1) Tomato Passata 2)Roasted Eggplant with Mushrooms and Tomato

Just what I don't need: another kitchen gadget. This one is for making tomato passata. Basically, tomato puree.

My tomatoes are ripe now, so a few days ago I took a chance and stopped in to Bed bath and Beyond - the item was supposedly out of stock, but there it was on the shelf.

 

Prepping my San Marzano and Roma tomatoes. Halving and cutting out green parts; boiling water bath until the skins start to loosen; let the excess water drain.

 

 

Basilico Genovese from the garden.

 

This is imported Passata. The jar is typical of the product in Italy.

This is all I got out of those tomatoes. About 24 liquid ounces. Watch the videos to see how much passata some people make.

The skin and seeds to go into compost.

 

I don't can stuff. This will go into the freezer. I did a second pass with the skins and seeds and got about a cup and a half more of passata which I will use for tonight's tomato sauce.

 

This is how the pros do it:

 

My next project for the morning was to make eggplant parmigiana.

But hubby called and said that we are going camping tomorrow instead of Monday as the campground had this Sunday available, but not this coming Saturday...whatever.

So I had to change my plans for the eggplant as it would take me hours with clean-up and now I had to hustle and cook and get the camper packed.

So I diced up the eggplant with garlic, onion, baby bella mushrooms, salt, pepper, oregano, pepperoncini (hot pepper flakes), olive oil and roasted the whole thing in the oven at 425 degrees.

My new plan involves adding the veggie mixture into a tomato sauce to serve over pasta. But I will need more sauce and don't want to use up all my new passata for tonight...so I reverted to the tomato paste from a can. (Kirkland organic if that makes a difference.)  Mom and every Italian aunt always "fried" the tomato paste in olive oil. It is not for me to question that wisdom, so that is how I do it too.

I added the second pressing of passata to the paste with water.

The roasted veggies ready to add to the sauce.

 

Fried some sausages and deglazed with a little red wine and added them to the sauce. Had some homemade turkey meatballs in the freezer, so added them as well.

So there. Can't wait for pasta tonight. Oh, and I also made bread this morning too. Baked one loaf and put two balls of dough into the freezer. We'll take one camping and have fresh bread one evening.

Shrimp & Orzo; Zucchini & Fresh Tomato Salsa - Party Leftovers Into A Meal

Sorry, we ate the whole thing before I even thought about posting this, so there are no photos. 

On Labor Day we had a a houseful of folks over for cookout and a kind of pot-luck.  People brought salads, desserts, appetizers and there was a lot of stuff left.

I had made "Italian Salsa" to go with the corn chips: diced fresh garden tomatoes, garlic, finely diced jalapeños, parsley, basil (NO CILANTRO) and a little sugar.

My cousin Rose had made a nice casserole of orzo and there was a good portion left.

Another guest brought cooked shrimp and there were 12 - 18 shrimp left.

There was a plastic container with lots of sliced onions untouched by the burger lovers.

I'll make it brief. This is just an example of how you might create something wonderful from what's in the fridge. And it was done in less than thirty minutes - probably closer to twenty.

My cooking mind went to work, thinking basically "shrimp" "garlic" "orzo" but I needed a vegetable:

I put a handful of sliced onion into a skillet with a little olive oil to sauté.

[I'm not sure anything I cook is sautéed as the flame is always on "high" - as the song goes: I never do anything "Nice" and "Easy" just "Nice" and "Rough"]

I went out to the garden to get swiss chard but instead decided on two medium size zucchinis. I cut them up and tossed them in with the onion. Let them cook a bit, even get just a little golden color on some of the zucchini slices.

Ah! I remembered the Italian Salsa, so I put two or three ladles of that juicy tomato and jalapeño and basil mixture in to cook with zucchini.

While that simmered, I peeled and chopped some garlic, sautéed that in olive oil and tossed in the left over cooked shrimp and let them get good and garlicky.

Then I added a couple of ladles of orzo with a little water so it would steam-heat. I kept stirring it all so it wouldn't burn.

When it was heated through we had delicious zucchini with tomato-jalapeño and garlic shrimp with orzo.

Didn't matter if the zucchini mixed in with the shrimp and orzo because it was even better that way than keeping each separately! A little parmesan cheese on top. Yum.

Oh, was that good!

So, have a party! Use up those left-overs! Be creative! Dinner's ready!

(Almost) Instant Mac and Cheese (and Healthier Too)

Baked cod, roasted tomatoes, asparagus and quick mac and cheese with cauliflower.

I came up with this side dish tonight to go with some baked cod (frozen cod from Costco) with roasted tomatoes, and asparagus.

I put the cod and the halved tomatoes in a casserole and drizzled all with olive oil, sprinkled the tomatoes with salt, pepper and oregano and the cod with black pepper and Italian style bread crumbs.

That all went into the oven at 375, for about 20-25 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish) and I got a pot of water boiling and put the asparagus in a skillet with a little butter and white wine, ready to go on the fire.

I had about 1/3 box of quick-cook Ronzoni penne pasta (which cooks in 3 minutes) and when the cod was close to being done, I got the pasta into the pot to boil while the cauliflower (which was last night's leftover - roasted in the oven with olive oil and garlic, so I knew it would go good with pasta) was in the microwave to reheat - also 3 minutes.

