Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Squash and Apricots

Sundays seem like the most appropriate day to cook a roast. My mom says that when she was growing up, that was all they ever had on a Sunday. Sunday was roast day. I am partaking in this Sunday tradition!

These photos are nothing to be proud of, however this dish certainly was! So I must include the recipe. It is rare that we have all the ingredients for this dish in our house at one time... but we did! So OBVIOUSLY I had to make it.

This recipe is from the ever brilliant and talented Chef Lynn Crawford, whose recipes are almost always a huge success with me :) In fact, I think I have yet to be disappointed!

The flavours of this roast are quite lovely together! The squash and onions caramelize around the edges, the fruit adds a lovely burst of sweet which I crave. The rosemary just kicks your tastebuds into flavour town. And prosciutto? I'M SOLD! As my dad says, "Pork wrapped in pork! Can I have mine with bacon?" I like the way you think, Dad.

Roasted Prosciutto-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Squash and Apricots

• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 small onion, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 pork tenderloin
• 2-3 slices of prosciutto
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F

In a roasting pan, toss together the squash, onion, apricots, raisins, rosemary and butter. sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat, and heat the olive oil. Season tenderloin well with salt and pepper. When oil and pan are both hot, sear the pork briefly on all sides just to brown. Set it aside for a few minutes to cool a bit.

Wrap the prosciutto slices around the pork tenderloin, then place it on top of the squash and dried fruit mixture in the roasting pan. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, until an instant read meat thermometer registers 160F. Let rest about 10 minutes before slicing.

I enjoyed this on a Sunday evening in October with my mom and dad, with brown rice, whilst listening to Bon Iver and discussing potential halloween costume ideas. 

XO Lari

Ricotta and Spinach Pasta Bake

WELL! It has certainly been a while since my last post. But hey that is okay because I have been busy doing other various things. These things include but are not limited to the following:

• Finishing my third year at Alberta College of Art and Design
• Going on an epic journey to do an exchange program in Glasgow, Scotland which in turn lead me to other epic journeys in Berlin, Amsterdam, Spain, London and finally Italy!!! (Is this real life?)
• Getting a new job at a sweet little cafe in the trendy neighbourhood of Kensington. Come on down to Higher Ground! We have some delicious specialty coffees and tea mistos which I am drinking far too many of.
• Taking a spring course to lighten the load of 4th year... Am I really going to be in FOURTH YEAR next year?? What is this madness...
• Wearing a dress everyday in June to raise money for charity. Not a very difficult challenge for me.
• Various other things that a 21 year old with the personality of a 60 year old would do! Cooking, reading, going to bed early etc.

But I do believe it's time for a new recipe. What do you say?

Yeah? 

OKAY!

Sometimes, hardest part about coming back to something after a long time is trying to decide "where to begin"? Do I try and start from where I left off? This seems too complicated. What feels right is to just jump in from wherever. The rest will fill itself in. And let's be honest, it doesn't really matter does it! 

The key for me at the moment I think is to just keep things simple. Let us not rush in with complicated cakes and fancy new dishes... although I have some brewing don't even worry about it!

Let's be super simple and just go with what I whipped out for dinner this very evening!

Let's call it "Ricotta and Spinach Pasta Bake" and let's call it Dinner. Let's call it more often, it was gooooood.

Look at dat cheeeeeese...

This recipe was given to me by a lovely girl who was my flatmate when I was staying in Glasgow. Long story short, I was ridiculously lucky to be able to live in a flat with two other girls who wanted to share cooking and groceries duties... which makes life awesome! The two girls were Laura and Evie, and I am truly grateful for them being a part of my Glasgow Adventure.

Laura has some trusty recipes tucked up her sleeve. By sleeve I mean a book that where she writes down all her tried and true dishes, often ones from her mother.

I was lucky enough to get some of these recipes passed on to me! YES.

