Pesto Pine Nut Parmesan Muffins #MuffinMonday

Savory mini muffins with pesto, pine nuts and Parmesan make the perfect snack at cocktail time or really, anytime.

A little #MuffinMonday history
Food Lust People Love was almost one year old before I joined my first baking group in June of 2012. Muffin Monday was run by a talented blogger named Anuradha from Baker Street. We became friends over the next year and a half that we baked muffins together. Even though she worked full time, her blog was filled with lovely baked goods and she was very active on social media. The first year or so, Muffin Monday had a steady stream of participants but then they dwindled until it was just the two of us baking each week, for more than six months. I offered to help with sending out the emails or adding folks to the group but she would assure me that a work project was about to finish and then she’d have more time.

And then she stopped updating her blog and seemed to drop completely out of the social media circus that is blogging. I can’t tell you how sad I was but I completely understood how sometimes life can get in the way of all the things we want to do and something’s gotta give. I will be forever grateful to Anuradha for starting me on this path. Maybe someday, if she gets back to blogging, we can bake together again. I’d really like that.

As for me, I wasn’t done with muffin baking. I love the ease of the muffin baking method, the flexibility for adding ingredients to a sweet or savory batter, the short baking time and the portability of the muffins themselves. It seemed that the hashtag #MuffinMonday was widely in use on the internet, so I went solo and continued Muffin Mondays on my own for another 73 editions. For anyone who is keeping count, that means 153 muffin recipes on my blog. It’s quite the collection.

The future of #MuffinMonday
This summer I took a few weeks off, as I was traveling anyway, but also because I wanted to think about Muffin Monday and what the future might hold. I decided that if I really wanted to spread the love of muffins, I should open it up. So I have invited a small group of like-minded recipe creators to join me here for Muffin Monday. And since a weekly post is a large commitment – and I wanted them to say yes to the invitation – we will be posting only once a month, on the last Monday of every month.

I hope you all enjoy our creative muffin recipes. Make sure to scroll down to see what my Muffin Monday baking friends have for you today!

I’m kicking this one off with mini muffins that are great to serve at cocktail time. And, bonus, they freeze beautifully so make them ahead for your next party. What better way to celebrate baking muffins with a group again?

Pesto Pine Nut Parmesan Muffins

Ingredients for 18 mini muffins
1 cup or 125g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup or 80ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil
1/4 cup or 60g classic pesto
1 egg
3 oz or 85g Parmesan
1/4 cup or 40g pine nuts

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your mini muffin pans with a little olive oil or non-stick spray.

Grate your Parmesan and set aside a good handful for sprinkling on the muffin tops before baking.

In one big mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients, that is, the flour and baking powder. Add in the larger pile of grated Parmesan and stir well.

In small mixing bowl, whisk the milk, olive oil and pesto with your egg.

Fold the liquids to the dry mixture, stopping when they are just mixed.

Set aside a small handful of pine nuts for topping and fold the rest into your batter.

Divide the batter between your prepared muffins cups,  then top each one with a few pine nuts and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Bake in your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Remove from the muffin pans and finish cooling on a rack.

Enjoy!

The new Muffin Monday won't have a theme or a necessary ingredient so members are free to create muffins with whatever inspires them, wherever they may live. I look forward to seeing what they'll come up with each month! A drumroll, please, for the inaugural line up:

• Apricot, Almond, and Toasted Coconut Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Caramel Apple Buttermilk Muffins from Making Miracles
• Carrot Oat Banana Chunk Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Ground Cherry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pesto Pine Nut Parmesan Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream Peach Muffins with Pecan Streusel from The Spiced Life

Many thanks to my daughter, Cecilie, for creating our badge. 

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Roasted Lemon Garlic Parmesan Artichokes

Roasting artichokes filled with garlic and well drizzled with olive oil and lemon gives them a lovely smoky sweetness that is complemented by some salty Parmesan.

I’ve written in this space many times before about the short year we lived in Cairo. Very little produce was imported because the Nile Valley was so richly fertile and vegetables and fruit could be grown year round. (Check out this post for a photo of the valley from space. It is amazing!) Our favorite time was artichoke season. (January/February, in case you are planning a trip.) They were so cheap that I must confess, we ate more than our share, trimmed and steamed, with garlic lemon butter to dip or pan-roasted and marinated with herbs and garlic.

Occasionally here in Dubai, I see Egyptian strawberries in the stores but, for some reason, the other gorgeous produce is not imported. Goodness knows that the Egyptian farmers could use the income, but perhaps the infrastructure just isn’t there for exporting more. So, from an overabundance of fresh artichokes, we’ve gone back to having them occasionally, one each, as a treat.

