Proud Italian Cook

Orange Citrus Tart with Mascarpone Custard

January 25, 2020 by Marie 3 Comments

This orange citrus tart is the perfect remedy for the doldrums of winter. It’s bright, citrus-y and it looks like sunshine! If you want a nice light dessert, here’s your answer! Yes, there is a custard made with creamy mascarpone cheese, but it doesn’t require much, just enough to give the sliced oranges a delicious, creamy base.

I made this tart using a prepared pie crust which made it quite easy to pull together. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, that’s the one I use (not sponsored).

Because there are so few ingredients in this tart make sure you use quality mascarpone and good quality vanilla. I made a batch of my own vanilla back in September and I just started using it now.

I also love the flavor and quality of vanilla bean paste which is easy to find, just don’t get any thing that says “imitation vanilla”.

As far as what type of oranges to use, that’s your choice. I always have a surplus of citrus laying around this time of year so I used some navels along with cara cara and a Sumo orange, if I had a blood orange I would have added that because of it’s gorgeous color!

Keep in mind this is not a rich dessert, it’s fresh and light tasting, so if you’ve had a heavy meal you can end it on a light note with a slice of this orange citrus tart.

Calling all orange lovers, this one’s for you!

Follow me on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Orange Citrus Tart with Mascarpone Custard

Bright and citrusy and brimming with bright flavors!

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1- 12 inch tart pan
3 large oranges, outer peel and pith removed then sliced for layering. You can mix up any variety you like
1 pastry crust, you can also use puff pastry and phyllo but all crusts need to be placed into a tart pan for stability
3 eggs beaten
¼ cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons to sprinkle on top
¼ cup plus 2 heaping tablespoons of room temperature mascarpone cheese
1 heaping teaspoon of good quality vanilla or vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon orange zest

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375
Place your crust into your tart pan. ( if using phyllo use 6-8 sheets brushed with butter in between the layers). Then place the tart pan onto a rimmed baking sheet for easy in and out of the oven.
FOR THE CUSTARD

In a bowl add the mascarpone, grab your hand mixer and make sure there are no lumps, then add in ¼ cup of sugar and mix in 1 egg at a time then the vanilla and zest.
Pour the mascarpone mixture all over the pastry crust then place your sliced oranges all around, single layer.
Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar all around.
Place the tart into the oven until the top is slightly golden, the mascarpone mixture sets and the crust is nice and golden. 30 minutes or so, but ovens do vary so watch and test it.
Let it cool down completely before serving, refrigerate any leftover.
Optional: While still warm you can brush on a thinned out orange marmalade all over the oranges.

3 Comments Filed Under: Desserts, Fruit, Sweet Tart, Winter Tagged: citrus, mascarpone custard, navel oranges, winter citrus

Easy Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with No Boil Noodles

January 14, 2020 by Marie 10 Comments

This delicious vegetable lasagna is easy to make, full of flavor and showcases a superabundance of roasted vegetables. It’s also meat-free, light and fresh and very customizable.

By customizable I mean there’s no specific veggies you need to use, I actually went through my fridge and roasted every vegetable I saw. Of course if you like certain vegetable combinations together like spinach and mushroom or whatever just do it, it will work!

Don’t stress about certain combinations, use what you like or have available like I did.

This is what I had in my fridge, I like roasting vegetables every week any way and I usually buy a lot. I’ll have some for lunch, use them as sides for dinner and in the morning with eggs but this time I decided to also make a veggie lasagna with some of them.

I had three Japanese eggplants, a few carrots, two red peppers, a small head of cauliflower, one yellow squash, one bunch of kale, a small butternut squash and some brussel sprouts (that I did not use in the lasagna). All veggies were roasted on sheet pans separately at 425 degrees drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, roasted til slightly golden.

All the roasting of the veggies can be done a day or two ahead of time.

I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of the no boil noodles, ones that I’ve tried in the past did not impress me at all. But the Delverde brand really caught my eye, I liked the ridges and I knew that their pasta was good so I thought I’d give them a try. This time I have to say at least with this brand, I’m a fan, and this isn’t sponsored!

The pasta sheets weren’t paper thin, they still had a nice texture and bite to them and they weren’t heavy tasting at all.

One thing I never liked about the no boil pasta was trying to spread sauce and ricotta on a dry stiff noodle, it’s weird to me because I always used the curly lasagna sheets that had to be boiled first.