When the pasta was done, I put the asparagus on to cook in the skillet on high heat for just a few minutes.

I drained the pasta, put in two heaping tablespoons (+/-) of plain non-fat yogurt and approximately 3 heaping tablespoons (+/-) of grated Romano cheese, added in the cauliflower with its garlicky sauce and tossed the whole thing together.

Easy and healthier mac and cheese

The fish was done and so was the asparagus. All in less than 30 minutes. Rachael Ray, eat your heart out.

Not Your Grandma's Moussaka

Not my grandma's moussaka - mine only made parmigiana.

This is a variation on a theme: Given that the garden has offered up a small bounty of eggplant and the given the fact that I am no Greek, I am still going to call tonight's dinner "moussaka".

I am a bit lazy, and always trying to find shortcuts. So here goes:

Take a couple of Italian eggplants and a few Japanese eggplants, peel them leaving just a little of the skin. I halve the Italians lengthwise, slice them all in about quarter inch slices, toss them with some olive oil in a roasting pan with salt, pepper, chopped garlic. Put them in the oven at 400 for about 30-35 minutes, tossing once during the cooking. (Most recipes call for frying the slices - which would take time - this way you can get the other ingredients ready while the eggplant is in the oven.)

2 Italians and 3 Japanese

Sautee a diced onion, a couple of small chopped cubanelle peppers and a diced hot pepper in a little olive oil.

Remove the mixture and into the fry pan put a pound of ground beef and a pound of Italian sausage meat.

After the meat is cooked through, drain off the grease, return the onion mixture to the pan, add a can of tomato puree, a little water, chopped fresh basil, fresh parsley, and fresh oregano. A little salt and pepper. Let the meat cook in the sauce for thirty minutes or so.

Roasted Eggplant

Meanwhile make the béchamel sauce.

My philosophy used to be "more is better" and I and Leon would certainly eat more. We are watching things now since Leon has lost over fifty pounds and I was down thirty. So my new philosophy is "less is almost as good." So I went a little easy on the béchamel which in some moussaka recipes is a layer of  up to a half inch. Compared to that, mine is a drizzle.

2 tablespoons of butter, melted and hot in the saucepan, whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour until the flour forms a paste. 

Slowly add 1and 1/2 cups of 1% milk (I don't bother warming the milk - I'm lazy). Continue to whisk until the sauce thickens.

Add a dash of nutmeg. Remove from heat. Add about 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese. (Don't add the parmesan while the sauce is over the heat or you will produce a congealed mess.)

(Of course I didn't get a photo of the finished béchamel)

Distribute the tomato meat sauce over the roasted eggplant. Top with the béchamel, a little crumbled low fat feta and some Italian flavored breadcrumbs. 

Moussaka usually has a thick layer of Béchamel (calories)

Bake in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until heated through and bubbling hot.

Serve with a salad - tonight is green bean salad.

Steam the fresh green beans just until barely cooked. Rinse in ice cold water. In a bowl mix a little olive oil, a dash of balsamic vinegar, some chopped garlic and toss in the cooked green beans. You can add some fresh tomatoes if you like. Chill in the fridge or serve at room temperature.

We are foregoing the crusty Italian bread tonight - (carbs and calories), but it would definitely be my choice.

Pollo alla Giardiniere - Gardener's Chicken

While Chicken alla cacciatore may be hunter's style, as a gardener, I've adopted the basic recipe to reflect what's currently abundant in my garden - green beans, yellow squash, peppers, basil, parsley, tomatoes. This gardener's chicken recipe stretches a few chicken parts into a big pot of stew.

The recipe is consistent with our style of eating (or the style which we try to adhere to) which stresses an abundance of fresh vegetables over meat and starches. Perhaps you would use more chicken or fewer vegetables. Which is perfectly OK as proportions are optional.

I started by frying/cooking four chicken legs and thighs in a large skillet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder. Saute the chicken and cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked through and can be removed from the bone.

Remove the chicken parts from the pan, and bone the chicken if you like (just makes it easier to eat).

Drain the grease from the pan and add a little olive oil, a large sliced onion, then add 4-6 Cubanelle or Bell green peppers, cut up. Cook a bit, ten minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Wash and clean some green beans - here's a mixture that I picked today including flat Roma, stringless green beans, slender Italians. Add to the pan.

 Add some fresh basil

And some fresh parsley.

Add some chopped celery, some carrots, chopped fresh garden tomatoes to the beans and onions and peppers. Cook covered on low heat for a bit - maybe five to ten minutes, or till heated through - don't let the veggies over-cook. Add salt to taste - easy though - stay healthy.

 Dice up a couple of cloves of garlic and add to a different skillet with some olive oil.

Cut op and add a yellow squash or a green zucchini squash. Cook for  a few minutes, stirring frequently.

Combine everything into a big stew pot. Add some peeled plum tomatoes.

Let the stew simmer together for maybe thirty to forty-five minutes or so, so the tomatoes cook into a light sauce, but not so much as to turn the veggies into mush. It's nice to have a bit of crunch left in the beans and squash. Season with salt, pepper to taste while cooking. Easy on the salt.

Serve with a little crusty bread or rolls.

Dinner's ready!