Like its predecessor, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is all about which flavors and ingredients complement others. It’s not a cookbook in the traditional sense, but a framework to build deliciousness by combining ingredients to get the best out of them all. Along with the flavor affinities, the authors also suggest cooking methods and dishes to try. The list of what best accompanies or complements artichokes is long and varied so I chose to go with some of my own favorites: lemon and garlic. But then I added Parmesan, which I had not considered before. It contributes both saltiness and flavor and kicked the artichokes several more notches up the flavor chart.

Ingredients
4 whole fresh artichokes
6-7 cloves garlic
Olive oil
1 oz or 28g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 lemons
Parsley for garnish, if desired

Choosing fresh artichokes: Pick artichokes with thick green leaves, no dried bits and a stem of 4-5 inches or 10-13cm. Many shops cut the stems off and so did I for many years, following instructions in cookbooks for steaming. But while living in Egypt and researching artichokes, I discovered that the inside of the stem is not just edible, but delicious.

Method
Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the top one-third off of each artichoke and discard. Cut one lemon in half and rub the cut end of the artichokes with the lemon juice. This helps to keep them from turning brown.

Cut the very end off of the stems then use a potato peeler to take off their tough outer peels. Rub the stems all over with the cut lemon, squeezing out a little juice if necessary.

Turn on your oven to preheat to 400°F or 200°F.

Cut each artichoke in half, straight through the middle of the bulb and down through the stem. Once again, rub the cut parts with lemon juice.

Use a small spoon to scoop and scrape the hairy choke out of each artichoke half.

Squeeze in some lemon juice into the hole and rub it around to cover.

Place the artichokes halves, hole side up, in a large baking pan.

Peel and chop your garlic finely and divide it between the holes in the artichokes.

Drizzle the artichokes liberally with more lemon juice and olive oil, making sure to get some up amongst the leaves and cover the garlic.

Roast for 25 minutes uncovered in your preheated oven.

Remove the pan from the oven and turn the temperature down to 350°F or 180°F.

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for a further 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and poke the artichokes with a fork to check for tenderness. They should be done but, if necessary, cover them again and continue baking until they are tender.

Once they are tender, remove the pan from the oven and squeeze a little more lemon juice on them.

Then sprinkle the hot artichokes with the freshly grated Parmesan and another drizzle of olive oil.

Add a little chopped parsley, if desired, for color.

Allow them to rest until they are cool enough to handle, then eat as you would a normal steamed artichoke by pulling off the leaves one or two at a time and scraping the “meat” off with your teeth. Once you get to the heart, with the choke already removed, the whole thing, stem and all, can be eaten! Serve with additional lemon wedges, if desired.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I was sent one copy of The Vegetarian Flavor Bible for review purposes. This post contains Amazon affiliate links to the books mentioned.

Pattypan Edamame Parmesan Pasta

Pan-roasted pattypan squash and edamame tossed with tiny pasta, olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan make a deliciously filling and nutritious main course or side dish.

My baby is having a big event tonight. The biggest since her graduation from high school and the biggest until exactly one month from today when she will graduate from university.

And I’m not there.

I was just with her last month when we spent her last spring break working and cooking and shopping and laughing and just hanging out. And I’ll be there next month for her graduation. I struggled, really struggled with the decision to miss her senior show, the culmination of four years of learning and one long, sleepless semester of laborious efforts on her clever design project.

So today I’m feeling guilty and tearful.

It comes over me, unbidden and at inopportune times. At the grocery store check out. While I toss a ball in our backyard for her furry brother. As I typed the blog post I was supposed to be writing. Because I want to be there and am not. But also, because in this place that I live, there are workers who haven’t been home for two years or, often, more. They’ve left children behind to be raised in their home countries by their wives who live as single mothers or with aged grandmothers who have already raised families of their own. They send every extra cent home to pay for food and schooling. What right have I to well up with tears over missing one big event when I’ve been there for most every other landmark over the last almost 22 years? When they have missed most of them. And don’t even mention the parents who are mourning the loss of their children from recent catastrophic events. I cannot go there. I give myself a firm talking to. “Graduation is one month away. It’ll be fine. Her sister will be there. It'll be fine. Suck it up!”

This post is me, sucking it up, by sharing.

