There comes a time when all that's left in the fridge is a collection of random or otherwise unrelated items. Usually at the end of the month. Yesterday, I rediscovered the ricotta cheese I had bought during that first Banting shopping spree. Google'd some recipes and found out that you could make a pie or muffin-ish dish by mixing egg and ricotta. And the recommended using sausage. Exactly what I had left over from the day before. Problem solved.
At first, I was tempted to attempt the muffin route. However, not being sure about the consistency and not in the mood to spend the rest of the evening scraping out muffin pans, I opted for the pie. Boring, I know, but you have to start somewhere. Think of it as a scouting expedition. I did learn a lot.
I stirfried one red onion, 3 cloves of garlic (chopped) 500g brown mushrooms, half a green, yellow, and red pepper, along with 500g baby marrow. With a generous amount of butter (instead of olive oil). Salt, pepper, and some Italian herbs to taste. At this point, I turned the oven to 180*C and beat 4 eggs with 250g ricotta cheese. Then, lined the pie dish with sliced sausage to form a base of sorts, spread the stirfry on top and cover all of it with the egg and ricotta mixture. Ricotta is rich, but tasteless, so I grated some cheddar cheese on top. Why not? Baked it for 20 minutes and left to cool while I plated the salad.
The ricotta and egg mix set fairly well, but because it was only on top of the rest, I couldn't dish up a nice (identifiable) slice. Hence, no picture this time. However, I think that if you mix the stirfry with the egg and ricotta mixture, it might just hold sufficiently to make passable muffins with. What you do with your sausage is entirely up to you, but next time I think I'll just add it to the stirfry. Let the flavour in!
Try it and if you feel like it, let me know how it went. As always, I'll keep you posted on my attempts. Happy Banting!
At first, I was tempted to attempt the muffin route. However, not being sure about the consistency and not in the mood to spend the rest of the evening scraping out muffin pans, I opted for the pie. Boring, I know, but you have to start somewhere. Think of it as a scouting expedition. I did learn a lot.
I stirfried one red onion, 3 cloves of garlic (chopped) 500g brown mushrooms, half a green, yellow, and red pepper, along with 500g baby marrow. With a generous amount of butter (instead of olive oil). Salt, pepper, and some Italian herbs to taste. At this point, I turned the oven to 180*C and beat 4 eggs with 250g ricotta cheese. Then, lined the pie dish with sliced sausage to form a base of sorts, spread the stirfry on top and cover all of it with the egg and ricotta mixture. Ricotta is rich, but tasteless, so I grated some cheddar cheese on top. Why not? Baked it for 20 minutes and left to cool while I plated the salad.
The ricotta and egg mix set fairly well, but because it was only on top of the rest, I couldn't dish up a nice (identifiable) slice. Hence, no picture this time. However, I think that if you mix the stirfry with the egg and ricotta mixture, it might just hold sufficiently to make passable muffins with. What you do with your sausage is entirely up to you, but next time I think I'll just add it to the stirfry. Let the flavour in!
Try it and if you feel like it, let me know how it went. As always, I'll keep you posted on my attempts. Happy Banting!