Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart

Hi all, and sorry for being silent for daaaayyyssss. I’ve been not only working a lot, but also been sick (like still) and spending the last couple of days in bed. That is so annoying, especially when you’d have so many things to do. Now I at least have the strength to write, before today my brain has just felt like a potato mash.

A while ago I prepared zucchini and tomato galettes, remember? They were a hit on my birthday party, but I never got to taste them myself, as they disappeared in minutes. They got a lot of compliments, especially for being so cheesy and the crust being very delicious. So as I needed to get to know how they tasted exactly, I prepared them again the other day. Now, as the original recipe of the galette crust is not mine, I am allowed to praise it into heavens by saying it is absolutely amazing. In a matter of fact, we have a similar way to prepare a pie crust in Finland, but instead of sour cream we use curd, a very sour milk product, rich in protein. Actually I am curious, if this curd is used worldwide? I didn’t find it in Brazil, but for example in Germany it’s widely used.

Back to galettes: This time I halved the amounts for the dough and filled the tarts with caramelized onions and goat cheese. I had had a roll of goat cheese in our fridge for long, and as it was soon due the date I had to come up with something to use it in. The amounts here make either one big or two small galettes. I made two smaller ones.

This was totally delicious, but be aware of the calories…again!

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart

For the dough:

3dl all-purpose flour, chilled in refrigerator for 30 minutes

110g salted butter, cubed and chilled again

0,7dl sour cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

70ml ice cold water

For the filling:

2-3 large red onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon cane sugar

2 tablespoons dark balsamic vinegar

250g smooth ricotta

200g soft goat cheese

25g parmesan cheese, grated

0,5 teaspoon salt

black pepper

1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water, for brushing

fresh thyme, to garnish

Prepare the dough. Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over dough and by using your hand work it until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of tiny peas.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add this to the butter-flour mixture. With your fingertips or a wooden spoon, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Prepare the filling. Peel, cut in half and thinly slice the red onions. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions in the skillet and stir so that everything is covered with oil. Let the onions caramelize for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t let it burn.

After the onions have become soft, add the chopped garlic, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Let simmer for 5 minutes more. Set aside.

Mix together ricotta, 3/4 of the soft goat cheese (leave the 1/4 for crumbling on top of the ready tart), grated parmesan, salt and black pepper into smooth mixture.

Preheat oven to 200 C.

Prepare the galettes.  On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into two rounds (or one if you want to make just one bigger tart). Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Spread half of the ricotta filling on each round, then top with half of the caramelized onions, leaving a 4 cm border. Fold the borders over the filling, pleating the edge to make them fit. The center will be open. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze.

Bake the galettes until golden brown,  the smaller ones for 20 minutes and a big one for about 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh thyme and crumbled goat cheese, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate.

Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Pear, Gorgonzola and Pecan Pizza

Pizza! Who wouldn’t love it? During the past two decades pizza has basically became the favorite food of Finnish people. It’s for sure the most consumed fast-food and there is no small town in the middle of nowhere without a pizzeria. Most of the pizzas available cannot be called gourmet (no offense), but rather a quick, greasy hangover fulfillment. Even so, I prefer that to big hamburger chains that just don’t offer anything to me with their nutrient poor, mayo overflowing hamburgers. And in which the iceberg lettuce, that basically equals to paper in nutrition, is usually the only fresh thing. Not that I wouldn’t love burgers in general, because I do!

Back to pizza. I remember when I was a kid and my parents used to prepare pizza on special occasions. That pizza had a fluffy, pan pizza like crust and a lot of different kinds of toppings. Those pizza days were glorious, because they were so rare. Usually pizza was eaten in the New Year’s Eve, which made it feel even more glorious. I also remember feeling envy for the neighbor girls whose parents put only tomato, anchovies, onion and cheese in their pizza. My god, that was delicious! I never dared to ask my parents to put anchovies in our pizza, as I thought they already would if they liked them. Until these days my parents still prepare the pizza in their style on special occasions (like, still, the NYE). For me pizza has become more like everyday food, and I don’t see that glory in it I used to when I was a kid. It’s so sad in a way! Nowadays we cook pizza a couple of times a month. S has his own favorite, pizza à portuguesa, which is a typical pizza they eat in Brazil. It consists of ham, onion, boiled eggs and black olives. I like to try different flavors each time, even though my all-time favorite is simply pizza margherita. 

