Warm Cream of Tomato Soup

This may be one of the easiest soups in the world and one of the few places where spaghetti sauce in a jar works beautifully.

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 large onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 cup red wine
1 48-ounce jar good-quality, non-meat spaghetti sauce
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juices
½ cup finely chopped fresh basil or 2 tablespoons dried
Note: Save out a little of the fresh, if you are using it, for garnish before serving
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the butter in a soup pot. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until they are golden.
2. Pour in the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, and half of the fresh or dried basil; simmer very slowly uncovered for 1 hour.
4. Add the half and half and the heavy cream; continue to simmer over low heat for a few more minutes. Do not let the soup boil. Add the remaining fresh or dried basil, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Ladle into soup bowls, sprinkle with the fresh basil, and serve immediately.

10 servings
Adapted from Joan Nathan’s The New American Cooking

Bacon-Tomato-Corn Ragout with Creamy Polenta

My sweetheart, Katherine, is a great fan of one-dish meals. Or rather one-plate meals. She is after all the  dishwasher in the household and her job is made considerably easier with a one plate dinner. Some pots and pans, of course, but not as many, and two plates which can be tucked into the dishwasher without much fuss. More importantly, though, I think that her spirit is nourished by a meal that is less complicated, by one dish with abundant flavor, such as the Bacon-Tomato-Corn Ragout that follows, on a bed of something soothing and comforting, in this case Creamy Polenta. It is straightforward and delicious. And that’s it.

10 thick bacon slices, cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces
Note: Buy the best you can like Niman Ranch or a good local producer
2 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat
2 medium onions, sliced
Pinch of red pepper flakes or smoky hot paprika
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears) or frozen corn if you are desperate
7 Roma tomatoes, peeled if you want, seeded, cored and coarsely chopped
Note: I tried heirloom tomatoes. They were too juicy for this dish. If you want to use them, drain them really well before adding to the ragout.
½ cup chopped fresh basil
½ cup shredded basil for garnish, see instructions
Fleur de sel or other large grain finishing salt
One recipe of Creamy Polenta

1. In a medium skillet, cook the bacon pieces over low to medium-low heat, turning to achieve uniform crispness. Transfer to a paper towel to drain.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil or some bacon fat over medium heat. Add the onions and red pepper flakes or paprika, reduce the heat to medium-low and sauté until they are soft and amber, at least 20 minutes.
3. Add the corn, increase the heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and three-fourths of the bacon pieces and continue to cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add a little more bacon fat if you think the dish needs it for heightened flavor. Stir in the chopped basil.
4. Reheat the Creamy Polenta and make soft flat mounds in the middle of 4 warm plates. Spoon the ragout over the top. Sprinkle with the shredded basil, the remaining bacon pieces, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel or other salt.

4-5 Servings
Adapted from Sara Perry’s Everything Tastes Better with Bacon

Creamy Polenta

Pesto with Pasta

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more to grate at the table
Note: If you need to grate your Parmesan, do it first in the food processor before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
4 packed cups fresh basil leaves
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ cup pine nuts (you can substitute slivered almonds)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt to taste

1. Combine the cheese, basil, garlic, and nuts in a food processor and process until the mixture is well combined.
2. Add the melted butter with the motor running and up to 1/3 cup olive oil. You can also add a small amount of water if the pesto is too thick. It should drape nicely over a mound of pasta without being runny. Add salt to taste.
3. Serve with hot drained pasta. You can pass more cheese at the table.

4-6 servings
Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
Tasty with pesto and a perfect color on the plate.

Tomato Cheese Tart

Pie crust for a low-sided 12-inch pizza pan, partially baked and cooled, see recipe below
12 ounces Swiss, Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese (or other melting cheeses), cut in thin slices
2 or 3 large fresh tomatoes, cut into ½-inch slices
OR
7 medium Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (14 halves)
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
OR
3 tablespoons finely cut fresh basil, see instructions below
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse salt for garnish

1. Sprinkle the fresh tomato slices generously with salt and place them on a cake rack to drain for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towels.
OR
Drain the roasted tomatoes if they have been sitting in their accumulated liquid.
2. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
3. Arrange the cheese slices, slightly overlapping, in the bottom of the cooled crust and place the drained or roasted tomatoes side by side on top. Sprinkle with a few grindings of black pepper, the dried or 1 tablespoon fresh basil and the grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top of the tart is lightly browned. If the top isn’t quite brown enough, you can put the tart under the broiler for a minute or two, watching it carefully.
5. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of basil chiffonade just before serving. Serve hot or warm.

