Pastizzi ta' l-Irkotta - Cheese cakes

Pastizzi are traditional Maltese cheese cakes. You can buy them in every town or village at Pastizzerias across the island. There the oldest fast food on this island.

The result didn't look perfect but the taste was quite nice.

Ingredients:

• 300g ricotta
• 3 eggs
• Finely chopped parsley
• 50g grated cheese
• Pepper
• 600g puff pastry

Method:

1. Make an egg wash from 1 egg.
2. Mix the remaining eggs, ricotta, cheese and peppers.



3. Pre-heat the open at 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Divide the pastry in equal hand size balls.



5. Roll the pastry thinly into circles of 9cm in diameter.
6. Egg wash the edges.
7. Put some of the ricotta mixture on the pastry on the edge.



8. Fold the pastry circle in half and seal the edges.
9. Egg wash the top.
10. Place in the oven for half an hour or until the party is ready.
11. Serve while still warm.

If you're not a fan of ricotta you can try out the pea pastizzi.

Recipe origin: Malta Bulb

Fresh Ravioli - traditional Maltese

One of my favourite dishes is ravioli with a garlicky tomato sauce. At Christmas I got a pasta maker so I took the opportunity to prepare fresh ravioli.

Makes 2-3 dinner portions

Ingredients:

For the pastry

• 300g flour
• 3 eggs
• Pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 300g ricotta (cottage cheese)
• Bunch of chopped parsley
• Pepper
• 1 egg

Method:

1. Mix all the pastry ingredients and start making the dough.
2. Work the pastry until is not sticky. Add a little bit more flour if the pastry remains sticky.
3. Shape the pastry in a ball shape and wrap it in cling film.
4. Leave the pastry to rest for an hour.
5. Beat the egg for the filling and mix with the ricotta and parsley.
6. Add pepper to taste.
7. Use a pasta machine to thin out the pastry. If you don't have a pasta machine you can use a ruling pin but make sure the pastry is quite thin.
8. Divide the pastry sheets into 2 equal sheets.
9. Place one sheet on you working area which was covered with a bit of floor.
10. Start adding a spoonful of mixture  at around 4cm apart.
11. Once the pastry sheet is covered with the ricotta mixture pace the remaining pasta sheet on top.



12. Gently press with your finger in between the mixture.
13. Use a pastry cutting tool to cut the ravioli into squares of around 4cm each.



14. Use your fingers to press any ravioli sides which are not completely closed.
15. Let the ravioli rest for a few minutes before cooking.
16. To cook boil 2 litres of water and place the ravioli in the boiling weather.
17. Boil for around 5-7 minutes or until the ravioli start floating.

The tomato sauce that this perfectly for this recipe will follow tomorrow.

Meat pie (Traditional Maltese)

This meat pie is one of my favourite dishes. Pies do involve quite some work to make, however you can prepare large portions which can be stored in the fridge and warmed again when required.

On my last dinner party I prepared the pies in one person bowls. The outcome was delicious and my in-laws did approve!

Ingredients

• Puff pastry (Ghagina sfiljurata)
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• curry powder
• a little mixed spice
• 2 carrots
• 400g minced meat or 200g minced meat & 200g corn beef/beef steak
• 2 potatoes cut in cubes
• chicken cube
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can of peas or frozen peas
• 1 boiled egg
• 2 teaspoons corn flour
• 1 egg
• Some milk

Method
Serves 3-4 persons

• Cut and saute onion, garlic, carrot, semi-boiled potato (cut in cubes)
• Add met
• Add chicken cube, wine, water, peas, bay leaves and spices
• Cook for half an hour
• Make sure that the mixture is not too liquid. If so add 2 teaspoons of cornflour (or flour)
• Add the boiled egg to the mixture
• Let cool
• Cover a bowl with pastry, add the mixture and cover the mixture with pastry
• Cover pastry with a raw egg and some milk. The extra from the egg can be added to the mixture

• Cook in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius
• Leave 45-60 minutes in the oven or until the pie has a nice red colour

Recipe Origin
This recipe has been cooked by my mum for a long time. Ingredients change through times but the taste is always so good!

Traditional Maltese Kusksu

Summer is over and once we start getting the cold wet grey weather I add some recipes to my weekly food. Warm soups start to appear more often on my table. Below is the recipe of a traditional Maltese style kusksu soup which is a creamy vegetable soup with broad beans, peas and a special type of pasta called kusksu.

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 carrot
• 1 potato
• 1 courgette (half if you have the long courgettes as opposed to the round ones)
• 8 tomatoes or a can of tomatoes
• 2 cans of water (you can use the can of tomatoes as a measure)

• Broad beans (ful)
• Peas
• Pepper
• Ricotta or Maltese goat cheeselets (gbejniet)
• 1-2 tablesppons kusksu pasta (I use Barilla Tempesta). If you cannot find this pasta use any other sort of soup pasta, for example the small snail shaped pasta.

Steps

• Sautee the onion, garlic, carrot, potato and courgette in some olive oil
• In a pan add the above ingredients together with tomatoes and water
• Leave cooking for 30 minutes
• Squash the mixture with a food processor
• Add the pepper, broad beans and peas and leave for another 30 minutes
• Add the pasta to the pan around 10 minutes (or as indicated on the package) before serving. 
• Serve with ricotta or Maltese goat cheese-lets

Notes
If you cooked a large amount of kusku and you're not planning to eat all of it in one go, it's best to add the pasta only to the portions you will be serving.You can then add pasta when reheating the extra kusku portions.

Recipe Origin

This recipe is one of the hundreds of recipes mama Formosa.