The recipe that follows takes pizza on a new level again, as the flavors are truly elegant and in perfect balance. My favorite pizza dough is so simple to do that I always use it, even though I sometimes would like to try some other dough. Note that this dough is at its best if you can let it stand covered in the refrigerator for 8 hours before using (yes you read right, in a fridge, not in a warm place). It’s not absolutely necessary, though, and you can also let it raise in a traditional way.

Finding just the right measures for the dough is hard, so share your pizza dough recipe with me, if you have found a perfect one!

Pear, Gorgonzola and Pecan Pizza

For the pizza dough (makes two small pizzas):

250ml lukewarm water (42 C)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2,5dl + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour + more for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

For topping:

2 medium pears, halved and sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons dark balsamic vinegar

150g Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese of your choice, sliced

200g fresh mozzarella, shredded

handful of pecan nuts

Prepare pizza dough. Place warm water in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and gradually whisk in the flour. Knead for 5-10 minutes. If you are going to make the pizza immediately, cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let the dough double in size in a warm place for about 1 hour. The dough is at its best when refrigerated for 8 hours, covered with plastic film, before using.

Heat up the oven into 250 C (or higher, if your oven allows). Make sure your oven is very hot before you put the pizza in. Unless you use a pizza stone, which I unfortunately don’t have myself, place the baking sheet into the oven to become hot while you prepare the pizza. This guarantees you a crispier result.

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size skillet and cook the onions over medium heat until golden and soft, about 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue cooking for a few minutes more, until the liquid has evaporated. Set aside.

If you want, quickly sautée the pear slices on oil as well, about one minute is enough. This might be necessary if you don’t use ripe pears, but gives a good flavor overall.

Halve the pizza dough in two same sized balls. On a floured surface, roll the balls open until the thinness you prefer. I like my pizza not super thinly rolled, having something to chew on the edges.

Place both the rolled doughs on their own pieces of parchment paper. Top the pizzas with shredded mozzarella, balsamic onions, pear slices, gorgonzola and pecan nuts (in this order). 

Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the crust gotten a golden color. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Birthday with Four Cheese Galettes with Zucchini & Tomatoes

Happy Birthday to me!!! Today is the day, my 30th birthday, the reason of a smallish crisis that I’ve been struggling with for the past days. I mean, on the other hand it’s great to be 30! Most of my closest friends have already crossed that line. S also turned 30 earlier this year. It’s great! But on the other hand, should I have achieved certain things by now? I haven’t. I don’t have my own house/apartment, I don’t have kids, I haven’t graduated from the university, I don’t have a steady job… I have my life, and my freedom, and sometimes I love it and sometimes I wish things were slightly different. But I haven’t got the things that 10 years ago I thought I would have by the time I’m 30 years old.

Last night I almost cried when going to sleep, and I don’t even know why. Maybe because just when the day changed at midnight S dropped an expensive plate I’ve had for years and it broke in half, lol. Maybe because I didn’t know how I would feel tomorrow (today). Maybe because I was hoping the big day would be something very special, and I couldn’t handle the thought that anyway, it was going to be just an ordinary day. I was going to be just one day older. And that’s it. Life doesn’t stop, but continues.

This is not a blog for a self-search, but these things just now seemed important to let out. I also have some foodish stuff for you! Last night I used for baking to my small birthday party I’m gonna hold today. The bigger one will take place on early June, as most of my best friends live in a different city with me at the moment. I’m moving back to Helsinki by then, so that’s also a good reason to party. So, last night I started with my birthday cake, which I hope will be totally fab! I also baked some savory stuff, of which these galettes were maybe the nicest new thing for me!

The wonderful crust recipe is from Smitten Kitchen (I had a taste of the dough, but didn’t get to eat the ready galette yet!). I doubled the amounts to make two galettes, one with zucchini, one with tomatoes. The original recipe inspired me to use zucchini, but otherwise I modified the filling to my own taste. Also the filling is for two galettes. Here it goes.

EDIT: Now after the party I can tell the galettes were absolutely amazing. They collected a lot of compliments and even one marriage proposal (from a friend, though), haha!

Four Cheese Galettes with Zucchini and Tomatoes (makes 2)

For the pastry:

6dl all-purpose flour, chilled in refrigerator for 30 minutes

half a teaspoon salt

225g butter, cubed and chilled again

1,25dl sour cream

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1,25dl ice cold water

For the filling:

1 big zucchini, sliced crosswise

salt

2 large tomatoes, sliced

handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 big or 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped

250g smooth ricotta

50g parmesan cheese, finely grated

200g feta cheese, finely crumbled

100g mozzarella di Bufala, shredded

a few springs fresh thyme & fresh basil leaves

salt & black pepper to taste

1 egg yolk + 2 tablespoons water, for brushing

Prepare the dough. Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over dough and by using your hand work it until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of tiny peas.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add this to the butter-flour mixture. With your fingertips or a wooden spoon, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Prepare the filling. Spread the zucchini out over several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes; gently blot the tops of the zucchini dry with paper towels before using.

