Tag: easy

Oat florentine and how to adapt it

I based this nuts and oat florentine on oats and on a variety of nuts. There is lots of space for accommodation around your taste.

Florentine cereal bar

Those tips were posted in a post I placed on this blog and you may not have seen them. Consider them, they are convenient. Now feel free to add other ingredients than oats to your base, for example you can add silvered almonds or corn flakes.

Tip 1 – the “glue” of your oat florentine

In the end, I realised it doesn’t matter too much what you want in it, it is important to make sure you have a good “glue”.  I looked at a number of recipes for that binding mix and opted for my own made with simple ingredients (butter, honey and brown sugar), so no glucose syrup or other fancy items.

Tip 2 – you need salt in your florentine

One thing I did wrong was having a little too much salt. So put salt but go slowly, once added you can’t remove it

Tip 3 – solid ingredients: let yourself go! There are no limitations there. You need to think of the flavours you are combining together, this is crucial but not too hard. if not sure, stick to a few nuts, seeds or dry fruits in addition to the oats.

Mine was a little extravagant as I went through the pantry nuts jars: brazil nuts (cut), shredded coconut, pepitas, walnuts, roasted hazelnuts, macadamia pieces. And some dry cranberries.

Now for he new tips:

Tip 4 – bake your florentine until nice and brown, do not hesitate to go to a nice coloured brown as it means the florentine will be more solid. The caramel is what binds the ingredients together. If it is too light, it will not hold.

Tip 5 – the slice shape is so much easier to handle, but the florentine round shape is pretty.  My round shapes are enormous, too big really but fun!

Ingredients:
  • 250 g of rolled oats
  • 175 g of brazil nuts, cut in pieces
  • 50 g of shredded coconut
  • 100 g of pepitas
  • 100 g of walnuts broken
  • 150 g of roasted hazelnuts, cut in pieces (quarter size roughly)
  • 100 g of macadamia, also cut in pieces
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • Wet mix:
    • 100 g of melted butter
    • 120 g of honey (you may need to heat up the honey if it is solidified)
    • 150 g of brown sugar (or up to 200g if you like them quite sweet)
  • 180 g of dark cooking chocolate gently melted for the top
Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.  Line a baking tray or slice tray with baking paper.
  2. Prepare the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix them.  Prepare the wet ingredients in another bowl.
  3. Mix dry and wet ingredients.
  4. if using a slice tin, press the mix to a thickness of 1.5 cm to 2 cm. If doing florentines, use a tablespoon of mix minimum and press down to a 1.5cm thick disc.  The width will depend on the amount of mix.
  5. Bake in the middle of your oven for 1/2h to 40 minutes until nicely brown (the time will depend on your oven)
    Florentine cereal bar
  6. Cool down before covering with melted chocolate. If doing a slice, cut when the chocolate has almost hardened.

Florentine cereal bar

 

The giant choc chip cookie

The recipe for the giant choc chip cookie kept coming back on a Facebook cooking group. So I gave it a go. The recipe is from a French blogger Claire au Matcha.

Of course, this is very successful with children! Imagine, a giant cookie! I must say the first time I baked it I was quite excited also.

cookie geant

chip choc cookie cake

Ingredients:

For the giant choc chip cookie you will need a cake tin 20 cm wide, buttered and floured.

  • 180 g of plain flour
  • 1 tsp of baking powder
  • 180 g of brown sugar
  • 120 g of soft butter (must be soft, not melted).  Apparently, you could also use margarine according to the initial author.
  • 1 pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
  • 1 egg
  • 80 g of dark chocolate chopped in 1/2 cm pieces
  • For the top, 100 g of milk chocolate chopped into pieces (you can use dark chocolate if you prefer)

Note: I find the recipe a bit too sweet as such, bring the sugar down to 160 g or use dark chocolate which is not as sweet

Method
  1. Butter and flour the baking tin
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C
  3. Cream together the soft butter and brown sugar, add the egg and mix well
  4. Add together the flour, salt, baking powder and 80 g of chocolate. Mix only until combined. The dough is rather compact, don’t worry.
  5. Transfer the dough into the tin and spread. Place the 100 g of chocolate over the top and gently push down a bit.
  6. Bake for 25 min or until golden brown (like a cookie).
  7. Turn over on a cooling rack, then on a dish.

