Posts filed under 'Vegetarian'
At the end of today’s post is one of my most favorite Meatless Monday meals. The recipe for Roasted Onion Risotto was originally published in the 2009 May/June issue of Hannaford fresh magazine. Written by Adam Ried, this recipe of golden onions, peppery arugula and tender rice is perfect for a cool, fall evening. The onions can be roasted ahead of time and refrigerated until needed for the risotto.
Now that we’ve got Meatless Monday covered, it is time for the overdue update:
Barr and I would like to thank you, our wonderful readers. We love sharing our kitchens, grocery carts and bar stools with you. Flavorista’s readership has grown steadily since its inception so please continue to share our posts via Facebook, E-mail and Twitter. We greatly appreciate it!
Flavorista is just over two years-old and it now contains 525 posts of mouth watering recipes, timely tips and tasty discoveries. Outside of this blog, Barr and I are busy with our families, clients and writing. Much of the work we do outside of Flavorista is done under non-disclosure contracts, but there are some cool projects that we can talk about.
Lollie’s Puking Pumpkin:
Summer strawberry jam prep:
In Boulder, Colorado, Barr has just completed a food bar project for Two Degrees. Click here to see a pic of Barr looking super-fabulous (as always) in her hair net. The other items on Barr’s "To Do" list are an energy bite for athletes, an ayurvedic beverage and an allergen-free snack for kiddos.
Mountain mama, Barr:
Here in Maine, my current kitchen focus is gluten-free. I am thrilled to be co-authoring a Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Book to be published by Sterling next fall. I continue to immensely enjoy my work as a regular contributor to fresh magazine. This past spring, I had the pleasure of researching signature dishes at popular restaurants for Taste of the Seacoast magazine (check out page 42).
Scenes from the coast with Maverick, the adventurer:
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"C’mom Mom, dinner can wait, we have rocks to climb!"
Dearest flavoristas, thanks again for your support! Keep checking back as Barr and I have all kinds of fabulousness planned as we head into 2011. 
Roasted Onion Risotto with Arugula and Chevre
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4 med. onions
4-5 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. garlic olive oil
11/2 tsp. minced garlic
11/2 cups Arborio rice
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
4 cups baby arugula
Adjust oven rack to low position and preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable cooking spray.
Peel and finely chop 1 onion and set aside. Halve remaining 3 onions crosswise (do not peel), make two X marks near the tip of each onion half, and place cut side down on baking sheet. Roast until tender when pierced with a thin skewer or knife tip and dark brown on bottom, about 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove and discard skin and roughly chop onions.
In a small saucepan, heat broth to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to very low and continue to simmer. Meanwhile, in a large pot heat oil over medium heat until hot, about 1 minute. Add reserved chopped raw onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Add rice, stir to coat with onion mixture, and cook until edges of grains begin to turn translucent, about 2 minutes.
Add wine, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until wine is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup warm broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until it has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add remaining broth 1 cup at a time and cook until it has been absorbed between each addition and rice appears moist, creamy, and cooked through, but still a little chewy, about 15 minutes total. Check it when you have 1 cup of broth remaining to determine if the last bit of broth is needed.
Add salt, pepper, and chopped roasted onions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are heated through and rice is tender and appears somewhat drier but still saucy and creamy, about 4 minutes. Add cheese and arugula and cook, stirring occasionally, until arugula is wilted, about 1 minute.
November 8th, 2010
Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking introduced me to tiella. Some references to tiella call it zucchini casserole (yick) but I think it’s just another term for gratin. Basically what sets tiella apart is its combination of zucchini, potatoes and spinach.
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I used Chiarello’s recipe as a base but did three things differently: I cooked the spinach in the oven as opposed to blanching it; I used yellow squash instead of zucchini and I used slow roasted Early Girl tomatoes in place of the tomato sauce.
Roasting spinach may seems like a weird concept but it is really the most efficient way to cook spinach. I used this technique at my restaurant and at Project Open Hand and have never blanched spinach since.
