small post Passover wrap up

Passover is over, we've restocked the pantry, and now I can't find my list of all the yummy passover things I made. But I have promised myself I will get all my passover friendly recipes together and put them all in one 3 ring binder so I don't have to go searching for them next spring.

I did find these two still on the refridgerator printed off from some random website, and they were tasty.

Spinach & Potato Casserole - difficulty level - Easy.

3 good size white potatoes, or 6 good size red potatoes
20oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
3 green onions, chopped
1 sweet pepper, diced
8 to 12 oz ricotta cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & peper
1 cup shredded cheese
4 matzah sheets

preheat oven to 400 and bake potatoes till tender, about 45 minutes. Cool, peel and slice potatoes into 1/4” slices. Reduce oven temp to 350. In medium bowl, mix spinach, green onions, sweet pepper, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and season w/salt & pepper. Wet the matzah under running water until pliable but not falling apart. Grease the bottom of a baking dish and put the first sheet of matzah as the bottom layer. Put down ¼ of the spinach mixture, then a layer of potatoes, followed by some shredded cheese. Continue making layers until you run out of ingredients, and make the top most layer shredded cheese.

Bake for 35 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbly. Wait a few minutes before serving, so it can firm up, and cut into squares for serving.

Cheese wise, we used up the fontina that was in the fridge, and it was awesome. My matzah didn't quite fit into the baking dish I used, so I ended up farfelling some of it, and it still worked fine.

And now for some dessert . . .

Cardamom Apple Cake – difficulty level is a little harder. You'll need a food processor, an electric mixer of some kind, and nearly every bowl in the house.

½ cup matzah meal
1 cup chopped or slivered almonds (see note below)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
5 large eggs at room temperature and separated
1 cup sugar
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and grated
few tablespoons powdered sugar

preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish. Use a springform pan if you've got one (I don't). Pulse almonds in food processor until finely chopped, then add matzah meal, salt and cardamom and pulse some more until finely ground. Don't go too far,you don't want paste.

Beat egg yolks in a bowl until smooth then add ¾ cup sugar a little bit at a time. Keep beating until mixture is thick and pale. Stir in the nut mixture then the apples. In another bowl, beat the whites until you get stiff peaks. Beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar a little at a time, keeping your stiff peaks. Fold a little of the egg white mixture into the egg yellow mixture to blend, then quickly fold in the rest of the whites. Scrape all batter into baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes until top is browned and springy. Remove from oven, sprinkle top with powdered sugar, and let cool completely. The cake will puff, then sink a little.

This apple cake is the messiest, most involved dessert I've made in a long time. And you know what? It was so good it was worth the mess. It is not gluten free by any means, but you would never know it wasn't made with flour. Slivered almonds are insanely expensive! I bought the cheapest bulk whole almonds I could find, and chopped them by hand before they went into the food processor, and it was fine.