Parsnip, barley and mini-meatballs stew

The weather is getting crisp and it is soon time for hearty stews and soups.

Last week, I was inspired by a bag of parsnips in my fridge and a can of crushed tomatoes, staring at me from the back of my pantry. I knew I had ground meat in the freezer, so I made mini-meatballs (click here for a recipe) and whipped up an easy stew. Or soup? Stoup?

Here's how you can make it.



INGREDIENTS (4-6 people):
- a large handful of mini-meatballs (click here for a recipe)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 6 to 8 cups beef broth
- 1 cup of barley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 to 1 tsp smoked paprika, to taste
- 2 shallots, sliced finely
- 2 to 3 ribs of celery, diced
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 1 lb bag of parsnips, peeled and diced finely



RECIPE:
- in a large, deep stockpot, melt the butter and saute the meatballs over medium-high heat until golden but not fully cooked and reserve on the side

- in the flavored butter, saute the shallots, celery and garlic over medium heat until soft

- add the crushed tomatoes and beef broth and bring to a simmer, the add the diced parsnips and cook until soft (20-25 minutes)

- about 15 minutes in, add the barley to the simmering liquid and cook for another 10 minutes, or following your barley's cooking instructions

- a few minutes before you are ready to eat, add the precooked meatballs and heat up until completely cooked through

- enjoy!

Sour cream pie crust

The idea behind this recipe came from the fact that I needed to make pie crust for my apple-cheddar pie and I had leftover sour cream I needed to use.

After doing research on google, I found a recipe on Serena Bakes Simply from Scratch and decided to use her recipe as a base for mine. Check out her wonderful blog for the original recipe and other delicious treats!

Here's how I made mine.


INGREDIENTS (for a double crust):
- 2 1/2 cups of AP flour
- 1 stick of butter, very (very!) cold, diced
- 1/2 cup of sour cream, cold
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup ice-cold water
- a large pinch of salt


RECIPE:
- in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, the butter and incorporate the butter quickly with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the flour looks like fresh bread crumbs and the butter is the size of a green pea

Note: you want to work really quickly here, with very cold butter. The butter should stay solid as much as possible so that those little nuggets can melt when the crust bakes. That will ensure a flaky crust!
- add the cold sour cream and mix with a spatula

- add ice-cold water by the spoonful (not all at once!) until the dough can hold when pressed together
Note: the dough should not be sticky here. You just want enough water so you can form a ball.

- shape the dough into two discs, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to use

Note: you can absolutely freeze the dough at this point
Note 2: if you will use this batch for a double-crusted pie, make one of the two discs slightly larger than the other one (the top disc should be a bit bigger)
- after the dough has rested, roll out on a floured surface and make your favorite pie!

Blueberry and cherry pie

My favorite part of summer? Fresh fruit galore!

I've been stocking up on fresh cherries because well, I love them! And what better to do the other day when it started pouring down outside and I couldn't enjoy my Sunday? Yes, you guessed it right: Ch-ch-ch-cherry pie! And since I had a few leftover blueberries that were threateneing to go bad, I decided to use them up in a beautiful sweet pie!

Here's how I did it.



INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups of fresh blueberries
- 2 cups of fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 pie crust (click here for a recipe)
- a small piece of butter and a pinch of flour to grease and dredge the dish (not pictured)


RECIPE:
- preheat your oven at 375F
- Pit and stem the cherries, and mix them with the blueberries, lemon zest, juice, cornstarch and sugar and let rest at room temperature until ready to use

- grease the pie dish with butter and dredge with flour, then roll out the pie crust thinly (about 1/8") and place gently in the center of the dish

- scoop the pie filling in the center of the crust and trim the extra dough

- if you are feeling artistic, feel free to use the dough trimmings to decorate your pie

- bake the pie at 375F for about 45 minutes, or until the dough is just golden and the filling is cooked and bubbly

- this delicious fruity, summery and juicy cherry-blueberry pie is best enjoyed warm with a dollop of sour cream or vanilla ice-cream!

Homemade Orecchiette

I've been making fresh long pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle and lasagna sheets) for a long time, but I only recently started making my own short pasta. How fun!!

A few weeks ago, I tried my hand at Orecchiette. Those short pasta are amazing for salads and I just love them with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil in a Caprese salad.

I had mine alla primavera (recipe coming soon) and here's how I made them!



INGREDIENTS:
- fresh pasta dough (click here for a semolina dough recipe, or here for a kale pasta dough recipe)
Note: I used my homemade kale pasta dough recipe because I had some frozen on hand but it was a little too soft and in retrospect I would recommend using a semolina recipe for a firmer dough.

DIRECTIONS:
- shape the dough into slim logs (about, 1/2 inch in diameter), wrap in film and let rest in the freezer for about 20 minutes until very firm

- slice the logs into 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick "coins"

- press the discs between your thumb and index or middle finger and twist, just like you would if you were snapping your fingers together

- dregde in flour as you go and until ready to use in your favorite recipe (click here for a pasta alla primavera recipe)