Vegetable pasta (eggplant)

This is a simple pasta dish that can be made with an assortment of different vegetables. I like to make it at the end of summer when you have too much zucchini or too much eggplant as it is one of the many ways to use them up. It is also super fast to make with stuff on hand when you realize it is 5pm and you haven't even thought about dinner yet. If you want to use different vegetables I recommend only using one or maybe two in place of the eggplant to highlight the vegetable in the dish and I don't recommend broccoli with a tomato sauce.

pasta, sauce, garlic, onion, basil, eggplant, oil, and salt

chop onions and eggplant into uniform pieces

saute in oil until eggplant starts to brown

mince garlic and chiffonade basil

remember you have homemade pesto and a last jar of whole tomatoes and skip the sauce

add in basil and garlic and cook until just fragrant

then stir in pesto and tomatoes

and then remember the garden tomatoes, chop and add those

cook for 15 minutes and salt to taste

then add cooked pasta to finish

serve with hot pepper flakes, grated cheese, and whatever else you like

Simple and yummy!

CSA week 19

No, not more squash, the summer is really coming to an end fast. This week all got delicata squash, potatoes, and beans. I chose beets over turnips, lettuce over red peppers, and onions over parsley or jalapenos. We also got a lot of apples in our fruit share. Mmm applesauce.

What I made: beets and onions for later, mashed potatoes, pickled beans, squash chutney, apples in bellies and in applesauce, lettuce for salads and sandwiches.

Canned tomatoes

This one is going to be a long one. Every year I can about 90lbs of tomatoes for the rest of the year. We have been doing this for about eight years and have never looked back. If I am traveling and end up having to buy canned tomatoes I am immediately reminded of why I do all the work. The end results is far superior to anything else. Below is the results of canning 60lbs. I already did 10lbs into frozen paste cubes and I will do another batch of sauce next weekend.

Caveat: This is how I can tomatoes and while most of the steps are the same please reference an approved tomato canning recipe for proper proportions. I don't necessarily play fast and loose, but I do use fresh lemon juice which is frowned upon and I cold pack my whole tomatoes, again frowned upon. Because I do this, I always (probably a good idea regardless) make sure my tomato based recipes cook at a boil for at least 15 minutes to kill off any botulism. I also wash my hands and my jars very well.  I check my jars for any discoloration, off smell, etc. While I don't think we have ever had any botulism we did have one batch of quart jars four years ago that we had to toss as I didn't process them long enough. If in doubt throw it out.

For my whole tomatoes I just skin them, cut them in quarters, drop them in jars with lemon and salt. For my tomato sauce I left the skins on this year to retain all the tomato goodness. The batch I cooked in my nice wide le crueset had nary a skin in sight by the time I was ready to jar, but the other batch in the tall cephalon had loads and loads of skins. I will mostly like strain those before using them if I want a smoother sauce, but if it is something that simmers all day I will leave them as the skins should break down more in the jars and over more cooking. The other thing about my tomato sauce is I cook it way, way, way down. Not quite paste but a super concentrated tomato sauce. It takes almost 36 hours. This uses less space (fewer jars) and I can just add water back in as needed when I am preparing a recipe. This works the best for us. Other prefer a fresher sauce that has only been just simmered.

tomatoes, lemons, salt, onions, garlic, basil

separate good skinned ones for sauce (sink) and bad skinned ones for peeled whole
and too soft or bad ones in the compost

skin the ones that will be canned whole

clean your jars and add 1TB lemon juice and 1/2tsp salt per pint

peel and quarter the whole tomatoes

fill the jars with tomato quarters and top with left over juice, add any left to the sauce pots

clean and seal the jars and put into water bath and bring up to boil together (if cold pack)

remember you wanted basil and add it into the half you haven't processed yet

let cool 24 hours and then test seals to make sure they are tight

thoroughly wash the ones for sauce

chop and saute your onions and garlic in oil until softened

here I split into two pots since it wouldn't all fit into one

core and half the tomatoes and split into the sauce pots

add a small amount of salt to help cook

remember to stir it occasionally as it cooks down

once it has simmered down at least 2 inches, blend with the hand blender and simmer more

this one is done

this one still has too much water

this is a hot pack, so clean hot jars (w/lemon and salt as before) and hot sterile lids

process in boiling water as indicated in recipe +adjustment for altitude (our is 10min more)

20lb = 4 quarts and 12 pints of whole tomatoes, 40lb = 16 pints of super sauce

This should keep us in tomatoes all winter long!

