Caprese Salad

Here are two ways I used up some of my tomatoes and basil.

Caprese salad - layers of tomatoes, fresh mozz and basil which I then topped with homemade pesto.


I did something similar here except I laid it on a bed of lettuce. Instead of pesto, I just did lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil. There's a little thinly sliced red onion and black berries.

Pizza made with heirloom tomatoes

While we were in Milan last year, my friend Elisa made us a pizza using phyllo or puff pastry dough. It was so delicious that I wondered why I never thought of doing it before. What could be better than flaky, buttery, crisp dough in the pizza!? Especially if you like thin crust pizza. She made hers with just plum tomatoes and cheese, but I jazzed my recipe up a bit.



Ingredients:

• a package of Pilsbury puff pastry
• 1/2 cup of crushed tomato (not sauce)
• 8 oz (one ball) of fresh mozzerella
• fresh basil and oregano leaves
• 2 medium or 1 large ripe tomato (in the picture, I used 2 grape tomatoes, 1 small plum tomato and 1 medium Black Krim tomato)
  

Thinly slice the cheese and thinly slice the tomatoes. It's important the tomatoes are very ripe. If you buy them from the supermarket, leave them out on the counter for 2-3 days.


Follow the directions of the package of the puff pastry in order to defrost the dough. Generously, flour the surface of a large baking sheet and lay the defrosted pastry dough out.


Season and spread a thin layer of crushed tomato on the dough. I season the dough now rather than on top of the ingredients because I think it tastes better that way.

Arrange your ingredients on top of your dough. I spread the larger slices of tomatoes and cheese around the edges and leave the smaller ones towards the center since pizza tends to pool to the middle.

Bake for 40 minutes or until brown and bubbly. The fresh mozzerella made these yummy brown bubbles and the deep red of the Black Krim tomatos made pretty looking "flowers" when baked. It was so yummy!!!

Squash "Pasta" Ribbons with Pesto

Here's a low calorie option and a creative way to use up your summer squash or zucchini. It's that time now where the plants are bursting with fruit. So much so that you can't find enough ways to eat it. Tired of ratatouille and grilled veggies?


Scrumptious and satisfying. The ribbons of squash replace pasta and offer more fiber, vitamens and low in calories.


With the heat wave, the squash increase in size very rapidly. These two were hiding under the leaves. In general, these are a tad too large for good eating. The smaller you pick your squash, the more tender and sweet they are. Squashes that are 1.5" in diameter are perfect.



Using a carrot peeler, I gently sliced the ribbons of squash. Blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Top with pesto or your favorite marinara.

Bon Appetit!

Salsa

It's food!

I picked some raspberries and as I ate them, I felt like Survivor Man. :D Lots happened last week. I already harvested handfuls of peas 3 times last week, 3 summer squashes, and lots of herbs and arugula.



More Summer Squash


Genovese Basil and carrots in my "test garden" container. I can't believe that early this month, these looked like this.


Do you remember the herb garden that I started in May?


Here it is now!


Here's a close up of the Sage (left) and Lemon Basil (right) I'm surprised at how well the basil did since I thought I was going to lose them when I planted them initially during the cold, rainy spring.


I need to start making some pesto very soon!

Is it food yet?

They're alive! The carrot seedlings are appearing and the basil plants are growing.



The summer squash is showing blooms already! I hope that means we will get squash soon. They came sooner than the green zucchini did last year. These are male flowers so I hope the other one is a female 'cause ummm...well I hate to break it to you, but it takes a male and female plant to make baby squashes.


Radishes are growing fast now and peeping out of the soil.


Pumpkin plants with rows of Corn in the background.


Sugar snap peas and Snow peas are also flowering, so we'll have peas soon.

That's All Folks

With the threat of frost tonight, I brought in the rest of my basil. I plan to make jars of pesto and give them as gifts to friends and family this year.


The proud gardener!


Above photo taken by this little munchkin - didn't she do a great job?!

Quiche Anita

In an attempt to use up all my basil, I've been looking for recipes to incorporate a lot of basil. I googled a quick quiche recipe and just added tons of basil leaves to it. It's just baked eggs, right? How hard could it be?



Ingredients:

• Basil leaves
• 5-6 eggs
• half n half or cream (I used low fat milk)
• 1-2 cups of shredded cheese of choice
• garlic
  
• pie crust
  
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
  

I used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry instead of pie crust because I really just don't like pie crust. I also think the puff pastry is lighter and cooks up more quickly. Unfold the crust and lay it into the dish.


Blend the ingredients together using a blender for 2 minutes.


Pour the mixture into the dish.


Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool on the rack. I didn't have a tart pan which is why I used this dish. I like the way it turned out because it looks like a "country" chicken pot pie.


This can be served as a main course with some tomato salad or as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Flowers w/Fresh Mozz and Basil

I have often been curious of zucchini flowers. They seem so delicate that I was intimidated to try recipes that involved stuffing them. It seemed like too much work for such a small bite. With lots of male zucchini flowers in the garden, I just couldn't let them go to waste.



Ingredients:

• Zucchini flowers (with or without stems)
• Basil leaves
• Fresh Mozzarella cheese
• Olive Oil
• Batter
  

Snip some zucchini flowers by the stem with a pair of scissors. If the flowers fall off the stem, that's okay. You can still use them. Rinse out each flower and remove the stamen.


Cut up some fresh mozzarella into long chunky pieces. Wrap a basil leaf around the cheese.


Then stuff the flower with the cheese and basil. I knew this was going to taste delicious already!


Lay them aside and prepare your batter.


I couldn't find my tempura batter, so instead I used Bisquick, 1 egg and low fat milk. The batter should be very runny and just coat the flower.


In a non-stick pan (I use a wok for everything), add some olive oil and turn the heat up to medium. With your fingers, roll each stuffed flower in batter and gently place it into the oil.


After 2 minutes, turn each one to cook the other side. The stems come in handy when you are trying to turn each flower. Chopsticks make turning easier too.


Remove them from the pan and lay them on a paper towel. Arrange on a plate and serve! I arranged these into a "bouquet" of flowers with the basil leaves.



ENJOY!

Got Basil?

There's more than I know what to do with.



I started by watering the basil and allowing it dry on it's own. This makes the cleaning process a lot easier. Snip the tops off the basil plant. Rinse and lay out to dry. Pick off the leaves and compost the stems.



If you place the stems in water, they will root and grow more basil leaves. I jarred all the leaves and submerged them in olive oil. Displace all the air in the jar will olive oil. Storing it this way will keep it for winter use.

To make pesto, blend fresh basil leaves, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt, pine nuts and olive oil until it's at a consistency that you like.

Coming Up Next...

Basil Basil and more Basil...
How to Make Pesto



Go to my Flickr to see all the photos from this week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13075071@N02/sets/72157606110594902