Roasted Spinach
1 lb. spinach
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and lightly spin dry the spinach leaves. Place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle the salt, pepper and minced garlic over the top. Drizzle the olive oil and then stir the spinach around to distribute (you can also do this in a bowl but I air on the side of washing fewer dishes).
Place in the oven for about 7 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir around again. Allow to cool completely before chopping and using.
Tiella
Adapted from Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking. This recipe takes up to 1 1/2 hours in the oven. It would be heavenly with oven cooked polenta or with a simple salad.
2 small to medium sized Russet potatoes, thinly sliced (a mandoline or food processor is highly recommended to do this, but you can just cut them 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick any shape you prefer)
2 yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 lb of roasted spinach (see above)
2 cups of roasted Early Girl tomatoes, with the accumulated juices
grated Italian cheeses, like Fontina, Parmesan, Asiago and Provolone ( I used a combination of these)
panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
EVVO
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prep all the ingredients. Oil a ceramic or oven-proof glass baking dish. Place a layer of the potatoes on the bottom, slightly over lapping them. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and layer on some of the roasted spinach. Now add some of the roasted tomatoes.
Spread some of the grated cheeses and panko bread crumbs over that. Now layer on some summer squash and then potatoes again. Season with salt and pepper. Continue layering, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Top this with more cheese and the bread crumbs.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours (You can prepare this the night before and bake the next day, just allow it to come to room temperature before baking or increase your baking time by another 1/2 hour). I like to remove the foil the last 10 to 15 minutes so that the top gets nice and brown.
November 1st, 2010
There was a bumper crop of peppers this year chez Shafroth.
Outside of grilling them and making soups and salsa, one of my favorite ways to preserve them is by making Mexican escabeche which is a kin to pickled jalapenos but a little more than that.
This condiment is essential to a simple, really good soft taco with just beans and cheese but elevates fish tacos too. It is delicious on sandwiches like my favorite from New Orleans, the muffalatta. You can easily add cauliflower florets and celey to this recipe, but I prefer it with just onions, garlic, carrots and peppers.
Escabeche
1 lb fresh hot chile peppers, I used a variety of colors and types, anaheim, jalapeno and pasilla
1/3 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, sliced thinly
2 or 3 medium sized carrots, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into thin half moons
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled but left intact
4 cups apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. salt
2 sprigs fresh or each oregano and thyme (or 1/4 tsp. of each dried)
1 Tbsp. sugar
Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds and inner membrame or veins out. Now cut the peppers into long slices. Heat the oil in a large deep pan. Add the chilies, onions, garlic and carrots. Cook until they soften, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the vinegar, herbs, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. You can can these (see my post on steam canning) or keep them in the refrigerator, they should last for two months.
October 20th, 2010
A few weeks back, I picked up a five pound bag of carrots with the intention of making carrot ginger soup. Maverick could not get over the size of some of the carrots announcing that he wanted to make soup, not just any soup but tomato soup with carrots and pasta (so much for my carrot ginger- harumph).
I will admit to you that I wasn’t too sure about the simple combination of carrots and tomatoes, nor was I very enthusiastic (carrot ginger boo hoo). Luckily, Maverick was eager enough for both of us. He peeled 5 giant carrots and sliced them into half moons with the focus of a surgeon.
Over the summer flavorista Jen had sent me her favorite recipe for tomato soup and we used this as the base. She originally got the recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. The recipe was very appealing because it was made with pantry items. It will surely be made again and again (sometimes with carrots).
Dare I say it? OK, yes. It might just be the most perfect homemade tomato soup. Ever. This tomato soup exemplifies the start with good ingredients and you end up with outstanding food theory of cooking.
I did use my immersion blender to smooth out the soup before adding the carrots but you could certainly go for a more rustic soup and skip the blending. Just crush the tomatoes with the back of your cooking spoon.
I garnished my bowl with some feta and cilantro, although any leafy fresh herb (chives, parsley, basil) would have been a pleasant accent.
In retrospect, Maverick might have been onto something in his simplicity. This soup was very kid-friendly and very healthy, perfect for a Meatless Monday and most excellent for brown bag lunches. The carrots added a nice heft to the soup.