This particular recipe was not one that Laura ever made for me... but I happened to have ALL the ingredients for it at once, which let me tell you is a rare occasion in this household. Especially when we are talking about ricotta cheese and fresh basil. But the cheese and pasta stars aligned and it was meant to be.

We had my dear Auntie Joan over for dinner and she loved it so much she asked for the recipe. So it's safe to say it passed the test! Thank you to Laura :)

The photos are not the greatest ever, but I ain't even worried! I'm just glad to be back. :)

Ricotta and Spinach Pasta Bake

Serves 4 with leftovers

Recipe from Laura Gaiger

• 250 grams pasta (any kind will do, I used fusilli)
• 400 grams ricotta cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 50 g parmesan, grated
• 15 g fresh basil, chopped
• 125 grams spinach (I used frozen)chopped
• about 1/2 jar pasta sauce (I used Newman's Own Marinara)
• Mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup?)

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until almost done, but not quite. It will continue to cook in the oven.

In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, garlic, half of the parmesan, the basil and spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 375.

When the pasta is done, drain it, then add it to the bowl with the ricotta mixture. Stir.

In a large oven proof dish, spread a thin layer of sauce over the bottom. Pile on the pasta mixture, then spread another thin layer of sauce over the top. Sprinkle on the mozzarella and the remaining parmesan.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes until brown and bubbly on the top... YUMNESS!

Serve with a lovely garden salad and you have yourself a lovely but hearty veggie meal!

Cheers!

<3 Lari

Black Bean and Corn Quinoa

A few weeks ago I had the house to myself.
Dining Solo.

Do not think of it as a lonely thing...

More like: I get to cook WHATEVA I WANT!

I went with a Mexican fiesta of quinoa.
It was a good decision.

As noted from this previous post, I am currently borrowing my Aunt's Quinoa cook book, and this was the first recipe I tried from it! Unfortunately I was out of some ingredients like avocado and cilantro which would have made this even better. But even with just the beans, corn and tomatoes it was quite the delish dish.

So yes, I was cilantro-less... but when I was taking photos, the dish was lacking that pretty green finishing touch! So I put on parsley... I KNOW, how un-mexican of me :( but it just looks better this way. After all this, my dinner was a little cooler than usually preferred, but hey now I know this tastes good cold too. Ah, the life of a food blogger I suppose, hehehe

Black Bean and Corn Quinoa

Recipe adapted from this book.

Notes: I was eating this by myself... so if you are making this for a meal for more than just you, perhaps doubling it would be best!

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/8 tsp chili powder
• 1/8 tsp ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup cooked corn kernels (I used canned)
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
• grated cheddar cheese for topping

1. Bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, keep the covered saucepan on the burner for 5-6 more minutes. Fluff quinoa with a fork
2. In a medium bowl, stir to combine the salsa, chili powder, coriander, cumin, tomato, beans and corn.
3. In a small bowl combine the greek yogurt and lime juice. Set aside.
4. Stir the cooked quinoa in with the salsa-tomato-bean-corn situation.
5. Serving time! In your desired eating dish, place some of the quinoa mix and top with the lime-yogurt and some grated cheese. Garnish with cilantro if you have some!

Fun note! This quinoa mixture is awesome for making new dishes with the leftovers. Add some lettuce and turn it into a lovely salad. Throw it into a tortilla with cheese for a Southwestern-Quinoa-Quesadilla. Or one of my favies: heat up a corn tortilla, top with quinoa mix, a fried egg, and grated cheese. YUM.

So many delish dishes.

Happy Quinoa-ing

<3 Lari

Zucchini/Tomato Rice Gratin

Nearly every time I read somebody's blog post about a recipe... I want to make it. This is a challenge because there are TOO MANY RECIPES AND NOT ENOUGH TIME! This is one of the rare dishes that I actually did end up making after reading it on one of my fave-food-blogs!

