Category Archives: recipes

Lasagna – Pesach

Pesach, recipes

It’s erev yom tov, and since we did so much cooking before Pesach, we’re able to pull a number of kugels, main dishes, and desserts out of the freezer.  We adapted our menu plan for the last days to have some more variety, so we added roast turkey, farfel stuffing, gravy, ratatouille, sweet potato wedges, and carrots with pineapple to the other things planned, but that’s made already.  We only needed to make two salads, two roasted vegetable dishes, and bake some butternut squash today, so we’ve all been able to enjoy a relaxing day.  But – because I know that days like this can end up with the most rushing at the end (because everyone assumes there’s nothing to do until an hour before it’s time to light), I want to be careful to avoid that frustrating scenario.  There’s a saying, ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’, and if I didn’t learn something from the past and plan around that, I’d be inviting myself to have a frustrating late afternoon today.

I didn’t invite guests for this part of yom tov, since I was hesitant to invite people in advance, just in case I gave birth early again.  But we really enjoy having company!  Today I hopefully called a neighbor and invited her along with her visiting extended family for lunch tomorrow.  We have enough food made that an extra ten or fifteen people for lunch is no big deal, but they couldn’t come – their cooking is all done.  Since so many people cook on yom tov and either don’t yet have their cooking done or wouldn’t mind putting whatever extra they had into the freezer, plus she would be working all day today, I thought it was worth asking.  Her 9 year old niece visiting from NY and my dd8 have really hit it off and spent hours together during the time they’ve been here, so even though they can’t come, I know they’ll still end up enjoying each other’s company over the next couple of days.

Here’s the last recipe I’ll be posting for Pesach this year.  My kids love this recipe, but in the end I didn’t make it for this year – too many other tasty things to make!  I’ll probably make it for the coming Sunday, though, assuming I have enough matza left – my kids will be happy to have it even after Pesach!  A couple of years ago I made it for the first time for guests who don’t keep kosher or Pesach traditions, and they enjoyed it, too – so I guess that’s saying something for it!  It’s an easy recipe, and it makes a generous amount.  Some people find that a dairy meal on the last day breaks up the long stretch of meat meals, and this is a nice dairy main dish.

Pesach Lasagna

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 lb. cottage cheese
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. pepper
  • 1 lb. shredded cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 t. basil
  • 32 oz. tomato sauce
  • 6 whole matzos

Soak matzas in some milk for less than a minute – they should be wet, not soggy.  Beat eggs, and add cottage cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil.  Mix well.  Pour a little sauce on the bottom of two 9 x 13 pans.  Layer the matza, then the cottage cheese, then sauce, then shredded cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes.  Let cool ten minutes before slicing.

You can also saute some onions, garlic, and any shredded veggies of your choice, and add that as another layer.

Enjoy the last days of Pesach – so much work goes into preparing for this week, and then it zooms by so quickly!   I’ve enjoyed our Pesach so much and hope that all of you have, too!

Avivah

Pizza Pie – Pesach

Pesach, recipes

Since I ran out of matza meal by the time yom tov started, thanks to all of the cake and kugel making that’s been done, I’m committed to using only what I have on hand.  That means being a little more creative about what to make for some of the chol hamoed meals.  This recipe for pizza fills the bill since it uses matza farfel instead of matza meal, and I still have three boxes left of that.  This will be for chol hamoed lunch tomorrow.

Pizza Pie

  • 3 c. matza farfel
  • 2 1/2 c. boiling water
  • 5 eggs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 oz shredded cheese
  • 1 can seasoned tomato sauce (I use tomato paste, thin it with water, and season it myself)

To make the crust, pour the boiling water over the farfel to soften.  Drain well.  Beat eggs with salt and pepper, and mix with drained farfel.  Cover a large pan with this mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then remove crust from oven and cover it with the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 5 – 8 minutes.

Avivah

Incredible Vanilla Ice Cream

Pesach, recipes

I got this recipe from a friend who made it for my sheva brachos almost seventeen years ago, and I’ve made it a number of times and gotten rave reviews every time.  I rarely make ice cream anymore, except for Pesach, but this was the first year I’ve made this for Pesach.  It usually has a crumb topping, but for Pesach I left it off.  My kids liked this more than any other frozen desserts we made this year, except for the strawberry ice whip, which I told you has emotional staying power from year to year. 🙂

Incredible Vanilla Ice Cream

  • 2 containers whip (regular size), coconut cream, or dairy cream
  • 2 – 3 eggs
  • 1/2 – 3/4 c. sugar
  • 2 t. vanilla

Mix up the whip until thick, then mix the other ingredients into it.  Then:

  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 1/3 c. sugar

Beat the egg whites and sugar in a clean, dry bowl until stiff.  Mix the egg yolks into the mixture above.  When egg whites are stiff, fold both mixes together.  Put in a pan and freeze.  You can grate baking chocolate on top to add a decorative touch.

