Simple tomato and zucchini bake

Being raised in a big city I was really surprised to find out that there were places like Utah or Idaho where people wouldn't lock their cars or the door to their houses. In a way it was really refreshing to see the trust and honesty that still existed in the world. At the same time it was always amusing to meet people shocked at having something stolen when their car door was unlocked. Fortunately, that rarely happened. But... 

I was warned it was particularly dangarous to leave your car door door unlocked in late Summer and early Autumn. The careless car owners on their return could be faced with danger of having their vehicles stuffed with unwanted zucchini. Both Utah and Idaho have a good climate for growing zucchini and the plant can flourish to the point when desperate gardeners have no clue what to do with their harvest.

The tomato and zucchini bake has nothing to do with the two states. It actually comes from Provence, the sun-drenched home of lavender fields. The French, just like the Italians, know how to enjoy good food. Their dishes range from Haute Cuisine to simple, yet flavourful peasant food. Even though I marvel at the high fashion edible creations, it is the simple, every-day recipes that I prefer. 

The tomato and zucchini bake is as simple as it sounds. It could very well be Italian. In fact, if you're not a fan of the Provencal herb mix you can substitute it for dried basil, maybe some oregano, or try spicing it up with some chilli flakes. It won't be really the same dish anymore, but who knows, maybe it will be even better? Whatever you do just remember, lock your car.

Ingredients:

1 large onion
1-2 garlic cloves chopped
500g/1lb and some zucchini
500g/1lb and some tomatoes
1Tbsp plus some olive oil 
1tsp Provencal herb mix
2-3Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cut the onion in half and slice thinly. Heat up the oil, add the onion and garlic and saute on low heat for about 20 minutes. Stir it every once in a while. It shouldn't turn brown, just a touch of gold.

Start heating up your oven to 175C/350F. While the onion is sauteing you have time to wash and cut the zucchini and tomatoes into slices, about 0.5cm thick (1/5in). 

When the onions are done transfer them to a baking dish and spread evenly on the bottom. Place in rows zucchini and tomatoes. Sprinkle it all with Provencal herb mix, parmesan cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle it lightly with some olive oil (just a touch) and place in the oven.

Bake 25 minutes. It is best served warm.

This recipe serves 4. If you don't like garlic you can omit it. If you don't have fresh garlic (or you forget to saute it with the onion) you can use garlic powder on top of the tomatoes.

Chocolate-banana bread

The end of August in Poland can be a strange time of the year. Days are getting shorter and can be drawn out with rain and overcast skies. But even when the sun is out and it's quite warm outside, you can feel the cold slowly creeping into homes. You can already sense the Autumn approaching, you can smell it in the morning air. A day like this calls for something warm, and sweet, something you can savour with a cup of cocoa. Like a slice or two of banana bread.

I think banana bread is one of the first things that come to my mind when I think of American cuisine. I know that many think it's an oxymoron to even call any cuisine American. Personally I have many fond memories involving food from my stay in the United States. And even though in my everyday cooking I favour Italian or French recipes, there's a special place in my heart and taste buds for flavours of the Promised Land, especially desserts.

Banana bread is a great example of comfort food. It's soft, fragrant with fruit, sweet, and feels of home. Probably every mother has her own special recipe that has been passed from generation to generation. Its goodness comes in part from its simplicity. You can vary your recipe with chocolate chips, chopped nuts or raisins. My 'secret' ingredient is grated chocolate. The tiny particles of brown gold melt into the bread making it incredibly moist and just a tad sweeter.

I think banana bread is one of the easiest cakes to make. The preparation itself isn't time consuming and I think it would take a lot of effort to actually mess it up. It's usually baked in loaf tins, but in the past I have baked it in square tins, muffin tins, basically whatever I had on hand at the time. You will notice that a warm loaf has a tendency to disappear rather quickly. Since it freezes really well it makes perfect sense to bake 2 or three loaves once you're already making it.  You just need to multiply the recipe. If you don't have enough tins you can use aluminum tins. Once the bread is cool just put it in a freezer bag and it can stay there for a couple of months. I usually slice mine first before freezing. This way I can just take one or two slices out, without the need to defrost a whole loaf. It defrosts rather quickly, but if you don't want to wait just put it in a microwave for a minute and it should be nice and warm again. Which also makes it a perfect emergency cake in case of unexpected guests. 

