Ricotta balls spiced with herbs and lemon

 

Ricotta ballsI always seem to have som leftover Ricotta cheese in my fridge. I buy it for some recipe but seldom use all of it. So I put the rest back into the fridge and try to convince myself that I will use it for something else, which I seldom do. So most of the times, I have to throw it away.
I hate that.
I hate all kind of food waste. But eating something that it has begun to grow green hairy things on is not an option.

But last weekend, I tested a recipe that will change everything.
No more wasted ricotta cheese, ever. These ricotta balls will put an end to that. You will also have use of those stale bread pieces that you, at best, might have been feeding the pigeons.
They’re so simple to make and contains ingredients that you usually have at home. You need ricotta cheese, some stale bread, egg, and some breadcrumbs. Then you can spice them with whatever you like. You don’t have to follow my recipe. All kind of herbs will do. I used parsley, Oregano, rosemary, and some lemon zest for this recipe. I think that you can consider the lemon zest as optional, but I do recommend it. It added som nice freshness. And next time I will definitely use basil.

Batter

Lemons


You mix everything into a batter that you are shaping to balls. Then roll them in bread crumbs and fry them golden brown on medium heat in olive oil.
It’s as simple as that.

I served these ricotta balls as a side dish together with marinated grilled chicken and pesto. But I think they will do well with only a high-quality tomato sauce. I think I will try that next time. I always have some homemade tomato sauce in the freezer.

Ricotta balls

Ricotta balls spiced with herbs and lemon

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 6 mins
Total Time 21 mins
Servings 20 balls

Ingredients
  

  • 2 / 60 ounces / gram stale bread
  • 9 / 250 ounces / gram ricotta cheese
  • 1 glove garlic
  • 0.4 / 1 cup / dl finely chopped herbs Basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley. Whatever you like or have available.
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Breadcrumbs for breading
  • Olive oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • Cut away any crusts from the bread and crumble it. Mix it with all other ingredients. Add more bread if the consistency is too loose. Add salt and pepper to your tasting.
  • Roll into balls that you cover with breadcrumbs.
  • Fry them in olive oil until they have got a nice golden color.
  • Let them drain on kitchen towels
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Tomato powder

Tomato powder

I know I’ve written about this before. But it was included in another post. And food hacks like this deserves its own post. I think the whole idea is great. You get som sweet, tasty tomato powder from something you normally throw away. The skins from your peeled tomatoes.

Tomatoe skins
Normally wasted

And the best part is that it’s so simple. You just spread the tomato skins on a paper towel and place it on a micro-safe plate. Be sure that there are no overlapping. Place everything in the microwave oven and run in full effect for 4 minutes. Continue in 30-second intervals until the skins ar totally dehydrated. It should crumble if you pinch it.

Tomato skin and dry

After that, you just have to grind it in a grinder or mortar and pestle with sugar and salt to a fine powder. Or flakes if you prefer that.

You can use it to sprinkle over all kinds of food, like pizza or pasta dishes.
Of course, it’s just perfect to everything with mozzarella.

I found this recipe at Serious Eats, and I knew right away that it was going to be a companion for the future. It feels like you get a very useful bonus product when you cook something with peeled tomatoes. At the same time, you reduce your food waste.
And when you add the fact that it’s so easy to do makes it irresistible. At least for me.

Tomato powder

Tomato powder

A delicious sweet tasty tomato powder that can be sprinkled over all kinds of food.

Ingredients
  

  • Tomato skins As many as you have
  • salt to your taste Use sea salt, Always use sea salt.
  • cane suger to your taste If you don't have cane suger, any type of suger will do.

Instructions
 

  • Spread the tomato skins on a paper towel and place it on a micro-safe plate. Be sure that there are no overlapping.
  • Place everything in the microwave oven and run in full effect for 4 minutes. Continue in 30-second intervals until the skins ar totally dehydrated. It should crumble if you pinch it.
  • Grind it in a grinder or mortar and pestle with sugar and salt to a fine powder.
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Levain bread baked with wheat and a hint of rye

Levain bread

 

Some days I feel like putting all recipes aside and create something by myself. That applies to both food dishes and bread. Last Saturday was such a day. A voice told me it was time to unleash my creativity. I had to create something unique. Something that has never been done before.

I made my own levain bread.

The result was perhaps not so unique. Many of you reading this will probably think that you have seen this before. But it gave me confirmation that I understand how a dough should feel and behave for the result to be good, without having to look at a recipe.

Because I have to say that the result was good. I baked some really tasty bread. And that’s what counts, isn’t it?

ABOUT FLOUR AND STARTER

For this recipe, I have used the following types of flour


  • 760 grams wheat flour, 11.5% protein content.
  • 50 grams whole rye flour, 8.5% protein content.

I have used a sourdough starter based mostly on wheat flour, with hydration of 100%. I took it out from the refrigerator and fed it 8 hours before it was time to mix the levain.

The hydration of the dough is 74%

MIXING THE LEVAIN

I started by mixing a levain with a rather firm consistency. It was left to ferment overnight. I used wheat flour and a sourdough starter made with wheat flour and whole rye flour. Any mature starter will do, so use what you have.

