thank you, Monsieur Cake, for giving me some energy back before I have to bring both cats to the vet: I’ll need as much cake-courage as I can get.

I have another version of this coming up soon; I wanted to use a bit less margarine and yogurt to see how it would turn out. I just sampled some of it along with this very cake, and they’re both quite tasty indeed.

you can choose different nut meals (grind your nuts (ouch!) in a food processor) and add-ins: it’s all up to you.

serves 6:

preheat oven to 350F. prepare an 8×8 square pan with non-stick cooking spray.

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup raw sugar

cream together in a large bowl.

1/2 cup hazelnut meal
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 t pure hazelnut extract (optional, but recommended)
1 cup vanilla soy yogurt

combine with margarine mixture.

1 cup white whole wheat flour (lightly spooned and leveled)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t fine sea salt

place on top of wet ingredients, stir in without overmixing.

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried raspberries [or other add-ins]

fold in.

place batter in prepared pan. bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
let cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from pan.

this baby is your standard apple pie with almond meal crumbles on top, but it’s the crust that makes it my new favorite kid on the block.
I’ve had the recipe written down on a piece of paper since I can’t remember when, which unfortunately means I have no indication of where I got it from. yet another proof that sporadic lack of organizational skills is a bad thing. but it’s okay: I’ll go drown my sorrow in pie, now.

for a single crust:

1 1/2 light spelt flour (lightly spooned and leveled)
1/2 t fine sea salt
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup mild-flavored oil

mix all these ingredients in a medium bowl, with a couple of forks to begin with, and with your hands at last. or use your food processor, it’ll be even easier.
shape into a ball, flatten down, and press into a prepared pie tin. you can also roll it out, if you dare. I personally prefer going the lazy way since it doesn’t hurt the crust a bit.
I used a 6″ x 2″ round cake pan, it makes for a deeper pie, which I sorta like.

pre-bake at 375F for 10 minutes, put filling in and bake all the way for 40 minutes, depending on what you fill it with of course.

(eta: I made a no-bake peanut butter chocolate pie by 1 1/2 x the recipe, fully baking the crust in a 9-inch round pan (putting a piece of foil in it and some pie weights too) for 25 minutes in all, removing the foil after 20 minutes so that it would turn golden. to avoid any shrinkage, it’s usually advised to place the crust in the fridge for 30 minutes, prior to baking it, but I didn’t and had no such problem.)

it’s like everyone has their own recipe for a mac & cheese type o’dish, right? this one doesn’t claim to be anything in particular, it’s just doing its own thing.
it whips up in mere minutes, too.
don’t worry: it’s not really sleezy. it’s not even made with macaroni either, but fusilli instead.

my stomach refused to let me take a picture: I was just that hungry.
I’ll be sure to snap a shot of it the next time we partake. in the meantime, since I had my portion with a nice salad that included a small heirloom tomato, have a pic of the latter.

oh, that’s right…the recipe.

serves 4:

go ahead and cook 8 ounces of your favorite pasta. you know how.
while this is happening, preheat your oven to 375F, and prepare:

The Sauce

1 cup nooch
2 heaping T arrowroot
1 t garlic powder
1 t fine sea salt
1 t chili powder
2 cups water (or same amount unsweetened non-dairy milk, for creamier results)
1 T tahini
2 T margarine
1 t yellow mustard (optional)

place everything but the margarine and mustard in a medium saucepan, and whisk away! on medium to high heat, and whisking continuously, cook until the sauce thickens a bit. remove from heat. add margarine and mustard, whisking until melted. set aside.

start working on:

The Topping

1 cup whole wheat panko
pinch fine sea salt
2 T oil of choice

place ingredients in a bowl. stir with two forks until the panko is coated with the oil.

place the sauce and the cooked pasta in an 8×8 baking dish, no need to prepare it with oil or what-have-you. mix until combined.

sprinkle topping all over. cover with foil.
if using your convection oven, bake for 10 minutes, uncover, bake for 5 more minutes.
if you just use a normal oven, bake for 20 minutes covered, 10 more minutes uncovered or until the topping is golden brown.