Caramelized Onion Pumpkin Galette with Feta Cheese & Balsamic Sauce

Fall is almost here and it's time to start cooking with my favourite veggie - pumpkin! Why favourite? Because pumpkin is great with everything. Really, I couldn't think of anything that would taste wrong with pumpkin. You can make anything from pie to ice cream or from bread to stew.

And yes, summer wasn't very productive for me. I've only posted.. hmm how many times.. once? Yes, once. Shame on me. But now I definitely have much more ideas and recipes to try and write about. And here's one of them! This galette wasn't planned, I just had some leftover feta cheese in my fridge which was about to expire so I had to make something with it. I didn't expect anything special, but this galette came out surprisingly good! No, it was freakin' amazing! The dough is simple, a little bit flaky with crunchy edges but still soft and a little bit chewy. And that amazing pumpkin and caramelized onion filling topped with salty crumbled feta and drizzled with slightly sweet reduced balsamic... Yum! This is definitely a keeper!

Caramelized Onion Pumpkin Galette with Feta Cheese & Balsamic Sauce
Pastry:
185g flour
15ml /1 tbsp oil
pinch salt
1 small egg
60ml/1/4 cup water

Filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions (265g), sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
250g grated pumpkin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
50g feta cheese

Reduced Balsamic Sauce:
1/2c balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp sugar

1) Mix flour, salt and olive oil with a fork. Add egg and mix to combine. Add water and mix until the mixture forms into a ball. Dust your hands with flour and knead for a few minutes, just until it holds together. The dough shouldn't be sticky. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and place in the fridge while you make the filling. (Usually I'm too lazy to oil the bowl so I just throw it in the fridge and leave it).

2) Preheat oven to 200C (400F).

3) In a small saucepan, place balsamic vinegar and sugar and bring to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until the vinegar is reduced in half.

4) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. When they start browning, stir once, cover and leave to cook a little bit more. You can reduce the heat and/or add more oil if they brown too quickly. Once the onions are nicely brown, soft and fragrant, add garlic, pumpkin, salt, parsley, oregano and thyme. Stir, cover and cook over medium heat until the pumpkin softens, from 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Turn off the heat and leave uncovered.

5) Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a 2-3mm thick circle. Transfer it to the baking tray (dusted with flour!). Spread the filling onto the dough, leaving about 5cm space on the edges. Sprinkle with feta cheese and fold the edges over the filling. (You could brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash but, again, I was too lazy to do that and I don't think it's necessary).

6) Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and drizzle with balsamic sauce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Recipe by collecting memories

Ricotta Pastries

Have I ever mentioned that I love Italian desserts? And Ricotta cheese? Probably too may times. And, sure enough, these Italian Ricotta cheese pies were a hit. A soft lightly sweet pastry filled with a light and fluffy cheese filling. What I like about them is the airy texture of the filling and a slightly lemony flavour. They're not overly sweet which is good, and they perfectly pair with a cup of coffee. 
I found this recipe on Made in our kitchen and haven't changed anything in the recipe. This is just so great as is. Simple and so good.

And yes, collecting memories hasn't been updated for a long time. Shame on me. Let's say, I've been exploring the world and food a little bit. Luckily, I found this recipe unpublished in "drafts". Will be back!

Ricotta Pastries

Dough
250g/2 cups all-purpose flour
55g/1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt
2 large eggs
2 tbsp olive oil

Filling
250g/1/2 pound  ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, separated
30g/2 tbsp granulated sugar 
1 tsp lemon zest
Butter, for greasing muffin tin
Powdered sugar, for dusting



Dough:

1) In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center and beat in the eggs and oil to the well. Start incorporating the flour mixture by gently whisking the yolk mixture with a fork. Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Keep kneading the dough for another 5 minutes or until it's smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Filling:

1) While the dough is resting, make the filling. Mix together ricotta cheese, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest until well combined.

2) In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually fold in the whites into the yolk mixture. Set aside.

3) Preheat oven to 190ºC/375º F with rack in the middle. Grease 8 muffin cups with butter.

