Roasted Tomatoes and Fresh Ricotta Cheese

The other day, I took a walk at my lunch hour and found myself at the local yoga teaching establishment and juice bar. Tres new age. It was lunch time and I was hungry, so I checked out their take-away counter. They were offering a cibatta bread with ricotta and roasted cherry tomatoes. It was wonderful! It was also expensive.

So I decided I would have to replicate this at home. It wasn't hard, and it was -- if I do say so myself -- every bit the equal of the store bought version. I think this will be a lovely vegetarian choice for a first course at my next fancy dinner party. Or it could be a nice light lunch, with a small salad on the side. Maybe arugula or something with a little pepper to it.

Roasted Tomatoes and Fresh Ricotta Cheese

This recipe makes two filling portions. 

Ingredients

• About ½ cup fresh ricotta cheese
• ½ lemon zest
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon herbs de provence
• salt
• baguette
• olive oil
• butter

Procedure 

1.     Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Wash the tomatoes, and put them on a baking sheet with a raised edge. Sprinkle them with olive oil. You don’t want them to stick to the pan. Then sprinkle them with salt and herbs de provence. Bake them for about 45 minutes, until they are soft and the skins are bursting. Then put them in a covered container and refrigerate until they are cool.

2.     In a small bowl, put the fresh ricotta cheese and the lemon zest. Taste, and add a small amount of salt if you think you need it.

3.     Slice the baguette on the diagonal. Toast until light brown and then very lightly butter the bread.

4.     Put a slice of the toasted bread on a small serving plate. Mound cheese, and then artfully spoon the tomatoes over the cheese. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Latkes

The zucchini just keeps on coming. What to do?

Last night we had Zucchini Latkes at a friend's house ala Trader Joe's. They were yummy. That got me thinking of all the zucchini Windy Night Farm Garden is making. This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite food blogs, "Smitten Kitchen." You can read it here.

Zucchini Latkes

Ingredients

• 1 pound zucchini
• 1 large baking potato, peeled
• I small onion (4 ounces), peeled
• 4 tablespoons flour (ok, I know using flour probably makes this not latkes. But J doesn't like matzo meal. So do what you have to do.)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• a few grinds of black pepper
• some freshly grated nutmeg
• butter and vegetable oil for frying -- I like a half/half mix, but you do what suits you

Preparation

1. Grate the potato, peeled zucchini, and onion either by hand or in the food processor. (I had a friend who used to say that if there were skinned knuckles, it wasn't latkes. Whatever.) Dump the grated veggies into a large bowl.
2. Add the flour, seasonings and egg and mix well.
3. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan. When the oil mixture is very hot, add the zucchini by spoonfuls, pressing it down to make a thin pancake. I like them no bigger than 3" across, but I'm fussy that way.
4. When the latkes are golden brown on one side, flip them and cook the other side. When both sides are cooked, remove them to a paper-towel lined baking sheet in a warm oven. Continue until all the latkes are cooked.

Bountiful Basil

Today was the "picking" and J came home with -- I'm not exaggerating -- two trash bags full of basil. I seemed to remember that you can freeze pesto, so that's what I'm doing. We will have Pesto with Shrimp tonight, and then freeze enough for three or four more dinners.

There seems to be a good deal of controversy about whether or not you can freeze pesto with the cheese in it, or if you need to add that later. Martha Stewart comes down on the side of cheese in, so what's good enough for Martha is good enough for me!

This recipe should be thought of as a formula. You can multiply it by the number of cups of basil you have. This is for two cups.

Pesto

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed.
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese  (I've been known to use a mix!)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced.

Preparation

1. Place basil leaves int the bowl of the food processor and process until chopped fine. You will have to give them a couple of stirs to make sure everything gets chopped.

2. Add the cheese, garlic and nuts and process until the mixture is finely chopped. Again, stop and stir to make sure everything is well mixed.

3. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil through the feed tube.  Process until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

To serve immediately:

1. Prepare pasta according to the package directions. I like bow ties or other ruffly pasta, but you pick what you like best.

2. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot.

3. Process the pesto sauce with enough of the cooking water so that the pesto is loose. Add it to the pasta and mix well until all the pasta is well coated.

4. Taste and correct for seasoning.

To freeze:
The interwebs suggest two approaches: to freeze the pesto in ice cube trays or in little jars. Ice cube trays just seem too fussy, so I bought freeze containers made by the Ball canning people. Either way, after you fill the container with pesto, you want to pour a thin coating of oil on the top so that the pesto is protected from the air.

The Land

Weekday Dinner Salad

"Knee-high by the 4th of July." That's what corn is supposed to be, and that's exactly where it is at Windy Night Farm Garden. However, J and I have never been good at waiting, especially when pretty wonderful corn is available by other means!

So as a warm up for real corn season, here's the lovely salad we enjoyed tonight. If you are trying to fill three-quarters of your plate with veggies, check this out. You will exceed your goal!

Corn, Cherry Tomato, and Avocado Salad With Shrimp

Ingredients

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1 ear of corn, shucked and kernels cut off the cob
1 clove garlic, pounded to a smooth paste with a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon paprika
½ roasted red pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ cup mild extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed
Salt
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 green onions, slice thinly
10 shrimp
1 large firm but ripe avocados, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 Tablespoons cilantro   Directions

1. Put the corn in a small sauce pan with enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil, and then turn off the heat. Let the corn sit for a few minutes and then drain the water and let it cool.   
2. Combine the corn, cherry tomatoes, and scallions in a medium bowl and season with salt. Gently toss with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the vegetables. Set aside.  
3. To cook the shrimp, heat a tablespoon or two of the olive oil in a good sized sauté pan. When the shrimp turns pink, turn it over and cook the other side. Don’t over cook it – it will continue to cook after you take it out of the pan.  
4. Tear the lettuces into bite size pieces. Toss with the cilantro and a few tablespoons of the cumin vinaigrette. Just before serving, arrange the sliced avocado on the serving plates and season with salt. Arrange the lettuces. Toss the corn mixture, spoon the corn salad on the lettuce, and tuck the shrimp here and there. 
5. To make the vinaigrette, combine the garlic, cumin, paprika, and 21⁄2 tablespoons of the lime juice in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil. 

Spring Pasta

Most of the time, when I see "pasta primavera" on a menu, I want to run away.

Vegetarian pasta dishes are usually really dull. It was the cop out of chefs made to appease the vegetarians when when they couldn't be bothered to do anything more clever. But then I saw this recipe in Food and Wine and it is really yummy! It is really is a Spring Pasta, and the flavors are wonderful.  

Ingredients

• Greens - spinach or swiss chard
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds grapes tomatoes
• 6 scallions, white and tender green parts only, cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
• 1/w pound mafaldine or other curly, wide noodles
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• About 1/2 cup shaved ricotta salata cheese
• some pinenuts, toasted

Procedure 

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a bowl, toss the tomatoes with  2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast the vegetables for about 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are very juicy but not broken down.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the scallions until just softened, 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the scallions to a bowl. Add the asparagus to the pot and cook until just crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the asparagus to the bowl. 
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until just al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
4. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the greens and cook only a few minutes. Add the scallions, asparagus, butter,  and half of the parsley .Add the reserved pasta water and cook until the pasta is al dente. Gently fold in the roasted tomatoes and any juices and season with sea salt and pepper. Garnish with the shaved cheese and the remaining parsley and pinenuts
   
   
   and serve right away.

Zucchini Bread

I've seen the plants. That first zucchini J brought home is only the beginning. Soon, the zucchini tsunami will arrive.

Zucchini Bread 

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 cup raisins 

 

Procedure  

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally,
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.
4. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts and raisins.
5. Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake loaves for 60 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.