’ve been trying to think of other ways to to use it as “pasta” that would play off that flavour.

As for the meatballs, these ones are inspired by the homemade Italian sausage recipe I got from my Mum. Ground pork, spices, an egg, and a handful of breadcrumbs are mixed and then rolled into small balls, browned in a heavy skillet and simmered with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and a pat of butter for a little richness. I prefer my tomato-based pasta sauces to be a little bit brothy, so I use diced tomatoes rather than tomato sauce or adding tomato paste. I also added some chunky sautéed mushrooms and stirred in some spinach at the last minute to make one of my favorite “pasta” sauces to date. I’ve made this sauce twice so far and each time I have that satisfied feeling of having just eaten exactly what I was craving. I hope it makes you feel the same!

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

The squash I used was a little on the small side and yielded just enough “pasta” for two, whereas the meatballs and sauce could probably feed 3 or 4. I’ve suggested a larger squash to even out the yields for 3 – 4 servings.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Cut 1 medium-large spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

Place the squash cut-side-up in a baking tray and brush the exposed flesh with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes, until the flesh is easily pierced with a fork.

While the squash bakes, prepare the meatballs. In a bowl, mix together:

3/4 lb ground pork

1 tsp coarse kosher salt

a good amount of freshly ground black pepper

a big pinch of chili flakes

a big pinch of anise seeds

a big pinch of fennel seeds

2 – 3 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

a good handful of breadcrumbs (I use panko)

Combine the mixture with your hands, then roll it by tablespoons into small balls. Place them on a plate and refrigerate for about 10 – 15 minutes to firm up.

While the meatballs are chilling, prepare:

1 medium onion, diced

a handful of mushrooms, quartered

2 – 3 garlic cloves, minced (I like a lot of garlic, obviously!)

To cook the meatballs, place a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add about 1 tbsp olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the meatballs to the pan in a single layer.

Cook on one side until browned, then give the pan a few good shakes to turn the meatballs over. If they are sufficiently browned and ready to turn, they will dislodge themselves. I find shaking the pan much easier than turning each meatball with tongs, and they tend to cook more evenly this way.

When the meatballs are looking browned on all sides, add the diced onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until softened and just beginning to colour. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

Push everything to the sides of the pan, add the mushrooms, and stir to brown on all sides. Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper.

Add a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes and a pat of butter. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 – 20 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Remove the lid and simmer to thicken the sauce a bit.

By now the squash should be ready, ie: fork tender. Pull it out of the oven and let it sit for a few minutes to cool a bit. While the squash cools, roughly chop a few big handfuls of spinach and add it to the meatballs and tomato sauce.

Let the spinach wilt while you scrape the squash flesh out of the skin with a fork and divide it between your serving plates.

Top the squash with the meatballs and sauce and finish with grated parmesan cheese.