4) Roll out the dough to about 35cm/14inch square, 2 millimeters thick. Cut out 8 (10cm/4inch) squares. Placed squares into prepared muffin cups, pressing it to the bottom and the sides of a muffin cup with your fingers, leaving corners of pastry to overlap edges of the cup. Pour the filling into dough-lined cups, then fold dough corners over filling.

5) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until pastries are puffed and golden. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with sifted powdered sugar.

Recipe adapted from here.

Mushroom Fritters

Meaty and filling mushroom fritters. These will leave you full for a long time without making you feel heavy. Just make sure you add dill - this is the key ingredient! Oh, and don't add all the flour at once. You may want to reduce/increase it a little bit as it will depend on how long you fried onions and mushrooms. Couldn't be easier! Just a few steps and you have yummy healthy fritters. And don't forget sour cream - the more, the better.

Mushroom Fritters 

250g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried dill
Generous pinch of salt
1 large egg
50g flour
Oil, for frying

1) In a saucepan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Fry onions until softened and golden brown. Add garlic, salt and dill. Finally add mushrooms, cover, reduce heat and let simmer until mushrooms start releasing liquid. Uncover and cook until all the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

2) Add egg and mix to combine. Finally, stir in flour. Mix well.

3) Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan and drop 2-3 tablespoons of the batter. Flatten if needed. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Recipe by collecting memories

Avocado Egg Salad (Mayo-free)

I was thinking what to write in this post and couldn't think of anything smart. I guess I'm not very productive after the exams session. But I'm already writing something, so it's not that bad, right?? Actually, I'll better say something about avocado. I love avocado. I especially fell in love with it after making Avocado Brownies last week. Well, let's discuss this avocado egg salad now. It's amazing. Why? Because there's no mayo in it, which means, it's skinny and healthy, and still tastes wonderful! I believe this would be perfect wrapped in tortilla or simply used as spread on a slice of bread. Or who said you can't eat it straight from the bowl?

Avocado Egg Salad (Mayo-free)

1 large ripe avocado (300g)
2 large eggs, hard boiled
1-2 cloves garlic
~20g Greek yogurt (1-2 tbsp)
salt & black pepper

1) Cut avocado into small/medium cubes and mash some of it. Cut egg into small cubes and mix with avocado. Mince garlic and mix together with avocado/egg.

2) Add Greek Yogurt and mix with a spoon, mashing avocado and egg a little bit. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Recipe by collecting memories

Fudgy Cocoa Avocado Brownies (Butter, Egg & Flour-Free)

I've been trying to healthify some of the foods I make quite often recently. And sometimes I still can't believe that healthy food can taste so good. There's no surprise that the web is full of recipes with strange ingredients, for example, brownies with black beans or applesauce. No way, how can you make brownies without butter? And, how can you put avocado in it? It should taste horrible. But, you know, I think it's unbelievable how healthy ingredients can be incorporated in our favourite fatty desserts without any unwanted taste. Science! And then, one day, I decided to make avocado brownies. While they were in the oven, I was very sceptical. But I was so curious to try them that I didn't even let them cool down. When I tasted them, my mind was blown out. They were the fudgiest and the most amazing brownies in the world! With no eggs, no flour, no refined sugar, no butter!! The next day I made them again and I will be making them again and again! The most surprising thing was that they came out perfectly on the first attempt. There's nothing to be added. And believe me, you can't taste any avocado. You better stop reading and mix up a batch of these.

Fudgy Cocoa Avocado Brownies (Butter, Egg & Flour-Free)

2 avocados, ripe

200g light brown sugar

2 tsp coconut oil, melted
50g unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp instant coffee granules

50g ground oats

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare a 8x8 inch/20x20cm sicilone baking dish (or if using a metal one, line with parchment paper). Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, mix together mashed avocados, brown sugar, and melted coconut oil. Add cocoa powder, instant cofee, salt, vanilla sugar and mix to combine. Add ground oats and mix just until combined. 

3) Bake for 20 minutes. Cool at least one hour before slicing. ENJOY!

Recipe by collecting memories