I started drooling when I saw the cover of April’s edition of La Cucina Italiana: there, calling to me, sat a massive savory pie of ricotta, spinach, and eggs to celebrate spring. It’s called Torta Pasqualina, and you can check out its history and their recipe on their website. However this spring, admist everything going on, I’ve been trying to keep things simple. I’ve streamlined this recipe so it’s easy to assemble and only requires 4 ingredients.
Don’t let the low ingredient count fool you– this is a very rich and filling pie. Moreover, the ratio of effort to ooos and ahhs is definitely in your favor; this pie is a showstopper to bring to any spring gatherings. No pre-cooking is even necessary. Use frozen chopped spinach and puff pastry, and you can just assemble and stick it in the oven.
Do take a minute to mark the top of the pastry to remind you where you place the eggs– the side view of a beautifully halved egg will have people drooling. If you want to have fun with it, try chopping up some artichokes or mushrooms to mix in with the spinach and ricotta cheese, or double the spinach to create a very green filling, reminiscent of spring.
I was so excited, I just ate it straight from the pan 😀
Recipe: Torta Pasqualina
Ingredients:
15 oz package of ricotta cheese
8 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
6 eggs
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Coat a 8-inch pan with cooking spray, butter, or oil.
Mix ricotta and thawed chopped spinach together in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Measure one of the puff pastry sheets to the pan. If it is not large enough to cover the bottom and the sides, roll out the sheet until it fits on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin.
Add the puff pastry sheet to cover the bottom and sides of the pan, and then fill with spinach-ricotta mixture.
Using a large spoon or ladle, make 6 dents in the spinach-ricotta filling.
Crack an egg into each dent. (It’s ok if they run together a bit.)
Cover with the remaining puff pastry sheet, and cut small vents in the top pastry over the middle of each egg. Cut off or fold excess pastry dough.
Bake pie in the oven for 1 hour, and let cool before serving.
Whenever I tell people that I took a weekend trip to NYC to visit some friends, their eyes immediately light up and they start asking about what I plan to do, imagining Broadway, one-of-a-kind dinners, and nights partying. Then I need to break it to them that our most exciting excursion was to Trader Joe’s and the only sightseeing I did was looking at the Manhattan skyline across the river from my friend’s street. Before I get a look of pity, I quickly add that we had all sorts of fun– gossiping about reality TV shows (which are only fun to watch with commentary on the side, in my opinion), chilling on the couch, and baking desserts. And then that look of pity slowly transforms and translates into something like: “You. Are. A. NERD!” And I’m OK with that, I had a blast.
One of these friends and I have a history of trying to tackle ambitious baking and cooking projects, and that weekend was no exception. She messaged me a few weeks before the trip proclaiming that she just watched a Great British Baking Show that featured pavlovas, and WE HAD TO MAKE ONE. Oh, just twist my arm. Of course I wanted to make a pavlova! As it happens, it had been on my bucket baking list for some time.
Before I continue, let me add that I was a little surprised at this request. When I had visited her just six months before and declared that we should try to make a baked Alaska, and how it was the most amazing combination of 3 of my favorite things (cake, ice cream, and marshmallowy meringue), she shrugged her shoulder and casually explained how she’s never been a fan of meringue or marshmallows.
[Insert dramatic pause]
I may have started at her mute and dumbfounded for a minute (this is hard for me to comprehend) before I started on a rant about the wonders of meringue for the next 20 minutes and maybe started to rethink the basis of our friendship, but y’know, you do you, and in all fairness, chalky supermarket marshmallows and bland meringue cookies never lived up to my hopes for them either. And I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t show how wonderful meringue can be. A mix of air and froth and vanilla! The pavlova was an opportunity to convert her. What’s not to love about a dessert that’s like a marshmallow cake? (An actual marshmallow cake will be my next birthday cake.)
And so we made our first pavlova, and it was just as wonderful as I imagined. (#pavLove!) The baked meringue has a slight crackling shell that protects a delightfully gushy vanilla inside. Adding homemade whipped cream, lemon curd, and fresh strawberries and blueberries on top create a light but extremely satisfying dessert. Everyone will want seconds.
As for my meringue-doubting friend, she also loved it. She even plans to make it for her in-laws! So why had she been opposed to meringue in the first place? I think she just had eaten bland meringues with bad texture. The vanilla flavor is important, as well whipping the egg whites properly. Whisking by hand will get you there eventually (have a friend on standby if your arm gets tired), but a hand or stand mixer will be your friends here. I also highly recommend making the lemon curd as– for one thing– it uses up the egg yolks leftover from making the meringue with egg whites, and also it’s easy, and you can flavor it to your preference.
This pavlova is a super elegant dessert that’s fit for impressing in-laws, date night, or even a summer treat.
A few weeks after the trip, my friend messaged me saying that she was inspired by another Great British Baking Show recipe, this time featuring a rolled meringue. Holy spatula, I better start preparing!
Pavlova, half-eaten.
Recipe: Pavlova with berries and whipped cream recipe
While this recipe may seem super fancy and fussy, outside of whipping up some egg whites and heavy cream (easier than you think), all you have to do is spread stuff on top of each other. You can try to sculpt a fancy shape with the meringue, but keep in mind that the meringue layer is expected to deflate a bit once it gets out of the oven and cools.
