Panzanella

It's summer time!!!! Woo too!!! Can you tell this is my favourite time of year? Hence my lack of postings. Sorry. I'm out and about. Lots to see! Lots to do! And lots to eat! Everything just tastes so much better, don't you think? I'm still cooking and baking but I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write. I'm still trying to balance this all out. I'm trying not to be so hard on myself for not keeping up with things. I guess I have to cut myself some slack. But I had to share this great summertime salad!

If things do get a little hectic and you want to throw something together quickly, I urge you to make this! Panzanella! Because you let the tomatoes sit in the vinaigrette for a few minutes, the ingredients just come together to make a flavourful tasting salad. You basically throw in your tomatoes, cucumbers and a simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar and olive oil. Add some day old, crusty bread that you have hanging around and serve. The lack of dairy makes it a great dish to bring to a picnic.

Panzanella

2 pounds of tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 English cucumbers, cut up
1 cup of artichokes (in water or oil), halved or quartered
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1 cup basil leaves
Bread, baguette or ciabatta

For vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat to 400F. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool, tear into pieces if bread is in bigger pieces and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, artichokes, red onions, kalamata olives and torn up basil.
To make the vinaigrette, in a mason jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and dried oregano. Shake and pour over salad. Let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. The longer it sits, the juicier the tomatoes will be. Add the bread and serve.

m xo

Minestrone Soup with Fregola

Schools out and I had my niece Ella over and she wanted to help out in the kitchen so I thought, why not make a soup? It involves a lot of chopping and slicing and a little sous chef is always welcome! I just used what I happened to have in my refrigerator which included some corn on the cob that I steamed in foil packets over the weekend. I took the kernels off the cobs and added it to the soup 10 minutes into the cooking, seeing as they were already cooked. But you can use fresh corn off the cob or frozen corn that is thawed, just add it along with the other vegetables.

Because I had the kids for lunch I added fregola (a small, Sardinian semolina pasta) to the minestrone. You can use orzo or any small pasta. Or you can make it totally pasta free, which I usually do but I have to say I totally LOVED it with the pastina! Reminds me of my childhood because my mother always added tubettini (small tubes) in the minestrone.

I also added a piece of parmesan rind to soup as it was cooking because it adds a lot of flavour and I always have some on hand in the refrigerator  I never throw them away! They are great to throw in soups. If you don't have any on hand, you can top the soup with grated parmesan when serving.

Minestrone Soup with Fregola

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup sliced pancetta or bacon
1 leek, white and light green part only, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
5-6 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
3 corn on the cobs, kernels removed or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
4 cups chicken broth + 2 cups if adding pasta
1 cup of fregola, orzo or any small pasta
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 piece of parmesan rind (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

In a Dutch oven, over medium/high heat, cook the pancetta or bacon in the olive oil until crispy. Add the leek and red onion and sauté until soft. Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, asparagus, corn and 4 cups of chicken broth if not adding pasta or 6 cups if adding pasta. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring up to a boil, add the fregola and the parmesan rind if using. Keep an eye on it, stirring frequently to make sure the fregola doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. It should take about 20 minutes for the pasta to cook. If not adding the pasta, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the torn basil leaves. Serve hot with grated parmesan cheese.

m xo

Asparagus Frittata

Farmer's markets are just starting to open and sell their fresh produce in my area and I am all over them. I love going to see what they have and then coming home and plan our meals around the wonderful produce that I've bought.

This week I bought a few bunches of asparagus and fresh farm eggs and one of the things I made was this frittata. Growing up, we would have frittata at least once a week because it was a quick meal to make after work and delicious. Of course it always depended on what was in season or what what was in the refrigerator. One of  my favourite frittatas is potato, which I have to say, I make all year round. But I remember my mom making frittata to put in my fathers lunch to change it up from the usual cold cuts. Frittata is such a versatile dish because you can make it for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.  And to this day, when I bring it for lunch, I can never wait for lunch time because I can't wait to have it. Isn't that funny?

