I had a bout of insomnibaking last night and this morning. I went to bed at a reasonable time, but then woke up at about oh-dark-thirty, thinking about focaccia. Yep, strange thing to be dreaming about, but I have been ruminating on this recipe for a while, so maybe less of a surprise than one would think. It is actually the base for a pizza/focaccia recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, and then I started drawing with veggies and grains. Anyway, believe it or not, I got up, made the dough for this and went back to bed. Then, as I always get up at about 5 AM, before work I made the rest of it and baked it off just before work. It is actually really good, so even though it is “artwork” (it actually looks like a 4 years old’s drawing), you can eat it. I could see an Italian restaurant serving this as a starter with olive oil and sea salt. Nom nom nom.
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Italian
So all of my “more unique” (or “heirloom”) tomatoes happen to ripen at the same time, so I found myself with an overload of tomatoes today. Combine that with a zucchini from the last time I was at my parents and a whole lot of basil, I had half a meal right there. Add some onions (shallots), garlic and cod fillets, and there is a meal and then some. While you could just eat it without anything else, or with some crusty bread, I decided to make some pasta. And there we go.
Here’s another idea for a picnic, potluck, biergarten meetup or a quick dinner that will feed — well, I’m guessing this will easily feed 10 people as a snack, maybe 4-5 for dinner. I made a cheater version of this stomboli because I bought the pizza dough at Trader Joes, though it’s not actually difficult to make pizza dough. If you do cheat, this stromboli will be ready in under an hour. Can be eaten hot or at room temperature and can be made a day or two in advance, if needed. Easy-peasy!
A while back, I bought these noodles at Eataly. I didn’t really have a plan for what to do with them, but turns out they are pretty great for a deconstructed Skillet Lasagna. If you don’t have these small-ish noddles, you can always break lasagna noodles into pieces. Turned out pretty casual and good; a nice little riff on the standard lasagna.
Appetizers/Starters, Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Savory Snacks, Sides
Slow-Cooked Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic and Rosemary
I’ve had a crazy overload of tomatoes from my porch garden this year. It started out with the bigger tomatoes, like Early Girl and Big Boys. Then came the Romas, and now I have a crazy amount of cherry and grape tomatoes. I mean, it’s insane. Every day I am picking at least 20 and there are still at least 2 weeks worth coming. Often I just eat them straight off the vine, but tonight I made these really easy Slow-Cooked Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic and Rosemary for dinner. Would be great with fish, chicken or as a bruschetta topping too. Yum!