My younger daughter loves to bake brownies and lately has added her roommate’s mother’s banana bread to her repertoire but she isn’t as fond of cooking. (I know, I know. Where did I go wrong?) Her meal planning is generally predicated on the question, will it go with pasta? She makes a lovely dish with Brussels sprouts that have been halved and roasted in a skillet until they are caramelized and golden. Then she tosses them with hot cooked pasta and an avocado scooped from its peel. If there’s Parmesan, some of that might get hummed in. But it’s not essential.

A couple of weeks ago, I was pan-roasting some pattypan squash and thought, “Will it go with pasta?” So I browsed around in the cupboard for a recently discovered pasta shape called pallettoni, which translates to buckshot, a name that amuses me and describes the pasta perfectly. Although she’d probably want me to trade in the squash for Brussels sprouts, she is a fan of edamame so I think my daughter would like this.

I may not be there, sweet thing, but you may rest assured that you and your sister are never far from my mind. And graduation is just a month away. And it will be fine. It will be fine. By which I mean, I will be fine. I never had any doubts about you.

Ingredients
9 1/2 oz or 270g pattypan squash
Olive oil
2/3 cup or 115g dried pallettoni pasta or another small pasta of your choice
1/2 cup or 80g frozen already peeled edamame, thawed
1⁄2 cup or 90g freshly grated Parmesan
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Cut the stem ends off of your pattypan squash and then slice them into two or three pieces.

Pop them in a skillet drizzled with a little olive oil, over a high fire, and cook until they have little brown spots all over.

On another burner of your stove, boil the pasta in well-salted water, according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add in the thawed edamame during the last minute or so.

Drain the pasta and edamame and add them to the squash pan, along with another drizzle of olive oil.

Sprinkle on most of the grated Parmesan, reserving about 1/4 of it to add to the top of the finished dish. Stir in the Parmesan and then taste and season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the balance of the Parmesan on top of the finished dish. Add a little more freshly ground black pepper, if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Ever miss an important event in someone special's life? Tell me the tale and we can commiserate.

Artichoke Dip Muffins #MuffinMonday

Rich muffins made with mayonnaise, Parmesan and artichokes, with just a small hit of heat from the jalapeño, these make great party food or a snack for the savory muffin lover in your life.

I am a fan of mayonnaise in all its forms, homemade and good quality store-bought, slathered on sandwiches, mixed through yolks for deviled eggs, heaped in potato salad. But I had never heard of mayonnaise cake. I must lead a very sheltered life. Last week in a Facebook group, the discussion was all about cakes made with mayo instead of eggs and oil/butter. And my first reaction was a resounding, “Eewww!” But I kept it to myself because of the risk of being pilloried; everyone else seemed really enthusiastic in the exchange of great chocolate and vanilla cake recipes using mayonnaise. Gag reflex in check, I even found a few versions online myself. I make homemade mayonnaise so I do know it’s just eggs and oil, I do. But still, a sweet cake with mayo? I guess I’m just not ready to go there yet.

But that discussion has been on my mind all week and it occurred to me that a savory cake, on the other hand, sounded like a capital idea. And what better to test that theory than with a savory muffin made with the same ingredients as my favorite artichoke dip, to wit, mayonnaise, artichoke, Parmesan and green chilies. With no eggs and no oil, just mayonnaise to fulfill both of those roles, I’m calling this one an unqualified success!

And since this is my blog and I can do what I want, I’d like to give a shout out to Eszther in the Shelf Drilling office in Dubai. Apparently she is a fan when my husband brings muffins in to the office and the savory ones are her favorites. And she reads my blog so I'm automatically a fan of hers. This one’s for you, Eszther! Hope you got one today.

Ingredients
1 can (14oz or 400g) artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g
1 fresh jalapeño
1 cup or 150g finely grated Parmesan (This is one of the few times I recommend using the canister cheese rather than grating your own.)
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise
1 cup or 240ml milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 12-cup muffin pan liberally with canola, butter or non-stick spray.

Drain your artichoke hearts completely, even giving them a bit of a squeeze in your hands to make sure all of the juice is out. Cut them into small pieces. Halve your jalapeño and remove the seeds if you want to tone down the heat, otherwise leave them in. Mince the jalapeño.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, Parmesan and baking powder and stir well.

In another bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, milk, artichokes and jalapeños.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed. Your batter is going to be quite stiff, almost a dough, but don’t let that bother you. Trust. They still turn out light and fluffy, as a muffin should.

Divide the batter/dough evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.

These would be also be great as mini muffins for a cocktail party or to accompany any lunch or dinner spread.

See? Very fluffy on the inside!

Enjoy!

