Pasta with ricotta-tomato-herb sauce

When I come home after work I'm most of the times quite peckish (a snack in the afternoon doesn't really help most of the time) and don't have much time to make a fuss about dinner. But I still try to keep the amounth of ready made dinners to an absolute minimum and try to cook a fresh meal every evening. Well, not always cooking, I also often have a salad or now in summer just melon and parma ham.
I normally cook two servings and take one to work the next day.

I love dinners that are prepared in less than 30 minutes and preferably even give me some time to tidy up a bit in the meantime.

So here is another quick and easy dinner, I had to get rid of some ricotta and ended up with this pasta.

For two servings
150 g pasta
300 g tomatos (you can also use plum-tomatos if you prefer)
1 small onion or spring onion
ca. 2 tablespoons of herbs, either fresh or dried (when dried, 1 tablespoon might also be enough)
1 teaspoon granulated vegetable broth 
1 dl tomato juice
100 g ricotta
Pepper to season

Cook the pasta in boiling water till done.
In the meantime, preheat a frying pan (I fry without oil, but of course this is just personal preference) and fry the copped onions for one minute. Add the copped tomatos, tomato juice and vegetable broth and allow allow to cook and reduce a bit for about 10 minutes. Shortly before the pasta is donne, add 
ricotta and herbst to the tomatos and mix well. Season with some pepper. Mix the pasta with the sauce and serve.

Herbwise you're free to vary. I used one tablespoon of chives (fresh) and one teaspoon of dill (also fresh) plus some dried thyme and Italian herbs.

Quick berry cake

I felt like baking a cake today, so I called my parents if I should come round in the afternoon for coffee and cake. What a stupid question! As long some sweets are involved, my dad is in for everything, so of course they said yes.
I had some currants in my fridge, which were too sour for me taste to just eat them like this so I knew I have to use them for baking or so. When I had a look into one of my favorite baking books I came across some Raspberry and white chocolate slices and decided to try it with the currants.

It was the first time I tried blindbaking and it didn't really worked out as I used not enough beans. So make sure that you'll get enough heavy stuff on top of the pastry to keep it flat! My substitute grandparents by the way wash stones of apricots or plums and use them instead of beans for blindbaking.

You'll need for one small cake, perfect for 4 servings:
150 gramm of shortcrust pastry - I found one that is already in a small baking dish so there is no additional work
300 g currants, raspberries, blueberries or whatever berry you'd like
200 g Philadelphia
50 g yoghurt
50 g sugar
50 g grouned almonds
50 g white chocolate, in small pieces
1 egg
Some sliced almondes
Some lemon zest if you like

Preheat the oven to 160°. Put the pastry in a baking form (or take one that is already in a form as I did.... Lazy version...), cover with a baking sheet and fill with beans or whatever you take for blindbaking. Bake for 10 minutes, take the beans and the paper away and bake for another 5 minutes.
In the meantime mix the Philadelphia, yoghurt, almonds, sugar and egg till smooth and season with some lemon zest if you like. Cut the chocolat in pieces, wash the berries and gently stirm it into the mixture.
Fill the mixture into the dough, sprinkle with a handfull of sliced almonds and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.
Allow plenty of time to cool down, preferably in the fridge.

Eve's temptation

Summer is finally back and what is better than sitting on the balcony with a beer, a glass of wine or a drink?

You need for one glass
50 ml white Martini
50 ml apple juice
50 ml sparkling water
10 ml eldenflower sirup

Mix everything together in a champagne glass and decorate with a slice of lemon. Cheers!

Sandwiches with green pesto

I have tons of glasses and jars in my fridge. Tomato sauce, pickles, olives, baby corn, mostarda (which sounds awful but is reeeeeealy tasty though hot) and and and. They all get empty after a while, but I always have problems emptying a glass of green pesto. So I needed to find a way to get rid of it and found a good idea.

You need for one serving:
4 slices of toast, a slice of ham, one tablespoon pesto, one small tomato, one hard-boiled egg, a handful of rocket and salt and pepper for seasoning.

Toast the bread and spread each of the pieces with some pesto. Place the ham on one, the sliced egg on another piece of toast, add some tomato-slices and the rocket and season with salt and pepper. Cover with the rest of the toast and there we go. Ready to serve!

Pasta or gnocchi with tomato-pepper-ham-sauce

A quick and easy meal. All you have to do is chop some pepper and maybe onions and then let the stove do the rest. You can use pasta and gnocchi, just what you like more. Canned tomatos are a good alternative to "normal" ones in winter, but of course you can also cop 400 g tomatos and use them instead.

For two servings

What you need: 400 g canned tomato, 2 dl tomato juice, 100 ml sour cream, 2 pepper (I used a yellow and a red one), onions if you like, 150 g ham bits, 100 g sour cream, pasta or gnocchi (I used 150 g pasta/300 g gnocchi), salt and pepper to season

Mix tomatos and juice in a wide pan and boil it up. Cop the pepper and onions and add them to the sauce. Allow to cook for ten minutes. In the meantime, cook as much pasta or gnocchi as you like.
Add ham and cream to the sauce, season with salt and pepper and let it cook for five more minutes. Strain the pasta, add to the sauce and mix it together.

Thats it. Quick and easy as I said. Plus tasty ;-)

Coffee or tea my dear? - Hot chocolate, please

I'm not that much into hot chocolate... As I do not really like milk, as long it is milk. As soon it gets cheese or yoghurt or stuff it is fine for me, but not as milk-milk... To make this fact even worse; my uncle runs a farm with milk-cows and there was fresh milk all the time... It took me years and years to make it clear to my granny that I do not want to have milk... The one who understood it in the end was not her but my godfather, who preferes milk over tea and coffee.. But he finally got the hint and allowed me to have lemonade instead (his second-favorite drink, right after hot chocolate)

The only way I drink milk is at Starbucks... White chocolate mocca... And lately I tried a Gingerbread latte... I must have been quite in a strange mood to order something containing 90% milk, but I did and are on better term with it now!

And so I was seriously in the mood of a hot chocolate now... I mean, is there anything better on a gray and cold Novembers day? Well, yes... Tea! But never mind!

You need: 1 cup of milk, 25 gramm chocolate, 1 teaspoon cacao powder, some nutmeg, some cinnamon and if you like whipped cream and chocolat pieces to sprinkle.

Bring the milk to a simmer, add the chocolate and the cacao powder and allow to melt. Season with nutmeg and cinnamon and top with the cream.

I'm going to install myself on the sofa now with my hot chocolate, some IKEA pepperkaka (gingerbread) and my stitching to watch some Yes Prime Minister. Love it!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Pumpkin soup

I'm a soupy person! I love a good pot of soup on a cold winters day and pumpkin soup is my autumn favorite.
This one is quick and easy and just the right thing to stock up the freezer to have someting ready when there is not much time for cooking.

For one liter or 2-3 servings

You need: 400 g pumpkin, 4 carotts, 2 small potatos, water, sock-cube, 100 g sour cream.

Cut pumpkin, carotts and potatos in pieces and cook till tender. Put the vegetable and some of the cooking water in a blender, puree and fill with more water till you have on liter of soup. Put back into the pan, add the sour cream and some stock-cube (best use the amount for one liter of water first, you can always add more if necessary) und stir well. If you like you can add sausages and keep the pan on the fire till they are hot.