Comments on: Baked Orecchiette

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:23:44 +0000

Lavender- Ha! No, but that would be cool if she was. Our Heather does not sing and never lived in Australia. : )

By: Lavender

Lavender — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:08:16 +0000

Hi Tim, I know this is weird but was heather a singing teacher who lived in Australia??

By: Bryna

Bryna — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:03:33 +0000

Thanks for the swift reply!

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:20:39 +0000

Hi Bryna,
I haven’t tried freezing, but my guess is that it won’t freeze well. There isn’t enough to it, and the ricotta will get weird. I would probably just saute and freeze the kale, if I were going to try anything. Then make the dish with frozen kale.

By: Bryna

Bryna — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:00:36 +0000

Just saw this recipe when I was trying to figure out what to do with the Chard in our CSA. Do you know if this freezes well? And would it be better to freeze before baking or after?

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:37:46 +0000

Hey Sam,
I eat cheese with almost every meal, so I’m probably not the best person to ask. Since there are so few ingredients in this dish, they all seem important. You could try adding another vegetable (butternut squash?) but it takes it in another direction. Sorry I’m not more helpful….let me know if you experiment and come up with something good!

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:07:20 +0000

Is there any way to substitute the cheese/flavor for a lactose intolerant person other than soy cheese products? I absolutely LOVE fennel and orecchiette; this dish looks amazing…any ideas?

By: Hannah

Hannah — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:31:28 +0000

I made this a couple of nights ago and it was such a success we polished off the lot. The flavours really did taste like sausage. I used French beans instead of greens, and forgot to crush the fennel seeds, but it tasted great. Will definitely make this again, thanks Tim.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:53:28 +0000

This look so good I may play with it when I make it. I do want to maybe use some turkey or chicken sausage, fresh spinach, not sure if I can find the exact pasta at my grocery store but will try.

By: tinarina

tinarina — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:07:49 +0000

I made this a few nights ago with rigatoni (what I had on hand) and thought it was fantastic. The fennel (which I love) gave the suggestion of sausage without the sausage.

Because the rigatoni is so much larger I used less of it (like 3/4 lb) which worked out really well. Thanks Tim!

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:51:35 +0000

Hi Lynne,
It is possible that you ground the seeds too much? When I make it I just sort of lightly crush the seeds, but they remain whole–not ground up at all. HMmmmmm. It is a mystery!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:04:05 +0000

PS. I have another batch of your Apple Jellies simmering on the stove and those I know are winners :)

By: Lynne

Lynne — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:03:17 +0000

Sorry Tim–I didn’t mean to be grouchy :( I just can’t figure out what I did wrong. I followed the recipe to the letter, including making fresh ricotta (also your recipe which I love & have been using for a while!) but it just turned out so unappetizing. It looked just like the picture but no one ate it and to me it was overwhelmingly fennel-y. Is some fennel seed more potent than others maybe? The seeds I used were relatively fresh and I just gave them a quick zing in my spice grinder to smash them lightly. I wish I knew how I managed to bork this recipe–it looked great! :(

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:44:44 +0000

Hi Lynne, I am sorry you didn’t like this recipe. I have made this multiple times and love it—I guess
our tastes just differ on this one. Better luck next time!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:22:13 +0000

I made this for a potluck and ended up embarrassed as it sat untouched on people’s plates. I think the fennel seed was about 50% too much. I used the tablespoon the recipe called for and the taste was so strong as to be gag-inducing. Next time I think I would just skip the spices and use italian sausage. This was probably the worst dish I’ve made in recent memory :(

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:49:59 +0000

Oh very nice indeed….

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:52:10 +0000

Hi Momcat: Mushrooms would be a nice addition, good idea.

Kasey: That would be amazing. I want to try making orecchiette at home.

By: Kasey

Kasey — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:41:23 +0000

A few weeks ago, I made homemade orecchiette. I’ve still got a ball of dough frozen in my fridge and this might be the perfect opportunity to pull it out!

By: Momcatusa

Momcatusa — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:41:06 +0000

Wow, this looks really good. I’ll bet if you added about 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms of your choice to the saute of the garlic, greens etc., it would be even better! (I love dishes like this with cheeses and greens and mushrooms, in any combination!) Thanks for sharing!

By: stacey

stacey — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:37:23 +0000

What a beautiful site…I found yours through pioneerwoman.com

Love this recipe too. I’m sure this is something even my picky 11 year old would love.