Feta and Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes and Asparagus, Bacon and Parmesan Pasta – Cooking Class 11

November 18th, 2009

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta11

Another cooking class, another new recipe (or two, possibly three – in this case).

Trying to fit quite a number of people in a small kitchen, all trying to find something to help with and space to actually do it, is quite a spectacle. Luckily the dessert for this cooking class was not too involved, as you will find out later…

Not being a fan of asparagus or raw tomatoes, I was a bit concerned when I saw what we were making. Fortunately, both these dishes were great and most of us are looking forward to eating them again, either as separate dishes or together.

The pasta bake was lovely and flavoursome with the bacon, cheese and even the asparagus (I guess I do like asparagus). The stuffed tomatoes had a great combination of olives, pinenuts and herbs and of course the feta and ricotta.

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta10

Dessert was described as a Jamie Oliver tried and tested, fantastic recipe. We were told it may take a while and could be quite involved… I was so intrigued as to what it could be and could not help but laugh when I saw the so-called “recipe”.

On the page was something I have made and eaten plenty of times before. At one stage I was eating it almost every night… it was…

Maltesers on Ice cream!

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta01

I kid you not. It was in Jamie’s book, with an understandably short recipe. Something like:
Ingredients: Ice cream and a bag of maltesers
Method: Crush maltesers, place on ice cream and serve.

Feta and Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes

Recipes from Party & Snack Perfection

Serves: 6

6 large firm tomatoes
105g feta cheese, crumbled
150g ricotta cheese
60g pine nuts, chopped
10 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
3 tablespoons wholemeal breadcrumbs
freshly ground black pepper
6 block olives to garnish
extra oregano leaves to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C.

Cut a lid off the top of each tomatoes and set aside. Carefully scoop the centre of each tomatoes into and large bowl. Combine half the tomato mixture with the feta, ricotta, pine nuts, olives, oregano, breadcrumbs and pepper. Beat mixture together and spoon back into the cases (piling the tops high). Discard left over tomato flesh.

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta02

Place in a lightly greased shallow oven-proof dish and bake 20-25 minutes.

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta05

Garnish with an olive and oregano (we left this bit out) and serve.

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta07

Asparagus, Bacon and Parmesan Tortiglioni

Recipe from The Australian Women’s Weekly Eating in

Serves: 4

500g tortiglioni pasta (or another tube-pasta, if you can’t find this)
500g asparagus, chopped coarsely
2 teaspoons olive oil
5 bacon rashers, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g butter, chopped
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup (40g) grated parmesan cheese
½ cup (50g) grates mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender. Drain and return to pan.

Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave asparagus until just tender, drain.

Heat oil in large frying pan, add bacon, cook, stirring, until crisp. Add garlic, cook until fragrant.

Add bacon mixture to drained pasta with butter, asparagus, parsley and a quarter of the combined cheeses, toss gently

Preheat grill to hot. Transfer pasta mixture to shallow 2.5 litre ovenproof dish. Sprinkle top of pasta with remaining cheese. Place under grill until cheese has browned. (Alternatively place the dish in a moderate oven [180C] for 10-20 minutes until the cheese has browned)

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta08

StuffedTomatoesAsparagusPasta09

14 Comments

  1. Velva says:

    This meal looks fresh, healthy and delicious! I really like those stuffed tomatoes. very nice!

  2. Julia @ Mélanger says:

    Wow, what a lot of dishes. I love maltesers – could pop a whole bag in minutes!

  3. Beta Gal says:

    Interesting stuffing for the tomatoes, I wonder if it would go well with eggplant too.

  4. Sounds like a wonderful class! The pasta sounds fabulous and I love the quick and easy dessert idea!

  5. sophia says:

    I’m drooooling…feta…ricotta…bacon….that is amazing!

  6. Lisa says:

    I’m in visual tastebud love. Those stuffed tomatoes look absolutely incredible, and the pasta so creamilicious! Not to mention, your photos are moutrh watering! Bookmarked to add more fat to my butt lol

  7. I love the surprisingly simple dessert! The tomatoes look awesome too. It’s great when something looks beautiful and tastes good at the same time.

  8. Cakelaw says:

    The pasta bake looks fab – yum!

  9. He he he.. love the cheeky dessert. Can’t beat maltesers! This menu looks fab.

  10. lol, I remember seeing jamie making that dessert on one of his shows years ago. I laughed then and now I laugh even more! Almost every australian had made that dessert and now its been credited to jamie oliver…too funny!

  11. Barbara says:

    Loving the pasta dish!

  12. Rosa says:

    What a great meal! Everything looks so good!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  13. Memoria says:

    That’s hilarious about the ice cream “recipe”!! Nevertheless, the ice cream looks fantastic. I love your blog and your process photos!! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such nice comments.

  14. Yum! You must have people asking to come over for dinner all the time 😀 Love the clever use of Maltesers!

Leave a Comment