Week 34 - RED PEPPER PESTO

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week -- 5 December 2005

Breakfast – Toast with honey.
Lunch – Cheese and sprout sandwich.
Dinner – Pasta with Red Pepper Pesto.

RED PEPPER PESTO
Traditionally, we think of pesto made with basil and pine nuts. But technically, a pesto is any smooth blend usually made with garlic, olive oil and cheese. This is delicious and freezes well. I buy local hothouse red peppers in summer and freeze a few batches for the winter months.

several cloves of roasted garlic (see note below)
2 red peppers, roasted and peeled (see note below)
3-4T oil
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1T blue cheese
fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Mix everything in a blender until smooth. Taste and adjust the flavour ingredients to your taste.

Note: To roast garlic, cut a slice off the top of a whole bulb of garlic, smother the cut surface with olive oil, wrap in tinfoil and bake in hot oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Roasted garlic is nuttier and smoother than raw garlic. It keeps well wrapped in tinfoil and goes nicely in a pasta sauce, omelet or wherever you would put garlic. To prepare the red peppers, broil in the oven, turning to blacken every surface. (Be careful to char just the skin and not the flesh.) Put hot peppers in a paper bag until cool enough to handle. Peel the charred skin off the flesh and discard along with the seeds.

Week 21 - RATATOUILLE

Menu of the Week -- 9 September 2005

Breakfast – Baguette with tomato.
Dinner – Corn-on-the-cob.
Dinner – Baked trout. Ratatouille.

RATATOUILLE
This dish is a taste of southern France. (Pronounced rat-a-TOO-yee.) It’s good hot or cold. It can be served as a side dish or as a salad with crusty bread. And best of all, it has zucchini! (Did I mention that zucchini is my favourite summer vegetable?) Try ratatouille next to a grilled pork chop or serve with Ricotta Pie (recipe at Week 9). In some versions of this recipe, the vegetables are each cooked separately and mixed together just before serving.

1/2 cup olive oil
a few cloves of garlic
2 pounds of vegetables including: onion, eggplant, red pepper, tomatoes and zucchini (about equal amounts of each).
1T fresh thyme and basil (or lesser amount of dried)
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet. Cook the sliced onion slowly until soft. Slice and/or chop the other vegetables and add to the skillet (except zucchini). Cook until the vegetables release their liquid. Turn up the heat and boil off most of the liquid. Add zucchini and herbs. Simmer until the zucchini is cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste. To serve, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with basil leaves.

Week 6 - PIPERADE

Saskatchewan Menu of the Week - May 21.

Breakfast – Yogurt with preseved apples.
Lunch – Bread with mustard and sliced tomato.
Dinner – Piperade.

Piperade
Here’s a great French egg dish called Pipérade. From May to December, I can find every ingredient produced locally.

1 small green or red pepper (or both), sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup cooked ham or smoked pork, small dice
fresh basil leaves (or dried)
1 tomato, chopped
6 eggs

Sauté the pepper, onion and garlic in 2 tbsp of the butter until soft. Stir in the ham, tomatoes and basil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook through, place in a small bowl and keep warm.

Melt the other 2 tbsp of butter in the skillet. Mix the eggs and pour into the pan. Cook, stirring now and then, until the eggs begin to set. Spread the pepper mixture on top and cook until the eggs are done to your liking. (I prefer them soft and moist.) Serve in wedges garnished with a bit of fresh basil.

Sources: Bennett eggs; vegetables from the farmers' market.