Easy Apple Cake

Apple cakes are one of my favorite fall desserts. Easy and seasonal they are always appreciated. I have recently tried a recipe for a traditional Italian apple cake. The cake was so easy that I managed to make it quickly on a Saturday morning to be ready for a morning coffee.

I used local Golden apples but a more sour type would work better as the base of the cake is quite sweet. Besides the apples the recipe calls for golden raisins and pine nuts. Raisins were a nice addition to the cake but I think that, instead of the pine nuts, I would prefer it with almonds, because they are more crunchy.

Easy Apple Cake

Ingredients:
3-4 Golden apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thick slices,
3/4 cup all purpose flour,
1 cup sugar,
2 tbsp pine nuts or slivered almonds,
1/4 cup golden raisins,
6 tbsp unsalted, melted butter,
3 eggs,
1/2 cup milk,
1 lemon,
1 tsp baking powder,
1 tbsp butter for the form,
1 extra tbsp flour to dust the baking form with.

Preparation:
1. Grease a 10-inch baking form with butter and dust with flour.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Soak the raisins in a warm water for about 10 minutes until soft.
4. Break the eggs in a bowl of a standing mixer. Add sugar and beat them until they are mousse like.
5. Pour in milk and cooled butter, then add shaved lemon peel and flour mixed with baking powder. Mix briefly until smooth with a mixer.
6. Add the drained raisins and nuts and mix with a spatula. Transfer the batter to a baking form.
7. Arrange the quarters of apples on top of the cake and bake it for about 45 minutes.

Let it cool down and serve.

Baked Rice with Pumpkin and Feta

This light and colorful rice dish is a perfect recipe for this pumpkin season. It comes from the Mediterranean cuisine. I found it in one of the Italian magazines which I brought from Italy. The dish is quite similar to risotto and calls for the risotto type of rice, preferably Carnaroli or Arborio. It is started as risotto, but because it is then baked in the oven, it does not require constant stirring. It is made with Feta cheese instead of Parmesan and finished with two garnishes—fried sage leaves and pine nuts. Sage adds extra flavor and aroma to the delicate taste of rice, pine nuts bring in some crunchiness to a smooth texture of the dish, so it is worth adding both to obtain that full and rich taste at the end.



Baked Rice with Pumpkin and Feta

Ingredients:
1 cup risotto rice (if available Carnaroli),
1 lb peeled and cut into small cubes pumpkin,
1 medium onion, chopped,
1/2 cup white wine,
2 and 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock,
1/2 cup Feta,
1 tsp hot pepper flakes (optional),
2 tbsp roasted pine nuts,
3/4 cup milk,
salt,
2 tbsp butter,
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
12–16 sage leaves.

Preparation:
1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Add pumpkin cubes and fry for about 2–3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.


2. Preheat oven to 325 F.
3. In the same frying pan heat another 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add onion and fry until transparent. Add rice and toast together for 1–2 minutes. Pour in wine, and let simmer until wine evaporates.
4. Add pumpkin and stock to rice, season with salt and bring to boil.
5. Transfer rice to a large baking dish and bake for 20–25 minutes.
6. In a medium bowl crumble Feta and mix with roasted pine nuts and hot pepper flakes if used.



7. In a small pot bring to boil 2 tbsp butter. Add washed and dried sage leaves and fry for 2 minutes.
8. Remove rice from the oven. Pour in milk and gently mix and bake for another 10–15 minutes.
9. Once again remove rice from oven and spread Feta crumbles on top. Bake for 5 minutes until Feta melts.
10. Remove rice from the oven, finish with melted butter and sage leaves and serve.

Zucchini Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

A few years ago a friend gave me as a gift a spiralizer, a simple tool which makes any long vegetable into spaghetti threads. At the time I got it it was not available in the US stores. In the past year or two a spiralizer became easily available in many American stores so today I decided to post a recipe for a vegetable dish with the use of a spiralizer.

Many vegetables, for example carrot, squash, cucumber or zucchini can be spiralized. My favorite became green zucchini which I make often in the fall when local big zucchinis are available. And in that case the bigger zucchini the better. I make a zucchini spaghetti which is a simple dish of fried zucchini with tomato sauce on top. This is not only an easy dish but also almost entirely made of fresh and pure vegetables, an excellent dish for any fastidious vegan and gluten- or lactose-free diet believer. I shred some Parmesan on top of the sauce but the dish is very tasty also without it.



Zucchini Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
6 large green zucchinis,
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
4 medium tomatoes,
1 small onion, chopped.

Preparation:
1. Blanch tomatoes in hot water, peel off and cut into cubes.
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium pot and add onion. Fry on a medium heat until transparent. Add tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Spiralize the zucchinis.



4. In a large frying pan heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add minced garlic and fry until gold. Add spiralized zucchini and fry on a high heat tossing it often until all the water evaporates. Zucchinis should be cooked but still firm. Do not salt them as they will release too much water and become very soft and overcooked. The bigger zucchinis the less water they will release.



5. Turn off the heat and season the zucchinis with salt and pepper. Transfer them to the plates, spoon the tomato sauce on top and serve.