Ruby red rhubarb and berries crumble

This ruby red rhubarb and berries crumble is rich in taste. I find it comforting but not in the sense of heavy food. The colour of it is amazing, you can’t wait to put your spoon into it!

Here I have access to red rhubarb, you can do it with green rhubarb, the colour will be a bit different. You can choose not to do a crumble and just keep the compote to have as-is with a biscuit or at breakfast.

rhubarb
Ruby red rhubarb and berries crumble, the fruit compote has boiled over the crumble. The yellow colour of the crumble is due to the use of besan four.
Ingredients:

For the red ruby rhubarb and berries compote:

  • 500 g of rhubarb (1 bunch)
  • 300 g of mixed frozen berries
  • 150 g of white sugar
  • 200 ml of red wine

For the crumble top:

  • 75 g of very soft butter (or 1/2 melted butter)
  • 150 g of flour.  You can use gluten-free flour.  In the photo, I have used besan flour (chickpea flour)
  • 75 g of caster sugar
  • 75 g of walnut, crushed in your hand
  • 25 g of pistachios
Method:
  1. Peel the rhubarb and wash the stalls.
    Tip: peeling rhubarb consists in cutting the leaf off, then the bottom bit (the thick end). With the bottom bit will come some of the rhubarb skin in the form of a long string of “skin”. Pull till it comes off. 
  2. Cut the rhubarb in 1-2 cm long pieces. Place in a large saucepan with the redberries, the sugar and the red wine.
  3. Cook with a lid on high heat until it reaches a boil then reduce the heat to medium to get a simmer and cook until the rhubarb is tender (about 20 minutes).
  4. You can choose to leave the compote as it is or blend it partially (or fully). I like to blend it a little bit with a blending stick. Keep on the stove a little longer if you wish to reduce the juices further.
  5. Now for the crumble: mix together the very soft butter, flour, sugar, walnuts and pistachios.  Rub between your hands until you get a sandy to gravelly texture.
  6. You are now ready to put together the crumble. Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Use an oven-proof dish and pour in it 4-5 cm thick of the red ruby rhubarb and berries compote.  Cover with the crumble mix
  7. Cook for half an hour or until the topping of the crumble has reached a brown colour. The liquid may come over the crumble, that’s fine.
  8. Cool a little before serving. You can also serve this at room temperature.

rhubarb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cookies and cream ice-cream

This is a very simple recipe for cookies and cream ice-cream.  Mix and freeze! It is very important all your ingredients be cold to start with if you want to churn it on the day. If you have time, mix the ingredients (see recipe) and churn it the next day. I didn’t invent this cookies and cream ice-cream recipe, it comes from “Chew Out Loud“, here adapted for metric measures.

Note that I use an ice cream machine for making my ice-cream.

Makes about a one litre container.

Ingredients
  • 250 ml (1 cup) whole milk
  • 150 g (3/4 cup) of caster sugar
  • 500 mL of thickened cream (2 cups)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped Oreos

Note: this is quite sweet, you can reduce the sugar to 100 or 120g if you prefer it a little less sweet (I wouldn’tgo lower)

Method:
  1. In a large bowl combine together with a whisk, the milk, the cream, the vanilla and the sugar. Mexi well. Check the vanilla level for taste, adding a little bit if desired.
  2. If you have been using cold dairy ingredients, you can churn it straight away, else, allow it to cool down overnight in the fridge and churn the following day.
  3. Once churned (use your machine instruction), roughly cut the Oreos into small pieces (5 mm to 1 cm) and while transferring to the ice-cream container, mix the Oreos through. Make sure to keep a few of the broken cookies for the top!

Santa madeleines, a fun Christmas treat to prepare with children and adults

Those are Santa madeleines. This is a fun Christmas treat to prepare with children and adults.  My older daughter – who is 11 years old – ha that idea for her classmates. The teacher had placed a Christmas sock at the back of each student’s chair. I think those Santas did not stay long in the socks!

It is fun to make those Santa madeleines, not just for the children, I found that pretty cool too!

Before you start, it may be a good idea to wear aprons.

The concept of the Santa madeleine

Make a bunch of madeleines. You will need the special madeleine prints for this. The recipe I use is HERE. If you aren’t a fan of the lemon taste, don’t put any, you can put a dash of good quality vanilla extract.