Ingredients
Meringue layer 4 egg whites Pinch of salt 1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon curd layer 1 cup lemon juice zest from one lemon 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar (and add more to taste) Pinch of salt
Whipped cream layer 2 cups heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar
Berry layer 1 cup assorted berries, as you like. I chose half-strawberry, half-blueberry.
Instructions
Make the meringue layer
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer (or for ambitious folks, beat by hand), combine egg whites and salt. Begin beating at low speed, slowly increasing to high. Continue until satiny peaks begin to form.
Gradually beat in sugar a tablespoon at a time until meringue is stiff and shiny.
Sprinkle in vanilla and fold in gently with a spatula. Gently is the key word here, stirring vigorously will break the meringue structure you just created.
Gently mound meringue onto parchment on baking sheet, and spread into a circle, flattening top and smoothing sides. You can make other shapes, but the cooking times may change.
Place in oven, and immediately reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off heat, and allow meringue to cool completely in oven.
While the meringue is baking, start the whipped cream
With a whisk or an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream and sugar to nearly stiff peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes.
While the meringue is baking, make lemon curd
Pour the juice into a small saucepan over medium-high heat, then bring to a simmer and let it reduce down to about 3/4 cup.
Stir in zest and turn off heat, letting the lemon juice to a cool to room temperature.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Only once the lemon juice has cooled to room temperature, add egg yolk and sugar mixture to saucepan with lemon juice. If the juice is too hot, the eggs will cook too much and you will have scrambled eggs instead of curd.
Set saucepan over medium heat and stir until thickened — about 6 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture is 180°F. You don’t want it to boil, but if it bubbles a bit, that is fine, because it means it is thickening!
Stir in the pinch of salt while the curd is still warm.
Assemble pavlova only right before serving. While the layers can be made ahead of time, it should be assembled only when ready to eat.
Carefully peel off parchment and place meringue on plate.
Crack the top with the back of a spoon to make a shallow nest for toppings.
Spread lemon curd on top of meringue, then spread whipped cream, and finally sprinkle the top with berries. Serve immediately and enjoy!
I was rummaging through my freezer trying to find and use up forgotten items and came across some packaged dough. I had removed it from its box to save space, and now had to remember what type of dough it was. Pizza dough? Puff pastry? It had to be one of those. I was really hoping it was the puff pastry because I had been wanting to make and eat one of those super gluttonous, melty cheese and pizzazz pastry appetizers otherwise known as brie en croute. You’ve probably seen these on other food and recipe sites, especially when holidays roll around; Google, Instagram, and Pinterest are abundant with examples.
(Brie en croute drool fest. Left: Baked Brie en Croute with Honey, Dried Cherries, Rosemary & Pecans from Once Upon a Chef; Middle: Baked Brie with Cranberry Chutney from James Briscione; Right: Baked Brie with Boozy Fruit from Martha Stewart)
These brie en croute recipes usually follow a combination of a brie wheel, topped with an elegant combination of fruit preserves, nuts or herbs, wrapped in a delightfully golden brown and crispy puff pastry crust.
Except as I was gathering ingredients and took a closer look at the defrosted dough, I realized my hopes had been in vain– it was pizza dough. After a couple beats of disappointment for the sweet, cheesy and tangy melty appetizer that I planned to eat all by myself (no sharing thank you), I remembered that this was pizza dough, and pizza has never failed me. And so why not make the best of this situation and merge two beautiful things together to make an incredibly indulgent pizza brie en croute a.ka. the fancy-pantsiest calzone ever? As if fate really needed to intervene, tomato sauce was in the fridge, along with my favorite pizza toppings, and voila! It was settled.
Eat this right out of the oven. Share at your own risk, because it will be gone in 5 minutes. The crust isn’t really there to hold or contain the pizza fillings, because the contents will all fall out in one glorious ooze once it’s cut, but the crust provides a slight crunch, the tomato sauce a nice tang, all to emphasize the richness, the buttery flavor of the melted brie. It’s incredibly indulgent, deep dish pizza in a pizza pocket, and will be your friend on bad days and cold winter nights.
It’s so gouda I camembert it! Ha! And now that I’ve ruined the moment, here’s how to make it.
Baked Brie in a pizza crust, aka the World’s Fanciest Pizza Pocket
This recipe is really simple to put together: lay out and roll (if needed) the pizza dough, spread some tomato sauce and topping in the center, add brie wheel on top, spread more tomato sauce and toppings on top and on the sides, and finally wrap up the whole thing and bake it!
Ingredients 1 frozen pizza crust (defrosted) 1 wheel Brie cheese Tomato sauce of your choice Pizza toppings of your choice (my favorite is pepperoni and sliced pickled pepperoncini peppers) Olive oil or butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out the pizza dough. A roughly 11″ circle should work.
Scatter a handful of the pizza toppings on the dough around the center, where the brie wheel will be.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce in the center of the dough. About 1/4 inch thickness will work great. If you add too much, the bottom of the pizza dough will be soggy.
Place brie wheel over tomato sauce and toppings.
Add more tomato sauce on the top and sides of the brie wheel.
Scatter more pizza toppings on top of brie wheel and sides.
Fold the dough over the sides to create a nice little pizza dumpling.
Spread a little oil or butter over the top of the dough.
Bake for 10 minutes or until dough is golden-brown.
Let cool for 5-8 minutes before eating, or else you will burn your tongue if you dig into it immediately like I did.
