Tomato & Ricotta Pasta Sauce - Zalza tat-Tadam u Rkotta

Well hello all!!! I am back!! Haven't blogged in a while because I have been quite busy with life. We have returned from a wonderful holiday in Mexico and now we feel really refreshed. I did come back with lots of Mexican recipes and food ideas but that is not what I am blogging about today. I will definitely be sharing some delicious Mexican recipes in the near future though. In the meantime here is a pasta sauce that is a huge favourite within Maltese households. A sauce that is very easy and quick to prepare and that everyone in your family will enjoy. Try it and you will definitely do it again...mark our words!! You can serve it with any pasta shapes you like, originally my mum used to boil some spirals/cellentani but anything will do. We like penne too as the sauce gets into the pasta...mmmm!! So here goes our version; for the sauce you will need...

• 350ml Passata Rustica (Thick tomato passata)
• 100ml water
• 125g ricotta
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
• Pinch peperoncino (chilli flakes) - optional
• Sea sat & freshly ground pepper, to taste

How to...

1. In a small pot, add the garlic to the olive oil and heat gently on a low heat until the garlic is golden.
2. Now carefully add the passata and water and give it a good stir. Add the marjoram, salt & pepper and chilli flakes (if using) and give it a good stir. Simmer covered on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the ricotta and stir well to incorporate within the tomato sauce. Simmer for a further 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
4. Serve hot with your boiled pasta and add more black pepper.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Njokki l-forn - Maltese Baked Ricotta Filled Pasta Shapes

When my family visited us this summer, as per usual the food ration package came from Malta with them and this time I told my dad to bring me some Njokki. In Malta we call Njokki (Nyok-key...basically a Maltese version of the word gnocchi) large snail shaped pasta (in fact in Italy they are called Lumaconi-large snails) that originally come from the southern region of  Campania in Italy that in Malta are traditionally filled with a ricotta and egg mixture, soaked in milk, topped with a corned beef-tomato sauce, grated cheese and baked in a hot oven. The result is a very traditional Maltese dish that oozes with cheesiness and tomatoey goodness comes from a very old recipe. My mother always says that is was one of my grandfather's favourite dishes. Preparing this dish took Amanda and myself through a nostalgic trip to our childhood as both of us used to help our mothers and grandmothers fill these pasta shapes and it was definitely one of the highlights of our childhood. If you do not fancy a corned beef sauce you can use any meat you want but just make sure you cook the meat accordingly. You can even leave the meat out for a vegetarian dish. My mother always told me that for this recipe my grandfather used to fill the Njokki and leave them soaking in milk for a couple of hours so as the pasta shells soften but if you are in a rush you can skip this step, we did, and they turned out great!! Now re portions with a large packet of Njokki-Lumaconi we made enough grub for 8 people in fact this was a two-day meal for us (even taking a portion at work with me). You can always freeze the leftovers in tubs. So, for 8 portions, you will need...

1 500g packet Njokki/Lumaconi pasta shapes (see picture)

For the Ricotta mixture

800g fresh ricotta 

3 eggs

2 ½ tablespoons dried or freshly chopped parsley

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the tomato sauce

1 large tin corned beef

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Freshly ground black pepper

750 ml whole milk

Grated mature Cheddar cheese or Edam cheese, to taste

How to...

1. Start by preparing the ricotta mixture by adding the ricotta, eggs, parsley and seasoning in a large bowl and mix well until you get a consistent mixture. 
2. When this is done, carefully starting filling the pasta shapes with a teaspoon, make sure you press the filling tightly in the shape (so it won't run away my nanna used to say).
3. Place the filled pasta shapes in two deep oven trays next to each other (see picture). 
4. Now gently pour milk until the filled pasta shapes are next to half way submerged. Leave to stand as long as you want (we left them for 15 minutes...we were very hungry). 
5. Whilst the pasta shapes are soaking prepare the tomato sauce. On a low to medium heat heat the garlic and oil and until garlic turns golden, Add the corned beef and cook for a couple of minutes, add the chopped tomatoes and season well. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
6. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. 
   
7. When the sauce is done, using a ladle or large spoon gently pour sauce of top of the milk drenched pasta shapes. When all the sauce is used shake the dish slowly so as the wonderfully smelling tomato sauce mixes with the creaminess of the milk. Apparently, this is a very important step my mother says.
8. Top with the grated cheese and bake into the hot oven for 50 minutes or until top is nice golden and pasta shells are done.
9. Take out of the oven and leave to set for about 10 minutes.
10. Serve warm.
    

Enjoy!!

R&A

Spinach, Carrot & Ricotta Timbales

I created these as a light lunch with some ingredients that we had left over in the fridge and pantry. They turned out so tasty and we could've eaten at least two more each. They are not that hard to prepare. The only tricky bit is rolling the bread slices and layering the ramekins, so not really rocket science. We do love a kick in our dishes so I put some Scotch Bonnet hot sauce in there but this is optional. You can even add a milder hot sauce maybe like Tabasco. Completely vegetarian, you can serve them as a starter, light lunch or even party food to impress family and friends. For four ramekins you will need...

• 125g ricotta
• Grated half carrot
• 60g cooked spinach
• Salt & pepper
• Hot sauce
• ¼ tsp paprika
• Pinch garlic granules
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 10g salted butter
• Oil spray or butter, for greasing
• 4 slices of white sandwich bread
  
  

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Using a sieve, squeeze out all the moisture out of the spinach. In a bowl add all the ingredients except the butter, bread & oregano. Mix them well until well blended. Set the mixture aside.
3. Grease well 4 ramekins, we used oil spray.
4. Remove the crusts from the bread slices and flatten each slice with a rolling pin, make sure it’s very thin. Using a glass or cookie cutter cut a circle disc off the centre of each of the flattened bread slices and place the disc at the bottom of the ramekin. With the remaining pieces of bread, line up the ramekins’ sides tightly and fill each ramekin with about a tablespoon of the mixture, divide the mixture between the 4 ramekins.
5. Divide the butter into 4 equal pieces and put a piece of butter on top of the filling in each ramekin. Now chop the crusts finely and sprinkle on the ramekins. Gently press down with your hand to create a seal. Sprinkle some dried oregano on top.
6. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until top is golden.
7. Take out of the oven and leave to set for 10 minutes. Now either serve warm in the ramekin or invert on a baking sheet and bake for a further 10 minutes to get a crispy crust all around.

Enjoy!!

R&A