You will need food colouring of a rich red colour from your supermarket.

Once the madeleines have cooled down, you can start the icing and complete your Santa madeleines! Note that the icing will need a few hours to dry fully, overnight is better.

You will need to make a white icing, a red icing and have found some little eyes bits (from the shops) for the eyes. If you want to add a pompon-like item, you can find little sugar stars for example. you will find those in the baking section of the shops.

Making and applying the icing

To prepare the icing, you need:
  • one lemon or two squeezed lemons
  • 2-3 cups of icing sugar sifted (to avoid any lumps)
  • the red food colouring

For the white icing, place a cup of the sifted icing sugar in a bowl, add about 1/2 lemon juice. Just add a little at the time and start mixing. You basically want something quite pasty, a bit like Nutella when at room temperature (or maybe a tiny bit more fluid). If you went too far, i.e. your icing is too liquid, add more sugar!

For the red, start with the red food colouring and then add the lemon juice. Aim for the same consistency a the white. Be mindful to not mix the utensils you are using.

To apply the icing on your Santa madeleines

When there are kids involved, I am all for simple tools. We used toothpicks to draw the hat border and small spoons for the beard and hat.

To attach the eyes on your Santa madeleine, put a little white icing underneath each eye and “glue” them to the madeleine.

To clean your kitchen bench

The red icing is messy (the white as well but it cleans without a trace).  Use baking soda and a bit of water to form a paste and rub your kitchen bench. it should come off very well!

Salted chocolate and walnut caramel slice

This salted chocolate and walnut caramel slice is adapted from Delicious magazine.   The slices taste amazing. Since they are quite filling, there is here for a fair number of serves. I made mine in a  20×30 cm slice tray.  The recipe originally called for a 23 x 23 cm tray.

There are a few steps to make the salted chocolate caramel slice but all are pretty easy. To make it even easier, I advise using the caramel version of sweet condensed milk.

Barre choco caramel

Ingredients:

BASE

  • 220 g plain flour
  • 50 g  icing sugar, sifted
  • 180 g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

FILLING

  • 380 g sweetened caramel condensed milk (this is the volume of a can of condensed milk in Australia)
  • 50 g dark  brown sugar
  • 100 g dark corn syrup or glucose syrup
  • 100 g unsalted butter
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • one teaspoon worth of good quality vanilla extract

TOP

  • 200 g dark 70% cooking chocolate
  • 15 g unsalted butter
  • 40 g roasted walnuts (roast them 15 minutes in a 160°C oven)
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes (if using a 23×23 cm tin, you will need to use slightly less)
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the base and sides of the slice tin and line with baking paper.
  2. Place the flour, icing sugar and 1⁄4 tsp salt flakes in a heatproof bowl and stir to combine. Add the melted butter and mix with your hands to form a sticky paste. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out with an offset spatula.
  3. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the base is golden. If any bubbles form under the base while baking, use a skewer to gently deflate them.
  4. Now, for the caramel filling, place all the ingredients in a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring well occasionally, until the butter has fully melted and emulsified. The consistency should be thick and gloopy and the colour just a shade darker. Set aside at room temperature. As soon as the base is ready, remove from the oven and immediately pour the caramel filling over the top.
  5. Reduce the oven to 120°C. Return the filled base to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so. If it starts to brown too quickly, reduce the oven slightly and continue to bake. When cooked, the middle will feel set and a little rubbery and the sides should be starting to blister and turn light brown. Remove and leave to cool for 1-2 hours at room temperature.

    Tip – it is important to place the slice at the bottom of the oven at this stage, it allows cooking while avoiding the top to brown and darken too quickly.

  6. It is now time to prepare the topping.  Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir thoroughly then pour it over the top of the caramel. Smooth lightly with an offset spatula or tilt the pan to distribute the chocolate. Crush the walnuts with your hands and sprinkle over the top with the salt flakes.
  7. Leave to cool a little.  It should be fully set after an hour (this depends on the temperature of your kitchen as well). This salted chocolate caramel slice keeps in an air-tight container for a week.

