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Panzanella: Tomato Bread Salad
Serves 4-6, as part of a picnic or summery supper/antipasto
About 100-200g stale bread: country-ish bread such as levain, sourdough, batard
A lovely selection of tomatoes such as: 250 g cherry/grape/baby plum tomatoes, cut into halves, plus about 3 medium sized tomatoes, diced, and one large fleshy one, diced; a selection of different colours looks great but so does all luscious bright red.
1 smallish red onion, chopped
3-5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
8-10 oil-cured black olives, stoned and cut into halves or quarters, or 2 tablespoons capers
Aproximately: 75 ml extra virgin olive oil, or as needed/desired
Several generous shakes of wine vinegar (either white or red), to taste
Several handfuls fresh mint leaves coarsely cut up or torn
Coarse seasalt and black pepper to taste

Place the stale bread in a bowl and cover with cold water, squeeze dry after a few minutes, depending on how stale it is. If it is very stale, you’ll need to break off pieces and repeat, until you have bite sized chunks. If your bread is only a little stale, you may not need to soak it. Don’t be tempted to use fresh bread as it will just get gummy.

In a bowl big enough for everything, combine the soaked bread with the tomatoes and their juices, the onion, garlic, olives or capers, and gently toss together, then add the olive oil, vinegar, and mint leaves and toss once more to mix well.

Season with salt and pepper, adding more olive oil and/or vinegar if and as needed.

Penne col pomodori—Quill Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
This is my go-to sauce when its tomato season, fed to me by a Neapolitan chef in a countryside olive grove. Any short chunky pasta is good with this, such as gemelli, shell shapes, etc.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red or other mild onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped or sliced
Pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired
250g small tomatoes, halved or quartered, or whole if they are quite small
About 500 ripe larger tomatoes: medium sized, smallish, larger: if possibly choose a selection of differing colours: orange, yellow, red, green (such as green zebra, or tiger striped), diced including all of their juices
Several handfuls fresh basil leaves, coarsely torn
175ml dry white wine
1-2 tablespoons capers (either brined or if salt cured, then soaked for a few minutes and drained)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste, if not using red pepper flakes
350 g dry penne pasta
4-5 tablespoons, or more to taste, fresh grated pecorino, parmesan,asiago, or other grating cheese

In a large frying pan heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking, then add the onion and cook a few minutes until it fries but does not brown; add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and cook a few minutes longer. Add the basil, a few cherry tomatoes, and the wine. Cook them all over a high heat until the wine has evaporated to a few tablespoons, then add the rest of the tomatoes and cook over night heat until they get saucey. You want a fresh sauce, not a long cooked sauce. (I don’t mind the tomato skins, obviously if they bother you, by all means, skin them. But I think they are fresher tasting if you don’t bother.

Meanwhile, cook penne in rapidly boiling salted water until it is almost, but not quite, al dente; drain, saving about 250 ml of the pasta cooking water.

When the sauce is ready—concentrated in flavor—tip the drained pasta into it, then toss with the capers, salt to taste (and pepper if desired), a little bit of the reserved pasta water, as needed—it will keep the sauce clinging to the pasta without weighing it down. Finally, toss in the grated cheese. Finish with a handful of torn fresh basil, and serve on a large platter, with an extra drizzle of olive oil if desired.

(note: if you have to much sauce, do not use all of it on the pasta—you don’t want it swimming in sauce; save it for another dish. You want the pasta to be just cloaked with sauce, studded with tomatoes, and hard to stop eating, it is so delicious).

Aubergine topped with Fresh Ricotta, Tomatoes and a leaf of Basil
Serves about 6, depending on what else you are serving.

1 aubergine, sliced thinly
Extra virgin olive oil as desired, for either browning or grilling
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Several lovely fat juicy sweet tomatoes, cut into slices to fit
Aprox 250g fresh ricotta, or enough for a generous spoonful onto each slice of aubergine, so it will depend upon the size of the aubergine
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino, parmesan, etc
Fresh basil leaves, torn, for serving

Brown the aubergine slices either in a hot pan with enough olive oil to lightly brown and cook through, or by brushing them with olive oil and either baking in a high heat or grilling. When they are tender, set aside. You can do this up to 2 days ahead and keep them wrapped in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, arrange the aubergine slices on a large baking sheet, then sprinkle with the garlic, top with a tomato slice, spoonful of ricotta, and sprinkle of pecorino, parmesan, etc.

