Sunday, January 8, 2012

Garlic stuffed Olive Herbed Focaccia and Spinach-Ricotta Dumplings in Red Pepper Sauce

I led a class on Italian cooking yesterday and felt honored to be surrounded by such a lovely group of ladies.

We made this delicious focaccia!
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tbls olive oil
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbls thyme and oregano
Olives stuffed with garlic cloves
Olive oil for brushing onto surface and sprinkle with salt.

Proof yeast. Mix with flour and olive oil. Mix, adding a little flour until a soft elastic ball forms. Place in an oiled bowl and cover until doubled in size. Divide and pull into round disk shapes. Place in cake pans, dimpling the surface. Insert olives into one or both, which ever your prefer. Bake until golden brown. approximately 15-20 minutes. Pop out of pans and bake for five more minutes. Best served still warm.

4 large, fleshy red bell peppers
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 5 fresh basil leaves salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons yogurt


Cook on a high heat and use an immersion blender to make smooth.

For the Dumplings:
3 bunches spinach, stems removed
3 eggs or yogurt
3/4 cup freshly grated Italian parmesan cheese, plus cheese for garnishing
3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
 2 cups ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus flour for dredging
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2 tbls sage 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted









We ended up putting these in a large, well oiled pan and under the broiler to bake when boiling our dumplings led to half results, sometimes this mix isn't quite firm enough to handle boiling. Baking it produced beautiful little rounds of hot cheese and spinach.


Photos courtesy of Kate Goehrig Scott.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a fun class. Where are these classes held? - I'm always looking for cooking classes and similar events in the Buffalo area.

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  2. I use the kitchen at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo on West Ferry and Elmwood Avenues. The class was an cultural immersion for this Saturday the 14th's dinner for Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily.
    Go to this site for more info: (https://www.facebook.com/events/178652935557191/)

    The next class is perogies on February the 19th. 20 for $20. These are vegetarian. Will offer potato cheese and chive filling and potato and homemade sauerkraut filling. The class after that will be March 3rd or 4th and will be an International Dinner Cultural Immersion Class on Sweden!

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