Little lemon and blueberry ricotta cake

Little Lemon and Blueberry Ricotta Cake

Little Lemon and Blueberry Ricotta Cake

A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients

Butter and breadcrumbs, for preparing the cake tin

60 grams butter, softened

130 grams caster sugar

225 grams ricotta

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The zest and juice of 1/4 lemon

140 grams plain flour

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter an 18-cm springform tin and dust with breadcrumbs. Tilt the tin around to evenly cover the base and sides with a thin layer of breadcrumbs. Tip any excess out and discard.

Beat the 60 grams butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the ricotta and beat to combine.

Add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice and beat in.

Sift in the flour, salt and bicarb, then mix in until just combined.

Add the blueberries and fold in.

Place the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Place the cake, in the tin, on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes or so. Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool completely on the wire rack.

Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Makes 1 x 18cm cake

Potato and Raclette Tart
Recipe by Sarah Cooks, Pastry from Joy the Baker

Ingredients
For the pastry
160 grams plain flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
115 grams cold unsalted butter
¼ cup cold buttermilk, plus a few tablespoons extra if required
For the filling
4 medium kipfler potatoes
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tablespoon butter
100 grams ham, roughly chopped
125 grams raclette cheese, grated
2 sprigs thyme
1½ cups cream
3 eggs

Method
To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Chop or grate the cold butter into small pieces. Add to the flour and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles damp sand and the butter is evenly distributed. Make a well in the centre and pour in the 1/4 cup buttermilk, stirring with a fork to combine. Once it comes together in a shaggy dough, knead together, and form into a disc. Wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour (or up to overnight). Roll the rested pastry out into a large circle, approximately 5 millimetres thick. Line a 24cm loose-bottomed flan tin with the pastry and trim the edges. Refrigerate for a further 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C. Line the pastry case with foil and fill with baking beans or dried pulses. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Set aside while you make the filling.
To make the filling, peel the potatoes and cut into 1-cm slices. Cook in boiling salted water for 5-10 minutes, or until just tender when poked with a skewer. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan. Add the onion slices and cook on a low heat until completely soft and dark brown. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Turn the oven down to 180C. Place the onions, potato slices, ham, and grated cheese into the pastry case. Sprinkle the thyme leaves over.
Whisk together the cream and eggs and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the flan tin. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and just set. Allow to cool slightly for the filling to set before slicing.
Serve with cornichons and green salad.
Makes 1 x 24cm tart

Macaroni, Bacon, Sweet Potato

Fully-Loaded Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese

Fully Loaded Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
250-300 grams sweet potatoes
200 grams macaroni pasta
Extra virgin olive oil
4 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
500 millilitres full-fat milk
200 grams sliced button mushrooms
1 teaspoon mild English mustard
1/4 teaspoon paprika (plus extra for sprinkling)
60 grams baby spinach leaves
75 grams feta (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
75 grams grated tasty cheese (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
4 sage leaves

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Wash the sweet potatoes. Rub the sweet potatoes with a little olive oil, then wrap each one in foil. Roast for 30 minutes - 1 hour, or until soft when tested with a skewer. Remove to a bowl, and mash roughly, skin and all. (Roasting the sweet potatoes can be done in advance).
Put a large pot of water on to boil. Salt generously then add the macaroni. Once it's come back to a boil, cook for one minute less than the packet instructions suggest. Save a cup of the starchy cooking water with a mug, then drain the pasta and set aside.
Heat a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the bacon pieces, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are crisp and the fat is rendered. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pieces to a small plate and set aside.
Pour the melted bacon fat into a 1/4 cup measure, and add enough butter to bring the total volume up to the quarter cup mark. (This is messy and can be a bit annoying, but this means that instead of discarding the bacon fat, you are using it as the base for your white sauce and therefore getting ALL THE FLAVOUR so it is totally worth it).
Pour the bacon fat and butter back into the saucepan and melt over a low heat. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Cook for a minute or two until bubbling and a little thickened. Remove from the heat, whisk in the milk, then return to the heat. Cook, whisking and stirring, until the sauce is thickened. (You don't have to whisk constantly, but just make sure you stir it often enough so that it doesn't catch and burn on the pan). Whisk in the mustard and paprika. Tip in the mushrooms, stir to combine, and cook for a further minute or so. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
Place the drained pasta back into the pot that you cooked it in. Add the sweet potato mash and stir gently to combine, pouring in some of the starchy cooking water if required to help it mush through. Add the bacon and crumble in the feta and stir to combine.
Tip the pasta into the pan with the mushroomy white sauce. Add the grated tasty cheese, and stir to disperse evenly.
Spoon a third of the mixture into a 25cm square baking dish, then add half the spinach leaves. Repeat with another third of the pasta mixture, then the remaining spinach leaves, and finish with the pasta mixture.
Sprinkle the top with a little paprika, and the extra feta and tasty cheese. Snip the sage leaves into fine strips and sprinkle over.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and piping hot.