Barre choco caramel

A simple strawberry tarte

This is the recipe of a simple strawberry tarte. While simple, it is still excellent.  A more complex recipe may have a small sponge layer and a vanilla thick custard layer over the pastry base or an almond vanilla custard. All options if you want to add flavours. Note that cake shops would often have a sponge layer to absorb the juices as they prepare more in advance than you do at home (else you would have a soggy pastry).

This version for a simple strawberry tarte is always a success, is light, perfect for a summer day. This is the recipe I mostly make.  The quality of the strawberries is important. You can choose to use full strawberries or cut them in half, especially of they are big.

Preparation – 1 hour maximum.

tarte aux fraise tarte aux fraise

Ingredients:
  • 250 g of plain flour
  • 1250 g of soft butter
  • 125 g of white sugar
  • one large egg
  • Strawberries, a couple of punnets (sometimes 3)
Method:
  1. Prepare a sweet shortcrust pastry by mixing all ingredients together and making a ball. Don’t overwork it. If very friable, add a few drops of water. Allow resting for 1/2 hour, or up to a couple of days in the fridge.
  2. Place it in the tin by either rolling the dought or by pushing it into the tart tin with your fingers.
  3. Make dots with a fork on the bottom, this will prevent the formation of bubbles.
  4. Cook on 170 °C until lightly golden.
  5. Cut the bottom of the strawberry removing all unripe parts.  You can use full strawberries or you can cut them in half.
  6. Place the strawberries on top of the pastry (part cut facing the pastry) and brush them with red currant or apricot jam slightly warmed up and diluted with a few drops of water (to make it runnier).

This dessert is better done on the day, that said, you can do the bottom sweet shortcrust pastry earlier.  Do not place it in the fridge.

Light pumpkin soup

I call this pumpkin soup light because I include a zuchini in it which lightens the texture and the taste.  It makes for a warm dish, comforting but not as heavy as many pumpkin soups can be.

Note that I do not use stocks in my soups. I find the taste of the vegetables sufficient to provide a great flavour.  If you want to use stock, I would advise to choose one which only includes natural ingredients.  You will also need to decrease the salt you add in.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 a butternut pumpkin
  • 1 medium size brown onion
  • 1 zucchini
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) of cream.
  • Bread, olive oil, cracked pepper and/or parmesan cheese to serve
 Method:
  1. Peel and slice the onion, brown the onion in the saucepan with a little olive oil for a few minutes.
  2. In the meanwhile, peel the zucchini and cut roughtly, peel and seed the pumpkin.
  3. Place both pumpkin and zucchini to the saucepan.  Add just enough water to the saucepan to cover. Also add one teaspoon of rock saltSimmer until the pumkin is soft (use a small pointed knive to test).
  4. Use a stick blender (or a mixer) to mix the soup.  Add the cream.
  5. Serve your pumpkin soup with a piece of bread and as wished a drop of olice oil,cracked pepper and/or shaved parmesan.
soupe a la citrouille
Zucchini, onion and pumpkin soup

Easter 2020. Pear and no chocolate overdose!

Easter 2020 and pear. And chocolate of course.  Did you manage Easter without a chocolate overdose?

Not to worry, there was chocolate involved in our household.  We made an Easter bunny, two large Easter eggs and a myriad of small eggs.  Tempering chocolate is a great introduction for children to chemistry. Very messy though!

Poached autumn pear and its zabaglione mousse

This Easter 2020, for the meals I aimed at using some beautiful autumn ingredients I had gathered (in the shops considering we can’t travel): chestnuts, mushrooms, beans, a nice joint of lamb, different types of pears.  What to do? Slowly this idea came up.  Pear was going to be the queen of Easter 2020.  I ended up poaching some pears in a mix of squeezed orange juice and spices.  I was not going to discard the poaching liquid! The poaching liquid was the basis for a zabaglione mousse.  The zabaglione was delicious warm, as a  mousse, it has a great texture and works well with the poached pear.  I  prefered it warm butone of my kids loves it as a cold mousse, so that comes down to personal preferences.

poached pear poached pear in zabaglione

Other pear recipes

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I cook a lot with pears at the moment, obviously peak season. Check out these recipes that may inspire you.

Pear tarte tatin – works for pear and apple. The trick is to cook the fruits in a very buttery water bath before making the pie. The method behind the recipe comes from a reknown French pastry chef, Christophe Michalak.  PS- you can find real butter puff pastry in Asutralian supermarkets now!

