Homemade Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli

Since I was a little kid I, pasta used to be my favorite dish: all different kinds; boxed pasta, tri-colored pasta, homemade pasta... I loved every kind and I still do. But my favorite is the homemade one. My grandmother used to prepare pasta in summer and dried it so that we could use it through autumn. I did not want to cook the pasta because I wanted the pasta to last forever since it was sooo delicious. 

A couple of months ago, I bought a pasta machine for a really good deal but unfortunately it doesn't work properly anymore. So, my father bought a pasta rolling set for my stand mixer which I have been loving it since the first time I used it. 

Today I am going to share a ravioli recipe that was inspired from a restaurant called "Carluccio's". Whenever I go there, I order the classic ravioli and I just love it. I wanted to try that at home for a while and this weekend was the perfect time. 

Ravioli is not hard to make but it takes some time. However as much as time and effort you put in, the dish will get more and more delicious. So, I highly recommend that you spare some time on weekend to cook some ravioli. Plus it is a great cause to get your friends and family in the kitchen and help you. They can easily cut the ravioli for you while you are working on other batches. 

I hope you'll enjoy these raviolis and I can guarantee that you will because mine were gone in 10 minutes. Here is the recipe: 

Easter Bread

This recipe was meant to go on Easter but unfortunately my computer had a problem with iMovie. I had to put a tiny video clip to go with this recipe because the kneading part is a little bit different than other recipes. In order to get the perfect airy consistency, you need to fold the dough in a particular way that the air is incorporated in the dough. This is why I couldn't post the recipe without the video and it took me a while to fix iMovie. 

If we get back to the topic, Happy late-Easter everyone, 
I do not celebrate Easter but I love to bake things for my friends who do.
In middle school, one of my best friends' mother used to bake this in easter season. We loved the soft and sweet easter bread and enjoyed every crumb. I got the recipe from her mother but I did not have the chance to bake it own my own until I started a course in MSA, the culinary arts academy, during my winter break in MSA. I learned a lot and this recipe was one of them.

This time of the year, you can easily find easter bread also known as "paskalya çöreği" on the shelves of every single bakery in town with different variations but I like mine with mahlep (mahaleb) and topped with almond flakes. I believe that mahlep gives it a unique fragrant and a sweet taste. I hope you'll like this recipe:

White Chocolate, Pecan Blondies

White chocolate blondie recipe is a great alternative for people who do not like the rich taste of normal chocolate brownies. And if you are like me and love chocolate but want to try a new recipe, this is the one for you. 

I bought "The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook" a couple of months ago and I tried a lot of recipes from the book. The lemon cake, the apple pie, traditional brownies, vanilla cupcakes and now this. I trust this book so much that

I even participated in a baking contest at our school using a recipe that I haven't tried before from this book and I have no regrets. Every single recipe is so perfect that I do not need to make a lot of alterations. The sweetness level is perfect for me. Normally when I bake, I find many desserts as "too sweet", but these are just at the perfect level. I highly recommend this book for everyone because it has great recipes. And no I do not get paid for this review :D,  I just wanted to share because I find the recipes are high quality and most importantly delicious. 

My First Culinary Experience

Every year I visit my grandmother during the winter break to learn new things about the Turkish cuisine and her secrets in the kitchen. But this year I wanted to have a more professional experience and that is why I decided to visit a culinary academy to learn from professionals who are experts in cooking.

I found a course for people that are my age called "Intro to Professional Kitchen for Adolescents". I visited the Culinary Arts Academy of Istanbul also known as MSA (Mutfak Sanatları Akademisi) and the minute I entered, I knew I was going to have a fantastic time. 


I did visit MSA before this course. My friend and I attended a workshop called "Burgers and Fries" and it was amazing. We cooked two types of burgers; beef and chicken and we also learned how to make the crispiest french fries and onion rings. Since that workshop I wanted to have a broader experience and a longer course and this break was the perfect opportunity. Spending two hours in a tiny station amazed me and I wanted to have a broader experience. Then I saw a course during my winter break. From the very first second I saw the course online, I knew that I was going to have an amazing time there.  

I can say that this winter break was the best and the most exhausting one I've ever had. Every day we had a theory lecture and an actual cooking class. In the theory part we got to learn about the history and the techniques with a demo from the chef. In the cooking part we prepared a couple of dishes and applied the techniques that we learned. 

Arancini, Fried Rice Balls

Winter is one of my favorite seasons but I sometimes miss summer as well. The weather is crazy here in Istanbul nowadays. The snow storms are not leaving the city for the rest of the week and even though I love winter, the weather makes me miss the warm summer days. That is why I am going to share a recipe that I first tasted last summer and have been wanting to cook for a really long time. 

I tasted this arancini last summer in Carluccio's which is an Italian restaurant here in Istanbul. I fell in love with the creamy and crispy rice balls and wanted to try them. But whenever I cooked a risotto at home I couldn't resist and I ate it the way it is. That is why I never had any leftovers for risotto and I was very lazy to prepare a risotto from scratch just for this recipe. 

Having some leftovers took approximately a couple of months and I was finally able to cook some arancini. I loved the home cooked version better because the arancini I had in the restaurant was a little bit greasy. I served mine with some green salad on the side and it was absolutely delicious. They were so yummy on their own, they did not need any marinara sauce on the side. However if you are not like me and if you love a great tomato sauce then go for it. 

So, here is the recipe for a great alternative for a risotto: