With my sesame seed salad muffins I start today to tell you about the vegetarian and vegan cooking course I am attending. I’ve been eyeing it for years, and finally, I signed up! 😃
The first lesson covered the topic “The Importance of Seeds”. If you’re interested in delving deeper into this topic (and those of future lessons), I refer you to this article, where I explain the topic covered in the first lesson.
Additionally, you can visit this page which will list all the recipes cooked during the course that I later shared here on the blog, starting with these salad muffins today.
I wanted to try these sesame seed salad muffins as the first recipe, and right away I couldn’t resist (as always!) the temptation to vary the original recipe. 😅 On the other hand, our instructor pointed out during the lesson that personal experiments are always welcome, and so… what a wonderful cooking course for me! 😄
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For other muffins (single-serving or portionable), also check out these recipes: 👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 9 oz lettuce (mixed between escarole, gentile, and curly)
- 2 tbsps sesame seeds (untoasted)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 2 oz ricotta
- 2 oz cooking cream (or additional ricotta)
- nutmeg (generously, about half a nut)
- extra virgin olive oil
- breadcrumbs
- pepper
Tools
- Muffin Mold
Steps
Wash and dry the lettuce. Cut it into thin strips and place in a bowl.
Add the flour and the half nutmeg grated freshly.
In a bowl, beat the egg with a fork, add the cream, and then the ricotta. Stir with the fork to dissolve and mix the ricotta well.
Pour the mixture over the lettuce, add a pinch of pepper and possibly also a small part of the sesame seeds (I refer you to the note at the end of the recipe).
Mix and blend well until obtaining a homogeneous mixture.
Grease and sprinkle a muffin mold with breadcrumbs.
👉 By now, I have become an enthusiast of silicone molds, and I used my fantastic six-portion mold, but if you don’t have it, or if you don’t like silicone molds, you can use any muffin mold or even a regular baking pan (in this case, you will get a single muffin instead of the individual servings, but it will work just as well).
Pour the mixture into the mold, press it with the back of a spoon, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake at 392°F (200°C) for 20-25 minutes. At the end, leave to rest in the turned-off oven for 10 minutes to allow the muffins to set.
👉 If you opt for the large pan muffin, a slightly longer cooking time (30-35 minutes) may be necessary.
These sesame seed salad muffins are excellent as an appetizer.
They can be served hot or warm. I prefer them hot, my husband liked them cold. So… we already understood each other, right? 😁If you have small molds, for small-sized muffins, you can turn them into mini finger food muffins. In the baking pan version, you’ll get a great vegetarian main course or a rich side dish, perfect for Sunday lunch.
Variation 1: As specified in the procedure, the recipe includes adding some of the sesame seeds inside the mixture. I did it, but I have to be honest: both I and my family jury agreed that the presence of seeds inside the muffins didn’t impress us. So, my advice is to try. Try both with the seeds and without, and then… why not… let me know what you think. 🙂
Variation 2: The original recipe calls for gentile lettuce or escarole. The addition of curly lettuce is my variation, which I recommend.
Variation 3: The use of ricotta is a spur-of-the-moment idea, which I recommend because it gives more body to the muffins and makes the recipe lighter. If you prefer to use only cream as in the original recipe, you can safely replace the ricotta with an equivalent amount of cooking cream.
Variation 4: The idea of single servings is another of my ideas; the original recipe was intended for a rectangular pan. I love single servings; they are practical and more attractive to serve.
Important tip: do not forget the nutmeg! The final success of these muffins also depends on the spicy taste and aroma of the nutmeg.
Salt-Free Tips
The personal variation that can never be missing in my recipes is eliminating the salt. 🙂
Anyone not yet aware of this particular feature of my cooking can delve into the topic by reading my Cooking Without Salt.
Or, more briefly, you can take a look at the “summary tips” with which I conclude each of my “savory” recipes. Here it is:
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually decrease the salt; the palate must gradually get used to it and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruit. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water; prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally indulge in a cheat. It’s good for morale and helps perseverance.
If you do not want, or cannot, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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As always, you can also find me on my Facebook page, on my Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Catia’s Group, in the kitchen and beyond and Just what I was looking for! and if you want… subscribe to my Newsletter.
