ZUCCHINI AND WHIPPED FETA TART

     That time of the year is here again. When the weather gets colder and during the weekends all you want to do is stay in bed or cozy up to some hot chocolate and your Netflix subscription. I'm talking about Fall, obviously, and while it's not cold everywhere right now, it sure starts becoming colder here in Zurich. Some people don't like giving up the warmer temperatures of summer for the moody and cloudy mornings of autumn. Personally and as a food photographer, I really like cloudy days for photo sessions and then sunny days when I'm not photoshooting. But also I love all the amazing recipes that we get to do during autumn or winter, like stews, soups, pies and tons of desserts.

     Talking about autumn recipes, today we're going to a pumpkin festival, where more than 150 types of pumpkins will be there for us to choose. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to be surrounded by amazing and fresh pumpkins. Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable that can be incorporated in both savoury and sweet recipes. My all time favourite dish with pumpkin has to be a pumpkin and coconut milk soup. I could eat it all autumn and winter long with some freshly baked bread.

     Yesterday was a very fun, relaxing and creative day. I managed to do a lot of things and prepare a savoury recipe for the blog. The inspiration came while I was in the grocery store, looking at what vegetables and fruit I could buy for the week. While I was searching for some eggplants to make our traditional dish (mousaka), I saw some zucchini standing next to them and it was at that moment that the idea for a simple and flavourful tart came. I had some feta cheese at home, waiting to be loved and this idea for a recipe was perfect.

     The recipe is very simple, you only need fresh ingredients and some love for your zucchini. I tried to take some photos showing you how I prepared the dough, because I find that photos are sometimes better than words. If you want of course, you can make your own dough. I used a store bought one that I find is not too buttery, because I find if it contains too much butter it's not so good for my digestion later. So, without further chatting (or typing) let's move on to the recipe.

Zucchini and Whipped Feta Tart

ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings)

1 store bought dough (1 sheet)

1 large zucchini

100gr feta cheese

100gr full fat greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove

fresh parsley (chopped)

pepper

sweet paprika (optional)

How do I make it?

1. Take out your dough and lay it on a clean surface. Using a roller, try to roll it out a bit, but not too much as you want it to be thick in order to be able to hold the whipped feta and the zucchini. Turn your oven to 160C and carefully place the dough on a pan with baking paper.

2. Using a knife, try to shape a rectangular on the dough leaving about 5cm of space from the sides. Then, take a fork and start   making fork shapes on the dough with light pressure (pictured below). You do that so when the dough is baked you let the air come through and your dough doesn't puff. Bake the dough for 5 minutes and then let it cool a little bit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (I didn't prebake my dough as I forgot about it, but I advise you to bake it on its own before adding the ingredients on top).

3. Cut the zucchini in thin slices. Then, use a food processor to mix together the feta cheese, greek yoghurt and garlic glove. Pulse the processor well until you get a creamy texture, but there are a few pieces of feta cheese inside. Mix inside some pepper and sweet paprika if you want to. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add some freshly chopped parley and stir with a spoon.

4. When your dough is cooled, start adding some of the whipped feta on top, staying inside the rectangular shape you created in step 2. Cover the whole rectangular area and then start placing the zucchini. For lack of words, I provide you a photo on how to place the zucchini (but to be honest, it doesn't matter, we do it like these for appearance reasons).

5. Before putting the tart in the oven for the final baking, try folding the sides of the dough as pictured below. 

Bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes on 160C until the dough turns golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it cool slightly for 10 minutes. 

ZUCCHINI AND DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE

     This Friday a good friend of mine invited me to her house among other classmates from University, to taste some Asian food cooked by her and another friend. The first thing we ate was a spicy soup with chicken and ramen noodles. It was sooo delicious. Next on the plate was a bit of curry chicken and some coconut rice, which was also very good (and the least spicy for me). Overall it was a beautiful night spent with friends and exchanging local recipes. We also had some guacamole from a Mexican friend, which is always so amazing and yummy.

     

     However today is another day. I woke up with a terrible headache this morning. It must be the lack of sleep, the large amount of cheese I ate last night and a few too many glasses of wine these past few days that may have caused this turture. Still I wanted to write this post, because it's been a long time since I've posted here and I have a great recipe to show you guys. Most of the time as you have understood I try to eat healthy. Some times, like yesterday, I want something sweet to indulge, probably with chocolate. Chocolate works always like a cure for me. When things get stressful a piece of dark chocolate always soothes a bit that kind of stress.

     But this is not your normal chocolate cake. It is a healthy one, or maybe a "healthier" version of the one you are used to eating. It still contains chocolate, but also...a vegetable. From the title you already know that it is made out of zucchini. Now, I don't know if this is one of those trends people involved in food always seem to come up with, but so far I like the idea of this. Sweets made with vegetables, which you normally wouldn't think of making. Like the carrot cake. Who doen't love this cake for its moisty, out of this world taste? So, I decided to give it a go with this zucchini chocolate cake recipe I found over at food52, although I changed it a little bit, because first I didn't have a few of the ingredients and second because I wanted to try something different. If you are new to this idea, don't push it away instantly. Give it a try! Also, for women who have children, this is a perfect way to hide some vegetables in your children's everyday eatings. They will love it!

Zucchini and dark chocolate cake

ingredients (for a loaf)

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup creme fraiche (heavy cream) or 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup dark chocolate melted

1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

how do I make it?