I used 8 eggs and made a substantial frittata because not only did we have it for dinner, but John brought it for lunch the next day and I had it for breakfast. (see, I couldn't even wait for lunch) lol.

I used Comte cheese because it was what I happen to have in my refrigerator but you can use parmesan  cheese if you prefer.

I flip my frittata on an inverted plate and slide it back in the skillet and finish cooking but if you don't feel comfortable doing that, just make sure you use an oven proof skillet and finish under the broiler in the oven.

Asparagus Frittata

1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 cup Comte, freshly grated

In a 10 inch skillet, cook the red onion and the asparagus in the olive oil over medium heat until softened. Season with salt and pepper.
In the meantime, whisk together the eggs, tarragon, chives and cheese in a bowl.
Lower the heat to a medium-low and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Cook and slowly drag the edges to the middle of the pan until the egg mixture is set. It should be lightly brown on the bottom. Place an inverted plate over it and with oven mitts on, quickly flip the frittata on the plate and slide it back in the pan. Cook until the bottom is lightly brown.
Slide onto a plate and cut into wedges to serve.

m xo

Sardinian Penicillin Soup

WOW!!!! I can't believe it took me this long to discover this! Sardinian toasted fregola! Ah-mazing!! I have been to Sardinia a few times but I don't remember having this. Although it is totally possible. There are so many things to eat there.

Fregola is a semolina pasta that is rolled into little balls and toasted. And it's the toasting that makes it out of this world. So much flavour or as my husband said of this soup that I made,  "exploding" with flavour. I really urge you to find in this your local Italian grocery store. I think I'm going to start experimenting with this and make a risotto style dish.

There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of  chicken soup when you are under the weather. Italian and Jewish moms have known this forever. Penicillin chicken noodle soup. That is the first my mother makes when she is not feeling well. Heck, it doesn't even matter if it's 100 degrees outside. As a kid I never appreciated it or believed it, for that matter, but as an adult I find myself doing the same thing. When I do make chicken soup from scratch, I always make sure to freeze some of the broth, for days like these that I need a little comfort food.

But please don't let the lack of homemade chicken broth deter you from making this. I would definitely still make this with a chicken bouillon cube. Maybe use a low sodium version because you will get a lot of salt from the pancetta. Oh, and I also had a little piece of parmesan rind on hand that I slipped in when I  dropped in the fregola in the broth... Did I tell you how good this soup was?!

Toasted Fregola Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pancetta, cubed
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cups or 1 quart of chicken broth or water if using a chicken bouillon cube
1 cup toasted fregola
Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the pancetta until crispy. Add the carrots, celery and onions and continue cooking a couple of minutes. Don't worry that the vegetables aren't soft because they will cook further with the broth. Pour in the broth or water and bring to a boil. Drop in the fregola. You can add a little water if it gets too thick. It's ready when the fregola is al dente. Serve with parmesan cheese.

m xo

Marcella's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

As you may or may not have heard, Marcella Hazan, who first properly introduced Italian cooking to Americans, died last year. She was for Italian cooking what Julia Child was for French cooking. They both inspired many professional and amateur cooks, me being one of them.

I kind of came late to the party when it comes to this recipe. People have been praising it for years! One my clients used to and still does rave about a tomato sauce but I didn't know it was THIS tomato sauce. It's from "The Essentials Of Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan. So this past weekend I had the opportunity to make it.

The secret to this sauce is very simple: 1 onion and butter. That's it! No fancy ingredients. And you most likely have these in your pantry already.

Just put everything in a pot and simmer. The only word I can think of to describe this sauce is, lush. It tastes lush. It just melts in your mouth. Please give this tomato sauce a try.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
(from Marcella Hazan's "The Essentials of Italian Cooking")



28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, halved
salt to taste


Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and keep simmering for 45 minutes. Stirring occasionally. I simmered mine for an hour and a half because I had the time. Season with salt. Serve with your choice of pasta

m xo