Tomato and Carrot Soup
very slightly adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook’s Spicy Tomato Soup
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt, more to taste
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 (35-oz.) can whole Italian tomatoes
1 (32-oz) pkg. vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. honey
5 large carrots, peeled and sliced into half moons
3 cups cooked pasta, like wagon wheels or rotini (or cooked rice for gluten-free)
fresh herbs (optional)
crumbled feta or grated Parmesan (optional)
In a large soup pot over medium heat, warm the butter and olive oil. Add the onion and garlic. Cook and stir until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, dill, pepper, tomatoes, broth and honey. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Use an immersion blender to process the soup until smooth.
Stir in the carrots and cover. Reduce the heat. Gently simmer the soup for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test the doneness on the carrots, they should be tender. Taste the soup, add a touch more salt if needed.
Stir in the cooked pasta. Garnish bowls with fresh herbs and cheese,if desired.
October 18th, 2010
Terry and I slogged many hours together catering and cooking at Project Open Hand, where we met in San Francisco in the early 1990′s. She is a dear friend and like me has been in an out of the food industry over the years.
Currently she is back in and has started a baking company with her friend Cindy Schultz called Fresh Bite.
For you Bay Area readers you can try their wares at the Underground Market in Oakland, the Lafayette Farmers market and soon Market Hall in Rock Ridge (while you are there pick up some of their lima bean skordalia, it’s the best!). Additionally they will be at the Spice of Life Festival at the Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley on October 17th. Make sure to check them out!
Five Questions:
What is your latest project?
We are working on a business plan to develop a commercial kitchen that will house Fresh Bite but will also allow for space to rent out to other food businesses. We are also working on a marketing campaign for the Bite Club through the Berkeley Schools.
What are the foods or ingredients you can’t live without?
CINDY: Greens!
TERRY: Refried beans with fresh tortillas and spicy salsa.
What beverage?
CINDY: Wine.
TERRY: Trippel Ale, a brew from your local brewery in Colorado,
New Blegium Brewery, it is a Belgian White Ale with coriander.
Who is your mentor?
CINDY: Personally it’s my mother and grandmother. The best room in my childhood homes was the kitchen. Both my mother and grandmother would prepare several dishes and a soup every night, made from the freshest vegetables at the market.
They were also extremely creative. Moving from Taiwan to Philly in the late sixties the grocery store was an alien place for my mother & grandmother-totally different produce. There was no tofu to be found. But whatever they cooked always tasted amazing. Professionally, I grew up watching Julia Child so I guess she was my inspiration and mentor, not really based on cooking but more her love of life.
TERRY: Personally, my food mentors were my parents. As kids, we travelled a lot. My mom worked for the airlines and my parents knew how to get us to Paris or Hawaii on a shoestring budget. They also knew how to find the best little back street eateries. My brother and sister and I stay connected now by sending each other pictures of whatever food we might be enjoying at the time.
Professionally my mentors have been cookbook writers
Deborah Madison,
Leslie Shere and
Julie Sanhi. I have cooked my way through almost every book these women have written to truely understand their approaches to food. I would also credit the many chefs I have worked under, particularly Chef John from the Italian Banquet Hall in Chicago.
What is your favorite food memory?
CINDY: We lived in LA and our family had a small beach house in Oxnard. My birthday is the 3rd of July and one year, none of my friends were around nor was my family (except for my mother). So my mom and I drove to our beach house in Oxnard. On the way we stopped by a strawberry farm, back then strawberry farms were most of Oxnard County, and bought a flat of strawberries. My mom and I ate them in the car, they were so incredibly sweet, we couldn’t stop. I think we ate the entire flat between the two of us.
TERRY: When I was 23, I met my father and sister in Lyon, France. I travelled there by train from the small ski resort where I was working in the Alps. The first night we went out to dinner and I had my first taste of duck breast. It was pan sauted, medium rare, and came with a cherry sauce. I can still taste it and feel the texture in my mouth.
What is your ultimate meal?
CINDY: The jury is still out.
TERRY: Mine would be a romantic meal in one of the small seaside towns south of Izmir on the western coast of Turkey with my husband, Albert. We would have a variety of Turkish mezze, fresh fish and raki as the sun set over the Aegean.