Bananas that are very ripe with brown spots are supposed to be best for banana bread, but I usually make it with regular yellow bananas and there isn't really any difference in the taste. They just might be a bit tougher to mash up with a fork.

Ingredients:

100g/3.5oz chocolate, milk or semi sweet, grated
100g/3.5oz butter
3 bananas
2 eggs
220g/1 1/2cup all purpose flour
220g/ 1 cup sugar
1tsp baking soda 
1/2tsp salt

Start with lining the tin with baking parchment. Next, melt the butter so it has time to cool while you're doing all the rest.

Set your oven to 160C/320F and let it heat up while you're making the batter.

Peel the bananas and mash them up with a fork in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients, except chocolate and mix it all for a minute with a hand mixer. Add the chocolate and mix it until it's all blended in.

Transfer the batter to the tin, smooth out the top and put in the oven. 

Bake for 1 hour. If your oven  tends to burn the top, take the bread out after 20-30 minutes, cover with aluminum foil and return to the oven. You want the top to be brown and not burnt.

Place it on a wire rack to cool down a bit, then take it out of the loaf tin and leave it to cool all the way down... if you can resist.

If you're going to grate chocolate by hand put it in the freezer first. It  won't melt as fast in your hands. If you can, use an electric grater, it's quicker and less messy.

Make sure you line your tin with some baking parchment. It will make getting the loaf out of the tin a breeze. To line the tin place it on a piece of parchment paper and trace its shape with a pencil. Cut it out and slip inside.

Fusilli lunghi with leeks and bacon

Children are always told not to play with their food. There are foods though that just seem to be asking to be played with. I think fusilli lunghi fall into that category. If I were to give it an English name it would have to be something like Goldy Locks or telephone cords. And they are even more fun when they are cooked.

Fusilli lunghi originate from Campania, which is probably one of the more beautiful regions of Italy. Campania is full of tourist destinations like Naples, Pompeii, Capri or Amalfi Coast, to name a few. It's also rich in culinary traditions and home to many famous dishes, including pizza. The name of fusilli lunghi more or less means long pasta that has been span around a rod. Traditionally it was supposed to be span manually around a knitting needle. 

There are two types of fusilli lunghi: the regular ones, used in this recipe and fusilli lunghi bucati with a hole in the middle (buco means 'hole'). Because it is a bit thicker than your regular spaghetti, the cooking time is also a bit longer, 13-14 minutes. There are several brands that offer fusilli lunghi, and quite a few can be purchased from online stores (try Amazon). I used Garofalo, a brand from Campania, which turned out be a really good choice. 

Now about the recipe itself. Leeks are less intense than onions and the addition of sugar really smooths out the flavour of both. The bacon doesn't have to be the Italian pancetta, just find some that will be like pancetta. And if you can buy it already cut in cubes, then by all means, do! 

This recipe is for 3-4 people. The preparation time is about 45 minutes. If you think it will not be enough for a full meal you can serve it with a meat of your choice. I really enjoyed it with some steamed fish.

Ingredients:

320g/12oz fusilli lunghi

1Tbsp butter

1Tbsp olive oil

1 onion (medium size) chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

170g/6oz pancetta (or similar bacon) cut into small cubes

4 large leeks

250ml/1cup of boiling water

salt and pepper

2 egg yolks

dash of sugar

parmesan to sprinkle on top

Discard about two outer layers from your leeks. Wash them and cut off the root part and most of the green part.

Chop the onions and garlic cloves. I hate chopping onions, since they make me really tear up, so I just put mine in a small food processor, along with garlic. Just a couple of seconds and it's all finely chopped. 

Put butter and olive oil in a pot and heat up on medium. Add the onion and garlic and saute on medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring a couple of times so it doesn't burn. Next add the bacon, give it a stir and continue cooking for couple of minutes. You don't want the bacon to get crispy.

While your onion and bacon are sauteing slice leeks into thin wheels. This would be a good time to put the kettle on for your boiling water. If you are afraid you can't multitask and watch over onions and bacon and slice at the same time, start your work with leeks first. 

Transfer the leeks to the pot with onions and bacon, add the boiling water and simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. The leeks should be very soft. Start boiling water for pasta now. Now you also have a couple of minutes to clean up a bit.

Separate the egg yolks and mix them with a dash of sugar. Check your leeks. If they are already tender season them with salt and pepper. Add the egg yolks stirring the whole time. Remove from heat. If your pasta is not ready yet, cover it to keep the sauce warm.

Drain pasta, put back in the pot, add the sauce and toss well together. Transfer to plates and sprinkle with parmesan. If you want to be more elegant feel free to use a serving dish.

If your sauce seems to have a bit too  much liquid drain the pasta 1-2 minutes before the end of the cooking time suggested, transfer it to the pot with the sauce and continue cooking for the remaining time. It should absorb most of the extra liquid. Also, if you're not going to use all the sauce you can heat it uo the next day and serve it with freshly cooked pasta.

Pipe rigate with spinach and gorgonzola

Pipe rigate! Don't you just love how those words roll down your tongue, tripping on the 'p' just to pick up speed at the 'r' and announce their goodness to the world? Unless you pronounce them with an American Accent. Then they just slowly saunter to your table and ask, 'You want some ketchup with those fries?'

Pipe rigate originate from central Italy, most likely the Roman area of Lazio. I like to think this is the reason why they are so versatile in how they can be served. A bit more relaxed than they would be had they come from the North. 

If you are a glutton for sauce, or just like to indulge a little, this just might become the pasta of your choice. Because of its shape, with a wider opening on one end and a whistle-like on the other, it's perfect for sauces, even those that might be a bit too fluid for other types of pasta (i.e. spaghetti). Each piece envelopes the creamy goodness delivering each drop for your enjoyment. 

The cooking time is about 10 minutes and will vary with different brands. I like to use Barilla, which is one of my favourites for some sentimental reasons as well as culinary value. Plus, I have always liked their elegant packaging. And you know, dove c'e' Barilla c'e' casa.

I like my parsley just torn and not finely chopped to get an actual bite from it.

Ingredients:

320g/12oz  pipe rigate (80g per person)
300ml/1 1/4 cup light cream (12%)
90-100g/3-4oz gorgonzola piccante
225g/ 1/2lb frozen spinach
about 2 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped or torn)
salt and pepper 
parmesan to sprinkle on top

Start with the spinach. If you don't have much time for cooking plan ahead and take it out to defrost in the morning or leave it in the fridge to thaw overnight. Just make sure you put it in something, like the actual pot you're going to be using, since there will be plenty liquid coming out of it. 

Start boiling water for pasta. In the time the water comes to boil and the pasta cooks, you will finish preparing everything else.

Put spinach in a pot with the liquid and simmer on medium, stirring every once in a while for about 5 minutes.  You want all the liquid to evaporate. If there's too much liquid just pour it out and return to stove.

In another pot place the gorgonzola, diced into smaller pieces, and melt stirring on low heat. Add the cream and mix well with the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and let it come to boil, and then turn the heat off. Transfer spinach  to the cream mixture and combine well.

By now your pasta should be already cooked. Drain it well and transfer back to the pot. Pour in the sauce and mix well. Place on plates, sprinkle with parsley and parmesan. 

Now, if you absolutely hate spinach and are positively unwilling to try it (it's not strong at all in this dish) you can skip it and just use the gorgonzola and cream. 

This should serve 4, but if you're hungry, it might only serve 2 or 3. Also, if you are single or a couple, you can save half the sauce in a container (in the fridge). You can reheat the sauce and mix with freshly cooked pasta and it will taste just as good the next day or the day after the next.