But I found that if you just wet them one by one in a quick dip of warm water, they become a little pliable, easier to spread sauce and cheese onto, and easier to press down on them after the layers are formed, so that’s what I did.

All the veggies you see in the container above I actually used, ( except for the brussels) but I chopped them up so they would be easier to eat and be more bite sized pieces in the lasagna.

In between the layers I added thinly sliced raw zucchini. Zucchini cooks up so fast there was no need to roast it ahead of time as long as it was thinly cut.

I like using a mix of shredded and fresh mozzarella cheese along with the ricotta and grated pecorino.

Top it off with some pine-nuts and bake it all together!

Simple comfort food adapted to whatever vegetables you have on hand transforms into a very special meal.

A worthy treat for yourself, your family and your guests to enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Easy Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with No Boil Noodles

Use any mix of veggies you like, just have them pre-roasted ahead of time.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

at least 4 cups or more, ( I would go with more just in case and depending on the size of your lasagna) of a mix of roasted veggies, any combination you like cut into bite sized pieces, roasted at 425 until slightly golden, refer to my post
2 zucchini sliced thin, kept raw
no boil pasta sheets, enough for 3 layers to your lasagna either for an 8x8 pan or a 9x13
1 lb. good ricotta, drained well of all liquid
2 eggs
roughly 1lb. each of fresh and shredded mozzarella ( you might not use it all).
marinara sauce, good quality or homemade
grated pecorino or parmigiano cheese
fresh chopped parsley and pine nuts for garnish

Instructions

Dip each pasta sheet into warm water to slightly soften, one by one.
Mix ricotta with the 2 eggs and a handful of grated cheese, salt and pepper. Combine til incorporated.
Butter casserole dish and ladle sauce all over the bottom.
Add enough noodles to cover the bottom of the pan.

Ladle sauce all over noodles.
Spread mixed veggies all over the noodles.
Sprinkle with grated cheese, shredded cheese and dot it with torn, fresh mozzarella.
Layer the zucchini strips to cover first layer.
Add more sauce on top of zucchini.
Spread ricotta mixture all over, you probably won't use all of it but spread a nice amount because this is the only layer you will do it on.
Repeat with all the other ingredients until you reach the top.
Spoon sauce all over, add shredded cheese and slices of fresh mozzarella, chopped parsley and pine nuts.
Drizzle with olive oil and place foil over pan.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Take foil off and bake for 10 more minutes. Sides should be bubbling.
Place under the broiler for a few seconds to get the cheese extra golden.
Let it rest for ½ hour before cutting.

10 Comments Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetables Tagged: lasagna, lasagne, meatfree, roasted veggie, veggie lasagna

Versatile Spaghetti Squash My Two Favorite Ways

January 8, 2020 by Marie 1 Comment

Versatile spaghetti squash, a healthy winter squash that can be used in so many dishes. It’s a mild flavored and neutral tasting squash, so it’s able to take on the flavors and spices that you use to cook it with.

I’ve cooked with it many times in the past and even posted several recipes on this blog like here and here.

These two recipes posted here today are my current favorite ways to eat it. I’m sure as time goes on there will more!

You’ve heard of eggs in purgatory, well I make that every time I have some leftover strands of cooked spaghetti squash. Delicious to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Seasoned browned butter squash that I made the night before lays as a base to hold eggs that sit in a puddle of flavored marinara, it’s out of this world good and so comforting!

There are many different ways to prepare your spaghetti squash, I simply like to roast it. I also like my strands to be al’dente. Overcooking the squash results in mushy clumped together strands, not very appealing.

I like to slice the squash in half, ( be very careful), scoop out the seeds and place the 2 halves on a parchment lined sheet pan. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, salt and pepper each half and give it a light drizzle with olive oil. Place cut side down and pierce a couple of times with the tip of a knife. Roast 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your squash. Let it cool down then fluff the strands with a fork.

Now you’re ready to make this!

Spaghetti squash strands tossed into a garlicky browned butter and sage sauce. Then it’s showered with a very generous amount of Parmigiano Reggiano and toasted hazelnuts.

Just grate some fresh garlic into your nutty brown butter and sage sauce, it smells amazing and takes the dish over the top!

Be sure to save some of the leftovers so you can make this eggs in purgatory version with spaghetti squash for breakfast the next day, it will become one of your favorites, like mine.

Follow me on Instagram to see what else Im cooking up during the week.

1 Comment Filed Under: Eggs, Vegetables Tagged: browned butter, eggs in purgatory, spaghetti squash