Fresh Bite Focaccia Recipe
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/3 cups water, tepid
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup olive oil, plus additional for oiling bowl and pan
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1. Proof the yeast in the water in the bowl of a stand mixer for 5 minutes until foamy. The water should be a bit cooler than normally used to proof as the dough will be sitting in the fridge all night.
2. Add salt and olive and mix, using the paddle attachment.
3. Add all purpose flour and mix for 2 minutes, scraping down bowl a couple of times. The dough will be very wet and sticky.
4. Pour dough into a well oiled bowl, use olive oil. Invert dough so completely covered with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours and up to 24.
5. When ready to bake, remove dough and put in proofing oven or warm place, ideally at least 90 degrees. Allow dough to come to room temperature.
6. Place dough on well oiled jelly roll pan or 12" round pan and spread out to fill pan. allow to proof another hour, until bubbles form.
7. Dimple dough with your finger tips and brush with more olive oil.
8. Bake at 400 degrees until crispy on bottom, about 25-30 minutes (you should double check the time, I use a whole different kind of oven).
Optional: Before baking, spread focaccia with dofferent toppings like pesto and top with 1 cup diced tomatoes or 3/4 cup carmelized onions and goat or bleu cheese.
October 14th, 2010
What I think might be the last of the Early Girls, small and perfect tomatoes, are in abundance – especially at Whole Foods Markets – but not for long.
I love these little gems. They are perfect for slow roasting and will last in your refrigerator for a few weeks. I add mine to stews and serve along side grilled fish for those last tastes of the late harvest season.
Roasted Tomato upside down tart with Boursin cheese.
The trick is to roast them low and SLOW! The results are a deep, rich tomato flavor with a caramelized like sweetness. Enjoy!
Slow Roasted Early Girls
Ingredients: As many Early Girls as you like. I used about 5 lbs.
Salt and Pepper
Some Good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVVO)
Heat the oven to 250 degrees. If you have a convection option, use it. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle just a bit of oil over the tomatoes. All told I think I used about a 1/2 cup on a full large jelly roll pan.
Place in the oven and leave them alone for 2 to 3 hours. I store my in a container with the juices accumulated from the bottom of the pan. If you have a vacuum sealer with the storage containers, you can keep these for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
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Use slow roasted tomatoes in tarts like the one pictured which was made by The Traveling Chef, Kirk Warner in Michigan featured in these photos by flavorista Tracey.
Another great use of slow roasted tomatoes is Tori Ritchie’s recipe from Bon Appetit.
October 14th, 2010
This stuffed cauliflower is really worth trying. It’s such a great play on textures and flavors. The stuffing alone is delicious as is the gingery tomato sauce. Get creative and use them as components in your other culinary creations.
This Meatless Monday meal was inspired by the wonderful spices available at Savory Spice.
Coconut Milk Powder is my new pantry staple. Instead of using 1 Tbsp. from a can, you can just reconstitute coconut milk powder in water. It’s a bit lighter and not as creamy which is a nice twist.
Mango Powder is used in India to makes things slightly sour. In this dressing, it plays nice with the creamy, sweetness of the avocado and the pungent onions (please stay tuned for the recipe).
Red lentils are a wonder. Click here for some of our red lentil recipes. They take no time to cook and served alongside the whole baked cauliflower, which you can partially prepare on Sunday and then bake on Monday, makes a lovely dinner.
For Tomato Sauce:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
2 cups diced tomatoes (Muir Glenn Fire Roasted is really good here)
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
Heat the oil in a non-reactive large saute pan and add the onions and cook until soft. Add the cumin and stir occasionally for 1 minute.
Now add the ginger and cook for another minute. Next pour in the tomatoes and the water and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add cilantro, cover and turn off heat.
For Stuffed Cauliflower:
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Anaheim chilies, diced
1 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
2 tablespoons ground almonds or pistachios, plus more for garnishing
1 head of cauliflower
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds, or 1 tsp. yellow, 1 tsp. brown
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions. Once onions are soft, add the chilies and the garlic stir around and then add the ginger and coriander and mix well.
