Frangipane Verde al profumo di Sambuca

Yes this is different! Just try it! But don't think that is something completely new! Where I come from in Italy they make a tart called Erbazzone Dolce, filled with spinach, ricotta, almond and flavored with an aniseed liqueur called Sassolino. Here in NZ it is difficult to find Sassolino so I use Sambuca. If you like the recipe for Erbazzone Dolce you can find it in Sweet As, or it was recorded on Radio New Zealand (ages ago, when I was interviewed by Kim Hill on Saturday Morning), and the recipe is also on the Radio NZ website here. 

But the time instead of making Erbazzone Dolce I made a Spinach Frangipane for the MT Challenge!

The base recipe is similar to Ambra's, but I used salted butter (so I didn't need to put salt in the pastry) and sambuca  instead of lemon zest.

For the base:

- 200g plain flour

- 100g  butter, soft

- 100g sugar

- 1 egg 

- tbsp sambuca

Mix together and then spread (I couldn't be bothered rolling it, I spread it with fingers) into a 23 cm round baking tin  lined with baking paper. 

The MT Challenge said that for the frangipane filling we had to use this recipe (in Italian). Then we could add the fruit/ingredients we liked, and after seeing that all the chocolate/pear/apple/various-things were already taken, I choose spinach. Ah!!! I am sure that there isn't a green Frangipane yet!

For the filling:

- 100g ground almond

- 100g unsalted butter, soft

- 100g sugar

- 1 egg

- 30g potato flour of corn flour

- 1 tbsp orange blossom  water (here we could choose our own flavoring, so I choose sambuca)

- 3 portions of frozen chopped spinach defrosted at room temperature

Mix together in this order and then fill the pie crust. Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes, or until the crust looks cooked and the top has lightly risen. Let the Frangipane cook down completely before removing from the baking tin.

This post is for the MTC di Aprile hosted by Menù Turistico

I made this cake yesterday because it was a holiday, 25 April, Anzac Day, and Festa della Liberazione in Italy! In the morning I took the children horse riding in Karekare. It was a beautiful day and the horses had my last carrots (the veggie garden has all been dug up now!). Well, apple season now, so the horse can have apples instead, but I learned a new fact: Caroline, who owns the horses, told me that they should eat as many carrots (and carrot leaves) as they like, but only a limited number of apples! I hope that my new carrots will grow fast now! In the photos Billy eating a carrot, and Laddy drinking from an old bath tab (and yes, that blue strip in the background is the sea!).

In the afternoon (and what a sunny day it was!) we had the Spinach Frangipane for snack and in the evening we went here to celebrate Anzac Day and Festa della Liberazione. It was a very special occasion, I even had to do a short speech, and I felt honored to be part of the remembrance for both NZ and Italy.

To end a long post, if you are in NZ, please remember to enter this giveaway, closing on 29 April!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©