Let this be your reminder to keep cooking very, very simple at the end of the summer. Practically everything is in season—it needs so little to taste so good.
This caprese is sweet, savory and a little bit spicy with the addition of thinly sliced chili. I used jalapeños because that’s what I had but a serrano, red chili or even just a pinch of red pepper flakes would work in its place.
Continue reading “Sweet and Little Spicy Tomato and Nectarine Caprese”
My next Zoom cooking class will be Wednesday, June 15 from 4-5pm ET. Cooks of all skill levels are welcome and our menu is vegetarian-friendly (though this time not vegan). $40 per Zoomer.
The class will be short and sweet but leave you with a delicious dinner to enjoy with family or friends that night *and* an extra meal to stick in your freezer for the coming weeks/months.
*MENU*
Now or Later Turkey (or Lentil) Meatballs
Roasted Tomato and Corn Pasta with Arugula and Ricotta
Pasta and meatballs…. what’s not to love?
This is one of those menus that I find myself making on repeat. It comes together quickly, tastes as good room temperature (or cold from the fridge) as it does hot, is enjoyed by toddlers and adults alike, and leaves me with plenty of lunchbox leftovers and even a second meal in the freezer.
The Roasted Tomato and Corn Pasta with Arugula and Ricotta is summer in a bowl. It is made with the pasta:veg ratio I love, which is about 50:50. That way it serves double duty as the meal’s “salad.” You can toss the noodles with the ricotta so they are all equally coated with the milky cheese or leave it like I do with big, billowy pockets. The dish is so hearty that I oftentimes serve it as dinner all on its own.
But I want to make meatballs with you, so let’s do that! In my opinion, meatballs are an essential recipe that everyone should have memorized. If you have a basic template (which I of course will be giving you) you can make endless variations to suit your tastes. The turkey (or lentil) meatballs we’re making are a basic Italian-style ball flavored with garlic, more ricotta, salty parmesan cheese and tomato paste. We’ll prepare some to serve with the pasta and freeze leftovers in your favorite jarred sauce. In my opinion, meatball recipes should always be doubled. It’s far less than twice the work, they freeze like a dream and it feels so good knowing you have them on hand when you could use the short cut later on.
Register for the class here. I will approve your registration, and send you an invoice and more information about the class including a grocery list, our recipes and answers to common questions. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be made available to all registrants after the class. If you miss this entirely or catch this post after the fact, send me a message directly and I’ll get everything to you.
HOPE I SEE YOU THERE!
xx
There is no recipe I’ve made more in my lifetime than this roasted cherry tomato pasta. It’s the lowest effort, highest reward dinner I know and a complete one-dish meal.
Continue reading “ROASTED CHERRY TOMATO PASTA WITH RICOTTA AND ARUGULA”
We’re in the thick of it in the north east. You know you’ve reached the dead of winter when a 40-degree day feels downright balmy. But here we are, so let’s make the best of it by keeping our ovens on for hours and making this slow-roasted tomato and burrata winter caprese.
Continue reading “SLOW-ROASTED TOMATO AND BURRATA WINTER CAPRESE”
For those who love to cook, there is possibly no outing quite as enjoyable as a trip to the farmers’ market. Getting to see what’s at its peak and speak with the people who grew it feels like a privilege in comparison to shopping at the grocery store.
I like to go without a plan, grab whatever looks best and then spend my walk home daydreaming about what I can make. While I have a terrible memory when it comes to things like names, my brain has a crystal clear index of every recipe I’ve ever read, most of the ingredients within it and where I can find it. It also catalogs all food images from places like Instagram and food magazines.
This week, when I scored the most beautiful, deeply purple eggplants with taut, shiny skin and cherry tomatoes so sweet I could have popped an entire pint as if they were berries, I was reminded of a picture I’d seen on Canal House’s Instagram feed.
These days, I prefer to cook from pictures rather than recipes. The former allows for creativity and spontaneity, while the latter is time consuming (re-referring to the written word) and/or disappointing (I usually know how to produce the flavors I prefer). As the famous Italian chef Lidia Bastianich said in a recent interview, “Release yourself from the recipe!”
So, with that in mind, I hit my kitchen to make a braised eggplant dish sweet with cherry tomatoes, rich with olive oil, and spicy with garlic and red pepper flakes. Chris and I sat down to dinner with the dutch oven between us, a fresh ball of burrata cheese, sliced crosswise and drizzled with our best Italian extra virgin olive oil, and pan-fried and garlic-rubbed peasant bread to serve as a bed for it all. I also made a shaved fennel and arugula salad showered with plenty of lemon juice and more olive oil because I always like to have something bright to cut through something so rich.
This is the rustic fair that dreams are made of.
EGGPLANT BRAISED WITH CHERRY TOMATOES AND GARLIC
Ingredients
2 small to medium eggplant
4 cloved garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp red chile flakes
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 pints cherry tomatoes, left whole
Several handfuls of basil, torn
1 ball burrata or a couple of balls of fresh mozzarella (optional)
Grilled or pan-fried and bread rubbed with garlic (peasant loaf, ciabatta, or any other bread you like)
Salt and pepper
Directions
Prep the eggplant: Peel long strips down the eggplant from stem to end, leaving them with a zebra print. Next, make a partial slit lengthwise down the center of the eggplant but try not to cut all the way through. This is just so the flavorful broth has an easier time penetrating the eggplant. Season them lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper, massaging them into the eggplant a bit.
Preheat a braising pot over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, pan fry the eggplants, turning them every two minutes until they are well-browned on all sides. Remove them to a plate.
Add remaining two tablespoons olive oil and add 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes. Once garlic is very lightly golden, add in the 2 pint whole cherry tomatoes, a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and stir to combine. Place top on braising pot and let it do its thing over medium-low heat.
After about 20 minutes, most of the cherry tomatoes will have popped open, producing a juicy liquid. Taste it and correct seasoning with more salt if necessary. Carefully add the eggplant into the juicy tomatoes, slit side up and ladle a little of the braising liquid inside the eggplant. Add a sprig of basil, pushing it into the liquid, cover and continue to braise for 20 minutes. At this point, the eggplant will be meltingly tender and flavorful.
To serve, remove the sprig of basil and add a fresh shower of leaves over the braise. Present the whole pot on the table with several spoons to dig in, grilled garlic-rubbed bread and burrata or sliced fresh mozzarella. Enjoy!
Serves 4 (Any leftovers can be smashed into a delicious pasta sauce for later in the week!)