The bounty is breathtaking at the moment. The corn more delicious every week and the tomatoes in full swing. I happen to call for Parmesan in more than half the recipes below so pick some up (or another favorite aged, grating cheese, such as Asiago Stella at Pastaworks) this week. And if you don’t use all your corn in the pesto, grill it in its husks until blackened and then enjoy with butter and salt. And the baked kale with tomatoes and potatoes is the first fall-like dish this year so if there is a cooler day this week, make it! Happy cooking.
Roasting Tomatoes (for Freezing)
Leek and Tomato Bread Gratin
Summer Squash and Tomatoes
Kale and Carrot Slaw with Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Potatoes and Kale Baked with Tomatoes and Bacon
Pasta with Sweet Corn Pesto
Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant or Summer Squash Baba Ganoush
Roasting Tomatoes (for Freezing)
If you’ve purchased extra tomatoes or have a bumper crop in your yard here’s one of my favorite preserving methods. I process about 30-40 lbs of tomatoes in this fashion each year. I use this method for slicers, heirlooms, sauce tomatoes and even cherry tomatoes (which turn out like candy and are much quicker). The heirlooms take longer since they have more moisture but they are delicious. It is a very low stress way of preserving lots of tomatoes if you have the freezer space. Small quantities are easy to make too. There’s no peeling, canning, or chopping. And the results are so tasty. I do small batches in late summer/fall to keep up with my garden.
Cut tomatoes in half (on the “equator”) and place them cut-side up on a sheet pan. Pack as many as you can onto a cookie sheet with sides. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Roast at 400 degrees about 2-4 hours until they are about half their original size, are still moist but a bit caramelized around the edges. It will depend on the size/kind of tomato how long this takes.
Now if you’re going to use them right away you can chop them or they may just fall apart and then you can use them as a sauce for pasta or rice or most anything. Add fresh basil and a little fresh, minced garlic to offset the sweetness if you’d like. A dash of balsamic vinegar is good too.
If you are going to freeze them, let them cool on the sheet pans and then put the pans in the freezer. When tomatoes are firm remove, pick them off the tray and pack them in freezer bags or containers. Use as needed all winter long, chopped up in sandwiches (grilled cheese is wonderful with them), quesadillas, soups, sauces, finely chopped in a salad dressing, as a soup base, etc.
Leek and Tomato Bread Gratin
–inspired by smittenkitchen.com
You can vary the quantities and ratios here with no problem. More tomatoes will make it a little moister and might take a little longer to cook and more bread will make it denser and more crisp. I used less cheese than the original(s) listed and loved it. You can vary the herbs and increase the quantity if you’d like.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
2 leeks, washed, sliced in half lengthwise and crosswise into ½-inch half rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups cubed, stale bread (not sandwich bread–something with a bit more texture and body), crusts included
2 1/2 – 3 lbs tomatoes, diced
2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sea salt (yes, you’ll want quite a bit)
1/3 cups of basil, thinly sliced (or combination of basil and fresh oregano)
1/2 cup (or more) grated Parmesan or other hard cheese.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish or other similar dish.
Sauté the leeks in 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter. Remove from the pan when softened. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil and toast bread cubes in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until the bread is toasty.
Add the leeks back in as well as the diced tomatoes, salt and garlic to the skillet with the bread and stir well to incorporate evenly. Cook for about five minutes, stirring often. Take off the heat, stir in the herbs and pour contents into baking dish. Top evenly with Parmesan and bake until bubbly and crisp on top, about 35 minutes.
Summer Squash with Tomatoes, Basil and Lemon
This is a favorite summer squash dish. The addition of the lemon juice is critical. And a fried or poached egg makes this a complete meal for me, one I could eat daily all summer long.
3 medium squash, well washed and cut into thick batons, homemade French-fry sized
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 medium to large tomatoes, roughly chopped
Generous handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
Salt and pepper
½ a lemon
Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the onion and squash and cook, pretty much undisturbed for 6-8 minutes over medium to medium-high heat until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the tomatoes, the basil, salt and pepper, and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Stir and then partially cover and let simmer for 10 -12 minutes until the squash is very tender. Adjust seasoning and serve with good crusty bread to soak up the juices.
Kale and Carrot Slaw with Toasted Sunflower Seeds
I was to bring coleslaw to a dinner party yet had no time to go to the store for cabbage. I discovered plenty of kale (and sorrel) in my own garden and made this slaw instead. It’s a keeper and is, as are most things, easily adaptable to what you happen to have/like. You can also change the ratio of vegetables to suit your needs.
Serves 4-6
1 small to medium bunch kale, tough stems removed (I leave the ribs in), washed, dried and very thinly sliced
2 cups sorrel (optional), washed, dried and thinly sliced
3 small to medium carrots, scrubbed well and grated on large holes of box grater
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced or 1 small shallot or small piece of onion of any kind, thinly sliced
1 sweet red or green pepper, washed and seeded and thinly sliced (optional–if you still have some leftover from last week this is a good use for it)
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped (parsley and/or mint would be good too)
Dressing:
1 large clove garlic, minced and then mashed with a bit of coarse salt on the cutting board with the side of a chefs knife to create a coarse paste (skip this step if you’re in a hurry)
Juice of 1 lime or 1 1/2 tablespoons white, cider or red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 a small jalapeño, minced (deseeded if you want less heat) or a bit of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup or more good olive oil
1/3 – 1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds (about 10 minutes at 350 degrees)
Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Toss dressing with salad and mix well to incorporate. Taste and adjust seasoning.
