Blossoming Zucchini Pie

I had a little helper today. My niece Ella again. Thankfully she loves being in the kitchen just as much as I do, so when she is around and can spare a few minutes away from her iPad, she comes over to help with the chopping and stirring.

Today we decided to make zucchini pie because I had a few zucchini laying around from my moms garden (we didn't grow any this year). She also gave me a HUGE bag of zucchini blossoms (flowers), so I decided to use them in the pie also. But this totally optional as I know that they are hard to find. I, myself have gone to the farmers market down the street from me on a few occasions and they were sold out. I need to get there as soon as they open, which is like 7:30 in the morning. And well, I never did that. The flowers aren't really nessessary for this, I just think they make it look pretty. Lol.

To prepare the flowers, if you are using them, cut the bottoms off and split the flower lengthwise to remove the little pistil in the middle. Depending on how many you have, leave 5-6 to decorate the top of the pie and chop up the rest for the filling.

I normally make a frittata in a pan, but decided to change it up a bit by baking it a quiche baking dish. I sautéed the zucchini and an onion and mixed it in with eggs, a bit of cream, some herbs and cheese of course. I used Compte because, well, thats what I had. You can substitute Gruyere or mozzarella.

This dish is really nice because it can be served at room temperature, which means it can be made ahead of time. Great for brunch!

Zucchini Pie

Butter, to grease baking dish
Bread crumbs, to coat dish
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups sliced zucchini
1 medium red onion, chopped
6 eggs
1/4 cup half and half cream
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon herbs de provence
2 cups Compte cheese, grated
12 zucchini blossoms or flowers, totally optional
Salt for the zucchini


Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter and coat a 12 inch, round baking dish. Set aside.
Place the sliced zucchini in a colander and salt liberally. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add the zucchini and the chopped onion. Cook until soft. Set aside and let cool. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, cream, parsley, herbs de provence, cheese and half the zucchini flowers, if using. Add the cooled zucchini mixture and pour in baking dish. Place 5-6 of the flowers decoratively on top and drizzle a little olive oil. Bake for 40 minutes until golden or a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.

m xo

Farmers Market Bucatini

The month of August is the best time of year to prepare meals because Mother Nature has done all the work for us. I totally get inspired by what is at the market, especially the farmers market.

We recently went to the Hamptons for a few days and as we were leaving East Hampton to go back to the city, the street was lined with farmers markets and I stopped to pick up a few things.

What's nice thing about this quick sauce is that the time that it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, it's ready!

Farmers Market Bucatini

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cob of corn, kernels removed
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 quart cherry tomatoes
A big handful basil
1 small hot pepper, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2lb. bucatini pasta
Grated pecorino
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs, optional

Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Salt the water and cook the bucatini pasta as directed on package or until al dente (which most of the time is less time than directed).
In the meantime, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the corn kernels, zucchini, tomatoes and hot pepper, if using. Salt and pepper the vegetables. Cook over medium/high heat for about 10 minutes or until the bucatini is cooked. Tear the basil and throw in the vegetables. Drain the pasta and mix with the corn mixture. At this point if you are serving the pasta with an egg, heat olive oil in a non stick pan until hot. Break the eggs, one at a time until the edges are crispy but the yolk is still a little runny. Serve on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the pecorino. Yummy!

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

Stuffed Zucchini

During the week, I'm always looking for ways to cut down on simple carbs (but not flavour) when I can.This is just a simple recipe for stuffed zucchini that I came up with for last nights dinner. It was very satisfying with a salad.

Stuffed Zucchini 

4 small zucchini

2 tablespoons grape seed oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small red chili (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons tamari
3-4 handfuls of baby spinach
salt and pepper, to taste
feta cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.
Slice the zucchini lengthwise. With a small spoon, scoop out the flesh but taking care not to pierce the skin. Continue with the rest of the zucchini and place in a baking dish big enough to fit all the zucchini halves in a single layer. Season the inside flesh with salt and pepper. In the meantime, make the stuffing.

In a pan over medium heat, sauté shallot, garlic and chili in oil until soft. Add ground beef and cook until the pink is gone. Add tomato paste and tamari and cook for a few minutes. Add the spinach and combine until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Stuff the zucchini halves with the mixture. Don't be afraid to pile it on. It cooks down a little in the oven. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
Pour 1/4 cup of water in the bottom of the dish to create some steam. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. The last 10 minutes uncovered. It is done when you pierce the zucchini with the tip of a knife and it is tender.

m xo

Roasted Cauliflower and Zucchini

Tonight was one of those nights where we really didn't want a big meal for dinner so I decided to make it a "veggie only" meal.

I simply roasted cauliflower and zucchini(separately) and made a couple of sauces for them based on what I had in the refrigerator. Dill and mint.

These would make wonderful side dishes to serve with anything really.

Roasted Cauliflower with Yogurt Dill Sauce

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Place cauliflower on a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.
In the meantime make the yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Dill Sauce

1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir all the ingredients until combined. Serve with the roasted cauliflower.

Roasted Zucchini with Mint Pesto

4-5 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise
olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Place zucchini on a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
In the meantime make the mint pesto.

Mint Pesto

1 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup marcona almonds, (you can sub regular almonds)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Drizzle over the roasted zucchini.

  

m xo

Zucchini Butter

When I see recipes that have less than 5 ingredients, I'm intrigued! I don't why. Maybe I'm lazy, hahaha! No seriously, I figure it has to be really good because there aren't a lot of ingredients to mask the taste.
This comes from food52, a site that has some amazing recipes that people share and contribute to. It's a wonderful site that I would definitely recommend.
It suggested to make this in the summer, when there is an abundance of zucchini, but I couldn't resist. I used baby zucchini. I feel they have more flavour when not in season. I also added ground coriander seed to brighten it up a bit.
Really nice on crunchy, toasted bread. It makes a nice appetizer or snack.

Jennie Cook's Zucchini Butter
(adapted from food52.com)

2 lbs zucchini, about 5-6 baby zucchini
1/4 olive oil or butter, I used a combination of both
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
salt and pepper

Grate the zucchini and place in a colander for a few minutes. Saute the shallots and garlic in the oil/butter until soft. Wring out as much liquid as you can from the zucchini and add to the pan. Continue cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. You want to caramelize the zucchini until soft. The original recipe says 15 minutes but I cooked it for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on toast.

m xo

Pork Meatballs

I love when I got to my local grocery store and there is a big selection of organic or natural meats. There are always the usual cuts of chicken like thighs and breast, but when I find beef and pork cuts, I stock up! There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to make beef stew, going to the grocery and not finding it. So I buy as much I can to fit in my little freezer.
These little meatballs were really tasty and tender. I used grated zucchini and because of that they do give off some water when they are baking. I just drained the tray halfway through and continued baking.
I served these with a yogurt sauce I threw together with what I had on hand.

Pork Meatballs

1 lb. ground pork
2 slices whole grain bread
1/4 cup almond milk
1 small zucchini, grated
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Soak the bread in the almond milk. Wring out the grated zucchini to extract most of the water. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Form into 2 inch balls and place on a lightly greased pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup yogurt
a splash of lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

Mix everything and serve!

m xo