What's on My Plate?

I have been super busy this season with work.  I feel like I need to set up camp at the Vatican so I can get a few more zzzz's in every night.  I have, however, managed to make time for my favorite activity, cooking.  I can tell you what is not on my plate:  decomposing flesh and animal secretions.  What is on my plate:  veganized healthy meals, zucchini from my garden, and lots of summer fruit.

 Four different types of zucchini (from my garden). From the left: Battered fried zucchini, spelt stuffed zucchini(spelt made with sun dried tomatoes, green olives, zucchini, mint, basil, and olive oil), grilled zucchini marinated overnight with olive oil, garlic, calabrian red peppers, and raw apple cider vinegar, and Zucchine agrodolce-sweet and sour zucchini with mint, garlic and olive oil. I am loving the bounty from my garden. Thanks to the awesome 

ladies for coming up!!

 Fresh Strawberries with 25 yr old Balsamic vinegar from Modena.  I broke the bottle yesterday.  A true crime against food.

 Some Zucchini from our garden.  We can't eat them fast enough.

My latest masterpice based on a wonderful dish I used to eat at Nemi.  Risotto alle Fragole-Strawberry Risotto.  This is a great dish that is not a dessert.  It is a savory risotto with a twist.  

     Recipes will soon follow.  I am sorry that I haven't had a minute to catch up my recipe writing with my cooking.  Stay tuned, and enjoy summer!

Swimming in Zucchini

2011 has been a fruitful year so far in terms of our garden.   The zucchini are the most productive vegetable of the entire garden.  Yesterday I harvested over 3 kilos of zucchini, and that was after I had harvested the zucchini patch two days prior.  They grow so fast I can't keep up with them.  Planting, caring for and then harvesting these vegetables has been very gratifying work.  I have long hot days in Rome and I look forward to digging in the earth, tending to the garden and being able to harvest fresh vegetables for the dinner table.  I love knowing where my food is coming from.  I also enjoy being a guest at a friend's house and instead of bringing a store bought bottle of wine, I bring vegetables I have produced.  All of my local friends can look forward to receiving lots of zucchini as there is no way we will eat them as fast as they are growing.
     On some days I will pick zucchini in the morning and go back in the late afternoon before sunset and there are already more to be picked.  I plan to leave a few on the plants so I can have larger ones for stuffing.  There are so many great vegan recipes that use zucchini, and I imagine I will have to use as many as I can so that I do not get bored with eating these lovely vegetables that are an excellent source of fiber, potassium. vitamin A, and magnesium.  
     I am looking forward to summer pasta salads with zucchini, zucchini bread, pickled zucchini, blending them into a smoothie for added nutrition in my diet, eating them raw with hummus, and more.  What are your favorite zucchini dishes?

This is one of my own favorite recipes for zucchini.  

Zucchini: What to Do With All Those Extra Summer Zucchini

     Some of my gardening friends may be wondering what the heck they are going to do with all those zucchini they grew this summer.  Many of you are practically swimming in zucchini!  You’ve steamed them,  fried them, made soups, breaded them, and eaten them raw with hummus.  All of which are noble endings for the simple zucchini.   I have also had to get a little creative this summer with the zucchini.  Alas, unlike my mother, I do not have a green thumb, everything dies, including weeds!  However, when I go to the local markets, what is in season?  Zucchini, of course.  So I have been eating them all summer, just like the rest of you.  With a little bit of creativity, zucchini can be delicious and fun.  I made up the following recipe while I was trying to eat up everything in the fridge and cupboards before I went stateside.  It turned out fantastic, and I have since made it many times.  This blog is dedicated to Jenny, Thomas, and my favorite baby in the world, Max.

    

INGREDIENTS:

For four people

4 tablespoon of olive oil

4 tablespoons of pine nuts

4 tablespoons of sultanas or golden raisons

4 cloves of garlic

15 cherry tomatoes

2 medium zucchini

1/2 tablespoon of dried calabrian red pepper

dry white wine

500g of whole grain fusilli

course sea salt

Directions:

Prepare everything in advance.  you will want to cut up the tomatoes and zucchini into small quarter sized pieces, or dice them, whichever you prefer is fine.  First, you are going to start with toasting the pine nuts.  To do this, take a small pan, drizzle a small amount of olive oil in it and put on full heat.  Throw in the pine nuts and flip them every 30 seconds until  they brown.  Put to the side.  In a large deep pan, use the rest of the olive oil and a splash of dry white wine and crush the cloves of garlic and red peppers and sauté with a medium heat.  Add the tomatoes and zucchini and sautè with the garlic.   Add the toasted pine nut and sultanas.  In a large pot, bring water to boil and add salt to taste.  Since I do not use salt in the veggies, I add a bit more in the water.   Add the dry fusilli and cook until al dente.  While the pasta is boiling simmer the veggies on a low heat setting.  I like to use a whole grain pasta for this dish, my favorite is pasta made from farro, or, spelt.  I think it brings out the nutty flavor of the pine nuts.    I use a whole box for four people.   Serve in large pasta bowls.  This pairs well with a dry rosato, or a lovely Vermentino di Gallura.    Enjoy outdoors if possible.

Voilà

 Buon Appetito!!