This salad holds up well and you can dress it an hour or more before serving. I tend to add the toasted seeds right before serving to preserve their crunch but adding them earlier is fine too.
Potatoes and Kale Baked with Tomatoes and Bacon
This is inspired by a recipe from Roots (by Diane Morgan) but is substantially different. It’s definitely a favorite dish in our household. It takes a while to bake but otherwise it’s very quick to pull together.
This makes quite a bit but it makes a great main dish and is excellent the next day so it’s seems worth making the whole amount but by all means reduce the quantities if you like.
Serves 4-6
About 5 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bit-sized chunks
1 bunch kale, well washed and stems trimmed if they seem tough and then all of it chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices bacon, diced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 ½ – 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
½ cup whipping cream
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the cream. Toss everything together well and transfer to a 8 x 13 or other large-ish baking dish. Pour the cream over everything. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir everything well—this is important to get the kale mixed in well and re-coated with liquid since it may still be a bit chewy. Return to oven, covered and bake another 20 – 30 minutes. If there is quite a bit of liquid in the pan you can remove the foil and bake uncovered to reduce it a bit.
When everything is tender remove from the oven and add the pepper and taste for salt. Serve immediately.
Pasta with Corn Pesto and Basil
–adapted from Bon Appetit
This dish is ridiculously good. It’s sort of height-of-summer comfort food, in a very good way. To make this vegetarian, instead of the bacon you can sauté the corn in butter or olive oil and add 1 teaspoon of pimenton (smoked Spanish Paprika) and then add a few squeezes of lime juice at the very end.
Serves 4, generously
3 slices bacon, diced
3-4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4-5 large ears)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or aged Asiago or Pecorino cheese
1/4 cup almonds, pine nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts
1/3 cup good olive oil
3/4 lb penne or fettucine or tagliatelle
Reserved pasta cooking water (about 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup torn basil leaves, divided
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Pour off all but 1-2 tablespoon bacon fat (and reserve for frying potatoes or some such). To the skillet with the bacon fat add corn, garlic, about 1 teaspoon sea salt, red pepper flakes and some black pepper. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer 1 1/2 cups corn kernel mixture to a bowl and reserve. Process almonds until finely ground, add cheese, process again, then scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. With machine running, add olive oil and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, bacon (if using) and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer pasta to a serving dish. Sprinkle with remaining basil leaves and serve immediately.
Eggplant Parmesan
Classic and lovely and not as complicated or time consuming as it might seem.
I rarley salt and drain eggplant anymore. It’s an extra step that I don’t find necessary with perfectly fresh eggplant. You can either bake the eggplant or pan-fry it in a bit of oil. I really like both versions and when I’m in a hurry I tend to fry and it is just a bit more delicious this way.
Serves 4
2 medium to large large globe eggplants, sliced into ¼ – 1/3 –inch slices lengthwise or into rounds
Olive oil
Salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups simple tomato sauce (just a little onion and diced tomatoes and olive oil and salt is all you need—cook down until saucy.) Add a little minced garlic and chopped basil.
1 cup (or more) grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F if you’re going to bake the eggplant.
Arrange the slices on two baking sheets (they may not all fit and you’ll need to do them in batches). Brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake, turning once until tender and starting to brown, about 20-25 minutes total. Turn oven down to 375.
If you’re going to fry them, heat some olive oil in the largest skillet you have and fry in batches, salting each batch, until tender and nicely browned.
Spread just a little tomato sauce on the bottom of an 8 x 13” baking dish (or something similar), cover with a layer of eggplant and spread a thin layer of sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat until you’ve used up all your ingredients, ending with either eggplant and cheese or sauce and cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes or so until everything is bubbling and the cheese is browning on top. You can run it under the broiler for a few minutes if you want more color.
Eggplant or Summer Squash Baba Ganoush
Baba ganoush is the smoky eggplant puree that I find terribly addictive. You can also use the same technique and seasonings with zucchini or other summer squash or a combination of eggplant and squash. If you by chance have smoked salt in your pantry use it in this dish.
Serves 6 + (keeps well)
2 medium-sized eggplants or 3 medium to large summer squash
¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup of mint or cilantro, chopped (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400F
Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler. If not, skip to the next step.) If you are using squash you can skip this step too.
Place the eggplants and/or summer squash on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and find no resistance. Remove from oven and let cool a bit.
Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. No need to do this for squash if that’s what you’re using. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.
Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Serve drizzled with good olive oil, perhaps some herbs and with crackers, sliced baguette, or toasted pita chips for dipping.
This can be made and refrigerated for up to five days prior to serving.