Pear and chocolate flan – a rapid and very easy recipe. It is a crowd lover and can be used to make use of those pears about to go off.

A bit more elaborate, this pear and chocolate tarte is a winner and always makes an impression.  You will need to make a shorcrust pastry. It is a great dessert to finish off a diner party! – the photo I have is not exceptional, a good excuse to do it soon!

I like this more conventional pear and almond tarte.

Last year, I made this chocolate and standing pear cake. It was pretty good. I will put it back on my list for this month.

My last idea, the very simple Poire Belle Helene, one of my favourite classic.  Here with a little chocolate twist.

I can’t  believe I was about to forget the good old simple rural pear tarte.  it is the same recipe as the classic apple tarte or pretty much.  The evening classic of many families.  I grew up with those!

Poached pears in autumn syrup

This poached pears in autumn syrup recipe aims at a not too sweet cooked pear with subtle earthy  flavours. To be eaten with a dry biscuit, or a crumble of roasted chestnuts or a cream such as creme anglaise or a sabayon. poached pear

A sabayon is more known in Australia as a zabaglione.

There are many ways with poached pears. None can be wrong, pears are so versatile! If you are after stronger flavours you can use white wine or red wine as a basis to your syrup.  Here the syrup is based on orange juice.

Ingredients:

For poached pear in autumn syrup, think what may be available easily. It is peak citrus season, the beginning of colder days where fresh ginger is a must have stapple against the eventual cold, rosemary is abundant (that can be said all year round really for rosemary) and summer fruits season with stronger flavours are over.

  • 4 beurre bosc pears, firm
  • juice of 6 oranges
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1 string of rosemary
  • 140 g of white sugar
  • about 3 cm³ of fresh ginger cut in thing slices
  • 250 mL of water (1 cup)
  • 1 cinamon roll
  • 2 pinches of grated nutmeg
Method:
  1. Assemble all the ingredients in a saucepan and slowly heat up.
  2. In the meanwhile, peel the pears without cutting them. With the pointy end of the knife you are using  remove the core coring through the bottom of the pear. At the same time, ensure the bottom is flat so the pear can stand vertical, if not, trim slightly.
  3. Place the pears in the syrup (you may have to put the pears on their sides), bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool down in the saucepan.
  4. When ready to serve, remove the pear and place them on a plate to allow them to drain. Pass the syrup through a sieve and retain separately.

Tip: the syrup can keep more than a week in the fridge if you dont use it readily.  Use the syrup in a drink such as spiced hot wine, or a flavoured tea, or to make a semolina cake or as a basis for zabaglione.

poached pear

My brownie, chocolatey, gooey, not too sweet

This is my recipe for a brownie, chocolatey, gooey, not too sweet.  I made it one day when friends were visiting between the very short time of ending a bushwalk and them getting back on the road with what was going to be an empty stomach.   I have read a number of good posts about brownies, wondering when I would finally find a recipe I would really like.  This blogger went on a mission of recipe testing,  others (there is a good post I read a couple times, just can’t find it now)  discuss the different versions: with cocoa (which I must say I have not yet tried) vs with chocolate, more cake-like, more fudge-like.  As for me I tend to like a brownie with some texture and a melting centre.

chocolate and nuts soft brownies

The brownie must be not too sweet, this is important as many brownies recipes have enormous amounts of sugar. Note that it is not sugar free either.  One of the keys of a good brownie is using brown sugar. It holds moisture better than white sugar due to the molasses.  Another important ingredient is the chocolate you use.  I like using 70% dark cooking chocolate. For some of you, it may be a bit strong, you can then use a bittersweet chocolate or 60% dark chocolate of good quality. If you are going to use milk chocolate for the choc chip in this recipe, decrease the white sugar by 40 g.  Now if you want a brownie for the children, try this brownie recipe with dulce de leche (i.e. caramel sweet concentrated milk) , my children love it!

