caterina cacciatore

1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped nuts (i used pecans)
3 TB butter melted
2 TB sugar

mix and press into bottom and sides of springform pan

then bake 10 minutes in a 325' oven

~~~~~

i used this crust for the cheesecake made with the kefir cheese and some of the mascarpone

simple cheesecake :

in this case i had 12 oz kefir cheese including a little of the kefir mascarpone

soften and then beat together with 3 large eggs

pinch of salt

2/3 cup sugar

squirt of vanilla

shot of fresh lemon juice

freshly microplaned lemon zest

i used a smallish cheese cake pan / 7" in diameter

nice size for the quantity of nut crust to cover the bottom and go most of the way up the sides

bake in 325' oven maybe 30-45 minutes

DO NOT OVERBAKE

it can still wiggle a little

use a tester in the middle / okay if it is a little moist / overbaking means it cracks across the top and the consistency becomes grainy rather than creamy

i thawed out some of my special stash of sour and sweet cherries and blueberries collected last summer as a little accompaniment