Avivah

Fruit Sorbet

Pesach, recipes

>>Could you please post how you make your fruit sorbet? I am assuming you don’t have a KLP ice cream maker and i am curious to know how you mke one without.<<

Here’s the recipe for the fruit sorbet – the name of it is really a misnomer because there’s no fruit in it.  It’s very easy and not a bit healthy; I doubt you can find anything redeeming about it nutritionally.  On Pesach we eat things and use ingredients that I don’t use the rest of the year, and this recipe is a perfect example of that. 🙂

Fruit Sorbet

  • 2 packages of jello
  • 2 c. boiling water
  • 1 container of whip

Mix the jello with boiling water, chill slightly but not until set.  Beat the whip partially, but not until stiff.  Combine the jello and whip, then freeze in a pan.  Take out a few minutes before serving.

I don’t have an ice cream maker, but in the past when making sherbert, what I’ve occasionally done is to mix all the ingredients together, pour into a pan, freeze, and then every 20 minutes or so to stir it. Another easier option that I did more often was to freeze it, then whip it, then freeze again only once more.  That way it has a sherbert-like consistency.

For Pesach desserts (on yom tov and Shabbos, not chol hamoed) we usually have one frozen treat with one baked good at every meal.  I don’t like to have more than that because it seems like overload to me.  Examples would be vanilla ice cream with apple pie, mocha squares with strawberry ice whip, or chocolate cake with fruit sorbet.  Even though it’s a lot more sugar than I generally use, everyone generally just has a piece of each per meal, so it’s still not horrible.

Avivah

Quinoa Pudding

Pesach, recipes

Quinoa Pudding

  • 1 c. quinoa
  • 2  c. water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1/3 c. honey
  • 1/8 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. slivered or chopped almonds
  • 1/4 c. raisins
  • 1/8 t. cinnamon (for sprinkling on top)

Rinse quinoa to remove bitter coating.  Bring quinoa and water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 13 – 15 minutes, until the grains are translucent.

Mix quinoa together with all other ingredients. Pour into a greased 9″ pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Avivah

Matza Pizza – Pesach

Pesach, recipes

Here’s a quick and easy Pesach lunch:

Matza Pizza

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c. milk
  • 4 matzos
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 16 cheese slices or equivalent of shredded cheese

Beat the egg and milk.  Brush one side of the matza with this, and put the matzos next to one another on a well greased pan, with the dry side down.  You can cover with sauce and put the cheese on top, or cover with cheese and pour the sauce on top.  (I’ll try covering it with cheese and then the sauce, for a different presentation.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Update – we made this, and tried it with and without the egg and milk.  I didn’t taste it but my kids did, and they didn’t think there was much of a difference.  They felt it was faster to make without it and would rather stick to just putting the sauce straight onto the matza.  We also tried it with the cheese on top, and the sauce on top, and they preferred it with the cheese on top, in the traditional way.

Avivah

Strawberry Ice Whip

Pesach, recipes

This is a classic for Pesach in our family – it’s the one thing that I always make every year.  We have pictures of my oldest two when they were 3 and 2, blending this up together, and every year since then, my kids anticipate making and eating this strawberry ice whip.   Several years ago I mentioned that I wasn’t going to make it, and all of the kids vociferously protested and told me it wouldn’t feel like Pesach without it!  It’s super easy – the main thing is you have to blend it for the whole time so that it really fluffs up.

Strawberry Ice Whip

  • 2 c. strawberries, sliced
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 t. lemon juice
  • 2 egg whites

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix with electric blender (we use a hand blender) on high speed for twenty minutes, until the mixture triples in volume.  Put in the freezer (we put it in a pan) and serve when frozen – we cut it into squares for a yummy and light dessert.

We’ve served this to many guests over the years (most recently to yesterday’s lunch guests), and they’ve all enjoyed it, too!

Avivah

Quick and easy banana ice cream

Homemaking, recipes

Today we were given a case of peeled frozen bananas from someone who needed the space in their freezer.  With my handy dandy dehydrator, I can now deal pretty efficiently with what in the past would have been way too much produce for me to deal with, short of feeding it to my kids nonstop!

