Artichoke heart cannelloni

Februrary 28, 2026 

   

 

We were in the mood for a cosy pasta project on a Saturday night, and I pulled this one out of Deb Perelman's first Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. The photo in the book has pasta shells oozing with something creamy and cheesy, edges crisped to a golden brown, and everything flecked with green parsley. My presentation is a little more coarse but it hit the mark well enough.

 

The major hitch was that I couldn't find jumbo pasta shells. I'm not confident that they're even a thing here in Australia. I pivoted to cannelloni: that meant filling them carefully while they were uncooked and brittle, compared to shells that were intended to be cooked, soft and open for filling. I kept an eye on the amount of liquid in the sauce and the baking time, wanting to make sure that the pasta cooked through in the last phase. They did pretty well with some extra milk and ricotta, though perhaps they didn't look quite as satisfyingly gooey.

 

Pasta shapes aside, we stuck to the key flavours: a filling of blended artichoke hearts brightened with white wine and lemon juice, poured over with a thick ricotta béchamel, and scattered with basil leaves. It was gorgeous, paired with a favourite simple tomato salad that I've won Michael around to.

 

 

 

Artichoke heart cannelloni

(adapted from Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) 

 

cannelloni

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, diced

2 x 400g cans artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed, and sliced in half

1/2 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups grated parmesan

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

250g box cannelloni tubes 

 

sauce

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup flour

3 cups milk

2 clove garlic, minced

2/3 cup ricotta

3 tablespoons lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

 

2 tablespoons parsley or basil leaves, chopped, to garnish

 

 

Melt the butter in a medium-large frypan over medium heat. When it's lightly brown, add the onion. Cook the onion, stirring, until softened and browning, about 10 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook it all, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool a little.

 

When the artichoke mixture is no longer too hot for it, transfer it to a food processor. Add the parmesan, egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse the mixture until it is well chopped but still retains plenty of texture.

 

Make the sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Gradually whisk in the milk, keeping it all moving to prevent lumps. Add the garlic and bring the sauce to the boil, stirring regularly. Reduce the heat and stir in the ricotta, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

 

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Spread a bit of the sauce over the base of a large, high-walled baking dish (about 20 x 30 cm). Use a teaspoon to carefully spoon the artichoke filling into each cannelloni tube, then set the tubes into the baking dish on top of the sauce. When all the cannelloni and filling is used up, spoon the remaining sauce over them. Cover the dish in foil and bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes.

 

Serve the cannelloni sprinkled with parsley or basil.  

Cauliflower pesto pasta

May 24, 2020

One of our fruit'n'veg deliveries included a surprise packet of pasta, and it sat on the edge of our kitchen table for several weeks before I got around to planning a meal with it. We tossed around a couple of our usual ideas (soy bomb meatballs? green veges and pesto?) and I browsed a few cookbooks. Cauliflower pesto popped out from our underused Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: I'm fond of pesto, and liked that there'd be some extra veges in this version.

Even with our big food processor on the blink, this pesto came together effectively using our less powerful stick blender attachments. None of the veges need cooking, simply picking up on the pasta's ambient heat: grate over some extra parmesan and you're done! The flavour was good but subtle; I reckon I'll double the pesto-to-cauliflower ratio in future. It's a quick weeknight-friendly meal with only one tiny downside: while serving the long, spaghetti-like pasta I found myself flicking little cauliflower specks all over the kitchen!

Cauliflower pesto pasta
(slightly adapted from a recipe in Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

1 small or 1/2 large head of cauliflower, split into florets
1 clove garlic
generous pinch chilli flakes
1/2 cup almonds or pine nuts, toasted
55g parmesan, plus extra for garnish
4 sun-dried tomatoes, preferably not packed in oil
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
500g linguine

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to the boil.

While the water is heating, prepare the pesto. In batches that fit your food processor, pulse the cauliflower until it resembles couscous, and transfer it to a large bowl. Empty out the food processor, then use it to blend together the garlic, chilli flakes, almonds/pine nuts, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and parsley to form a coarse pesto. Add this pesto and the olive oil to the cauliflower bowl, and stir everything together well. Season with salt, pepper and the vinegar.

When the water is boiling, add the linguine and cook as instructed on the packet. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the rest. Toss together the pasta, cauliflower pesto, and 1/2 cup of the cooking water; add a little more water if the pesto feels too thick or clumpy. Serve the pasta, and grate a little more parmesan over each plate.

