Do you like brunch? I do. And I’ve blogged about it before too. Recently I hosted brunch in my little apartment for some of my friends. I have to say, if you like having friends over and you want to cook for them, breakfast is way easier than dinner!  Then you have the rest of your day open to do what you want. For this brunch, I chose two simple recipes, one that could bake in the oven while the other cooked on the stove top.

I chose Welcome-back cotta (a.k.a Lemon Ricotta Pancakes) from the LooneySpoons Collection cookbook, and made veggie hash in large muffin tins (my own recipe based one a few others I merged together).

Here’s some photos of the brunchy-affair…. Oh yea, and there was coffee, slices of oranges, and apple slices with maple-peanut butter sauce. It sounds fancy, but I promise you it was easy and I had a lot of fun putting it all together.

First, you can get the pancake recipe here via CTV’s site, they hosted Janet & Greta earlier this year on their show and this exact recipe was demonstrated on air. Watch here

Lemon and ricotta pancakes demonstration and recipe

I didn’t use blueberries for mine, I made a fresh raspberry sauce instead using a little recipe I learned from Jamie Oliver. And I have to say, my pancakes turned out much like Janet & Greta’s! Yay!

For the veggie hash in muffin tins:

– I used a large muffin tin. And lightly greased the tin with olive oil.
– I filled the tin about 1/2 full with some frozen hash browns  Let them thaw, and shape around the edge of the tin as best you can – like pie crust style.
– Bake for about 10 minutes at 350F
– While they are baking I sautéed some mixed veggies, any veggies you like in an omelet (i.e. mushrooms, shallots, bell peppers, etc).
– Fill the tins evenly with some of your sauteed vegetables.
– Crack a whole egg overtop, or you could scramble the eggs with a fork and then pour evenly over the muffin tins. For six large tins, I used one large egg for each tin.
– Then return the tin to the oven, and bake until the eggs are done to desired doneness. It took about 15 minutes for me, but it will depend on your oven so dont leave the kitchen while baking.
– This is a good time to start frying your pancakes so you’re near the oven!

What is your favourite brunch recipe?