My ds15 is the one who usually makes the fruit leather, so I asked him before I accepted the bananas if I should say yes or not.  I didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of ripe bananas needing to be processed, especially this week, since I want to get the kitchen cleaned and all cooking that isn’t necessary out of the way.  He willingly agreed, so off we went to pick them up. 

He’s found that the most efficient way to make fruit leather is to throw the fruit into the food processor or blender.  So he started blending the first batch, and then added a little bit of fruit juice concentrate.  Before he even tasted it, he told me it looked like ice cream – it was light and fluffy.  He let everyone taste it, and the response of two of my kids showed me that: a) it was really good and b) they needed to take an immediate nap (because they liked it so much they started complaining and being sad when they had to wait for more.) 

The first batch was finished off within minutes of him making it – it never made it anywhere near the dehydrator trays.  🙂  And we decided to keep the bananas in the freezer to use for shakes and ice cream instead of dehydrating it.  It’s a quick and healthy treat that everyone enjoyed and I know that they’ll continue to enjoy.  And it’s always good to have yet another way to deal with ripe bananas.

So here’s the very unofficial recipe – take a bunch of frozen bananas (they have to be frozen – fresh bananas will have a different consistency), and blend them up.  Add concentrate – he estimated that the ratio of bananas to concentrate was 10:1 (about ten bananas and half a can of concentrate).  But the easiest thing is probably to taste it and add a little more or a little less, according to your preferences.  Serve immediately.  (If you make this in advance and freeze it, let me know how it works to do that.)

Avivah

Banana Crunch Muffins

recipes

I mentioned last week that I was planning to make these for Shabbos breakfast for the kids, but my mom surprised us by bringing over some cold cereal, so I didn’t end up making them after all.   I don’t usually share recipes until after I’ve tried them out and they’ve been successfully received by the family, but since Yael asked for it, here it is!

Banana Crunch Muffins

  • 1 1/2 c. flour
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 c. butter, melted

Mix all of the dry ingredients, then mix all of the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Combine both mixes, combining until just mixed.  Put in an muffin pan.

Then – Topping:

  • 2 T. flour
  • 1/8 t. cinnamon
  • 1 T. butter
  • 1/4 c. sugar (optional)

Combine all of the topping ingredients, and sprinkle on top of the muffins.  Bake at 375 degrees for 18 – 20 minutes.

Alternatives:

 – For the topping, you can substitute sliced almonds – that’s what I’d do. 

– If you’d like to use this basic recipe to make blueberry muffins, then replace the bananas with 1 c. blueberries and 3/4 c. applesauce. 

 I’d also use whole wheat or spelt flour, and substitute sucanat for the sugar.

Avivah

Bread pudding

recipes

Here’s a really good recipe for bread pudding that we had yesterday for the first time.  I’ve made challah kugel before, but this dairy version was much better.

Bread Pudding

  • 1 c. raisins (I left these out)
  • 2 c. milk, scalded
  • 1 stick butter (1/4 lb)
  • 12 slices stale bread, torn into pieces
  • 1 1/2 c. sucanat (I used 1 cup)
  • 4 c. milk
  • 6 eggs (you can separate them and fold the egg whites in, but that’s too much work for me for a regular meal)
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1/2 t. nutmeg
  • dash salt

Plump raisins in one cup of scalded water, then drain.  Mix 2 c. scalded milk and butter so that butter melts.  Then add the bread, sucanat, 4 c. milk, and eggs.  Pour the entire mixture into a greased pan.  Sprinkle raisins on top, and then top with some powdered sugar, if desired (I left this out).  Cover lightly with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for at least 45 minutes.  Remove foil and brown for the last ten minutes or so.  I’d estimate it makes a 9 x 13 pan full – we made one huge pan that’s double a 9 x 13, plus one small round cake pan.

I tried this recipe because I had a few loaves of challah that were overbaked – someone forgot to take them out of the oven. 🙂  I used three loaves of challah, and measured everything else out at triple the recipe, but only doubled the sweetener.  The recipe was still plenty sweet, so I’m thinking the above original measurements would probably be too sweet.  But I’m leaving it for you to decide.

It’s nice to have recipes like this that can put to use something like stale or dried bread, that otherwise would be wasted.  The kids said this was delicious, so I’ll keep it in my collection of recipes to use in the future.  (By the way, if you make the bread pieces small, you don’t have to wash for this.  I also think it’s more pudding like with smaller pieces.) 

Since lots of people find odd bits of challah and bread when they clean their freezers for Pesach, this could be very useful particularly at this time of year!

Avivah