Christmas shortcuts

December 25, 2013

This year we hit the one of the more traditional points in our Christmas cycle, sharing lunch with Michael's extended family on the Sunshine Coast. Everyone else tends to focus on chicken, ham and prawns so we always make sure to bring a vego dish or two. This time around we streamlined a couple of recipes from the archives, so as not to take too much time or create excessive mess in someone else's kitchen. 

Zucchini ribbons in pesto are even quicker when you buy a tub of ready-made pesto - just shred up the greens, pour over the pesto, add a squeeze of lemon and toss it all together. It's light and refeshing, and lasts well into the next day without getting wilted or slimey.

For something more substantial, we revisited the Moroccan Soup Bar-inspired chickpea thing. Since we were serving it at room temperature, we only needed heat to toast the almonds and fry some garlic, whisking together the yoghurt dressing and folding in canned chickpeas in a bowl. Rather than frying pita bread, I hatched the idea of substituting plain corn chips. They had the right crunchy, slightly grainy texture and were gluten-free as a bonus. The salad gave our lunch a little heft, though the leftovers were notably soggier come dinner time.

Catering for twenty-five, the table also boasted mini pumpkin quiches, potatoes and a couple more fresh green salads so we weren't left wanting for food or company.

Creamy pea pasta

December 1, 2013

I've had a minor pea epiphany lately. I've been hating on the frozen ones all my life, and it seems probable that I've just been eating them seriously overcooked. It turns out that they don't have to be all squishy inside - with the quickest of boils they retain much of their bite. They're still not quite the equal of freshly podded specimens but you couldn't make pea prep quicker or easier than popping the frozen fellers into your pasta water.

I pulled this trick for dinner last week. I'd flicked through cookbooks while Michael made brunch,  and liked the simple springtime look of Deb Perelman's sweet peas and shells alfredo in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I simplified a little further with my frozen peas instead of fresh, and then struck out on my own when it came to the sauce. 

Perelman's alfredo consisted largely of butter, cream and parmesan but I decided to cook up my own vegan alternative. Lots of cashews, a little nooch and miso, plus an extra shot of lemon. Taste-testing from the blender, I was very pleased with myself - it was smooth, very creamy and arguably cheesy. The effect was a little blander once mixed with the pasta and parsley, so there's room for more savoury flavouring (I think I might include some garlic powder next time). My plate got the small boost it needed from a tomato salad.

Creamy pea pasta
(inspired by a recipe in Deb Perelman's
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

1 cup raw cashews
250g small pasta shapes
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
3 teaspoons white miso
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
zest and juice of a lemon
salt, to taste
pinch of white pepper
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Cover the cashews in water and soak them for at least 4 hours.

Resume cooking when the cashews are ready. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta as directed on its packaging, adding the frozen peas to the pot for the last 4 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, blend the cashews with 1/2 cup of their soaking water until creamy. Add the miso, nooch, lemon juice, salt and pepper and blend thoroughly. Taste and adjust the flavours to your liking.

Drain the pasta and peas, then return them to the pot. Stir in the cashew sauce and parsley. Serve the pasta in bowls, sprinkled with lemon zest.

Snickerdoodle cake

March 31, 2013

I took this Long Weekend At Home opportunity to dig into The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook's sweetest section, the bit I've been most keen on the whole time. It was tough but fun to choose amongst the cookies and pies and syrupy fruits, and eventually I went with the gooey cinnamon squares. I just couldn't imagine this gooey butter cake layer that Perelmen was so taken with - I imagined the texture of cheesecake and the flavour of vanilla in butter. The photograph kept me guessing, revealing little more than the crackly cinnamon-sugar top.

The vanilla part seemed so important to me that I bought a jar of fancy extract from the markets. It was so intense that it turned the gooey layer grey. Actually, I didn't really get my gooey layer at all - I guess I cooked it a little too long and it was just... more cake. A sweet super-vanilla-charged cake with a crackly snickerdoodle-style topping, best enjoyed with some fruit on the side.

Snickerdoodle cake
(slightly adapted from the gooey cinnamon squares
in Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

bottom layer
1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
115g butter, softened
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

middle layer
1/4 cup light corn syrup, golden syrup or honey
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
170g butter, softened
1 cup castor sugar
1 egg

top layer
2 tablespoons castor sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a large rectangular baking dish with paper.