Grill or bake in a high heat for about 5 minutes or until the top is lightly golden and they are heated through. Serve topped with scattered basil leaves so each parcel has its fresh sweet basil taste. I serve them as a canapé or snack if the aubergines are small enough, otherwise for a starter at a barbecue, etc.

found a pile of fresh salty samphire at the market today, so grabbed a bagful, brought it home, then spent all afternoon trying to figure out what to do with it. tweeted a plea for help, but alone in the universe with the world collapsing all around, no one was terribly interested.

I didn’t want to obscure them by boiling, or dressing in a salad….simmering in a sauce would dissipait their character, though i WAS tempted by the suggestion of chakchouka from @BaronessTapuzina…….. in the end, after endless munches of the salty, crispy, succulent little seaweeds raw, i ended up tossing them into al dente spaghetti, with a little duck fat, lemon zest and juice, and nearly as many chives as samphire, cut into lengths roughly the same size as the samphire.

it was fabulous. FABULOUS. of course i should have taken a picture, but i’m not camera-by-my-side-at-all-times there yet. and i wanted us to eat it fast hot salty fresh! so no time to snap!

alongside we ate: a salad of fennel, grape tomatoes, beet, cucumber, cabbage, raw leek, fresh dill, and tiny patties of pork with lemongrass, green onion, ginger and teriyaki sauce. oh it was good, boys and girls, really truly sincerely good. wish you had been sharing my plateful with me!

so delish! lets see: try the one with ricotta and greens and olives first, then the fish one, so unique, you must consider the spaghetti one night when you’re in a bit of a sluttish–make that puttanesca!–mood, and well, chicken thighs: a lovely way to vary your thigh action!

So there I was, inching my way down the buffet table at the Italian Embassy party, getting ready to lunge towards the huge Parmesan cheese just sitting there, opened, and ready to be raided for a few take-home chunks….but when I arrived at the cheese disaster struck: 1. I was caught in the act by a fellow lunger, Antonietta, the Contessa from San Remo, and 2. there was no cheese left in the big hollowed out shell!

But when you’re hanging with the aristos, you get to learn all sorts of tricks: that night I learned that not only is Parmesan rind edible, it might well be the BEST part of the cheese! We filled our pockets! For frugal souls like myself, there is nothing better than never ever ever throwing anything away, and discovering new facets to even the simplest things. Such as the rind of a big cheese. (ps it makes a great soup, read all about it!)

from the Roving Feast–San Francisco Chronicle and sfgate.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F09%2F24%2FFDEL1EMP57.DTL

Mridula’s Carrots in Roasted ChannaDahl Sauce

Serves about 4 as a vegetable side dish or, unorthodox-ily, as part of a sort of Indian chutney antipasti, as we did with Mridula (see previous posting). I like this served at room temperature rather than reheated, as the carrots retain their bright orange color and fresh, sweet taste! I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day!

2 tablespoons +2 teaspoons oil of choice (I use a combination of half canola, half olive for everyday cooking)

1/2-1 tsp black mustard seeds

1- 1 1/2  lb fresh, sweet, large autumn carrots, peeled and cut into 5 cmm/1/4 inch cubes

3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2-1 teaspoon mild chile flakes (such as Urfa, Aleppo, or other Turkish chillies, or a pinch hot chile flakes or shake or two cayenne

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 tablespoons ordinary green split peas (though the traditional recipe calls for channa dahl or yellow split peas; I find green ones just fine!)

1 heaping tablespoon sesame seeds OR 1 heaping tablespoon tahina + a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the mustard seeds. As soon as they start popping, which will be around 30 seconds to a minute, add the carrots, salt, sugar and chile flakes or cayenne. Stir over medium heat 2-3 minutes, then add 1/3 cup water, reduce heat slightly, and cook, covered, until the carrots are firm but tender, 10-12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a small frying pan over a low heat and dd the coriander seeds and split peas. Fry them until they are golden, light brown, but do not let them darken, probably less than 1 minute. Add the sesame seeds and continue to fry 30-40 seconds. (If you are using the tahina and sesame oil instead of sesame seeds, omit this step).

3. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes, then grind the seeds and peas in a coffee grinder until they form a smooth powder.

4. Add the seeds/pea mixture to the carrots (and if using tahina and sesame oil, add these too),  then cook together, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture has formed a paste that clings to the carrots, about 6-8 minutes. Depending on how much liquid was left in the pan with the carrots, you may need to add a little bit more water–my frying pan is shallow and i had to add about 1/4 cup.  Add the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

You may eat them warm, but I like them best at room temperature.