Homemade Spinach and Cheese Ravioli

Homemade spinach and cheese ravioli do take a little time but making your own pasta dough is right up there on the satisfaction scale with baking bread. You know what’s in it. It’s fresh and the taste is far superior to store-bought. Best of all, it’s surprisingly easy.

You might notice, if you stopped by earlier, that I am posting twice today. And that’s because, despite my prior Sunday Supper commitment (I’m hosting for the very first time, guys! So excited about this week’s theme: Saving Summer!) I couldn’t turn down a request from my fellow blogger Colleen from Souffle Bombay to talk about cookbooks and what they mean to me.

I am a card-carrying, silver-plated, officially stamped, internationally certified member of The Cookbook Junkies. And that’s the truth. But today, at Colleen’s request, I am going to tell you about one special cookbook, in my case, it’s the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980 edition. It was given to me and my husband for our very first married Christmas, back in 1986, by my mother-in-law.

My husband thumbed its pages more than I did that first year. He was working offshore so, on his time off, he was househusband, cooking meals and doing laundry while I was at work. I’d often get phone calls with random questions, like “What exactly is a Dutch oven and do we have one?” and I’d know he was planning dinner, hunched over that big book with its four-color photographs of Every Single Dish (no kidding) and making his shopping list. He made a pretty mean lasagna back in those days!

It was the only cookbook I took with me when we first moved overseas in 1987. In the days long before the internet and handy Google searches, it was my lifeline to classic recipes with tips on hostessing, how to fold fancy napkins or calculate food and drink amounts for party guests and, before too long, baby showers. With each move we have made over the years, and no matter how many cookbooks I’ve since collected, Old Faithful was the one cookbook that came in the suitcase. I didn’t dare put Good Housekeeping in the shipment! What if it went missing? And, of course, I’d need it before the shipment could arrive six weeks later anyway.

I have made recipes from its grease-stained leaves more times than I can count so it broke my heart when it started to fall apart. Its pages were spattered with dishes and desserts and gravies from family meals too numerous to count. Sticky baby fingerprints got ever increasingly bigger as our daughters grew into capable young women and became competent on their own in the kitchen. But far from outlasting its usefulness, and despite its own shattered spine, our Good Housekeeping still formed the backbone of the kitchen repertoire.

The great book was probably close to 20 years old when I first searched online for that same 1980 edition and bought a stranger’s less-used spare. I knew it was only a matter of time till the original would have to be retired.

And then it suddenly occurred to me that my daughters would need their own copies when they moved away from home! Otherwise, how would they make their daddy’s pancakes and waffles? Or our family’s apple pie? Not to mention the basic yellow cake that celebrated so many early birthdays! Boxed cake mix? Pfft. Couldn’t find those most places we’d lived, even if I'd wanted to. I found two more copies online and held them dear until it was time to write the inscriptions in the front covers and send them, and their girls, out into the world.

In due time, the original cookbook was indeed retired and is now up high in a safe cupboard, carefully inscribed newlywed Christmas message intact, its same edition stand-in doing the same remarkable job in my kitchen.

It’s still the only cookbook that comes in my suitcase when we move.

Homemade Spinach and Cheese Ravioli 

Whenever my daughters are home, we make ravioli with the fresh pasta recipe in our most dependable cookbook. If friends are around, everyone gets into the act. I took these photos a couple of years back and never have posted them or this recipe. But this seemed like the perfect time to share. Pasta making should be a group affair, dare I even say, celebration. Just try to ignore the cluttered counter, okay?

Ingredients
For the pasta dough:
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups or 280- 315g flour (plus extra for rolling out the pasta)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon olive oil or salad oil
1 teaspoon salt

For the ravioli filling:
3 oz or 85g grated mozzarella
3 oz or 85g cream cheese
1 3/4 oz or 50g freshly grated Parmesan
4 1/4 oz or 120g frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg
Few grinds fresh black pepper

Method
In large bowl, combine 1 cup or 125g flour, 1/3 cup or 80ml water and remaining dough ingredients. With mixer at slow speed, beat for two minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with a rubber spatula.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap in cling film and let stand 30 minutes.

While the dough rests, we can get on to the ravioli filling. It couldn’t be simpler. Mix all the ingredients together well in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Once the dough has rested, cut off a small piece about the size of a tennis ball or perhaps just a little smaller. Wrap the dough again with the cling film.

Flour it well and use a rolling pin or a pasta roller to roll it out quite thinly to the size of your ravioli plaque.