CSA week 18

I know I have not posted a new recipe, but since we were in traveling for two weeks I kinda forgot. I need to get better about scheduling posts. I promise to post a recipe this weekend.

So for our CSA this week everyone got eggplant and acorn squash (NO!, not winter squash that means summer is ending). I picked beans over broccoli, arugula over spicy salad, slicing tomatoes over seconds or black cherries, and bell peppers over roasted chiles. We also have apples and pears for our fruit share.

 

What I made: Apples and pears in bellies, bell peppers sliced raw, tomato soup, sauteed green beans, eggplant dip, arugula in sandwiches and salads, and squash for storing (I won't accept the end of summer yet).

CSA week 17

Yep, week 17, we have been traveling for almost two weeks and week 16 was picked up by a friend. This week we all got onions, new potatoes, and peppers. I picked tomato seconds over slicing tomatoes, beans over broccoli, and arugula over spicy salad mix. For fruit we have apples and pears.
 

What I made: pears and apples in bellies, the new potatoes, beans, and arugula went into a tuna-less salad nicoise, the tomato seconds and onions were made into a hybrid tomato paste/ketchup that I froze into cubes to add to things all winter. The peppers will be grilled this weekend with some vegetables from the farmers market. Grilling season is almost over and I want to make sure we get one last round of sweet summer corn.

Pesto

Pesto is one of those make it in the summer and freeze it for winter foods. I end up freezing at least 5 pints which makes 10 dinners give or take. You can make pesto with any greens, any nuts, but you always want garlic, salt, and oil. And of course you can put in parmesan if you choose. I like to throw a spoonful in soups, on toast with cheese, for pizza sauce, or dab in mashed potatoes, along with just serving it with pasta.

You can make pesto with any type of greens and it works well to mix and match, but I always use a little basil and pecans as I like the flavor of both so much. If you are making it with some tougher greens like beet, chard, kale, etc you add the greens with the nuts. If you are using delicate greens like basil, arugula, parsley, etc then you add the greens after the nuts have been ground up otherwise you will over process the delicate greens and lose some of their flavor.

basil, chives, pecans, garlic, salt, oil, and cherry tomatoes (for immediate use only)

process the nuts, oil, and garlic till the nuts are finely chopped (if using tough greens add here)

then add basil and chives and process till just blended, adding more oil if needed

once you can see how much there is, add salt to taste
you want it slightly salty as you use less in terms of pesto quantity versus regular pasta sauce.

I removed 3/4s and then threw in tomatoes for what I was serving fresh

tonight's dinner on the left, for freezing on the right

toss pesto into al dente but hot pasta and cook 2 minutes

serve with parmesan and pepper flakes

It is definitely yummy to have sweet basil in the middle of winter.

CSA week 15

We are headed out on a road trip and I won't be back for two weeks. My husband will actually be home, but he rarely cooks for himself other than peanut butter toast. So this week I made my choices and I got lucky with things that can be stored.

We all got potatoes, onions, carrots, and bell peppers. More peaches and plums for our fruit. I picked slicing tomatoes over cherry or zebra, italian eggplant over japanese or beets, and chiles over basil. Eldest actually picked the chiles, boy after my own heart.

What I made: carrots and plums didn't make it out of the car, onions, pototaoes, and chiles (minus one my eldest ate) for later, ancho-eggplant spread, caprese salad w/basil from my garden, bell peppers and peaches for the road trip.