One-Pot Lamb Sausage and Kale Orzo
Adapted from Yay! for Food

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 Greek lamb sausages (approx. 180g in total)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
6 leaves cavolo nero or approx. 2 cups loosely packed chopped kale leaves
2/3 cup orzo pasta
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
Grated parmesan, salt & pepper

Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pan that comes with a tight fitting lid over a medium heat. Squeeze the sausage meat out of the skins and place in the hot pan. Cook, stirring, and breaking up the meat until the meat has started to brown and is crumbly.
Add the onion, garlic, and chilli flakes and season with salt and pepper. Cook for approx. 5 minutes or until beginning to soften.
Wash the cavolo nero and remove any hard stems. Finely slice the leaves and add to the pan. Stir to combine and cook until wilted. Add the orzo and stir combine.
Pour over the stock (you may need to add a little extra depending on the dimensions of your pan - you want it to just cover the ingredients in the pan). Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover with the lid. Allow to cook for 12-15 minutes or until the orzo is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat
Add the mozzarella and stir through. Taste and adjust seasoning as you like with salt, pepper, grated Parmesan and chilli flakes.
Serves 2-3

• Sesame Peanut Noodles with Crispy Tofu
• Taiwanese Meat Sauce on Rice
• Spiral Pasta with Red Kale, Feta and Pine Nuts
• Orecchiette with Broad Beans and Lemon Ricotta

Plum Compote with Vanilla-Whipped Ricotta and Toasted Hazelnuts

Plum Compote with Vanilla-Whipped Ricotta and Toasted Hazelnuts

Plum Compote with Vanilla-Whipped Ricotta and Toasted Hazelnuts

A recipe by Sarah Cooks, Vanilla-Whipped Ricotta adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients

For the Plum Compote

1 large orange

30-40 grams caster sugar

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

4 large red plums

For the Vanilla-Whipped Ricotta

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

500 grams full fat ricotta

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the Toasted Hazelnuts

1/2 cup whole hazelnuts

Method

To make the plum compote, squeeze the juice of the orange into a measuring jug. Add water to bring the liquid up to 300 millilitres. Pour the liquid into a saucepan. Add the sugar, star anise and cinnamon stick. Stir and bring to the boil over a medium heat and turn down to a simmer. Cut the plums in half, twist the two halves to separate them. Remove the stones. Cut some of the plum halves into half again (i.e. into quarters). Place the plum pieces in the simmering liquid. Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Use a slotted spoon to remove the plum pieces to a serving bowl. Turn the heat up and boil the liquid until reduced and thickened. Pour the liquid over the plums and allow to cool.

To make the vanilla-whipped ricotta, place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Turn the beater off, and add the ricotta, milk and vanilla bean paste. Beat on medium speed for for 3-5 minutes or until smooth. Spread the whipped ricotta onto a serving plate or platter.

To make the toasted hazelnuts, toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, shaking the pan frequently to prevent them burning. Keep cooking until they are fragrant and golden brown. Tip the hazelnuts onto a clean tea towel and wrap them up. Rub the nuts in the towel to remove the loose skins (it might not all come off, this isn't a problem).

Set out the vanilla whipped ricotta with the poached plums and toasted hazelnuts and allow people to serve themselves.

Serves 4-8, depending on what you serve with it