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, Parmesan, feta cheese, and 2 teaspoon of the garlicky olive oil together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the galettes. Preheat oven to 200 C.

On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into two 30-35 cm rounds. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Spread half of the shredded mozzarella on both galette dough rounds. Then spread half of the ricotta-feta mixture evenly over both of the galette doughs, leaving a 4 cm border.

Shingle the zucchini attractively on top of the other galette, in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge. Spread the tomatoes on the other one. Drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of the garlic and olive oil mixture evenly over the veggies. Fold the borders over the filling, pleating the edge to make them fit. The center will be open. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze.

Bake the galettes until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with fresh herbs (I used basil and thyme), let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate.

Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Gnocchi “Mac n’ Cheese”

The summer, or at least a summerish weather, has arrived in Finland! Yay! Yesterday we had the warmest day so far, with 18 C and today the thermometer shows 19 C. Cloudy though, and they forecasted some storms. But who cares, it’s warm, it’s summer! Let’s get the bikinis out of the closets and have a bbq in a park! That actually is the thing foreigners living in Finland wonder. The first, even somewhat warm day and the locals go crazy. Everyone gets out of their caves on the streets, wearing small clothes, barbecuing and behaving like it was at least 30 C. But please forgive us, we only have warm days a couple of months, and the rest of the year we have to struggle with cold and snow, or at least the darkness!

Anyhow, this warm weather should encourage us also to eat light. On the contrary, it seems I’m cooking heavier than I probably should. The following dish was a request from my boyfriend (let’s call him S from now on, much easier and that’s the “nickname” I already gave him a couple of years ago in my other blog). He found the recipe of Noble Pig and I prepared it. I am crazy about cheese, and if you are as well, this is your dish. Basically it barely has anything else but cheese, eh. Anyway, it’s delicious! I have a slightly guilty conscious that I didn’t prepare the gnocchi myself this time, as it’s a super simple thing to do (recipe coming up, too). Nothing like making pasta, which I find slightly challenging.

So the gnocchi came ready-made from the market. Our near grocery store didn’t have Fontina, so I substituted it with a Swiss mild, Emmenthaler-like Alpine cheese. Talking about cheese, there’s a thing I wanna say about using Parmesan, or Parmigiano-Reggiano: NEVER use the readily grated ones that they sell in bags. That is not the real thing. I doubt that is even cheese. I came across this when I lived in Brazil, and using these products in cooking was normal there. No, no and no. Always grate your own from a beautiful chunk of real cheese, I promise you will not regret it.

But back to the recipe; I also modified the amounts of the original one just slightly, as sometimes the American cup-thinking is a bit difficult for me.

Say cheese & enjoy!

Gnocchi n’ Cheese

500g gnocchi (better self-made, I used store-bought this time)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

200ml milk

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I had honey Dijon in my fridge and it suited fine in this, giving some sweetness to the otherwise so cheesy dish)

50g Fontina cheese, grated

50g Gruyère cheese, grated

50g Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

fresh herbs, to garnish (I added some thyme leaves in my cheese sauce and would recommend!)

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and boil the gnocchi according to the package instructions. Usually 1-2 minutes is enough. Drain and place the gnocchi in a single layer in an oiled, shallow oven-proof dish.

Heat the oven to 200 C.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then gradually whisk in milk and Dijon. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Combine Gruyere and Fontina, then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all cheese is melted, season sauce with salt and pepper. I added about half a teaspoon salt.

Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano over top.  Bake gnocchi in the oven until cheese is golden and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Paneer aka Indian Homemade Cheese

Despite the fact that it’s usually almost impossible for me to walk after eating in an Indian/ Nepalese restaurant, I just love the food and could probably eat those heavy stuffs many times in a week. At the moment we live in a smaller city, which honestly doesn’t offer much of a variety what comes to ethnic restaurants (or actually any restaurants). Here’s one Indian, which is not good, and one Nepalese that I haven’t yet tried, but where the general atmosphere doesn’t really invite you to enjoy a dinner there.