Start with the bottom layer. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg and milk until well combined, then gradually beat in the flour mixture. Drop big spoonfuls of the mixture across the baking dish, then use the back of a spoon to smooth it out into a single layer.

Next, the middle layer. In a small bowl, whisk together the syrup, milk and vanilla. In a medium bowl (I used the same one as above without washing), stir together the flour and salt. In a large mixing bowl (I used the previous one without washing), beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and liquid mixture in turns, beating as you go, until everything is well combined together. Drop big spoonfuls over this mixture over the bottom layer and the smooth it out into another single layer.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle it evenly across the top of the cake.

Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, until the sugar topping has browned.

Plum & poppy seed muffins

March 21, 2013

In The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Deb Perelman confesses that she formulated seven muffin recipes before finally submitting this one. I wasn't quite sure what would mark a particular muffin as the best of seven but I was willing to find out, and pack the proceeds on a work-sanctioned road trip to north-western Victoria.

I guess it starts with an attention to detail that I don't quite have - two kinds of sugar, two kinds of flour, two kinds of fat, two kinds of flavouring. And one of those fats is browned butter, quite a stretch from the vegetable oil in so many other muffins. I'm not an experienced butter browner, and I kept a pretty close eye on mine, but still somehow panicked that I might have burnt it beyond use. Thankfully essjayeff was on hand twitterwise to encourage me onwards. After a few minutes cooling, my butter smelled a little like caramel and it did ultimately add a nice depth to the colour and flavour of these muffins.

The other thing going on here is fruit - lots and lots of fruit. This muffin batter is little more than a binder for a bag of plums. I really pushed it to the limit, erring upwards in my plum weighing and then omitting the fruit from two of the twelve muffins (due to allergy concerns). I just barely got away with it - my muffins did set through and have remained just on the pleasant side of soggy even a few days later.

In the end, I'm almost impressed that Perelman took a mere seven attempts to strike so close to muffin perfection.

Plum & poppy seed muffins 
(almost as instructed in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman)

85g butter
1 egg
50g castor sugar
50g brown sugar
180g yoghurt
60g wholemeal flour
125g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground cinnmon
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
390g plums, stones removed and flesh diced

Preheat an oven to 180°C and grease a muffin tray.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Swish it around occasionally and keep cooking it until it starts to brown. Take it off the heat and set it aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and sugars. Stir in the browned butter and yoghurt.

In a smaller bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the poppy seeds. Pour these dry ingredients into the larger bowl of wet ingredients, stirring them together until just combined (a few lumps are OK). Fold in the diced plums.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray to make 12 muffins. Bake them for 15-18 minutes, until golden and cooked through (use the skewer test). Let the muffins sit in the tray for a couple of minutes before gently transferring them to a rack.

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Ladies' Parlor

As advertised

Zucchini ribbons in almond pesto

December 30, 2012

My mum generously arranged to have The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook mailed to me for my birthday. While I always find Deb Perelman's baking recipes the most enticing, our holidays were warm and we weren't lacking for indulgence. Instead I bought some almonds and a lemon on our way home from the picnic and tried this light, summery zucchini salad for dinner.

Michael has never been a zucchini admirer, but he deemed these raw ribbons to be his new favourite way to eat the vegetable. Perhaps he'd had a touch of the sun, but actually I agree that this is pretty great. And so simple! There's no reason why we shouldn't make any kind of pesto we want, really, and I'll not judge anyone who cuts prep time down to 2 minutes by using a few tablespoons of their favourite jarred pesto.

Zucchini ribbons in almond pesto
(slightly adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman)

2 tablespoons roasted almonds
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
shake of garlic powder
pinch of chilli flakes
squeeze of lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium zucchinis (about 300g)

In a spice grinder or similar, blend together the almonds, parmesan, garlic and chilli to a coarse meal. Stir in the lemon juice, salt and oil (my grinder didn't play nice here, so I reckon simple stirring should do). Spoon the dressing into the bottom of a bowl.

Use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into ribbons, and stack them on top of the dressing in the bowl. Lightly toss the zucchini through the dressing, trying to evenly coat the ribbons in pesto. Serve it up!