Italian Zucchini Pie

After instagramming the making of dinner this week, some you guys requested the recipe. It's been a while since I've posted on here anything food related, so I'm glad to remedy that. But I do post what I make for dinner several times a week on Instagram! Follow me @lattelove.

The best part of this particular recipe is that I was able to find half of the ingredients in my garden! (zucchini, onions, parsley and basil). Nothing like a recipe made with freshly picked produce from the backyard.



This is a family recipe from E's mom and I make it every summer because our garden produces SO many zucchinis. (Sometimes I like to switch up by shredding the zucchini instead of slicing it.)



Italian Zucchini Pie
1/4 c butter
4 cups of thinly sliced zucchini OR 2 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini (approx 1 1/4 lbs or 3 med zucchini)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
salt and pepper to taste

2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs

1 can of crescent roll dough

Melt butter over medium low heat and saute onions and zucchini for 8-12 minutes (6-8 if using shredded zucchini), adding garlic half way through.

While that's cooking, chop up your herbs and set them aside. In a mixing bowl lightly beat the eggs with a fork, and stir in the shredded cheese. Preheat oven to 375.

Remove onions and zucchini from heat and stir in herbs, salt and pepper. Spray a pie pan with cooking spray and unroll each crescent roll as if it were a pie slice, gently pressing the pieces together to make a crust.

Pour the zucchini mixture into the bowl with the eggs and cheese and combine well. Pour mixture into crescent pie crust and bake for 3540 minutes at 375.

Slice up and serve with arugula salad and a glass of your favorite vino!

Cooking, and a great lasagna recipe

I love to cook. 

This statement makes both my mother-in-law and my mom look at me quizzically and say "It won't last long!" or "why?!".

I grew up in a household with a reluctant cook. My mom isn't at her best in the kitchen, and while she made dinner most nights of my childhood, she never has really enjoyed it. (And she admits this freely. and has lots of other wonderful talents! love you, mom.)
Anyway, I grew up with a pretty limited cooking repertoire, mostly casseroles and dishes with minimal ingredients and boring spices, which left me with a blank slate when I entered my own kitchen. Early on in my marital cooking adventures I discovered epicurious.com, allrecipes.com, and The Pioneer Woman, and from there - dozens of food blogs. A whole world was opened up to me and as I began to see food as a creative expression rather than just basic sustenance, I started to love it. I bought and used spices and ingredients (and cheeses!) I'd previously never heard of, cooked all kinds of ethnic foods, and *gasp* even started experimenting without using a recipe.

Now when I get home from work I kick off my shoes, put on an apron and start chopping, sauteing, or roasting - it's easily one of the most relaxing times of my day (even more so with a glass of wine for company!). The kitchen has been my haven, my retreat after a long day.

Before you roll your eyes at my waxing poetic about my love of cooking - please know that I fail often. Oh, the flops. E and I have worked out a system for avoiding hurt feelings in those situations. When he loves a meal, he asks me to save the recipe for a repeat. When he doesn't love it - he still eats, still thanks me for dinner, but doesn't suggest holding on to the recipe for future dinners. This works well for us.

We had a friend and classmate of E's over for dinner last week (as we do almost every week) and I made lasagna that was save-worthy. It was so good I had to share the recipe, which was adapted from The Bride and Groom First & Forever Cookbook.

Homemade Meat Marinara (this is my best guestimate as a lot of the seasoning is 'to taste')
4 - 14 oz cans of sliced tewed tomatoes
8 oz of ground beef
8 oz of hot Italian sausage
2 tblsp olive oil
2 sweet onions, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, miced
2 tsp oregano
1 large handful of fresh basil (or 2 tsp of dried basil)
2 tsp of sugar
salt
pepper

Crumble and brown the sausage and ground beef together in a heavy bottom pot for 8-10 minutes. Strain out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add 1 tblsp of olive oil to the pot over medium heat and cook onions for 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Pulse the stewed tomatoes in a food processor, two cans at a time, until lightly blended. Add to garlic and onions, with oregano and sugar (and dried basil if you don't have fresh). Stir for a minute, and then add the cooked meat to the mixture.
Simmer over medium low heat for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in fresh basil  and another drizzle of olive oil.



