easy summer cooking

It's July and around here that means the summer produce is just starting to kick into high gear. This year, in addition to our weekly farm share with The Barefoot Farmer, we also have our own little veggie garden that is starting to show lots of promise. We've picked our first cucumbers-- all 3 of them over 16 inches long!



...and a beautiful green bell pepper, and the tomatoes that I've been able to save from the birds are just starting to ripen in all of their pink, luscious glory. We've eaten one so far and while my organic heirloom tomato plants bought from Eaton's Creek are producing fewer tomatoes than probably most conventional plants you can buy at Home Depot, each one is worth its weight in gold.

So fixing something for dinner in the summer months becomes a sort of game that most days I enjoy playing. What can I do with all of this produce so fresh it needs to be enjoyed NOW, like the lettuce we get from the farmer, or the gigantic basil leaves that are taking over the garden.

The cucumbers got eaten sliced thinly and sprinkled with salt on a piece of toast spread with goat cheese. I could think of no better way to enjoy the freshly picked monster cukes. I shared some with neighbors to show off my gardening skills. But for the most part, my garden is not about huge quantities, but the quality is outstanding. And my herbs are doing amazingly well. The one thing I always include in every meal in the summer are fresh herbs from the garden: rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, chives and Italian parsley.



I made pizza dough one night and we ate margherita pizzas hot out of the oven with fresh mozzarella, my quick tomato sauce and basil from the garden.



And one night I made a lasagne with what I had on hand: local shitake mushrooms from Delvin Farms, my basil again, and summer squash and leeks from the farmers. It was a light summer version of my usual lasagne bolognese. It also made a great lunch cold the next day.







And, then there was this version of a ratatouille--100% local, even the garlic--with everything I had gotten from the farm share that week thrown in: onions, garlic, baby carrots, dark green celery, summer squash, fresh thyme, basil and a couple of tomatoes thrown in at the end. Eaten as is, or scooped onto a piece of crusty Tuscan bread and drizzled with olive oil, it was like summer in one pot.



And it's so simple. Just coarsely chop everything and lightly sautée each veggie on its own, aromatics first, then the squash or zucchini, cook with the lid on for only about 15 min. as veggies this fresh don't need much cooking time, then throw in the chopped tomatoes, cook 5 min. more, and finally, the herbs and give it one stir. It's one of the best ways I know to enjoy the bounty of summer in the simplest preparation possible. Easy summer cooking doesn't get any better than this!

Crostata di marmellata

There is something so simple about Italian desserts. If I come across a new "Italian" dessert cookbook and the recipes call for multi-stage cake baking or lots of hard-to-find ingredients I know it's not really Italian. Because in my experience, the Italians are fans of homemade, rustic desserts. The ones your nonna used to make. And those are the same ones that Italians repeat over and over at home, as well as the ones you will find in a good Italian pasticceria.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are regions in Italy where pastry is a tradition involving skill, artistry and technique, rivaling that of the French pastry tradition. These are mostly in the South - cities like Naples, Palermo and Siracusa in Sicily.


like this beautiful Sicilian cassata (image from www.on_sicily.com)

But in the rest of Italy, pastry is not an elevated tradition, but more a tradition of simplicity and seasonality.


crostata di marmellata and torta della nonna in a pastry shop window


pan di spagna (chocolate cream cake) made by Carla, my Tuscan friend/cook

That is why this 'torta di marmellata' speaks volumes to me about Italian desserts. It's not overly sweet, nor is it ostentations or decorative. If this were art history, it would be Medieval rather than Baroque. It says "anyone can make this," or "just use whatever fruit is growing in your backyard," or "give me an espresso and a piece of crostata and I will give you perfection.


getting a little fancier but still rustic crostate

So I first learned of the crostata (Italy's version of pie you could say) while hosting my good friend Betty Bottoni (yes, that's Betty Buttons) on her first visit to the U.S. to see me. We met in 1997 in Urbino where she was studying journalism and I was passing through after helping direct a study abroad program in Perugia. We became fast friends and she invited me and a few other straggling foreigners to her apartment for dinner that night where her mother, visiting from her town in Lazio near Rome, cooked what was probably a fabulous meal in the tiniest kitchen imaginable. Betty's mom is a wonderful Italian home cook. I have learned a lot from her over the years.

In fact, I am sure that Betty's crostata probably hails from her mother's kitchen, one in which there is always a jar or two of homemade jam left from the previous summer. (Right now I have a jar of grape-strawberry in the fridge and my favorite, fichi-cacao (chocolate fig) in my cupboard from the last visit to Rome. Betty's mother always sends me home with marmellata and various other jars of homemade goodies.

You get the idea. The real Italian sweets, the kind your mom makes, are made with whatever you have on hand, which is why so many of them involve seasonal fruit. And always, a short crust, or 'pasta frolla'- heavy on the butter, light on the sugar.

There are as many recipes for the pastry as there are for pie crust, varying only slightly, so go with what works in your kitchen. But here is one I return to again and again, given to me by Betty so many years ago. It's still written in Italian so forgive the estimations on equivalents. Like I said, it's not so much about precision as it is presentation. Take this to a party and people will think you're an expert baker.

La crostata di Betty

pastry:

1 1/2 sticks (12 T) chilled unsalted butter
1/4 c sugar
1 egg and 1 yolk
2 cups a.p. flour
pinch of salt
2 T cold water

filling:
1 1/2 cups jam (or fresh fruit if available)
1 t finely grated lemon peel
1/2 t almond extract
powdered sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Mix as you would pie crust, divide in half, wrap in plastic and chill at least one hour, up to one day. Roll dough out on floured surface, transfer to 9-in tart pan, or whatever you have, and press into sides. Stir jam or (cooked fruit), lemon and almond extract in bowl to blend. Spoon filling into crust in pan. Roll out remaining dough and cut into strips. Arrange them on top any way you like. Seal strips to crust and trim edges. Bake tart at 350 until golden, about 50 min. Can be made a day ahead. Cover and serve at room temp.