It finally got to be summer and the tomatoes starting ripening in batches big enough to cook. I was reminiscing about cooking classes in Barcelona and Tuscany and started to poke around for recipes...The first recipe I found was from Osteria La Gramola (http://www.gramola.it/)...happy days in the restaurant kitchen with Cecilia guiding us, while Massimo kept us in wine and olive oil and grappa, and their son baked amazing bread. We made pappa al pomodoro with the ingredients in the center picture. Simply saute the finely minced leek, garlic and chili until brown then add tomatoes that have been through the food mill. Cook it for about an hour and season with salt, pepper and basil. Add thinly sliced stale bread and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the liquid is gone...easy and amazingly delicious.
The Barcelona recipes are MIA, but the memories are still wonderful (http://www.cookandtaste.net/) …paella, crema catalan, wine (of course) and gazpacho. Instead I found a recipe in My Kitchen in Spain; Janet Mendel doesn’t just give the recipe, she tells the story. Gazpacho is much like that of pappa – it was peasant food created out of what was available and needed to be used. I used bread in mine and red bell pepper instead of green. The trimmed bread crusts made fresh croutons; joining the croutons were diced cucumbers and swirl of peppery olive oil. The ingredients are similar, bread, tomatoes, and garlic, but the tastes and textures couldnot be more different. Try them both.
For the third installment and the first picture, I cooked up a pot of linguine. While that was on the boil, I diced an assortment of the you know whats – pineapple heirlooms, cherry heirlooms and yellow grapes. Into a dish with finely chopped garlic, a splash of balsamic, a bigger splash of olive oil, s & p, and chiffonade of a healthy sprig of basil. I let the heat of the linguine take care of the “cooking” so this meal was out of the garden and on the table in less than ½ hour…sweet!
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