Pasta with Lemon Ricotta and Zucchini

Hello,

I know, I’m late! It’s not Friday, and it hasn’t been for almost three days! But: it’s the Easter weekend, we had my family over, the weather is super, etc. So: here comes a recipe for a dish from the ‘light spring cooking’ category, a little late, but nonetheless delicious.

This is what you do:
1) Cook the pasta. I usually cook roughly half a pound for two eaters.
2) In the meantime, wash and grate the zucchini. I used two small zucchinis (I find the smaller, the better the taste). Heat some olive oil in a pan and add a chopped onion; stir. Add the zucchini, reduce the heat, and let them sauteé for about 5 mins. Add 2 table spoons lemon juice. Stir. Season strongly with pepper and salt.
3) In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, the zucchini mix, about one cup of ricotta cheese, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Stir well. Season to taste. Serve with parmesan cheese.
4) Enjoy!

I’ll leave it at that for today. Eat well, and drink well, and be very, very merry!
xoxo, F.

Vegetable Tarte

Hello again!

With this beautiful tarte, I used quark cheese in the crust. Yes, really! And I loved it, because it made the crust kind of soft and chewy, and also adds a slight taste of cheese which went well with the tomatoes. And it’s not complicated at all! I urge you to give it a try.
Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

1 cup flour
1 cup quark cheese
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1/4 tsp. salt

You can wash and cut the veggies while the dough is in the fridge:
1 large onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered

olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano
bread crumbs, approx. 1/4 cup

Directions:

For the crust, knead flour, butter, quark cheese, and salt into a smooth, homogeneous dough. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put into your fridge for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, prepare the veggies (EXCEPT the tomatoes!) and fry them in a large pan for 3-4 mins., not more. Season the veggie mix with salt, pepper, and oregano leaves (dried or fresh).

Take the crust dough out of the fridge, and roll it out into the shape of your tarte pan. Transfer into the pan, and prick with a fork a couple of times. Sprinkle bread crumbs on the crust; cover with the vegetables.

Preheat your oven to 390°F.

Arrange quartered tomatoes on top, and gently push the crust rim on the veggies (I don’t know how to describe this! I hope you can see what I mean in the picture).

Bake the tarte for approx. 30 mins., until the crust is lightly brown, the tomatoes look crinkled, and the veggies are tender. Serve with a nice green salad, and experience happiness!!

Goodbye for now! xoxo,
F.