Lasagna  (adapted from The Bride and Groom First & Forever Cookbook, which I cannot recommend highly enough)
Serves 6-8

8 oz cream cheese
12 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 c. pesto
1 pkg (8 oz) of no boil lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Blend cream cheese and ricotta until well combined, and stir in parmesan, pesto and 1/4 tsp pepper.
lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan and then layer as follows.

1 c. meat sauce
noodle layer
1 1/2 c. meat sauce
1/2 of the cheese mixture in spoonfuls
noodle layer
1 1/2 c meat sauce
other 1/2 cheese mixture
noodle layer
1 1/2 c meat sauce
noodle layer
rest of meat sauce
mozzarella cheese

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 10-15 minutes to brown the cheese. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.

[Secretly] Healthy Banana Bread

I hope you guys are ready for a yummy breakfast recipe that you won't feel quite as guilty eating every day.

So, why the healthy part secret? In order to get E to like something he's not used to, I tried to hide some healthy ingredients inside a normal recipe, without changing it enough that he notices. And it's really not that hard!

I took inspiration from the banana bread recipe from this cookbook and made my modifications. My secret ingredients were protein powder and wheat flour. simple, right?



And here's how to make it:

[Secretly] Healthy Banana Bread
makes 2 loaves

1 1/4 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
2 scoops (approx 1/4 c.) whey protein powder - plain
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 c. canola oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups overripe, mashed bananas
1 c toasted, chopped walnuts (opt)

Preheat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, mix oil and sugar until well blended. Slowly add beaten eggs and vanilla, stirring just until combined.

Add the baking soda to the buttermilk in a separate bowl and stir.

To the main bowl add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture, then half the buttermilk mix, another 1/3 of the flour mix, the rest of the buttermilk, and the last of the flour. mix just until blended, scraping the sides of the bowl.

fold in bananas and nuts.

Pour into to well-greased loaf pans, sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar, and bake for 1 hour (it only takes about 50 minutes in my oven, so I recommend testing with a toothpick after 45 minutes)

Sardines. Sardines?!

If you can believe this, E has already left me again - this time to spend a few days camping in Zion with our friends who are visiting from the East Coast. Sadly, I had to stay home as I used up all my vacation + some when we were in Italy.

So while I have a few more days of freedom, I wanted to try a food that I'm pretty sure he won't try (and, to be honest, I was a little scared to.



Inspired by KERF, I bought Sardines.

yuck. [or so I thought]

I followed her video tutorial. Whole in a can, sardines look pretty gross, but I chopped them up and within seconds it looked just like tuna! [The flavor is so much richer and more moist than tuna.]
Thr secret ingredient made this recipe for me though - curry powder! It's going to be a new staple in my tuna/sardine salads. So good!



served it up with roast zucchini while I caught up with SYTYCD.



Would you ever try sardines? What about anchovies?

p.s. tomorrow I'm really excited to share my first thrift-store DIY remake! (a la Sarah, the queen of Revival Files)

Pizza keeps me grounded

Five weeks apart.

It didn't seem like so long in April when we were just excited about the prospect of being in Milan for the summer! Then June flew by and it was time for me to go home...and for E to stay in Italy.

The first week felt fine - I kept busy, was really comfortable at home again, and time passed quickly.

The second week was a lot tougher.

The third week downright sucked.

After hitting the three week mark, I am feeling on the verge of a breakdown. I'm not just bored - I've actually found plenty of things to do, and I have really enjoyed my "Secret Single Behavior" time. But I'm lonely. Oh, so lonely.

