Freezer-Bound Pesto

My mother has a real passion for gardening and as a result, she has some magnificent flower and vegetable gardens.  She has always been incredibly generous sharing from her gardens, and now that we live a mere fifteen minutes away, she is constantly gifting us with fresh, seasonal vegetables. 

After my mom's basil started growing like crazy, she recently gifted me with bunches and bunches of basil!

I knew that we wouldn't be able to eat them fast enough so I decided to make some easy pesto to freeze for future use.

I threw the rinsed basil in the food processor with the stems on.  I didn't really take measurements of the ingredients but just added olive oil, garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese, shelled walnuts, salt and pepper to taste.

I pureed until I was left with a beautiful, vibrant pesto.

I split the pesto into two plastic containers.

I drizzled some extra olive oil on top of the pesto.  I also put some plastic wrap on top of the pesto to help seal it from the air.

The pesto went straight to our freezer and will be ready for use long after the summer is over.  For me, it is a great way to keep these great summer flavors alive all year long.

Tell me, what do you do to preserve your favorite summer ingredients for the rest of the year?

Mediterranean Eggplant and Dried Tomatoes Pasta

There are only three more weeks until summer is officially over and I am desperately clinging onto this season's bounty of heirloom tomatoes, fresh herbs, berries and stone fruits.  It is during this time of year when the vibrant flavors of summer explode, the aroma of fresh herbs are more intense, the tomatoes are sweeter, and the variety is so extensive that there never seems to be enough time to explore all the possibilities in each year's harvest.

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Local Ingredients: Caprese Egg White Omelette

On Saturday morning, I woke up feeling so relaxed.  For the first time in ages, Bret and I didn't have anything scheduled or planned for the day.  I let Bret sleep in and decided to get started on my day by making a healthy egg white omelette for breakfast.  While I usually make egg white omelettes with whatever frozen vegetables I have on hand, I had lots of fresh local ingredients to work with and I decided to make an egg white omelette using tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. 

I started out by chopping up some gorgeous yellow cherry tomatoes I had on hand.

I then washed and dried a handful of fresh basil from Atlas Farm.

I gave the basil a coarse shop and then put it aside.

I cubed a quarter of a ball of Fiore Di Nonno mozzarella cheese and also put that aside.

While I warmed up two skillets on the stove, I threw some leftover slices of bacon in the oven to cook while I prepared my omelettes.  To start on my omelettes, I added my cherry tomatoes to the pan and then poured in my egg whites.

I added some of the chopped basil, fresh cracked peppercorns, salt and oregano to the omelette and slowly let the omelette cook at medium heat. 

When the omelette was nearly ready, I added the cubed mozzarella to the omelette and then folded the omelette in half.  The omelettes slid off my non-stick pans so easily onto to the plate and I topped the omelettes with some fresh chopped basil.

Of course, no breakfast is complete without adding some bacon! 

When I woke Bret up, he told me that there is no better way to wake up than to the smell of bacon.  He was thrilled that I made this healthy and hearty breakfast.  The egg whites had a lot of nice flavor, especially from the sweet cherry tomatoes and the fresh chopped basil.  Since these three ingredients make up a Caprese salad, I decided to call this breakfast my Caprese egg white omelette, which is bound to make repeat appearances in my kitchen this summer!

What is your favorite kind of omelette?

Local Ingredients: Roasted Eggplant Pasta

Last week felt like an unbelievably long week.  By the time Friday rolled around, I was excited to head out of work and unwind with a kick-butt gym session and some time in the kitchen.  I was especially looking forward to cooking on Friday night because I had a lot of great fresh and local ingredients to work with, including some eggplants and a cucumber from my mom's garden!

While I love eggplant in any form, Bret isn't the biggest fan of its texture.  I decided to make a simple roasted eggplant pasta dish to utilize the eggplants in a way that that I thought Bret would enjoy.  I first started out by slicing my eggplant with the skin on and then eventually cubing it.

I tossed the cubed eggplant in a bowl with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

I spread the eggplant on a baking sheet and then got to work on my red Russian garlic from Siena Farms.  I have never worked with  this type of garlic before but I planned to do a simple roasted garlic preparation.  I cut off the top of the garlic bulb and found the most beautiful hints of red in the garlic cloves.

I drizzled the garlic bulb with olive oil and wrapped it in aluminum foil.  I put the garlic on the baking tray with the roasted eggplant and put it in the oven at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes. 

While the eggplant and garlic were in the oven, I put my pasta water on the stove and got to work on my pasta sauce.  Normally I would make my own sauce but I had a jar of Bertolli Marinara with Burgundy Wine open in the fridge from my beet green and bacon pizza.  Since I hate to let food go to waste, I decided to use this sauce as my base but doctor it up with some flavor. 

I added some fresh cracked peppercorns, salt, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes and onion powder.

After giving it a little taste, I also added a bit of olive oil and let the sauce simmer to infuse all of those great flavors.  I then got to work on my basil fresh from Atlas Farm.  I actually got way more basil than I expected so I suspect that there will be quite a bit of basil in my cooking this week!  I washed a bunch of leaves and finely chopped the basil.

When the garlic and eggplant were ready, I added both to my sauce, along with half of the chopped basil.  Both the eggplant and the garlic were so aromatic and added nice flavor and texture to the sauce.

While I drained the whole wheat angel hair pasta and tossed it in the sauce, Bret made a quick salad using the bag of mixed greens from Siena Farms, a cucumber from my mom's garden, and some delightful yellow cherry tomatoes.

I plated the pasta but decided something was missing.

So I topped it with a slice of Fiore Di Nonno mozzarella and some of the chopped basil.

I was really happy with this pasta sauce because it was full of flavor from the delicious Bertolli marinara base, the heat of the crushed red pepper flakes, the sweet roasted garlic and the hearty roasted eggplant.  Topping it off with the creamy mozzarella and chopped basil definitely added a fresh element to the dish.  Plus, the simple side salad was a cool refreshing contrast to this warm and hearty pasta dish.  Best of all, I absolutely love cooking with local ingredients from both local farms and from my mom's own garden!

What did you cook up this weekend?