Flour your ravioli plaque liberally and lay the sheet of pasta on top. Fill each hole with about a teaspoon of the filling.

Cut another piece of dough off of the big ball and, following the same instructions, roll it out to the size of your ravioli plaque.

Use a pastry brush to wet the pasta on the plaque between the spoons of filling.

Carefully, starting at one end, lay the second sheet of pasta on top of the filled one, sticking the two sheets together and pressing out the air as you go along.

Turn the ravioli plaque over and let the filled pasta drop out onto your countertop. If it sticks, just gently pry it off.

Trim the ravioli around the edges and cut them apart.

Set them aside on a plate lined with cling film and flour.

Continue the process until all the ravioli are rolled out, filled and cut apart. If you can get an assembly line going, it goes much faster. And it's much more fun!

Bribe the workers, if you must.

The ravioli can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with cling film or even frozen until you are ready to boil them.

To cook, boil water with salt and a little olive oil in a large pot, as you would for regular pasta and lower the ravioli in gently. Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes to cook.

See that? It's my biggest Calphalon pot.

Serve with the sauce of your choice.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my fellow Cookbooks & Calphalon bloggers who have chosen recipes from or inspired by a cookbook that means a lot to them and are sharing their food stories.

Baking

• Beirut Tahini Swirls – Pastry Chef Online
• Classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting – Urban Bakes
• Cookie Dough Fudge Brownies – Sugar Dish Me
• Peanut Butter Squares - Kelly Bakes
• Plum and Pluot Galette - Fork Vs Spoon
• Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake – The Redhead Baker
• Simple Apple Crisp – Real: The Kitchen and Beyond

Cooking

• Homemade Spinach and Cheese Ravioli - Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Basil Chicken Thighs - Mind Over Batter
• Pecan Encrusted Chicken with a Creamy Dijon Sauce - Souffle Bombay
• Pesto Pasta and Peas with Grilled Shrimp - The Suburban Soapbox
• Roasted Salmon with Peanut Sauce - Tiny Farmhouse
• Spaghetti Parmesan - Food Ramblings
• Tomato Jam – Healthy. Delicious.

Drinks

• Oat-chata – Healthy Slow Cooking

Pin it!

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Potato and Leek Bake

Side dishes that can be served straight from the baking pan are so easy to bring along to barbecues and potlucks. Best of all this creamy, cheesy dish with potatoes and leeks is as delicious at room temperature as it is piping hot. Just don’t leave it unrefrigerated too long before eating. 

Despite my years abroad as a child, in some ways I led a sheltered life. Vegetables that are staples and taken for granted in other countries, like parsnips, leeks and fresh artichokes didn’t cross my radar until I was a grown up of 24 years old, already married and living in Sydney, Australia. That said, my family ate quite a few things that were perhaps unfamiliar to other people, like mirleton, collard greens and sweet spaghetti. (Full disclosure: The grownups ate spaghetti with sweet cheese sauce, made with sugar and melted American cheese. I thought it was nasty but my mother, father and grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. loved it.)

My food repertoire has expanded greatly since those days (although I still eschew the sweet spaghetti) and leeks have become one of my favorite things. Their mild oniony flavor makes them an excellent addition to any potato dish. I am going to give you approximate measures of what I use but know that one more potato or one more leek – or even if you want to hum a few other vegetables in with the leeks as they sauté – it’s all good.

Ingredients
2 large leeks, hard green parts removed (about 10 oz or 285g)

1 large knob butter (about one heaping tablespoon)
Drizzle olive oil
4 medium potatoes (about 10oz or 285g)
3/4 cup  or 180ml heavy cream
1 egg yolk
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4-1 oz or 25-30g Parmesan, freshly grated

Method
Wash your leeks thoroughly and then dry them as best you can in a colander or on a towel. Slice off and discard the ends with the roots. Cut them into lengths of about 1 inch or 2 centimeters.

Peel your potatoes, cut them in chunks.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease a casserole dish big enough to hold your leeks and potatoes in a single layer.  Set aside.

Put your butter in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and add the leeks. Sauté over a medium flame until they are turning golden in places. This will get rid of any extra water from the washing.

Now add the potatoes to the skillet and sauté for a few minutes until they are also turning golden in places.

Spoon the leeks and potatoes into your prepared baking dish.

Whisk your egg yolk into the cream and season with a good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the cream/yolk mixture over the potatoes and leeks.

Top with the Parmesan and another sprinkle of black pepper.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until the cheese is well browned and the dish is bubbling.

Enjoy! Hope this rich side dish becomes your family favorite as well.