Starter
A mature starter is vital.

The next morning it had doubled in size. A good sign, because then you know there is plenty of “power” in the levain.

Levain
Levain

 

MIXING THE DOUGH

Next, I added wheat flour, water, and some whole rye flour to the levain and mixed everything. You don’t have to overdo it. Just make sure all flour is hydrated.
I didn’t think too much about the amounts of flour or water. Instead, I concentrated on consistency.
I want the dough to be a bit sticky, but not too loose. Wet your hands if the dough is very sticky. Don’t add more flour. If you think the dough feels dry and stiff, I recommend you to add more water. Adding water is seldom a problem for the final result, while too much flour can make the bread too compact.
After I had mixed everything (except the salt), it was time for the dough to rest for an hour.

This resting time is important so don’t skip it. Next time you touch the dough, you can feel that something has happened. It’s not so sticky anymore. Instead, it feels elastic and much easier to handle. It’s because the flour has had time to absorb water.
Now it’s time to add the salt and start folding and stretching. I repeated three times white one-hour resting time after each cycle.

grab and fold

If you have a dough mixer, you can benefit from using it. Then you can skip the resting time, and run everything until the dough is elastic. Then just let the dough ferment for 4-5 hours.

 

SHAPING

After all the folding and stretching the dough felt very good. It was holding together well with a slightly “springy” consistency.
I divided the dough in two and formed each part to a loaf

You can use a lined kitchen bowl if you don’t have bannetons for the final rise. Kitchen towels work just fine for the lining. Just make sure to use rice flour instead of wheat flour for the lining. Rice flour absorbs more water and reduces the risk of the loaves sticking to the lining.

I won’t describe the forming process here. I have written a more detailed description in an earlier post. You can read about it here.
It also describes the stretching and folding technique.

FINAL RISE OR PROOFING

I placed the loaves in my basement for the final rise. The temperature is about 57ºF / 14ºC, and it took about 6 hours for the loaves to pass the finger poke test.

But what is the finger poke test?

You make a little imprint on the top of the loaf by pressing your finger on it.

If the imprint springs back and fills up quickly, the loaf is probably under-proofed.
If the imprint springs back partly, the loaf is ready to be baked.
But If the imprint doesn’t recover at all, you probably have an over-proofed loaf.

 

 

BAKING

I baked the bread for 40 minutes on a baking stone. Maybe they could have stayed in the oven a little bit longer. I’m quite fond of dark-colored bread with a lot of crisp in the crust. Apart from that, the taste was great. A good crumb with a taste that was slightly sour. It was a bread that makes you happy.

I have also tried to bake this bread in a clay cooker with great results. Like a dutch oven, a clay cooker provides a closed environment that traps the steam which gives you a nice oven spring. You can see that I have also pushed the baking time bit for this loaf.

 

CONCLUSION

One final word before I end this post. Always make notes about everything when experimenting like this. Make notes about the amount of flour, water, fermentation times. how the dough behaved, EVERYTHING. Imagine that you’ve baked the perfect bread, but you will never be able to bake it again. Just because you don’t remember how you did it.

That sucks, believe me. I’ve been there.

Levain bread

Levain bread with wheat and a hint of rye

A levain bread baked on wheat flour and a hint of whole rye. The levain gives the bread a mild, delicate sourdough character.
5 from 1 vote
Servings 2 loafs

Ingredients
  

Levain

  • 140 gram water
  • 210 gram Wheat flour
  • 70 gram sourdoug starter

Levain bread

  • 410 gram levain
  • 550 gram Wheat flour
  • 50 gram whole rye flour
  • 450 gram water
  • 12 gram sea salt

Instructions
 

Levain

  • Mix all the ingredients. Make sure that all the flour is hydrated. Let it ferment at room temperature for 6-8 hours, or until doubled in size.

Levain bread

  • Mix the levain with all other ingredients, except the salt. Make sure that all the flour is hydrated. Let it rest for an hour.
  • Add salt and stretch and fold the dough 30 times and let it rest for an hour in a new well-oiled kitchen bowl. Repeat two times. You can find detailed instructions about stretching and folding in the recipe notes.
  • Divide the dough in two and form each piece into loaves. Let the dough rest for a few minutes before you place it seam-side-up in a floured towel lined kitchen bowl or banneton. You can read more about how to form loaves in the recipe notes. Place them in plastic bags.
  • Allow the loaves to rise until doubled in size. The time depends on the surrounding temperature.
  • Preheat your oven to 500ºF / 260ºC with two oven plates. One to bake the bread on and one just below. Place one loaf on the upper plate with the seam side down. Score it and pour some water on the plate below. Turn down the temperature immediately to 430ºF / 220ºC and bake for 40 minutes.
  • Take out the loaf from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Use an oven mitt. Turn up the temperature and repeat the process with the other loaf.

Notes

I have written a detailed description of both the stretch and folding technique, and also about forming a loaf in my blog post "My best sourdough bread". You can read about it here.
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