What's For Dessert: Blackberry Ricotta Mini Phyllo Cups

Let's continue our journey down blackberry lane, shall we? A few weeks ago our friends invited us over for dinner, and in addition to throwing together a quick salad (with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette and croutons, of course!), I also made a quick dessert to share. Since we were eating dinner al fresco on their pontoon boat (as one does when you live on a lake), I wanted to make something bite-size and easy to handle. Luckily, I had a box of pre-baked mini phyllo cups in the freezer. With a little sweetened ricotta cheese added into the cups, dessert was ready in less than 15 minutes -- 10 of those minutes were spent waiting for the phyllo cups to thaw!

Each phyllo cup was garnished with a set of wild blackberries. If you are using store-bought berries, you'll probably need fewer berries, as one or two will be enough to garnish; wild blackberries can be quite tiny in comparison!

As to the taste? Let's just say it's kind of ridiculous how delicious these little bites are. And by cheating (just a little bit!) with the use of pre-baked phyllo cups, you have an elegant dessert that's ready to be served in no time.

Blackberry Ricotta Mini Phyllo Cups (printer-friendly version)
makes 15 mini phyllo cups

mini phyllo cups, thawed (I used Athens brand)
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from one lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4-1/2 cup fresh blackberries

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, honey, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.
2. Spoon the ricotta mixture into each phyllo cup.
3. Top each cup with fresh blackberries. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

What's For Dinner: Spinach, Mushroom, and Ricotta Ravioli

I had a bit of spinach, mushroom, and ricotta filling left over from the lasagna roll ups I made a few weeks back, so rather than let it go to waste, I used it up in a ravioli recipe. Since I didn't have much time to spare when it came to dinner time, I went the lazy route by using pre-made wonton wrappers instead of making pasta dough from scratch. Maybe one of these days I'll make my own ravioli completely from scratch ... but in the mean time, wonton wrappers are a lifesaver!

Spinach, Mushroom, and Ricotta Ravioli (printer-friendly version)
makes about 48 raviolis (about 6-8 servings)

1 package circular wontons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
4 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan (divided)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch red pepper flakes

For the egg wash:
1 egg white
1 teaspoon filtered water

1. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until translucent and lightly golden, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the chopped mushrooms. Saute until browned and most of the liquid has cooked away. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chopped spinach and saute until just wilted. Remove the skillet from the heat.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, egg, rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the spinach-mushroom mixture until well-combined.
3. To make the ravioli, place a teaspoon of filling into the center of each wonton circle. Make an egg wash by combining together one egg white and a teaspoon of water. Use a pastry brush or clean(!) finger to moisten all the edges of the circle with the egg wash. Fold an edge over to make a half-circle, making sure that the edges are completely sealed and there are no air pockets by pinching the edges closed and/or crimping the edges with a fork. You can leave your ravioli in this half-moon shape, or fold the corners over, pressing them together, to make little round packages.
4. To cook the ravioli, carefully add one at a time into a boiling pot of water, about five or six per batch. Boil the ravioli for 3-5 minutes, then remove each ravioli from the water with a slotted spoon and place each on a paper-towel lined cooling rack to drain off the excess liquid. If you do not want to cook all of the ravioli at once, you can freeze the extras prior to boiling; just add an extra minute or two to the cooking time when you are ready to eat them.
5. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce (I used a tomato-basil sauce.)

Ingredient Spotlight: CSA Box #23

This week's box from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative included:

1 Spaghetti Squash - Elm Tree Organics

1 Bunch Red Radishes - Certified Organic - Farmdale Organics

1 Butternut Squash - Certified Organic - Misty Meadow Acres

1 Package Baby Bella Mushrooms - Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms

1 Bunch Cilantro - Noble Herbs

1 Head Broccoli - King's Produce 

Like usual, in addition to my veggies, I also picked up a loaf of bread at Metropolitan Bakery, our CSA pick-up spot. This time, rather than my typical baguette, I opted for a loaf of San Francisco style sourdough bread. I had bruschetta on my mind, and made a small batch with toasted slices of sourdough bread as a base, covered with a healthy slathering of ricotta cheese mixed with fresh chopped rosemary, toasted pine nuts, all topped with sliced baby bella mushrooms from our CSA box sauteed in a little Garlic Gold olive oil. Delish!

What's For Dinner: Pasta with Mushrooms, Grape Tomatoes, and Ricotta Cheese

I always tend to cook up too much pasta, so I end up with some leftover plain pasta in the fridge. I had about a cup of cooked bow-tie pasta on hand and decided, rather than just cover it with some tomato and basil sauce as I normally do, I'd whip together a light cheesy dish instead. For just throwing together some random ingredients, the results were actually quite tasty!

Pasta with Mushrooms, Grape Tomatoes, and Ricotta Cheese (printer-friendly version)

makes one serving

1 cup cooked pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pkg sliced mushrooms

6 grape tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons organic part-skim ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the mushrooms and saute until browned and softened, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add in the halved grape tomatoes and cook for about 2-3 minutes more.

4. Add in the cooked pasta. If cold from the fridge, cook until warmed.

5. Stir in the ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve it up!

What's For Dinner: Slow-Cooker Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

I saw a few recipes for lasagna made in a crock pot last year, but never got the chance to try it out for myself. But, then the March issue of Real Simple arrived in my mailbox, and what should I see, but a recipe for slow-cooker spinach and ricotta lasagna! Since I already had the lasagna noodles on hand as well as marinara sauce and ricotta cheese, all I needed to pick up from the store over the weekend were two packages of frozen spinach and some shredded mozzarella cheese. If you are not a super fan of spinach, you may just want to use one 10-oz package of spinach, though the recipe calls for both boxes.

The instructions are to cook the lasagna on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, but given that I got a late start putting the meal together (due to an unforeseen need to rush out for another jar of marinara sauce when I noticed that the safety button on my unopened jar had popped), I ended up cooking the lasagna on high for about two hours, before turning it back down to low for another hour or so after D called up and told me he was still at work and would be home late. Luckily, none of these factors seemed to noticeably affect the taste of the final result (though some of the layers shifted so that I served up more of a "deconstructed lasagna"), and I would definitely try this recipe again, maybe with a few more veggie additions.

What's For Dessert: Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Perhaps the name of this blog should be "A More Dessert-Filled Life" rather than "A Less Processed Life," given all the dessert recipes I've posted of late? Clearly I have a bit of a sweet tooth. But heck, at least I'm making these things from scratch -- that's got to count for something, right? This dessert recipe comes from a recent episode of Everyday Italian -- I was quite intrigued by the idea of making an ice cream with ricotta cheese. To be honest, the resulting texture is a bit funky -- there's a bit of graininess from the ricotta cheese. If I make this again, I think I will whip up the ingredients in the electric mixer to try to smooth things out a bit more. However, I think the addition of the chocolate chips does help to draw attention away from the ice cream's odd texture a bit.

Ricotta Ice Cream

makes 12 servings

For the simple syrup:

1 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup water

15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese

1 cup organic whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

chocolate chips

1. Make the simple syrup by combing the water and sugar in a medium-sized sauce pot. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 5 minutes, or until all of the sugar has dissolved.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese and whole milk. Stir in the simple syrup and vanilla.

3. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and follow the manufacturer's instructions to make the ice cream.

4. When the ice cream is nearly ready, add in a couple handfuls of chocolate chips.

5. Serve immediately.

 (adapted from this Everyday Italian recipe)