I used to think people were big babies when they complained about being apart. I had been in a long, long-distance relationship. (E and I spent half of our dating relationship, and our entire engagment 2,000 miles apart.) But that was before we got married. And now, it's SO different.

During a particularly lonely and sobby weekend, I decided that the only thing that could cheer me up was to cook. (that, and a 10-days-left countdown calender)

So I opened up my fridge and started gathering an assortment of toppings.

Leftover capocollo (a cured meat) from dinner with my family last weekend, a couple different kinds of tomatoes, onion, basil, and sheep cheese (has a distinct flavor like goat cheese, but different - slightly more like feta). A local grocery store sells pre-made dough, which is just perfect for me.

A couple tips i've picked up in pizza-making.

1. Try stretching the dough. It's quicker, easier and more even than rolling out the dough. Plus it makes you feel like a real Italian.

2. Pizza doesn't require sauce!
3. Always, always, always cook on a stone
4. Spray the baking stone with olive oil spray, then sprinkle with cornmeal. perfect non-stick solution, plus you get the crunchy cornmeal on the crust - classic.
5. Drizzling olive oil on the pizza before baking is always a good idea.
6. If you're going to use onions, carmelize them. There is no excuse!

enjoy with a homemade strawberry margarita-ish
(juice of 1 grapefruit, 2 limes, and 8 strawberries blended with ice, triple sec and tequila)


and then pop in a drama [season finale of Parenthood for me] and pine away.

and ps. please read all about Secret Single Behavior from the blog posts linked above. They're fun and hilarious.

Big Apple Nosh Chef Challenge: Peach & Mint

I hope you've all heard of Big Apple Nosh's 4th Noshgirl Chef Challenge - where three bloggers are given two mystery ingredients to combine into one fabulous dish. It goes up for a vote and the winning chef gets two NYC black and white cookies! This week I'm a contestant, and our mystery ingredients are delightfully summery: peach & mint.

Initially knew I wanted to incorporate something with Italian flair, as I've been immersed in their food lately.
I decided to put together a caprese salad - but replace the tomatoes with peaches! Fresh, juicy California peaches are in season now and I scored them for a great deal at my local market.

As for the mint -- well that was easy. I have a HUGE pot on my back patio filled to the brim :-)

(I forgot to get a photo of mine in daylight, but this ^ one looks exactly the same)

First, I sliced the peaches and mozzarella, and layered them with large basil leaves on a plate.


(can you tell I'm not a food photographer? or any kind of photographer? Apparently, I do not understand the rule of thirds)

I topped the peach caprese with a champagne mint vinaigrette, and garnished with a few mint sprigs.

Champagne Mint Vinaigrette

3 tbls champagne vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
1/2 c mint leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse vinegar, mint and salt/pepper in a blender or food processor. Then blend while slowly adding olive oil in a stream until full incorporated.



drizzle onto caprese



Be amazed at the beautiful colors.

Then dive in!



It's not a terribly complicated recipe (that's the best part!) - but it is such a light, refreshing summer lunch. The flavors of the basil, mint, and peach blended beautifully.

My mom and enjoyed it today, and I hope you'll give it a try. :-)



As for the Noshgirl Chef Challenge - voting should start on Monday, so be sure to check Big Apple Nosh and vote...and may the best chef win!

ETA: Voting is now live on the Noshgirl Chef Challenge #4. Vote here!

Summer Refreshment: Strawberry Lemon Mojito

Last night E grabbed a beer to have with dinner, and I wasn't feeling like one so I started scouring the fridge for anything to make a mixed drink (something I rarely indulge in)

Our fridge was looking pretty bare, but I did have a lemon and a bunch of ripe California strawberries...and thus was created: Strawberry Lemon Mojitos.

I cut this recipe in half and modified it slightly. This is the perfect late spring cocktail!

1 lemon

3-4 very ripe strawberries

10-12 mint leaves

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. water

4 oz rum

ice

Heat water and sugar in small sauce pan just until bubbling to create simple syrup, and set aside.