1. Using your electric mixer or hand mixer, mix together the oil, sugar, creme fraiche, vanilla extract and egg until you get a nice pale yellow mixture. The sugar needs to be somewhat dissolved. Then pour in your melted chocolate and continue to mix lightly.

2. In a seperate bowl whisk together the two kinds of flours, baking powder and baking soda. Then transfet to your wet mixture and mix slowly to incorporate all the ingredients together. Put in also the grated zucchini and continue to mix. You will notice that it will start getting moisty. Add your walnuts.

3. Preheat your over at 170-180 C. Butter a loaf pan (or a cake one, that is your choice). Pour in the cake mixture and tap it on the surface a bit.

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Mine need the whole hour of baking, as the mixture was too moisty. But don't be afraid of it, it needs to be baked that long.

5. Let it cool a bit before serving.

Φριτατα με μανιταρια, κολοκυθι και ροκφορ - Frittata with mushrooms, zucchini and rocquefort

Μμμμ μύρισε η κουζίνα ολόκληρη! Είναι κάποιες φορές που αυτό και μόνο επιβεβαιώνει πόσο πετυχημένη είναι μια συνταγή...από τη μυρωδιά της. Χθες ξυπνώντας είχα όρεξη για αυγά, αλλά δεν ήθελα τη συνηθισμένη γρήγορη ομελέτα. Και μετά ανοίγοντας το ψυγείο παίρνει το μάτι μου ένα κομμάτι ροκφόρ τυρί και αμέσως ήρθε ιδέα.

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Mmmm the entire kitchen is smelling! There are time when only this confirms how great a recipe is... by its delicious smell. Yesterday upon waking up I was hungry for eggs, but I didn't want an easy and ordinary omelette. And then as I opened the fridge my sight drops on a peace of rocquefort and instantly I had an idea.

Φριτάτα με μανιτάρια, κολοκύθι και ροκφόρ

υλικά

1 κρεμμύδι

1 σκελίδα σκόρδο

10-12 μανιτάρια πορτομπέλο

1 κολοκύθι στρογγυλό

1 τομάτα

7 αυγά

50γρ τυρί ροκφόρ

λίγο αλάτι και πιπέρι

διαδικασία

- Ψιλοκόβουμε το κρεμμύδι σε μικρούς κύβους και πολτοποιούμε το σκόρδο. Ρίχνουμε σε ένα μεσαίου προς μεγάλο μεγέθους τηγάνι με λίγο ελαιόλαδο και τσιγαρίζουμε μέχρι να πάρει λίγο χρώμα το κρεμμύδι. Παράλληλα ψιλοκόβουμε τα μανιτάρια και το κολοκύθι σε μικρά κομματάκια. 

- Προσθέτουμε τα μανιτάρια και το κολοκύθι στο τηγάνι και συνεχίζουμε το τσιγάρισμα μέχρι να μαλακώσουν, αλλά όχι πολύ. Προσθέτουμε λίγο αλάτι και πιπέρι. Αφού τσιγαριστούν όμορφα τα λαχανικά, ρίχνουμε τη τομάτα και ανακατεύουμε λίγο για να τσιγαριστεί και αυτή χωρίς να λιώσει. Αποσύρουμε το τηγάνι από τη φωτιά.

- Σε ένα μεγάλο μπολ προσθέτουμε τους εφτά κρόκους και ανακατεύουμε με ένα μίξερ μέχρι να αφρατέψουν. Έπειτα προσθέτουμε το τυρί και τα λαχανικά που έχουμε τσιγαρίσει και ανακατεύουμε καλά. 

- Επιστρέφουμε το μείγμα μας στο τηγάνι με λίγο ελαιόλαδο και τηγανίζουμε σε χαμηλή φωτιά μέχρι να αρχίσει να ξεκολλάει το μείγμα στις άκρες του τηγανιού. Προθερμαίνουμε το φούρνο στους 180 C (στο γκριλ εάν έχετε τέτοια επιλογή) και τοποθετούμε το τηγάνι. Ψήνουμε μέχρι να ψηθεί η πάνω πλευρά του μείγματος, δηλαδή να ροδοκοκκινήσει! Δεν χρειάζονται πάνω από 10 λεπτάκια. Σερβίρουμε μαζί με μια σαλατούλα ή με χυμό για πρωϊνό.

Frittata with mushrooms, zucchini and rocquefort

ingredients

1 red onion

1 clove of garlic

10-12 portobello mushrooms

1 zucchini 

one tomato

7 eggs

50g Roquefort cheese

salt and pepper for seasoning

how to

- Chop the onion into small cubes and smash the garlic. Pour into a medium to large sized pan with a little olive oil and saute until you get some color. Alongside chop the mushrooms and zucchini into small pieces.

- Add the mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and continue sautéing until soft, but not too much. Add a little salt and pepper. After you get some nice brown vegetables, add the tomato and saute for a while. Withdraw the pan from the heat.

- In a large bowl add the seven yolks and mix with a mixer until your eggs are fluffy (love the word!). Then add the cheese and sautéed vegetables and stir well.

- Return the mixture to the pan with a little olive oil and fry on low heat until it starts to come off at the edges of the pan. Preheat oven to 180 C and place the pan. Bake until the upper side of the mixture is cooked! They do not need more than 10 minutes. Serve with a side salad or juice for breakfast.