Zucchini and Goat Cheese Cannelloni

I am back! As promised, with a new recipe today: Zucchini and Goat Cheese Cannelloni.

Ingredients:
- 3 zucchinis (courgettes)
- 1 onion
- 200 g of fresh goat cheese
- 12 cannelloni
- 400 ml of tomato coulis
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 5 pinches of thyme
- 3 pinches of oregano
- salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Mince the onion and grate the zucchinis.
2. Sweat the minced onion in one tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Add the zucchinis and let cook for about 5 minutes while stirring from time to times.
4. While it is cooking start boiling a large pan of water, with a bit of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil.
5. To the zucchini mixture add the goat cheese cut in small pieces, as well as the thyme. Let cook 2 more minutes before taking the mixture off the heat and let it cool down.
6. Preheat the oven at 200 °C.
7. Once the water has boiled, put the cannelloni in for 4 minutes, and then drain them and rinse them in cold water.
8. Lay out the cannelloni on a plate and then fill them with the mixture one by one.
9. Cover the bottom of an oven dish with half of the tomato sauce, line up the filled cannelloni, and top them with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle with oregano, and put in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

C'est prês!

Variations:
- Different types will obviously give you a different final product. Experiment!
- Instead of the tomato coulis, you can also try with a flavored tomato sauce, e.g. basil tomato sauce.
- You can also put Tabasco in the tomato coulis if you like your food spicy!

Tips:
- To fill in the cannelloni faster, you can cut a small hole in the corner of a disposable freezing bag and put the mixture in it.

Opinion: ALthough I must admit that filling in the cannelloni is not the easiest thing in the world, and and that being a bit clumsy myself, my kitchen afterwards was a bit of a mess, this Italian recipe in the end is really quite good, and is worth the effort.

I Cook For...: Friends or family, definitely for a group of people rather than for one person! You will impress them with the originality of this recipe!!

24 more days to vote for what you want to see on this blog!! :)

Quicker than a Crumble!!!!

Today, I'll present you a desert idea that I came up with by looking at what I had in my fridge. Not only is it very simple, but it is also delicious!
Ingredients:
- a commercial or already made sweet short crust pastry (this is usually used as a base for pies)
- 400g of berry fruits (these are ideally fresh, but if you have frozen one they will do.
- sugar

Preparation:
1. Mix your fresh or now de-frozen berries with a bit of sugar (depending on your taste, you can add no sugar at all if you want to)
2. Disperse the fruits in different little bowls that go in the oven.
3. Cut pieces of the sweet short crust pastry that are the size of the top of your bowls. Place the pieces on the top of the fruits on the bowls.
4. If your short crust pastry is not sweet, you can also top it with a bit of sugar.
5. Heat the oven at 180°C.
6. Place the bowls in the oven and let it cook for 30 minutes.

Opinion: I think this is a good recipe when you need to quickly do a desert. It is rather simple to do and therefore is a very simple desert in terms of flavors. However, it is a desert that would easily be improved with a bit of imagination and creativity. Additional ingredients could increase the complexity of the taste of this desert.
I Cook For...: Friends or family. Due to its simplicity this desert is not necessarily appropriate for quality guests, except if improved or served with additional elements.

Don't hesitate to leave comments, feedback and questions!

Prawn Risotto

Today I have tried a new type of risotto: A prawn risotto!!

Ingredients:
- 350 of risotto rice
- 25g of butter
- 1 onion
- 30cl of dry white wine
- 1 liter of broth of poultry
- 3 tablespoons of mascarpone (you can replace it by fresh creme)
- 20 prawns (can be replaced by gambas but not as ideal)
- olive oil
- 30g of parmesan
- 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder (if using gambas)
- 1 teaspoon of curry powder (if using gambas)
- salt and pepper


Preparation:
1. If you are using gambas, you are going to make a marinade with the ginger, curry and a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, in which you will put the gambas and let them 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge. However, if you are using nice prawns, the marinade is really not necessary and would 'waste' a bit the already fine taste of the prawns, which are already delicious to eat plain.
2. To the boiling broth of poultry, add the heads and tails of the prawns, as well as 10 cl of the dry white wine. Reduce the fire a bit.
3. For the risotto, in a different pan, mince the onion and sweat it with the butter.
4. Add the rice and let it cook slowly for 2 minutes.
5. Add the rest of the wine and let it cook until all the liquide has evaporated completely.
6. Then, add a laddle of broth (that you have sieved to take out the prawn heads and tails). Let the liquid evaporate once again, and add ladle by ladle of broth until the rice is cooked (the rice must be creamy but slightly firm at places).
7. When you believe that your rice is cooked, add little pieces of parmesan that you will let melt as well as the mascarpone.
7. Fry the prawns in a touch of olive oil (prawns cook very quickly).
8. Serve the rice and top with the prawns.
VOILA! :)

Tips: To sweat an onion, means to cook it in a pan with a bit of oil or butter without coloring it. The onion has to be cooked at a very low heat, it has to be stired from times to times, and the pan has to be covered.
Opinion: I really like this recipe, especially with prawns. It is better if the prawns are large because they will not break in peaces when you peel off their shells.
I Cook For...: Friends or guests!! The only thing about this recipe is that the risotto has to be served as soon as it is ready, therefore if you have guest you will not be able to really be with them when you are making the risotto. On the other hand, the risotto rice cooks rather fast so it is not necessary a problem.

Don't hesitate to leave comments, feedback and questions!

LEAVE YOUR RECIPES!

Hey everyone!

I was thinking that I would be very interested in trying some of YOUR recipes!!
So please leave your recipes in the comments or even link me your cooking blogs so I can check them out and maybe add them to my list of links to different cooking blogs! :)

Thanks in advance, and have a great day!

Julie M.