Spinach and Ricotta Polpettine in Tomato Passata

The temperature is between 25 and 30 Celsius at the moment and my spinach was looking a bit sad and droopy. 

I picked all that I could, washed it and cooked these delicious polpettine - a vegetarian delight.

This is a quick but delicious luncheon or entree dish that looks very impressive yet remains rustic.

 spinaci e ricotta polpettine di passata di Pomodoro

During the supermarket shop on Saturday morning I noticed 3  bottles of goats milk on sale. Because I make soap and cheese I always keep an eye out for milk specials and this was a great bonus!

I made some goats milk cheese, chevre which is basically a firm, moulded ricotta with a superb flavour.  While that was cooling in the fridge I proceeded to blanch the spinach to make the polpettine.


 I kept a few lovely polpettine aside planning to have them for lunch the next day.  One youngster came down for a midnight snack and told me the next morning that they were really nice.  "I felt a little ripped off when I realised they weren't meat balls Mum," he said " but they were good anyway".

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Spinach and Ricotta Polpettine

1 bunch of spinach, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, then cooled and drained.

200g ricotta cheese

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley 

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

375ml tomato puree (passata)

1/4 cup water 

salt and pepper to taste

 Extra grated parmesan for garnish



Squeeze the excess water out of the drained spinach and roughly chop before placing into a bowl.

Add the cheeses, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley and seasoning (remember that ricotta is salty so go easy with the salt).

Fry the onion in a pan in a little olive oil with the garlic and fry for about 5 minutes.  Add the tomato puree and water and bring to a light simmer.   

Roll small balls of spinach mixture lightly with your hands and place into the tomato sauce.  When they are all rolled and placed on top of the tomato mixture grind a little black pepper and a tiny sprinkle of salt over the top.    Gently spoon a little sauce over top of the balls.   Turn pan to very low, cover and let cook for about 8 minutes. 

Remove lid and let cook for 1 more minute for the excess water to evaporate (only if needed).

Sprinkle with extra grated fresh parmesan.

Serve with crusty bread and a fresh green salad.

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Does your family go searching in the refrigerator for the evening leftover food dishes?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx

Sake - Cultured and Home Made

I have had so much fun creating the most amazing Sake in my pantry and then my laundry.
It is enjoyable producing products at home but even more so when you have to research the ingredients and method and still occasionally have to improvise to create perfection.
I wish I could attach a small cup of Sake to this post so you could enjoy the magnificent taste and aroma.


Every good idea starts with a dream or a need ... for example;

 I commented "oh darn it honey I'm out of sake"
followed by "I know you can't even buy it in our town".
"That's a shame "my very patient and long suffering husband replied
"can we pick some up in Newcastle next time?"
Knowing how keen I am to get ingredients when I need them, not in 3 months time.   I replied "surely we can make Sake?"



"Considering I brew wine, mead and limoncello and you make other alcohol surely between us we can make sake - what's the difference?"  I asked my now intrigued husband.

"Of course you can make sake" hubby replied, "we can do anything".

So here I am, the proud owner of 5 litres of divine home brewed Sake, well actually only 3 as I have already given away 2 litres of Sake.

As with all new recipes or hobbies you research the method and ingredients.  Luckily we have the internet and interest pages where we can talk to like minded people about our hobbies.
So I read on how to make sake.  It seemed all a bit too difficult, so I read some more, asked friends and ordered the one ingredient that seemed easier to order than to make at home called 'Koji'.
Koji looks very much like rice bubbles as I ordered it in the dried form as it was sent from interstate.

Koji is innoculated rice spores, an essential with which to make sake, miso or shubo miso.

I found the recipe for sake that I followed here;
http://homebrewsake.com/home/recipe/
and I will not reproduce it here, but the instructions are very involved and I treated this sake like a baby from start to finish.  Treating it with respect, dignity and ever so gently.

I stirred vigorously and measured the temperature of the liquid morning as well as night, adding a frozen ice brick underneath when it was time to cool the liquid down.  It went from bench top to laundry floor and then into the laundry sink at times and it was always covered by a towel in a darkened room to keep the light out.

This was truly a labour of love and I was so happy with the end result and when the ABV measured 17% alcohol with a pleasant rice flavour, I deemed it to be a huge success.

It is definitely best to make over winter in the cooler months.

My son brought back 2 expensive bottles of sake from Japan in December and although they are smoother than mine; my sake is still very acceptable and most pleasantly drinkable by comparison.

The liquid is so clear it could be mistaken for water.

You have a small amount in a kind of cupped saucer to drink for a quick pick-me-up.

By the way, I predominantly made this Sake to have on hand for cooking so it will last many years.

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx

Simple but delicious Pork Sausage Rolls

It was my hubby's birthday recently and as we were going out for dinner that evening I suggested afternoon tea to family and friends to celebrate his day.  I made sausage rolls and red velvet cake as well as spending the previous afternoon cooking crostoli so there were all on the menu.
Afternoon tea was better than the meal out we had at a local restaurant in town (it happens) so I am glad we ate well beforehand.

Sometimes you hit onto a winner, simple comfort food that is perfect for parties or dinner with family.  Home made sausage rolls are amazing and even better when you use pure free range pork mince and add your own flavourings to create an amazing filling for the pastry.

I occasionally make my own puff pastry but the convenience of store bought frozen puff pastry is great and hard to pass up, especially in the heat of summer where you have to work quickly with pastry.

This recipe is a variation of the classic Bourke Street Bakery sausage rolls recipe but I have tweaked it to suit our taste.

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Pork, Vegetable and Fennel Sausage Rolls

This recipe will make 4 trays of sausage rolls, approximately 60 sausage rolls of 6cm lengths.

1 kilo pork mince, preferably free range
4 celery stalks. finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped or grated
2 rashers bacon, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 white or brown onions, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons fennel seeds, whole
1 teaspoon dried, mixed herbs
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
6 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg mixed with a little milk for an egg wash.

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, celery, bacon, carrot and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion and carrots are softened.
Take off the heat and mix in the herbs, breadcrumbs and seasoning.
Let cool.
Mix the pork mince into this cooled mixture until well combined.
Heat oven to 200C
Place the thawed puff pastry sheets on your bench and cut each sheet in half so  you have 12 rectangles of roughly 15cm x 30cm.
Place mixture  in the middle third of each sheet using 2 spoons to spread a rough line in the middle of each sheet about 4 cm wide.  Roll one side of the pastry on top of mixture, brush with beaten egg and fold the other side of pastry on top to just overlap so you have your filling enclosed with pastry.
Cut each roll into 5 pieces and place onto baking paper lined baking tray.
Brush with egg wash and place into hot oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, rotating trays half way through until the sausage rolls are puffed and light golden brown.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce or tomato sauce.
These also freeze well and can be reheated from frozen in your oven for 45-50 minutes at 170C.

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Do you find occasionally that your home cooked meals can be better than restaurant dishes?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx