Pasta Sfoglia

Ok, this isn't something you think of as authentically Italian but I'm including it because it's a great recipe that I've had success with several times and I got it off a Roman woman's food blog. It's a great vegetarian dish, that can be interchanged with other veggies of choice, such as spinach. Another great, quick summer dish. Pair it with a salad and you've got a veggie packed dinner.



Pasta Sfoglia

1 refridgerated pastry dough (or puff pastry) in rectangular form
2 eggs
100 gr. ricotta - roughly 1/4 lb (part of a small container)
50 gr. provolone (50 gr. is roughly the amount of 2 slices of velveeta singles .. a good handfull ... I've also sub'd gouda)
400 gr. fresh brocolli (I use a good, hearty stalk and that is usually enough)

Preheat oven to 180-200 C (this is roughly 375-400 F), use the directions on your pastry crust. Clean and seperate brocolli into florets, chop up some of the inner stalk if you need more. You should have a full steamer basket of brocolli. Steam until tender, roughly 5-7 minutes. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs and combine with both cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Cool and roughly chop the cooked brocolli, season with salt. Toss the brocolli with the egg/cheese mixture. Carefully unroll your pastry, put filling down center. Fold one side of pastry over filling, then fold the other side over and lightly close the seam. Pinch the 2 ends together to seal pastry. Brush pastry with water or egg (egg will give a glossier finish) ... I usually use just water. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Variation: This is great with spinach. The trick with spinach is to really squeeze out the water well. I mean really well. If you leave excess moisture in your veggie (or use a watery veggie) then your pastry will just be soggy and you won't get a good result.