Now the almonds or pistachios and the mustard seeds can be added. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, Season with salt and pepper. Mixture should be rather crumbly in texture. Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently stuff the mixture into the seams of the cooled cauliflower florets. Spread the remaining stuffing over the top.
Place cauliflower head into a shallow baking dish. If you have extra nuts, sprinkle them over the top and pour about 1 to 2 Tbsp. of extra vegetable oil over the top. Ladle some of the tomato sauce around the stuffed cauliflower and spoon a bit on top. Bake the cauliflower for 25 minutes.
To serve: Reheat the tomato sauce. Pour a little sauce on the bottom of a serving platter. Place cauliflower on top. Pour more sauce on top and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and nuts. Cut into the cauliflower like a cake and serve with sauce on top.
October 11th, 2010
Back in the 1980′s sun dried tomatoes were "in" and appeared everywhere. Here is a recipe for a wonderful hors d’oeuvre that could easily be made larger for a nice dinner. I made these for Mo’s 50th as a blast from my past catering days. Serve alongside a soup and salad for a nice Meatless Monday dinner.
Ingredients for pastry:
1/2 lb cream cheese, softened
1/4 lb butter, softened
1 1/2 cups flour
Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just combined. Add the flour and pulse until it forms a ball. Remove from processor and place on plastic wrap or parchment. Flatten into a fat disk and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Filling:
6 Tbsp.minced sun dried tomatoes, more julienned for placing on top of filling
6 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, more individual leaves for placing on top of filling
3 oz. goat cheese
1/2 lb. cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg lightly beaten
You can make this by hand or process in a food processor by placing all the ingredients, except for the julienned sun dried tomatoes and whole cilantro leaves, and process together. Season with salt and pepper.
Assembling:
Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to about 1/4-inch thick. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, make indentations in the dough, fairly close together so you can get a good yield and not have to re-roll the dough.
Place some of the filling in the center. Place a julienned piece of sun dried tomato and some of the whole cilantro leaf on top. Using your finger or a pastry brush, carefully pull the dough up and over the filling.
With a fork, crimp down the edges. Slice a very small venting hole on the top. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once all the dough and filling is used, you can freeze the pastries for up to 3 months. Otherwise, allow them to rest in the refrigerator for an hour.
Cooking: You can bake or fry these empanadas. I prefer frying them. To do this heat 1 inch of oil in a deep pan to about 375 degrees. Fry the pastries until they are golden on each side. Drain on paper towel.
To bake: Brush the tops of the empanadas with some of the egg wash. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. Te cooking time will vary depending on the size of your empanadas.
September 27th, 2010
The first of my husband’s 50th celebrations was in California where we met and lived for 18 years. Being of that age we are on the roll of 50th birthdays and Lucy Aghadjian has catered quite a few for our Bay Area friends.
We feasted on locally grown produce - a passion for Lucy. She volunteers at her son’s school -Windrush Elementary in El Cerrito, by helping the kids sell Community Supported Agriculture boxes to the school families. Last year they raised $20,000! To read more about the program click here.
Lucy’s food is wonderful and soulful. We had a lovely outdoor family style dinner for 37 people on chilly Mill Valley night but our food kept us warm. The burrata with fresh heirlooms tomatoes (pictured in the first photo) was a divine appetizer alongside portobello mushroom fritters and mashed peas with mint (also in the photo). The Menorcan potatoes (above) were an accompaniment to grilled lamb skewers and chicken with olives and preserved lemons.
1. What are some of your up coming events?
"Bar mitzvahs, receptions for meetings with senators, wine and food pairing fund raising dinner and the possibilities of a few business affairs in SF".
2. What is the one food or beverage ingredient that you cannot live without?
"Olive oil, lemon, salt."
3. Who is your mentor, professionally or personally?
"Susana Macarron, simply the best cook I have ever met, barr none. Ethnically Spanish, but raised by maids from the basque country, she
is the mediterranean and has an extraordinary capacity to create flavor, depth and variety in her cooking. My dad also, an Armenian male who liked to cook."
