This is the fist dish I knew I wanted to make for our dinner this past weekend, everything else was built around the idea of fresh raw tuna in delicious sauces. I researched dozens of traditional and contemporary Poke recipes and decided to try to recreate some of my favorites from our trip. We made a creamy Spicy Ahi Tuna Poke with Avocado and Tobiko Roe and a Shoya Ahi Tuna Poke with soy and sesame. For a different fish flavor, I made a Miso Tako (Octopus) Poke and a light and colorful Ginger Carrot Poke. The flavors all worked so well together, it was one of my favorite dishes of the night!
Category: Vegetable
Homemade Magic Tomato Paste
I have read that homemade tomato paste is much better than the store bought (which I also love and live by), but wow, it is magic! I read in one of my cookbooks that someone referred to a stewed tomato sauce as tomato magic, I want to steal that! This is my Tomato Magic!
Burnt Eggplant Soup with Seared Wild Tomatoes
Eggplant is so tempting this time of year! My obsession lives on. My favorite way to prepare eggplant is by burning it directly on the stove top. Roasting the eggplant in this way gives the flesh a delicious smoky flavor which pairs magnificently with a bit of lemon juice.
This is a really simple and delicious soup on its own, but I love how elevated it becomes with the pairing of seared wild tomatoes. I find these little beauties at the Waverly Farmer’s market here in Baltimore, however, if they are not readily available, some heirloom cherry tomatoes will do the trick!
Roast Eggplant and Tomato Pizza
Eggplant is so tempting this time of year! I think I will try to grow some next summer! In the mean time, however, I keep buying it every weekend, so we have to keep cooking it. This week, I also wanted to make a bit of mozzarella and some pesto since my basil plant is getting pretty hefty.
Want to make your own pesto? I like a combination of arugula and basil for mine. I take about 4 cups of basil leaves and arugula leaves each, a half a cup of pine nuts, a cup of grated Parmesan, 4-6 garlic cloves, and enough olive oil to get to the consistency you like. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and adjust to your tastes.
Corn Uova da Raviolo – Egg Yolk Ravioli
During the summer (and all year really) my recipes revolve around the ingredients that I have surrounding me. This week I have plenty of eggplant and fresh corn on the cob. I decided I wanted to make a corn filled ravioli for a group of friends who were coming over for lunch. That lunch turned into a brunch, so I decided the most expedient way to solve my menu problem was to put an egg on it! Thus, I reinvented my Uova da Raviolo recipe from earlier this summer.
I really wanted to play up the corn, and didn’t want to waste the husks so I boiled them for about an hour and then used the water to both cook the pasta and flavor the sauce. It is traditional to use pasta water to thicken a sauce, so I figured the blending of the loose gluten from the pasta and the flavor of the corn would pair beautifully with a simple wine and sage butter sauce.
Ratatouille
I will be honest, my Ratatouille looks the way it does because I watched that Disney movie when I was younger. I was in college then and working on making my cuisine more elevated, and I wanted to give it a try. I fell in love with the dish and have been developing it slowly since then. Instead of using tomatoes, I like to use tomato paste at the bottom of my baking dish. I find it imparts a nice smoky flavor to the dish and makes it less soupy. Serve it alone, or with a tablespoon of chèvre on top. I like to use leftovers for open faced sandwiches. Ratatouille keeps and reheats very well.
Roast Eggplant Caprese with Herb Lemon Vinaigrette
I was thrilled to find that my garden was gloriously producing dozens of tomatoes, so it was time to harvest them! I was missing my caprese salads in Hawaii (well not too much, since I was feasting on poke and fresh mango daily). I decided to add a bit more intricacy to the dish by roasting up some eggplant to make a bed for the sliced tomatoes and torn mozzarella. I marinated them in a bit of salt and pepper while the eggplant roasted, and drizzled the whole situation with a simple lemon herb vinaigrette. It was glorious. I am sure this portion was meant for at least four people, but Nico and I almost ate the entire dish!
Ricotta Pizza with Grilled Zucchini and Sun-dried Tomatoes
I was having some friends over for a lunch and had some ingredients that needed to be used up. I made way too much Ricotta, so I have been slowly using it up! Need ideas for Ricotta recipes? Try out my Swiss Chard, Ricotta, and Soppressata Ravioli or Egg Yolk Ravioli with Ricotta. Have too…
Chez Nous 