The Morning After

Avanzi di Farina d'Avena al Forno con Madorle, Banane e Albicocche

Baked Leftover Oatmeal with Almonds & Apricots

Sunday morning folks! Improvisation time again... and of course you are thinking " do we sense some variations on a theme going on here?"  Well sure! But you know what? I know what I like and I am sure you do too by now... case in hand? OATMEAL! And I don't think there is anything wrong with sticking to the foods we like- but especially not if we try to prepare them in different ways every now and then...


So yes, I do like to make myself oatmeal for breakfast at the weekend- I am one of those people who drinks a cup of coffee and then zooms out to work during the week, so it is nice to take the time and to indulge a little on those days off from work. Yesterday, I overdid it though a little with the oatmeal and ended up with twice as much as I could eat! But did I throw away what was left over? Why ever would I when I know that I can do something wonderful like this with it?!?!

So- it hardly gets any easier than this! I took the oatmeal, which of course had congealed and become pretty solid since yesterday, and mashed another of my typical Sunday ingredients into it- a very ripe banana. I used a fork to do so as a whisk would be a little too dainty a tool for this. I added cinnamon, a teaspoon of Steve and a little milk, just to soften up the mixture a little. 

Once the oatmeal/banana were thoroughly mixed, I added dried coconut flakes until the mixture became a little firmer again and began layering it with apricot slices in my baking dish. Do not press the mixture down firmly, but much rather leave it a bit looser, so that it cooks more quickly and easily- a solid mass would take longer to bake. I baked it for 10 minutes at 300°C and then brought it out for a while to add some sliced almonds and a light drizzle of honey... mmm!

Back into the oven it went for 2-3 minutes under the broiler until the honey had caramelized, the apricots had a nice shine to them and the almonds and oatmeal were both lovely and golden. Who knew it cold be so easy to turn such ordinary ingredients into something so special? Enjoy!