4. What is your favorite food memory from childhood?
"Birthday dinners: corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. Weird but true. And my mom’s bolognaise."
5. What would be your ultimate meal, any and all details (place, menu, guests)?
"Susana cooks for my family and friends a feast with some hunted wild boar, northern Californian mushrooms, and 6-7 light vegetables to go with it. Lots of greens, tomatoes (even though I know mushrooms and tomatoes don’t really coexist time wise), freshly made
burrata mozzarella, at least two salads, no blue cheese anywhere.
There would be some interesting grain, but mixed in with lots of mushrooms. There might be a brothy soup to start, made from long stewed bones of a
Riverdog chicken, and only a few light vegetables floating in it. Or a pureed vegetable soup that’s not made with too much cream, so we might enjoy the boar.
The boar would be hunted by my thirteen year old son, in company with my buddy Tim who owns Riverdog Farm, and then perfectly butchered and cured by some old Italian meat type. My friend Jimbo would bbq pork pieces in some delicious form slightly sweet, maybe Asian flavors, and we would marvel at the tenderness.
Jim’s wife, my friend and exquisite baker, Nancy, would bring the perfect dessert made from summer fruit and whipped cream which would magically appear in mushroom season. We would eat this feast not before 8pm,on someone’s extremely warm terrace, while we enjoyed the hot night air, fragrant jasmine and orange blossom and of course, a lot of old red wine.
Michael Pollen would join us just for fun and because he smelled the grilled meat. And Tim and his family would tell us that of all the pork he’s eaten on his farm, that this was quite simply the most delicious."
These potatoes are easy to make and are good as a vegetarian dinner or as an accompaniment to roast chicken. We enjoyed it with corn on the cob and a salad. I loved making them in small individual
cazuelas.
6-7 russets, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 yellow onion diced
4 large slicing tomatoes
1/4 cup breadcrumbs for topping
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 clove minced garlic
Olive oil the base of a cazuela or glass baking dish. Saute diced onion until lightly golden and layer on bottom of the pan.
Overlapping by about 1 1/2" , add potatoes in layers, drizzling olive oil, salt and pepper on each layer. Continue until all potatoes slices are used (about 3 layers). Top with a single layer of sliced tomato and combine bread crumbs with olive oil, parsley, garlic and a dash of salt and top with the tomatoes.
Bake at 400 º until top is golden and potatoes are cooked through, 50 min-1 hr. If you are making small individual dishes, then cover them with foil for the first 20 minutes of baking. Uncover them and allow them to brown for another 10 minutes.
September 23rd, 2010
If you ask my children to describe their favorite Meatless Monday meal, they would surely respond "Spaghetti with red sauce." One might call this boring, I prefer to go with straightforward and delicious. I do keep jarred sauce in my pantry but I mostly make Lidia Bastianich’s marinara.
For years, I have referred to the book, Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen, that accompanied her PBS cooking show of the same name. With only 5 ingredients, the recipe is easily doubled and frozen with good success.
The first time you make this sauce, you might feel like there is too much oil and maybe even too much garlic. Trust the recipe and adjust accordingly the next time you prepare red sauce at home. I happen to love the garlicky aroma and flavor of this sauce.
Lidia Bastianich’s Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 (35-oz.) can Italian plum tomatoes
(preferably San Marzano), seeded and lightly crushed, with their liquid
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste
generous pinch crushed red pepper. more to taste
10 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Heat the oil in a 5-quart heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Whack the garlic with the flat side of a knife, add it to the oil, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
Carefully slide tomatoes and their liquid into the oil. Bring to a boil, and season with salt and crushed red pepper. Lower the heat so sauce is at a lively simmer. Cook, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, until sauce is chunky and thick, about 20 minutes.
Stir in the basil about 5 minutes before sauce is finished. Taste sauce, and season with salt and red pepper if necessary.
If you live at my house, you then take an immersion blender and process sauce until it is smooth and chunk-free because my husband and children freak out if the tomato sauce is chunky.
Lidia’s Italy is full of recipes by and information about Lidia Bastianich.
September 20th, 2010
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