So, so far I’ve cooked some Indian style food at home, but these cookings have always served for super fast dinners, without too much of time or effort. Usually I’ve used ready Indian curry or tikka pastes, and so preparing the meal has become ridiculously easy. Last week however I have been yearning for GOOD, proper Indian food that you can get in good restaurants. By accident I came across of this recipe of paneer (in Finnish) and that was it. I had to prepare a) the cheese and b) something of it.

I found a recipe that I will share with you later, and all I can tell, is that I might never eat in an Indian restaurant again, haha. That was too good to be true, and I was so surprised I could do something like that all by myself! The recipe will come later, so stay tuned.

But now to cheese business. Here’s the simple recipe of paneer. I seriously never knew making cheese could be this easy!

Paneer aka Indian Cottage Cheese (enough for a dish for 2 persons)

1 liter whole milk (at least 3,5 % fat)

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt

Bring milk to a simmer in a thick bottom saucepan. Stir occasionally so that the milk won’t burn.

When the milk starts simmering, turn the heat to lowest possible, add lemon juice, salt to taste and stir. The curd will immediately start to separate. It will take 5-10 minutes for it to completely separate.

While waiting, cover a strainer with cheesecloth of muslin cloth (I used that one). Once the milk fat has separated from the whey, pour the whey into the strainer with the cloth. Wrap it tightly inside the cloth and rinse under a cold water. This will take out the sourness of the lemon.

Squeeze out all excess water from the cheese, shape it as you wish, and place the wrapped paneer under a heavy weight. In 1-2 hours you will have a beautiful, firm chunk of fresh cheese in your hands. Refrigerate if not used immediately.

Penne with Goat Cheese and Rosemary

Even how much I try to keep myself away from the fast, bad carbs, this is where I always return to: pasta. Italian cuisine is my absolute favorite of the European kitchens and I totally, totally love pasta. I still have my pasta machine untouched on top of my kitchen cupboard, but I’m also intending to start practicing pasta-making…as soon as I get a little time to get my hands into it.

Usually I like my pasta most with something fresh, like tomato, spinach or asparagus. When I, however, spotted this incredibly cheesy and rich (in calories too) pasta recipe I just had to try it. In case I didn’t tell it yet, I am also a BIG fan of cheese. All kinds of cheeses, but flavorous and creamy goat cheese is one of my favorites. I took free hands with the cheese, and added more than the original recipe asked for (I also made a bigger portion of the pasta). And thought it was the best idea ever.

It was the first time I ran into this self-made onion-garlic puree. I thought it was genius and will definitely use it another time too. Another great thing in this recipe was that it did not use any butter or heavy cream. It’s so easy to cheat myself thinking it would be somehow lighter with all that cheese, and the Turkish 10 % fat yogurt I used… But when you taste it, you will forget about the cheese and the fat and everything that does not really matter. I could not find rigatoni pasta from the market, so I substituted it with penne. If you can get rigatoni, use it. It fills wonderfully with the goat cheese sauce and makes every bite totally irresistible. I also substituted goat milk gouda with regular gouda, but would encourage you to use the first one if you can have that at hand.

Irresistible Goat Cheese and Rosemary Pasta (serves 4-6)

500g penne (or rigatoni) pasta

250ml onion-garlic puree (see the recipe below)

1 teaspoon mustard (I used my favorite, honey flavored Dijon and it suited perfectly)

200g soft goat cheese

100g goat milk gouda

250ml Turkish or Greek yogurt

handful of grated parmesan cheese

2 springs fresh rosemary

salt & pepper

Onion and Garlic Puree

1 big yellow onion

9 cloves garlic

250ml water

salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Place the rosemary springs on the baking sheet with baking paper, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until crispy. Set aside.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add 1 tablespoon of salt and cook pasta according to the package directions.

Prepare the onion-garlic puree. Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic cloves and place them in a micro-oven safe bowl with the water. Cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes until soft. Puree in a blender or such alike until smooth, and spice with salt & pepper to your taste.

In a big saucepan (I actually used a wok pan) bring the onion-garlic puree to a simmer. Add mustard and mix well. Add all the cheeses and mix well until fully melted and smooth. Lower the heat and whisk in the yogurt until combined. Season with salt and black pepper.

Drain the pasta and add it on the pan with the sauce. Stir to fully cover all the pasta with the sauce. 

Serve with roasted rosemary and a pinch of grated parmesan. (You might also want to add something fresh in your portion, my hubby preferred it with parsley.)