From Spade to Plate: 6th November" What to do with this Marrow

Today we saw the first frost of the year, it started cold but wow what a beautiful morning it became. fresh with a blue sky,  a real treat. Michael and I set up the kitchen for the from Spade to plate session and a little before 11, Lucy and Theo arrived. Lucy got the cheese and flour for the Brasilian cheese balls (*)
she is going to make with us today. Followed by Carmen who surprised us by presenting each member of the group with a lovely notebook for our recipes and new English words.
She had made a fish as well as a bird cage design cover. Delightful. Many thanks Carmen!

Eileen, Lucy and Glo, had a go at making the cheese balls
 

Whilst June and Carmen made the dough for the lasagne sheet,


You see we still had this Marrow which we wanted to turn into something lovely that could feed 9 people for lunch.


Michael and Felicia turned part of the marrow into a hearty lentil and Zucchini Soup

Rather than using the yellow lentils we used red lentils and the chicken broth was changed for vegetable stock.  The end result was delicious.

We went to the allotment to pick the spinach for the courgette, spinach and ricotta lasagne


Francis turned the pasta dough into lasagna sheets  whilst Michael and Felicia made the white sauce, the spinach and courgette filling to put the dish together. Whilst we ate our soup and cheese bread, the lasagne went into the oven for 20 minutes. The end result, a filling and tasty lunch  shared with a record  number of friends.   Thank you to Lucy, Glo, Carmen, Francis, Eileen, Michael and June it was a lovely morning again.


The pasta dough was rather sticky as we used the full eggs. We should be using:
2 cups of plain flour, 2 egg yolks, pinch of salt, table spoon of oil and a little bit of water if needed.


(*) This is the recipe we used rather than the one mentioned above from the internet

BRAZILIAN CHEESE BALLS (PÃO DE QUEIJO)

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

25 mins

TOTAL TIME

40 mins

Cuisine: Brazilian

Serves: 60 cheese rolls

INGREDIENTS

·       500g tapioca/cassava flour (in Portuguese: polvilho doce)

·       2 cups milk

·       1/2 cup oil

·       150g grated parmesan cheese

·       3 large eggs (or 4 small/medium)

·       2 teaspoons salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1.    Combine the milk and oil in a saucepan and bring to boil

2.    Add the tapioca flour and salt to a big bowl and, once the milk mixture boils, pour it over the flour. Mix it with a spoon until it cools so you can use your hands

3.    Then add the eggs, one at a time. You will think they won't mix, since the tapioca flour mixture is so sticky, but hang in there cause they will.

4.    Once the eggs are incorporated, add the cheese, until fully incorporated.

5.    The dough is supposed to be soft and sticky. However, if you're worried it's too liquidy, add some more tapioca flour. Just don't over do it or your cheese bread will be tough and not too gooey.

6.    To shape the balls, wet your hands with cold water and, using a spoon, scoop some of the dough to shape balls that are a little smaller than golf-sized.

7.    Place the balls on a baking sheet and bring it to the oven at 180 C. No need to preheat the oven.

8.    Bake for 25 minutes or until they are golden and puffed.

9.    Serve them warm! :)

NOTES

To freeze them, shape the balls, place them on the baking sheet and bring to the freezer. Once they are frozen, transfer to a ziplock bag and keep them in the freezer.
Once you're ready to use them, place the balls on a baking sheet and bring it to the oven as usual (again, no need to preheat the oven) and bake the frozen balls for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and puffy.