Thursday, July 23, 2009

Toasted pasta with kale pesto and grilled vegetables and sausage

The sun actually came out for a few days, so I was able to do some more grilling.

But first, the pesto. You'll need to toast some walnuts.
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Next, simmer chopped kale and stems for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
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Toss the walnuts in a food processer with some garlic, and chop them up. Drain kale, and add to the mix.
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Season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, parmesan, and, in this case, mint. Add olive oil while it's running until it reaches the texture you want.
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So, for the grilling: What you see here are summer squash, zucchini, and scapes (baby garlic shoots, essentially).
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Break out the grill pan, and char the scapes.
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Do the same for the squash…
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…and the sausage.
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Ok, we're almost done. Cook pasta until fairly "al dente". They'll finish off cooking later. NOTE: Normally, I use orecchiette, but the stupid grocery store didn't have any. What you see here are medium-sized shells.
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In a large pan, add a decent amount of olive oil over high heat, and when smoking, add the pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.
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Remove excess oil, and add the roasted bits.
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At the last minute, add the pesto, and let it warm through.
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Serve with more cheese!
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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Swiss Chard with Sausage Stuffing

The Farmer's Market is officially open. So, grab some Chard, and trim & dice the stem. Blanch the leaves for 30 seconds in boiling water, then shock them in ice water and let dry.

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Tear some bread into tiny chunks, and moisten them with a bit of milk.

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Fry up some Italian sausage. Shown here: a mix of hot and sweet.

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Chop onion and garlic, and sauté with the chard stems.

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Add the whole thing to the bread mixture.

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Throw in a beaten egg.

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Put some of the mix into the wide end of a chard leaf, and roll it up into a pouch. Repeat.

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Place the rolls into a Dutch oven.

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Drizzle some olive oil over the tops, and add some stock to keep them moist. Roast them, uncovered at 350 for about half an hour.

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Serve with, I dunno, the quinoas and corn salad I made a while back.

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