Artichoke, Kale & Ricotta Pie

If you've been following my posts for any length of time you'll see the ridiculous amount of dessert dishes I make.  It's just not normal.  After all, it's just me and my husband at home.  I'm not feeding a family or an army.  I just get swept up in the recipes and visions in my head of all these heavenly delights.  You know what that leads to?  Me feeling like poo when I've eaten too much of it. 

For the record, I don't eat all of it. Far from it.  I bring a large chunk of what I make to whatever yoga studio(s) I'm teaching at that day.  Luckily for me, not every yogi is into a strict vegetarian (healthy) diet.

That said, I'm seeking to go back to a more mindful and healthy way of eating.  Granted, I have to clear the fridge and cabinets of whatever leftover supplies I used, but I'm getting back on track.  And what better way to do both than with this next recipe for Artichoke, Kale and Ricotta Pie.  (Original recipe is found here).

By the way, it's cooking right now and smells absolutely sinful!

ARTICHOKE, KALE & RICOTTA PIE

INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
4 eggs, beaten
8 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces Parmesan, grated
1 cup canned artichokes, chopped
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan lightly with olive oil. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cheeses. Roughly chop the veggies and add to the cheese/egg mixture. Stir until combined. Pour contents of bowl into the greased cake pan and cook until custard is set, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.

PERSONAL NOTES:

This pie didn't need to be in the oven as long as the directions state.  I left it in for 40 minutes and checked; it was more than ready to come out.  Next time I make this (and I will be making it again because it turned out delicious!) I'll check it at 30 minutes and possibly lower the temperature to about 375 degrees.

As far as the flavor goes, I like putting garlic and onions in almost everything I make and this was no exception.  However, I discovered I ran out of fresh garlic.  Boo.  Happily, I have a good amount of onions on hand so I decided to thinly slice up a couple of shallots.  Hooray!

So even though it cooked a little longer than I would have liked, it still came out fantastic.  My husband gave it his two thumbs up as well!

Spinach and Mushroom Frittata

I'm so glad I discovered frittatas.  I've always been a big fan of quiche but the crust is typically so calorie-laden that I tend to shy away from eating too much of it.  But since I've been making these frittatas, I can have the quiche without the crust.  Plus they're easy to make and not guilt-inducing.  Which makes me an even bigger fan!

The following recipe is based on this one from allrecipes.com

SPINACH & MUSHROOM FRITTATA

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed thoroughly to remove liquid

4 eggs or equivalent egg substitute 

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

3/4 cup chopped portobello mushrooms 

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions with some green tops

1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings

1 pinch Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until well mixed. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray and fill with the spinach mixture.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until browned and set. Let cool for 20 minutes, cut in wedges and serve.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The Monterey Jack cheese is my addition to the recipe.  And I also used Egg Beaters to lower calories and cholesterol. 

This is so easy to make there's really no excuse not to go for this when you're looking for a good (and low-cal per slice) meal.

At 6 servings, each slice is only about 230 calories! Whooh!

Sweet Potato and Fennel Frittata (with Leeks!)

This is a creative combination right here (and I wish I'd thought of it!): Sweet potato and fennel.  I wouldn't have thought to bring these two together but I'm glad someone else did.  Since I wasn't sure how I'd feel about fennel (beleive it or not I've never actually had fennel before except as tea) so I picked up some leeks to split the frittata into two parts: one half fennel and the other half leeks.  As it turns out, both halves are delicious!  Although I'm still glad I grabbed the leeks.  They offer good flavor combinations as well as textures.  So good.


SWEET POTATO & FENNEL FRITTATA (AND LEEKS)

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs (or egg subsitute)
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 large sweet potato (peeled and sliced really thin with a mandolin
1 large fennel bulb (cored, and sliced thin)
2 leeks (optional)
1/4 cup fresh grated Pecorino cheese
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or oregano)
Salt and pepper as needed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the eggs, mascarpone and milk together. Season with salt and set aside. Brush the bottom of your tart pan with butter. Arrange one-third of the sweet potato slices in a single layer on the base slightly overlapping the slices. Sprinkle a third of the fennel slices evenly. Season with salt, pepper and a third of the thyme. Pour a third of the egg mixture over the veggies. Sprinkle some of the Pecorino cheese. Repeat with 2 more layers ending by sprinkling all the remaining Pecorino on top.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until the center is set. Remove to rack and serve immediately.

PERSONAL NOTES:

As I mentioned above, I split the frittata into two halves.  One side for the fennel, the other for the leeks.  Also - and this is a BIG note - my frittata cooked for 50 minutes NOT 30 minutes.  I kept checking to see if the eggs were cooked in the middle and they weren't.  I have no idea why it took so long, but there you have it.  Check it at 30 minutes and see if you need to keep it cooking or not.  50 minutes is quite a bit of time - and considerably longer than what the recipe originally called for.  But let me tell you, the end result was worth the wait.  SO GOOD.