4-5 servings
Adapted from the Time Life Series Food of the World M.F.K. Fisher's The Cooking of Provincial France

How to Shred Basil (Chiffonade)

1. Stack the basil leaves on top of one another.

2. Roll them tightly lengthwise.

3. Cut the roll crosswise into tiny shreds.

 4. The end result should be a pleasing tangle of basil-y goodness.







  Pie Crust

For a 12-inch pizza pan with low sides:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut roughly into ½-inch pieces
7 tablespoons ice water or more if necessary

1. Combine the flour and salt in the container of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the ice water to the mixture. Pulse until you see the mixture coming together. If it doesn’t after a couple of additional pulses, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Dump the contents of the container onto a sheet of plastic wrap and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk; bring the plastic up around the dough to cover it completely. Either freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two or freeze it almost indefinitely.)
4. Sprinkle a smooth countertop or a large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle the top with a little flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest a few minutes to warm up just a little.
5. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. Continue to roll, adding a small amount of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. When the dough is about 1/8-inch thick, place your pan upside down over it to check the size. You want your circle of dough to be about 2-3 inches bigger than the pan it will go into.
6. If the size is correct, move the dough into the pan by folding the dough in half and placing the fold in the middle of the pan. Carefully unfold the dough and press it gently into the outer edge of the pan.
7. Trim the extra dough about 1 inch above the rim. Fold the dough above the rim in half (to ½ inch) and crimp with your fingers to make a decorative edge. With the scraps, you can fill in any part of the circle that’s missing.
8. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Partially Baked Pie Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Prick the dough all over with a fork to help prevent the crust from poufing. (You’ll see what I mean when it happens.)
3. Tear off two pieces of aluminum foil. Press the sheets crossed over each other to conform to the dough, especially on the sides. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or rice, pie weights, the bottom of a 12-inch spring-form pan or a tight-fitting skillet or saucepan—anything that will sit flat on the surface and hold the dough in place. Sometimes I just do the foil and don’t weight it with anything and it’s just fine. The pouf goes down.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven; remove the weights and foil. Prick the bottom, once again, with a fork.
5. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or so until the crust is just starting to turn a light brown and the bottom looks set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Cooking of Provincial France.

New Wave Salad with Red Wine Basil Vinaigrette

I am always seeking out one-dish meals. And this one is absolutely perfect for the end-of-season gorgeous crops of basil, tomatoes and green beans.

1½ cups Red Wine Basil Vinaigrette, see recipe below
1 pound tender green beans, stringed and cut into thirds
1 tablespoon olive oil
10-12 ounces dried fettuccine or linguine, broken in half
1 cup fresh basil leaves
6 ripe tomatoes, seeded, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, in one piece

1. Prepare the Red Wine Basil Vinaigrette.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the beans and simmer until just tender, about 5 minutes. Scoop out of the pot, leaving the boiling water. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and set aside.
3. In the same boiling water, add the oil and fettuccine and cook at a rolling boil until just tender. Drain, rise under cold water, and drain again. Turn out onto a clean dry dishtowel and pat dry. Place in a large serving bowl. Add ½ cup of the vinaigrette and toss well. Set aside.
4. Arrange the basil leaves in small stacks and roll them lengthwise. Slice the stacks diagonally into slivers. Or see instructions.
5. Cover the pasta with the green beans and tomatoes, followed by the black olives and slivered basil. Sprinkle with parsley and pour the remaining 1 cup vinaigrette over the salad. Toss gently.
6. Scrape the Parmesan with a vegetable peeler to make thin wide shavings. Place them on top of the salad. When serving, try to distribute a good mix of the ingredients on each plate. You may want to put the Parmesan and the peeler on the table so that you can serve yourself more if you’d like.

4 servings as a one-dish meal
Adapted from Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins’ The New Basics

Red Wine Basil Vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sugar
1 cup olive oil
½ cup slivered fresh basil leaves, see instructions
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Combine the garlic, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar in a small bowl and whisk well.
2. Add the oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly until the vinaigrette has thickened slightly. Fold in the basil and parsley. Taste for seasonings and adjust as you see fit.

Makes 1½ cups
Adapted from Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins’ The New Basics

Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella and Corn Salad with Basil

You can vary the amounts of these ingredients according to your taste and what you have on hand.

24 (8 ounces) bocconcini (small fresh mozzarella balls), drained
2 tablespoons O Meyer Lemon Oil
OR
2 tablespoons olive oil and zest of 1 lemon, see zesting photos if you need them
Kosher salt
Crushed red pepper flakes or smoky hot paprika
Freshly ground pepper
A small amount of fresh lemon juice, optional
1 (10-ounce) basket small cherry tomatoes, preferably in a mixture of colors
1 cup sweet corn kernels, cut and scraped from 1-2 medium ears
About 12 large fresh basil leaves

1. In a large bowl, toss the bocconcini with the oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon red pepper or smoky hot paprika (or to your taste if you like it spicy). Cover and marinate overnight. If you are pressed for time, as I often am, skip the overnight part and proceed with the recipe.
2. Bring the bocconcini to room temperature. Cut the tomatoes in half if they are too large. Gently stir in the tomatoes and corn and adjust the seasoning, adding the lemon juice if you want. The salad can be prepared to this point up to 1 hour ahead.
3. Stack the basil leaves, roll them, cut them into thin strips and scatter the chiffonade over the salad just before serving. Or see instructions.

6 servings
Adapted from Carrie Brown’s The Jimtown Store Cookbook