Sunday 1 February 2015

Getting Your Oats... Twice!

Crostatina con Crosta di Fiocchi d'Avena, & Biscotti, Ripiena di Mirtilli, Mela & Banana
Little Blueberry, Banana & Apple Pie in Oatmeal/Cookie Crust

 

Left over oatmeal... it can happen! Ask Goldilocks- haha! And what do you do with it? Throw it away? Shame on you!

I never throw anything away that isn't wasted- because apart from finding that morally unacceptable in a world where so many people go hungry... it also means a wasted chance to be able to make something new!


 

Same thing goes for old cookies that are past their crunchy prime... again- why on Earth would you let them go to waste, when you could easily transform them into something delicious and new?!

 

So, I had a very small serving of oatmeal left over- as you can see, just enough to fill a coffee mug. To transform this into a lovely little pie, I added just 4 cookies (Spekulatius in this case), a half of a banana, a small apple, a handful of blueberries and a little cinnamon, butter for greasing the baking dish and honey. The rest was just nature, taking it's course!

 

How's that look? A little more inviting than a bowl of oatmeal with berries on top, no?  

 

To make the crust, I simply crumbled the cookies into the oatmeal, along with 1/4 of the banana cut into a relatively fine dice.

 

Simply mash the ingredients together with a wooden spoon into a relatively even paste- no need to fuss too much!


This is where that little bit of butter comes into play- you need it to cover the surface of your little baking dish with, before you press the oatmeal mix into shape. This can now go into a hot oven, at 180°C, for a good 20 minutes or so, whilst you prepare the filling.

 

For the filling, pop the finely chopped apple into a saucepan with a pat of butter and plenty of cinnamon.

 

Once the apple has begun to soften a little, you can go ahead and add the other 1/4 of finely diced banana and the berries. You may note, I have added no sugar at all... I'm funny like that! Haha! But the fact of the matter is that it is sweet and delicious already as it is- so why mess with what's already good?

 

By now that crust should be nicely golden brown. It won't be baked all the way through- but that's okay as it is going back into the oven for another 20-25 minutes or so. But it will have begun to get firm and will resist soaking in moisture from the topping much better.

 

As soon as those berries begin to look nice and shiny and the first one or two begin to pop and spill their juice, you are ready to turn off the heat and ready to begin filling your crust.

 

Layer out the filling nicely and evenly and return to the hot oven to continue baking for another 20-25 minutes.

 

After around 20 minutes, remove the pie from the oven and drizzle it ever-so-lightly with honey- just to give things a slight glaze.. and 5 minutes later, the crust will be a deep golden brown and the berries and apple chunks will be juicy and delicious. The banana bits will help thicken the filling and you are basically ready to eat! Hot from the pot- or left to cool and served on a plate later.

 

There ya go! And isn't it pretty? But no- it is not too pretty to eat- it is delicious and that is exactly what you are meant to do with it!

 

And you would rather throw out old oatmeal and cookies than make this with them? Hmmm? Sorry. but you really need to re-think those kinds of decisions!

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