I Made It, No Kidding

By Deb Jenkins
Staff Writer

Hmm, I wish I could speak Italian or at least when I am writing out the recipes below make them sound Italian. I am sure this is making no sense to you, but that’s OK. I have this week two great recipes that were given to me.

The first is from a lady at the sorority (Unfortunately I did not get the name. She gave it to Danaka to give to me). What I liked about this recipe is, who doesn’t like pizza and just look at the ingredients, honestly, we all have most of these things. The only thing I would say we might not have is a jelly roll pan. I don’t have one.

The next recipe comes from a book that Sarah Morrau gave me, titled “Low Fat Low Cholesterol.” I thought it was perfect to have after the Spaghetti Pizza.

What is most remarkable about the dessert below is that I made it, no kidding. I do not bake, okay, maybe three things. Anyway, the point here is that I made it and it turned out and HEY it was delicious! I even had leftovers and made sure I did a curbside drop-off of a piece to Mary C. She is someone on whom the term “sweet tooth” is not used in vain. Okay, let’s get to the recipes.

Spaghetti Pizza

1 16 oz pkg spaghetti, broken in pieces and cooked
2 eggs beaten
1/2 c milk
1 c mozzarella cheese
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
Mix above & put on jelly roll pan
Bake 15 min at 400 degrees

Toppings
1 32 oz. spaghetti sauce
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 pkg pepperoni
1 pkg Italian sausage, cooked (or hamburger with Italian seasoning)

Toppings: Use things like mushrooms, bell peppers, and olives as desired.
Layer sauce, cheese, and toppings over crust, and bake for another 30 minutes at 350.

Raspberry Vacherin

Meringue rounds filled with orange-flavored low fat cream cheese and fresh raspberries, make this a perfect dinner party dessert.

3 egg whites
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp chopped almonds
Confectioners sugar, for dusting
Raspberries leaves, to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 275. Draw an eight-inch circle on two pieces of nonstick parchment paper. Turn the paper over so the marking is on the underside and use it to line two heavy baking sheets.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until very stiff, then gradually whisk in the superfine sugar to make a stiff meringue mixture (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and the meringue does not fall out—kind of cool, huh?).

Spoon the mixture onto the circles on the prepared baking sheets, spreading the meringue evenly to the edges. Sprinkle one meringue round with the chopped almonds (I used walnuts; again, what I had on hand)

Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until crisp and dry, then carefully lift the meringue rounds off the baking sheets. Peel away the paper and cool the meringues on a wire rack.

For Filling:
3/4 cup low fat cream cheese
1-2 tbsp. honey
1-2 tbsp. Cointreau (I used what I had on hand, Triple Sec)
1/2 cup low fat ricotta or farmer’s cheese
8 oz raspberries

To make filling, cream the soft cheese with the honey and liqueur in a bowl. Gradually fold in the ricotta cheese and the raspberries, reserving three berries for decoration.

Place the plain meringue round on a board, spread with the filling and top with the nut-covered round. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, transfer to a serving plate and decorate with the reserved raspberries and a sprig of raspberry leaves, if desired. Serves six.

I found this to be an easy non-time consuming baking item. Also I used frozen fruit.

Until next week. Yep more Italian coming your way, next week. I guess I’m on a roll or just obsessed, you decide.

Eat well, stay safe. Any questions or concerns, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)