Roasted Pepper and Tomato Chimichurri Bruschetta

Each Thursday this summer I have joined my coworkers at the beach to listen to the free concerts and generally hang out.  Sometimes, I make food and sometimes I don't. This last week was a big event though. We decided to have a bruschetta buffet and my coworker Mey and I cooked for them.

Bruschetta is a great appetizer idea that keeps you relatively full because you eat it on bread. Our spread had 5 different kinds of bruschetta--Sunset Peach, Traditional, Olive Tapenade, Strawberry Caprese, and of course, roasted pepper and tomato chimichurri.  We served all this on little toast crackers, wheat thins and small slices of hearty bread.

There were a couple of tomato-haters at our picnic and even they liked this bruschetta because it was so flavorful you hardly noticed the tomatoes.

Ingredients:
2 bunches cilantro
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 T olive oil
salt
1t hot pepper flakes, divided
2 bell peppers (I used orange)
3 medium yellow tomatoes
1/2 C cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:
1. If you have a gas stove, turn on the burner and place peppers directly on the burner. Roast about 10 minutes, turning with tongs until each side is charred. Be sure to watch these a little so they don't set on fire.
2. Meanwhile, chop tomatoes into bite sized pieces
3. When the peppers are done, place them in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit 5 minutes. The steam will make the skin easy to peel off
4. Use a paper towel and your fingers to peel peppers, remove stems and seeds and cut into pieces about the same size as the tomatoes
5. Make the chimichurri - In a small chopper (if you use this, do two batches) or food processor combine cilantro (you can use stems and leaves or just leaves here--I used just the tops), garlic, olive oil and salt to taste. Blend until a paste forms.
6. Stir chimichurri with peppers and tomatoes and let it chill until ready to serve--or you can serve it right away.
*I found that there were lots of juices from the tomatoes which I drained off before refrigerating

CrockPot Spaghetti Sauce

Let's be honest, there are tons of way to make a quick red pasta sauce for dinner. It might take an hour at most and with the real cheater methods it can take as little as 5 minutes. But recently, I had some leftover chuck roast that needed to be cooked and I was tired of the braised meats like pot roast and short ribs and wanted something Italian. Chuck roast has to be cooked long to be tender and delicious. So I decided to use the crockpot to make a chuck roast spaghetti sauce.

If you like your spaghetti sauce with ground meat in it you'll find this is a little strange. If you're one of those people who has your own meat grinder though; you could potentially grind your chuck. Or you could just use ground beef or sausage if you're trying to use up your beef. The sauce turned out pretty good for simmering away in the crock pot all day--passable for leftovers.

The dish is more like an Italian strogonoff except without mushrooms. The fresh beet fettuccine I used also played off the strogonoff feel by tasting a lot more like egg noodles than bold pasta flavor.

So the age old question - Can you make spaghetti sauce in the crockpot? has been answered. Yes.

Oh and did I mention that I cheated even in the actual making? This a true set it and forget it meal.

Ingredients
1 jar (20oz) favorite marinara pasta sauce
1 lb chuck roast, cubed
1 Can whole tomatoes in juice, torn into pieces
2 cloves garlic, smashed and separated into pieces
salt
1t crushed red pepper
1 1/2 t Italian seasoning
1 t tomato paste
pasta, for serving

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except pasta in the slow cooker.
2. Set cooker for 8-9 hours on low (I did 9 and it warmed for 3 and then shut off).
3. Around the end of the cook time, boil water and cook pasta
4. Serve with pasta

Fresh Tomato Soup

My mom and her friend Moira have been making this fresh tomato soup at the height of the season for as long as I can remember. We've always had a surplus of tomatoes from my Grandpa's farm and this is one way to use lots. My mom never makes just one recipe, she doubles or triples the recipe and freezes the soup for a touch of summer in the cold winter months that follow.