Juice lemon, cut off tops of 3 strawberries and muddle both with mint leaves for a few minutes. (I used the end of a rolling pin!)

Add ice, simple syrup and rum to cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a glass with a few ice cubes.

Garnish with a strawberry and a mint sprig.

(makes two drinks)

Enjoy!

French Toast Casserole

Warning: this post is dangerous if you are hungry or love indulgent breakfast food.

Seriously, this could be the engagement chicken of breakfasts.

I had a ladies brunch on Saturday morning for a Bible Study I attend and I made french toast casserole to take along.

I made this recipe up along the way using what I could find and a combination of a few different recipes. Here's what you need:

1 loaf of heavy, eggy bread (I used Texas toast, challah would be wonderful as well!)

7 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 tblsp vanilla

1 tblsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/4 c sugar

2 tblsp cinnamon

maple syrup

heavily butter the bottom of a glass 9 x 13 pan

cut or rip bread into bite size pieces, and lay in pan.

Whisk eggs, milk and cream well, then stir in sugar, vanilla and cinnamon

Pour VERY slowly and evenly over the bread, going over it all several times for an even soak.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

in the morning take pan out of refrigerator, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and preheat oven to 350.

Cover casserole with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil, and drizzle maple syrup over the top (I used approximately 1/3 cup of Mrs. Butterworths--if you use real maple syrup, use less!)

Bake for 15 more minutes

Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes and serve warm (preferably, with bacon. and a latte)

here it is on my plate with some of the many other goodies these ladies brought along to the brunch. (veggie fritatta and lots of fruit!)

make this tonight for breakfast tomorrow. You won't regret it!

(ps. this recipe can easily be halved and baked in a 8x8 dish)

Strawberry Toast

This week at the farmers market I picked up a bunch of fresh California strawberries. Which means E and I got to make our very favorite strawberry treat.

This is a family "recipe" (it can hardly be called one), but it's way too good not to share. As a kid I used to help my grandma make these to bring to my grandpa at the jewelry store. I still can't believe we got away with calling this lunch, but it was one of those special grandparent treats I'll never forget.

Now, because E & I are young and can be irresponsible, we eat this for breakfast (I try to get in healthy bread at least).

First, toast two slices of bread (oatnut, in my case).

While the bread toasts, slice up four strawberries and take out the butter and brown sugar.

spread butter on toast immediately and allow it to melt (this is essential--the toast must be hot!)

sprinkle 1 tsp of brown sugar on each slice. (spread it evenly so the sugar melts into the buttered toast)

layer with sliced strawberries.

enjoy with coffee in your disney-loving husband's tinkerbell mug [optional]

nom.

Corned Beef & Cabbage + Leftovers

I craved the usual Irish fare a few weeks early and made corned beef and cabbage (and yes, broke our no red meat at home rule).

I picked up the corned beef from Costco, all marinated and ready to go. This is such a simple recipe

Corned beef + water/beef broth + le creuset!

Set on the stove for 4-5 hours. Add vegetables with 30 minutes left

When serving, I separate veggies and meat*. Slice corned beef thinly against the grain and serve with soda bread. or, an herb loaf like I had.

(*Save the cooking liquid!!)

this meal was delicious but there was so much corned beef left over! So I improvised.

The next day I made a barley soup using the meat and the leftover vegetables + some.

sauté onions

add about 1/2 c of barley (FYI, I wasn't watching the recipe and poured WAAAY too much barley in here)

cook for a few minutes to lightly brown, then add the saved corned beef broth and vegetables.

I added more baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and red cabbage

Simmer for 20 minutes

Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes, and the leftover shredded corned beef

and simmer for 10 minutes more.

Ignore the weird color and enjoy. It took E a couple bites to get past how weird it looks but by his second bowl he was loving it.

ps. this soup fed us for almost a week!

I served this topped with grated fontina cheese--but I think swiss would be the perfect topping. serve with crusty bread and butter!