My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
It was not a stellar year for my tomato plants this season. Though I harvested quite a few, it was certainly not a typical year. Cool nights, flooding rains and cooler-than-average daytime temps do not make for happy, bountiful tomato plants. The exception to all …
Every year I’m in awe of just how many eggplants one plant can product and this year is no different. Here are a couple of shots of some of the eggplants I harvested out of our garden last year: Beautiful, aren’t they? This past weekend, I decided …
Okay, technically, this is a “photos of the day” post. I thought I’d share with you some of the stunning dahlias we’re growing in our gardens this year.
I hope you all are enjoying your summer, so far! Tell me what’s growing in your garden – I’d love to hear about it!
If you’re just finding me now at my old WordPress site, I hope you’ll join me in my latest posts at lolarugula.com
It’s that time of year again! (I mean canning time, of course) First on the canning schedule this year was corn salsa (or corn relish, if you prefer). Skelly’s Farm Market, a local farm stand, is selling the sweetest, juiciest sweet corn right now and …
My husband, beet lover that he is, put our beet seeds in the ground in late March. We just harvested the bulk of them about a week ago (early July) and oh, what a harvest it was! Beets are so good for you – they’re …
Take your pick of tomatoes and see what you like. For this, I prefer a beefy red or Roma, but I have mixed in some fruity heirlooms with good results. Cherry tomatoes are really great for this also – just cut them in half, to help release their juices. You’ll have to play around with what you like. Also – feel free to mix up the cheese: Parmesan works great, of course, but a little cubed, fresh mozzarella adds a creaminess to it. A spoonful or two of ricotta also works beautifully.
As far as the pasta itself, I tend to make this with whatever I have on hand, whether it’s fresh or dried, though I’d stay away from anything too heavy, such as rigatoni. Two things that really make this work best are this: let the sauce sit for at least an hour at room temperature. This gives the salt time to work its magic on the tomatoes and helps them release their juices. The second thing is to add the sauce immediately to the hot, drained pasta, which ensures the oil becomes smooth and the cheese and tomatoes heat up and soften. Seems simple enough, right? It is!
This is definitely not a “measure it out” dish – if you like more garlic, add more. If you like more tomato, add more. If you like more basil, or cheese, or oil, add more. If you want a bit of kick, add a few crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce before it rests. You’ll find what you like and works for you. The recipe below contains my best “guesstimate” measures since I literally throw this together in about 10 minutes. This is truly an easy summertime recipe. Enjoy.
In a large bowl, mix everything but the pasta together. Set aside, at room temperature, for at least one hour. After an hour, you’ll notice that the tomatoes have released their juices and the sauce is much saucier than when you started. Cook pasta and drain. Immediately add tomato sauce and stir well. See how simple and easy that was? This is a great weeknight recipe and also perfect for a meatless Monday dish. If you want another no-cook pasta sauce recipe check out my Lemon, Basil and Parmesan recipes here and here.
Happy cooking and Happy Independence Day! Let the fireworks begin!
There’s not been much time for blogging for this girl lately. First there was painting, to get ready for new living room furniture. Then veggie gardening, followed by flower gardening. And in between, I’ve been working on refinishing a cool side table I found at …