Proud Italian Cook

Kale and Almond Pesto with a Little Bit of Heat

September 2, 2012 by Marie 17 Comments

We have three different varieties of kale growing in our garden, Cavolo Nero or tuscan kale, the curly and green-gray type and one that is a redish purple color with ruffled leaves, I love them all!
Quite honestly I never thought of turning kale into a pesto, I’m such a basil person, until I saw the new Donna Hay magazine and then I got instantly inspired!
What a great way to use up all my kale!

What I loved was her addition of red chillies and toasted almonds, the chillies give a slight touch of heat and the toasted almonds add so much flavor to the pesto.

Blanching the kale for a few minutes and then placing it right into a bowl of ice water, helps to retain it’s vivid green color. I made mine about a week ago and it’s still bright green.

If you’re a kale lover and you know just how good kale is for you, then you have to make this! Dare I say I’m liking this better than basil pesto right now, that’s how good it is.
The first time I made it I quadrupled the recipe.

I’ve been tossing and slathering it all over everything. Here I tossed it with roasted zucchini coins and orecchiette pasta.

Slathered over our weekend frittata, man was that good!

And my absolute favorite, ( thanks to Donna Hay) slathered over a warm, right from the oven, roasted chicken.
AMAZING!

I will be making many more batches of this before all my kale is gone… My family is thanking me!

Here is my adapted version, slightly different from Donna Hay’s because she used Manchego cheese and I used romano, she also added 1 cup of parsley in addition to the kale, I just used straight up kale.

2 cups of kale leaves stems removed, blanched and squeezed of moisture

1/3 cup of toasted almonds

2 red chillies

3 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup of grated romano

1/2 cup of olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375F. On a small baking sheet place almonds, chillies, and garlic drizzle with olive oil and roast for 8-10 minutes or until almonds are golden brown. Deseed chillies.

Place the almonds, chillies and garlic in a food processor then add the kale and cheese, process until roughly chopped then drizzle in your olive oil.

Taste it for salt or more cheese or even more oil, the pesto should have a nice movement to it when stired.

Enjoy!

17 Comments Filed Under: Greens, Poultry, Sauces Tagged: kale, kale pesto, pasta with kale pesto, roast chicken with kale pesto

Champagne Grapes

August 27, 2012 by Marie 12 Comments

Champagne Grape Cake, is a moist, not so sweet cake, made with a combination of olive oil and butter with hints of citrus and vanilla, the cake is crowned with tiny, miniature, champagne grapes that burst with intense flavor when you bite into them.

These intensely sweet pearl sized grapes are in season for a limited time right now and I was lucky enough to find a package at my local Whole Foods. They’re seedless with a deep blue black color and quite a bit smaller than a regular sized grape, as you can see above.
Champagne grapes are not to be confused with the variety of grape that they actually use to make champagne with, these are more “currant like”.
See how tiny they are?

Get a pot of espresso going because this cake is the perfect ending to a meal and I just loved the combination of olive oil and butter, really delicious!
Here’s the recipe, it’s adapted from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence.

I had some grapes leftover so I decided to make a chicken salad with the remaining ones tossing it all together with this wonderful lemon flavored olive oil I received from Nudo.

Ingredients were, leftover roasted chicken, celery, red onion, radish, apple, crushed hazelnuts, basil and of course, those luscious and juicy champagne grapes!

Grab a package if you can before they quickly disappear!

12 Comments Filed Under: Desserts, Poultry, Salads Tagged: champagne grape cake, champagne grape chicken salad, Nudo Al Limone olive oil

Tomato Harvest

August 20, 2012 by Marie 20 Comments

I’m sure many of you are thinking up different ways to use up your garden tomatoes like I am, I’m not a caner so I try to use them as they start piling up. So far I’ve made numerous caprese salads, ( a stash of fresh mozzarella is a staple in my fridge lately).
Tossed them into pastas, made gratins with them, used them with grilled meats and fish, stuffed them, made quick sauces, dried them.
I’ve roasted cherry tomatoes by the pan full and graced many things with them, pizza, panini, tarts, omelette’s, I could go on and on and so could you I bet!Recently I made this Tomato and Corn Pie and of course It has a little Italian twist on it. My only regret is, I should have made more than one, it was that good and disappeared in a heartbeat!

I just used a good store bought refrigerated pie dough, placed it into my pie pan, brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled with black pepper, then I pricked the dough all around with a fork.
I layered the bottom with a mixture of shredded asiago, mozzarella and grated romano cheese.
On top of the cheese I scattered caramelized onions and fresh basil. Place fresh corn from the cob over that and add a quick drizzle of olive oil and more romano.
Arrange sliced tomatoes on top adding salt, pepper, dried oregano, fresh basil and another quick drizzle of olive oil. Bake in a 375 oven until crust is a nice deep brown. Let it cool down before you cut into it.

Serve this with a green salad and you have a fabulous meal!

I made this for breakfast last Sunday, Baked Eggs in Tomatoes.

Basically you cut a 1/2 inch off the top of a tomato, gently scoop out the seeds and inner membrane, being careful not to break through the flesh of the tomato. Season, drizzle with olive oil and layer the bottom with fresh corn. Place in a baking dish lined with parchment.
Whisk up one egg per tomato, I added basil, romano cheese and a bit of asiago and divide and pour mixture among the tomatoes. Top with romano and bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm.
Recipe adapted from Martha