It was one of those awesome moments where I thought, this looks delish, and I have all of the ingredients!! And my family was impressed that I managed to do something delicious with that tub of cooked rice in the back of the fridge. (I'm trying to get better at using up the stuff we already have on hand, rather than buying new ingredients all the time.)

The only real reason I adapted this recipe is because I:

1. Had a small tub of pre-cooked rice chillin' in the fridge
2. Did not have enough garlic on hand!
3. Had some yellow zucchini AND green from the farmer's market... and I thought the red green and yellow looked so pretty together.

Zucchini & Tomato Rice Gratin

Recipe only slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• About 1 to 2 cups (no need to be too precise) of already cooked rice (Or, the original recipe tells you to cook up 1/3 cup uncooked rice)
• olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini (use all yellow, all green, a mix, or whateva!) sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 pound tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• salt and pepper
• 1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

If you are using uncooked rice, cook it now! Then set it aside.

Spread a tbsp or so of olive oil into two oven proof dishes/pans. Lay out your zucchini and tomatoes in the pans, and season them with salt and pepper.

Roast the veggies at 450 (425 for my hot oven): put the zucchini in for 10 minutes, take it out and flip it, then put it back in along with the tomatoes for another 10 minutes. If this was most likely confusing: Roast zucchini for 20 minutes, roast tomatoes for 10 minutes. (no need to bother flipping the tomatoes halfway through their cooking time.)

MEANWHILE: Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and heat about 2 tbsp olive oil. Once hot, add your sliced onions, garlic and a sprinkle of salt. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until onions get all limpy. Yum. Stir occasionally. This takes about 15-20 minutes... perfect to do whilst waiting for all those roasting veggies!

In a bowl, combine your cooked rice, eggs, thyme, half of the grated parmesan and about 1/2 tbsp olive oil. When your onion mixture is cooked, add this to the bowl along with some fresh ground pepper and stir to mix everything together.

Grease a 2-quart baking dish with a bit of olive oil, and spread half of the rice mixture into the dish. Next, layer half of the zucchini. Repeat! Now, layer the tomato slices on top, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese over it all.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the dish is set and tomato edges get all toasty.

Eat it and love it!

I totally want to try this using different kinds of rice, thinking maybe a brown rice would be awfully tasty.

<3 Larissa

Salsa Fest: Our Version

IMPULSIVE DECISIONS! Are the best kind. Especially when they turn out to be awesome. On Sunday we had an impromptu Mexican Fiesta, which is something everybody needs to do.

So just this past weekend was the annual Sun and Salsa Festival in Calgary... something that I have never been to, but was hoping to attend this year. Alas, due to the fact that I have to earn money to pay for important things like cookbooks etc, I was unable to make it down to Salsa Fest.

No Fiesta is complete without
chill-pepper garland... obviously.

BUT I will NOT let that stop me from enjoying in my own Salsa-Inspired festivities! I marched to my parents and demanded a change in dinner plans.
To my great joy, they not only approved of my grand salsa plans, but offered to go out (right then) to buy groceries and to invite family over to join in the Partay. I love my family.

We made three kinds of salsa (four if you change the name of our classic guacamole to Tomato Avocado Salsa) and they were all delish. Served up with grilled chicken, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and a variety of chips... We had a winner of a dinner.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa
Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Avocado & Tomato Salsa

OH and of course I made dessert... duh.

And keeping with the theme (because themes are my thing), I made a Sweet Strawberry Salsa to use as a topping on vanilla ice cream. Which was totally different, and totally rad.

Also, my Aunt brought over a freshly baked Saskatoon Berry pie... with berries that were picked fresh from her backyard that very same day. You can't get any fresher, people.

Courtesy of The Amazing Aunt

I ask you, does that not look like a perfect pie?

The moral of this story is: If Lari cannot come to Salsa Fest, Lari makes the Salsa Fest come to her.

Enjoy having a salsa experiment of your own!
XO Larissa