My gooey brownie recipe

My gooey brownie is not hard to prepare, the secret is more in the cooking. To have a crust and gooey centre you must not cook it long but high enough that the outer parts are baked. I opt for a hot oven.  Some may opt for placing the uncooked brownie in the fridge, then baking it.  It is probably more controlled way to get there, however it requires more time.

chocolate and nuts soft brownies

For the nuts, it is completely up to you if you want to use some and which you want to use: plain or toasted hazelnuts partly cut, walnuts, almond, sliced almond, pecan, brazil, sunflower seeds, …the choices are multiple.  I tend to use what I feel like and also always what I have handy.

Ingredients:
  • 20 x 20 cm brownie tin (or slightly less but not larger)
  • 200 g of 70% chocolate (see note above on choice of chocolate)
  • 200 g of butter (I used salted butter, if not using salted butter, add a good pinch of salt)
  • 100 g of brown sugar
  • 50 g of white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 150 g of flour
  • 150 g of a mix of nuts
  • 100 g of chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate (optional)

Note: I tried with and without raising powder, there is no difference here, so I opt now for none.

Method:
  1. Preheat the oven on 210°C. Line your brownie tin with baking paper.  If the one you have is longer than 20 cm, fold upwards the baking paper at 20 cm length and make a rough wall support with the extra length of paper.
  2. Melt the butter and chocolate together.
  3. Mix in the sugars
  4. Then add the eggs one at the time.
  5. Add all at once the flour, nuts and chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
    Tip: ensure the dough is cold enough for the chocolate chip, else they will just melt.
  6.  Now the baking: cook for 15 minutes no more. Sometimes, 15 minutes may be too much, depending on your oven.  The cooking time is somewhere between 11 and 15 minutes. As soon as the brownie starts showing little cracks on the top, you know it is time to remove it from the oven and cool it down.  What happens if you go too far is that the oils in the chocolate and the butter split from the rest and appear on top and the chocolate tends to burn. The brownie will be dry.

It is best to wait for the brownie to cool down, not that this is what we necessarily will do!

chocolate and nuts soft brownies
It didn’t last long until some claimed a piece!
chocolate and nuts soft brownies
Outdoor brownie coffee break

Ricotta Gnocchi

Ready, steady, go! Dinner on the table in less than half an hour with those ricotta gnocchis.  All you will need is ricotta, a bit of flour and some parmesan or similar cheese.  The method is super easy and you can also get help from others, children included. The recipe is fun.  In this recipe, I serve them with roasted vegetables.  The recipe is inspired from one found on Delicious.

This quantity serves easily 4 people (you could extend it to five).

Ingredients:

For the roasted vegetables:

Tip: here you need to adapt to what you have in your fridge, so don’t hesitate to swap around. 

  • 1 or 2 capsicums
  • 1 onion (red or brown)
  • 2 tomatoes cut in quarters or one punnet of cherry tomatoes
  • 1/3 aubergine (eggplant) cut in cubes
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves unwrapped

For the gnocchi:

  • 500 g of firm ricotta
  • 50 g of grated parmesan (or similar)
  • 80 g of plain flour

To serve (optional) baby bocconcini (or small pieces of mozzarella cheese), a little olive oil, fresh basil or fresh thyme.

Method:

  1.  Preheat the oven to 250°C.  Peel onions, capsicums, remove seeds, cut in 1 cm thick wedges, and place on the roasting tray. Add garlic, tomatoes, and other prepared vegetables.  Add the olive oil. Toss. Crack salt on top.  Roast for 10 minutes or until just cooked (then remove from the oven and set aside – keep the oven gnocchi ingredientson).
  2. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, flour and parmesan. Make a ball. If the ball breaks add a few spoons of water until consistent, if it is too sticky, add a little flour. Divide the ball into four.
  3. Working on a lightly floured kitchen bench, roll each in a long 1-1.5 cm thick log (Tip: a bit like when you made clay pots at high school from rolled clay if you ever did that). Cut each roll every two centimetres.  cutting ricotta gnocchi
  4. Boil water in a large saucepan. When the water is boiling add half of the ricotta gnocchi. They will fall at the bottom.  With a slotted spoon, remove them from the water as soon as they come up floating to the top and place them over the vegetables.
  5. When all the gnocchis are cooked and placed on the vegetable. gnochis prepsAdd the fresh thyme, bocconcini/mozzarella, a filet of olive soil and place back in the oven until slightly golden.  Remove the ricotta gnocchi from the oven. If using fresh basil rather than thyme, add the basil leaves. Serve.