Pumpkin nioki - νιόκι από κολοκύθα!

Long time ago, before I even created this blog my mother gave me a pasta machine. It ‘s this thing that helps you cut the pasta and create tagliatelle or ravioli. At That time I got so enthusiastic that I was spending almost every afternoon doing my home made pasta… till I fed up but I always had in my mind to try it again. Fresh homemade pasta! Honestly the taste is far better but it needs time … today I woke up and with the idea make nioki! I 've never made nioki again and it is a plate I like a lot. You can have it as first plate in a dinner or even alone. Then I found a recipe of pumpkin nioki! Very enthusiastic! Different plate. And since I bought a pumpkin the other day for my soups I thought to give it a try!

Here is the recipe:

1 kilo pumpkin

60 gr ricotta

250 gr Parmesan

1 egg

Nutmeg

1 spoon of toasted bread

Salt

Cut the pumpkin in small pieces put it in the oven in 200oC for about 30 minutes. After is ready put in a bowl with ricotta , Parmesan egg , nutmeg and toasted bread. Add some salt and knead it until it becomes a dough. By this time the mixture is ready to be cut. Spread some flour in a surface and scroll the mixture in order to become a cylinder and start cut small pieces. Boil them in a very hot water with salt until they come on the surface of the water. I keep the recipe simple as I didn’t made any sauce but just some butter with a small piece of garlic and 3 or 4 leaves of basil. The Italian do this recipe with sage but unfortunately I hate sage so I use basil.

κειμενο στα ελληνικά

Healthy office lunch

I don’t know about you but for me everyday thinking of what to carry in the office for quick and healthy lunch sometimes is exhausting. Everyday different food in order to cover the whole pyramid of healthy ingredients…  I found out that is more is easy for my to carry tarts and pies. Lately I ‘ve been through a very nice recipe of zucchini and carrot pie and I tried it my self. Very delicious! Next day in the office it was a really success. I found the recipe here  and I made few changes such us I included in the ingredients 2 or 3 spoon of flour because my mixture turned to be really wet. I also included  parmesan cheese inside and on the top as well as black sesame too.

It is easy and very delicious! And the best snack for the office!

Δεν ξέρω για εσάς αλλά το να σκέφτομαι τι υγιεινό σνακ θα πάρω την επόμενη στη δουλειά καταντάει μερικές φορές κουραστικό. Ιδιαίτερα όταν πρέπει να καλύψω όλη την διατροφική πυραμίδα και έτσι να συνδυάσω τροφές. Έχω καταλήξει όμως τελευταία στις πίτες και στις τάρτες που εύκολα μεταφέρονται και τρώγονται σε περιβάλλον γραφείου. Εννοείται ότι προσπαθώ να τις διατηρήσω όσο πιο υγιεινές και light γίνεται γιαυτο όταν πρόσφατα έπεσα πάνω σε αυτή την συνταγή ενθουσιάστηκα και την δοκίμασα η ίδια. Έκανα πολύ μικρές αλλαγές όπως πρόσθεσα 2 με 3 κουταλιές αλεύρι επειδή το δικό μου μείγμα βγήκε πολύ υδαρές. Επίσης στο μείγμα πρόσθεσα αρκετή παρμεζάνα καθώς και αποπάνω μαζί με μαύρο σουσάμι. Ήταν πολύ εύκολη και πολύ νόστιμη συνταγή ότι πρέπει για υγιεινό σνακ στο γραφείο.

Chocolate tart for girls night out - Τάρτα σοκολάτας

I am invited in cleo’s for a girls night. We are going to watch the sex n the city 2. So we decided to bring something each of us. I was ordered the pastry.

I made my best and made a chocolate tart.. could you think of anything better for girls watching sex n the city?

For the dough I used this recipe

For the chocolate filling:
141 gr bittersweet chocolate
100 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature
30 gr sugar
3 eggs

I prepared and baked my dough according to the  instructions and set aside.

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, bring the butter and sugar together to a boil over medium. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and gently whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time whisking quickly until the mixture is smooth. Place the mixture among the tart and bake for 15 minutes. I decorated with sfendamon candies and leaves from sugar.

Do you like?

Tart with crème and grapes (Τάρτα με κρέμα και σταφύλια)

Gateau for today to sweeten up our days. The summer seems to return so the pastry is something fresh with fruits.

for the dough:

80 gr sugar confectioner

150 gr butter

250 gr flour

for the filling:

400 gr milk

100 gr creme fresh

100 gr sugar

4 egg yolks

1 egg

50 gr corn flour

Vanilla

Grapes

For the dough

I put all the ingredients in a mixer and combine them till they will become a dough.

I leave it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. After we preheat oven in 160 C and we place the dough in a tartiere. We bake it for about 30 minutes.

For the creme:

We put the milk with the creme fresh and vanilla over the heat in a pan. In a boll we combine sugar with corn flour and the eggs. When the mixture with milk is on boil we split it over the egg’s mixture slowly while beating it. We continue to beat until the creme will be sticky. Then we leave it rest and cooler.

The last part is the best : we fill the tart curd with the creme and we place the grapes on top and voila…

 Ακολουθεί κείμενο στα ελληνικά

Καλό Φθινόπωρο!

Autumn weather for this weekend; yesterday it was the first rain of the season and although I was out I enjoyed it a lot! Nevertheless, after a long time we decided to stay at home for the weekend. So the food was according to this weather and mood: the first soup of the season. Fish and vegetable soup.

2 small fresh scrods
3 zucchinis
3 potatoes
3 carrots
1 leak
1 onion
Celery
Chives
Salt and pepper

I always follow my mother’s recipe for fish soup. It is the one that travels me back to the years I was staying with my parents and fish soup was a food that once a week we had on the table. I always enjoyed all the flavors of the vegetables and the fish together in one plate.

I pot all the vegetables with some water in a pan and bring to boil. When the vegetables are cooked I add to the fish some salt and boiled them for about 15 minutes. After the food is ready I remove the fish from the soup and I melt everything in the blender. I serve the soup with small pieces of fish inside, few chives, a spoon of oil and lots of pepper. I also prepared a zucchini and potato pie and green salad. It was the perfect meal for the first weekend of the season of Fall.
ακολουθει κείμενο στα ελληνικά:

A treat for Cleo...

Bon filet with béarnaise sauce !!!

You must have understood so far that I am not very fond of meat. I mean just have a look at my blog and you will understand  my food selections. Still, there is one kind of meat that I love to eat and I know that I am not the only one. Bon filet, and this time I made it with béarnaise sauce, very classical combination although I didn’t t use butter for the sauce but just extra virgin oil.. healthy and Mediterranean version of bon filet with béarnaise sauce

2 bon filet
15 black pepper
50 ml vinegar from red wine (I used vinegar with myrtles from IKEA delicatessen)
50 ml white wine
1 spoon water
4 egg yolks
200 ml extra virgin oil

In a small pot bring vinegar with black pepper to boil until there is no vinegar left. Then add the wine and the water and strain the mixture into a metal ball.
Add the egg yolks while beating and put the ball in «Bain Marie». Continue beating until it gets thick. Add the oil slowly while beating. Remove from the heat and continue beating until it becomes a fluffy mayonnaise.
The sauce is ready. For the filets, I marinated them in oil for half an hour And then I cooked them in a very hot pan without any more oil for 5 minutes each side depends on how well cooked you prefer your filet.
Ακολουθεί κείμενο στα ελληνικά