The soup is very fresh tasting and really tastes like a bowl of tomatoes at the best time. I love the freshness and delicious flavors with a little Parmesan melted on top. If you have too many tomatoes, make this, you won't regret it.

Ingredients:

Blend these together in the food processor:
4 large carrots, peeled
4 stalks celery
3 medium onions

----------------------

1 green pepper, diced by hand
14 large ripe tomatoes, peeled
1/4 C. olive oil and 1/4 C. butter...or 1/2 C. olive oil
1/2 C. finely chopped fresh parsley (use food processor)
1 bay leaf
18 leaves fresh basil (more or less according to taste)
salt (according to taste), approximately 1 T.
freshly ground pepper to taste
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese - for serving

Directions
Heat oil (and butter) in heavy pan. Cook carrots, celery, onion, and green pepper in oil 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, and continue cooking over moderate heat 25-30 minutes. Stir in parsley, bay leaf, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes. Blend slightly with immersion blender. Serve hot, sprinkled liberally with Parmesan cheese. This recipe freezes well.

Fresh Tomato Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust

Tastespotting, is a picture food blog that I browse whenever I am hungry. Recently, while browsing, I came across Ezra Poundcake's recipe for Fresh Tomato tart. I had been seeing lots of tarts lately and was eager to give it a try. Furthermore, it is tomato season, and I have recently found this heirloom tomato seller at the Farmer's Market for good prices.

I decided that it would be a smart idea to make the dough and the actual tart on different days. Pie crust (or in this case tart) is not my strongest subject. The dough, however, was pretty easy. However, they say it is ready when it forms a ball. This recipe calls for 4 T of water but mine formed a ball after only 2 T. Not knowing what to do, I added the additional water and my dough was somewhat of a sticky mess by the end. Probably I should've stopped at 2. After refrigeration, however, the dough was back to normal.

Rolling out the dough, also a weak subject, was really hard. Again the dough became a sticky mess. I ended up finally getting it by rolling the dough between two well floured pieces of plastic wrap and then getting in the tart pan.

This dish was absolutely fabulous when I tasted it after 5 minutes from the oven. The flavors highly depend on good tomatoes, but it is worth it. This is not enough for a full meal but would make a superb appetizer or bread side with roast chicken...or anything else really. After being in the refrigerator, the quality suffers a little but the flavors are still there. I recommend eating it all the first night.

Basil - Garlic Tart Dough
Ingredients:
1/3 C fresh basil
1 clove garlic
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
8 T unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
4-5 T ice water

Directions:
1. Process basil and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine.
2. Add butter and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs.
3. Add water 1 T at a time while pulsing until the mixture forms a ball
4. Flatten dough into a 5 inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour (I put my plastic-wrapped dough in a ziploc bag and refrigerated it for 3 days).

Fresh Tomato Tart
Ingredients:
1 recipe Basil-Garlic Tart Dough
8 oz sliced mozzarella
1 pound tomatoes, cored and cut crosswise into thin slices (I don't know how to core an heirloom tomato so I cut some in chunks, but the ones in slices were way prettier
Salt and pepper
1 T extra virgin olive oil
10 inch tart pan with removable bottom (my tart pan is 9.5 inches and worked fine)

Directions:
1. Butter the tart pan. Roll out dough into 12 inch circle and press into the tart pan, refrigerate if your kitchen is hot until needed.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Line the bottom of the tart pan with cheese slices
4. Place a ring of tomatoes around the outside of the pan and another inner circle until all cheese is topped with tomatoes
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oil
6. Bake until crust is golden brown (it looks a little green from the basil) and cheese is starting to brown--about 35-40 minutes. Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving

Tomatoes and Avocados

My sister Debbie delivered some homegrown tomatoes from Indiana and I used a couple to make a delicious salad for our dinner - sorry there are no pictures since we gobbled this down too quickly.

Layer sliced tomatoes and sliced avocados on a platter. Sprinkle with some Italian dressing and then scatter fresh basil on top.