Apple and Strawberry Crisp

I had a close friend come over for dinner, and I wanted to whip up a quick dessert, that would be easy, yet delicious. First thought that came to my mind, was a crisp, and I had apples and strawberries at home, so I made the crisp accordingly! I made it in little ramekins, cause firstly its a good portion to eat, and secondly  they are just so cute with a dollop of icecream on the top of each ramekin! :) So pretty looking!

Well, it turned out DELICIOUS :)

Ingredients(This recipe makes 12 ramekins) :

2 pounds strawberries

2 pounds firm Apples

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of salt

For the topping:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, core, and cut the apples and strawberries into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into the ramekins.

For the topping:

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the ramekins on a sheet pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla bean icecream. DELISH!

Piadine with gorgonzola spread, kale and roasted vegetables

I saw Giada's latest episode with grilled flatbread, kale and mushrooms, and decided that I had to make this recipe, the very same weekend! It was too delicious to resist, not making it!:) I made a variation of it, with piadine dough, and used a different concoction of the vegetables. I used all winter vegetables, with butternut squash, carrots and zucchini, roasted the vegetables with olive oil and maple syrup, and cooked it in with the kale. DELICIOUS!

Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

Piadine dough:

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
About 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 cup cool water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons gray salt

Gorgonzola Spread:

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Salad on top:

1/2 bunch of kale, well washed

1 cup butternut squash cut into small pieces

1 cup carrots cut into small pieces

1 cup zucchini cut into small pieces

2 shallots cut into small pieces

2 tablespoon of olive oil

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

For the Piadine dough:

Whisk together the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1/2 cup of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Dust the top lightly with flour, cover the bowl with a tea towel, and leave the sponge to rise until the flour dusting "cracks," showing the yeast is alive and well, about 20 minutes.

Add 3 cups of the flour, the 1 cup cool water, the olive oil, and the salt. Start kneading at low speed, then increase the speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed to produce a slightly moist and soft dough. Knead with the dough hook attachment until smooth and silky and the dough adheres to the hook.

Dust the dough lightly with flour and, using a pastry scraper, scrape it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly, folding the dough over on itself. Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, dust lightly with flour, cover with a towel, and leave to rise on a floured surface (or in a bowl) until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down, wrap, and freeze for up to 1 month if not using immediately. Defrost and let rise in a large bowl in the refrigerator.

For the Gorgonzola spread:

Put all ingredients into a food processor and run it, until well blended, about 2-3 minutes.

For the vegetables:

Put the butternut squash, zucchini and carrots into a square pan, coat it nicely with 1 tablespoon olive oil and maple syrup, salt and pepper and roast it in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees.

In the meanwhile, in a saute pan, put the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, and add the shallots, once oil is heated at medium heat. Add in the Kale, and saute with pepper, and little salt. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar. Kale is done in about 5 minutes. Now add the roasted vegetables to the kale, and your salald topping is ready!

To assemble:

Take about 1/4 of the dough, and roll it out onto a cookie sheet, into a very thin layered dough. Use your hands if you cannot roll it out with the rolling pin. Brush the top with olive oil, or garlic infused olive oil, and pur it in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees, for 15 minutes.

Once piadine is done, top it with a generous layer of the gorgonzola spread, and then the salad topping. Piadine is ready to eat!:)