Well, it’s getting closer to that food extravaganza that the US calls Thanksgiving. I really like Thanksgiving because while I know there are other things behind it, it is mostly about the food. So, if you are planning to feed a crowd and you are the one pegged with making dessert, this recipe might be for you. It feeds +/- 24 and is made in a half sheet (18 x 13 inch) pan. That’s pretty big. It also weighed about 8 pounds. 🙂 but it was delicious — the spices gave it a nice warm taste.
Browsing Category
Dinner
I have a glut of basil this ear. Seriously, I am overrun. The plants come up to my waist and they are thick with delicious basil leaves. There are a number of different sorts, but mostly it is your standard Italian sweet basil. And lots of it.
So what does one do with a glut of basil? Make pesto of course. I have made lots and lots of Pesto alla Genovese (the standard green stuff that one thinks of first when one hears ‘pesto’). It freezes very well so my I am well stocked for a while. So I thought that I would make this Pesto di Noce (Walnut Pesto). It’s not as pretty as it’s Genovese cousin (for starters, it’s brownish, despite 2 cups of basil leaves in it), but it of so amazingly yummy. Pair it with giant ravioli and a few more walnuts and you have an amazing dinner (or lunch, in my case).
So since the earthquake in the Amatricia region of Italy last week, I’ve had Italy on the brain. And while it is somewhat absurd in the middle of a natural disaster, one of the first things that I thought of was Bucatini all’Amatriciana… somehow planted in my brain was this is the signature dish from that area of Italy. It’s very popular, very easy to make and taste amazing.
So, I’m pretty famous for my potato salad, but normally I make my Southern German (Bavarian or Swabian variety). Today, I thought I’d try a new and different kind for the BBQ that I am going to: French-style Herb Potato and Egg Salad. A little sweet, a little dill, very herby and turned out really really well, for a recipe that I made up on the fly. The eggs are semi-soft boiled (“7 minute eggs”) so their yolks actually mix well into the dressing, making it very creamy.
I seem to have a crazy overabundance of cherry tomatoes and basil this year. My god, the basil! More on that some other time, today I was focused with doing something with the 2 pints of cherry tomatoes that I picked in the last few days. Seemed like an excuse to make this tomato pie. No, it isn’t a pizza, though I guess it might as well be. Sort of like a caprese salad, only warm and in a pie. Lunch was awesome! 🙂