Holding On To Summer with A Tomato Bread Pudding, and an Opened Faced Tomato and Egg Sandwich

September 3, 2009 by 39 Comments
Looking for more ways to use up your summer tomatoes? Here’s 2 recipes you have to try! Tomato Bread Pudding. The minute I saw this flipping through the pages of Amy Goldman’s book ,The Heirloom Tomato, I was inspired to make it. I loved the idea of a savory tomato bread pudding. Think toasted ciabatta cubes tossed in a tomato and herb cheesy custard! What a great side dish this is, we loved it! and I know I’ll be making this again!

Although I do remember all the ingredients, I don’t own Amy’s book, so I can’t give you the true recipe, but I will give you my version of what I did. I cut up and cubed half of a ciabatta loaf, put it in a 400F oven till crispy. In a large bowl I diced 4 tomatoes, added fresh parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Next I added in the same bowl 1/2 cup of half and half, and 1/2 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of grated asiago, and 1/4 cup of grated romano cheese, salt and pepper.

In a small pan saute 1/2 onion and 2 garlic cloves.Toss this into the bowl with the tomatoes. Place your bread cubes in a buttered baking dish and pour the custard mixture all over covering the cubes, let it all absorb. Place grated romano all over the top and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350F in a larger baking dish filled halfway up with water, 25 minutes. Brown under broiler.

Opened Faced Tomato and Sunny Side Up Egg Sandwich

This is great for a weekend morning breakfast. The picture pretty much explains the recipe.

Crunchy toasted bread, slathered with pesto, topped with a hefty slice of your favorite tomato, then topped with a fried egg. Simple concept, extrordinary taste!
I hope you get a chance to try these! Have a great Labor Day weekend and Buon Appetito!

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39 Comments Filed Under: Breads, Eggs Tagged: , , , ,

Caprese Risotto w/ Tomato Chips, and My Second Blogiversary

August 30, 2009 by 41 Comments

I can hardly believe it’s been 2 years since I started Proud Italian Cook! My, how time flies when you’re having fun. I can truly say that this blog has enriched my life in so many ways but especially in having the opportunity to meet so many great people along the way. I want to say thank you to all my dear blog friends, you know who you are, thanks for all your inspiration, your comments and words of encouragement, thanks to my family for putting up with me, and a big thank you to all my subscribers and those who just look on in silence. Looking forward to year 3!

Because I still have an abundance of tomatoes, I’ve been thinking of different ways to use them up, in fact you haven’t seen the last of my tomato recipes! If you love a good caprese salad and love risotto, then this is for you. Combine fresh vine ripened tomato’s, in my case it was yellow and red heirlooms that I diced into bite size pieces along with cubed fresh mozzarella, fresh chopped basil, a little salt and pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil. Set this aside.

Make your risotto by sauteing 1/2 of a chopped medium onion in in olive oil and a little butter. Add three cloves of chopped garlic and saute, then add 1 1/4 cups of arborio rice, toast it up a little then deglaze with 1/2 cup of white wine. When wine is absorbed start adding 6 cups of warmed broth one cup at a time stirring till all is absorbed. When rice is finished, stir in some grated Parmesan, and lastly fold in your caprese mixture, adding extra basil if needed. This is a great transition to fall meal, summer flavors and comfort food all in one!

I saw this recipe in a book called The Heirloom Tomato, by Amy Goldman. I thought the idea of a tomato chip sounded unique and different. I envisioned eating them with white bean dip or used as a garnish, very fancy schmancy! I had a bowl full of tomatoes that had some bruises and decided to just cut away the bad spots, slice them up and make chips! This is something you do when your going to be home all day and your oven won’t be used for anything else. Depending how juicy your tomatoes are, this process can take 3-5 hours, mine took 5.

Warm up some olive oil in a small pan and add crushed garlic to infuse the oil, let it sit for about an hour. Preheat oven to 250F. Line baking sheets with a silpat or parchment, (I used parchment) Brush each 1/4″ sliced tomato with the infused garlic oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Go easy on the salt and pepper, flavors intensify more than you think. ( I found that out!) Bake single layer 1 hour, then lower the temperature to 200F and continue baking until crisp, 3-5 hours. Store in an airtight container and keep in your fridge. We loved these, the taste was intensely tomato, I even wrapped some up and gave them as a gift!
Stay tuned for a few more ideas for using up the last of your summer tomatoes!
Buon Appetiito!!
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41 Comments Filed Under: Rice and Risotto Tagged: , ,

I’m Not Afraid of Phyllo Anymore!

August 21, 2009 by 40 Comments

I’ve been out the kitchen for a while enjoying the birth of my sweet new baby granddaughter. Her name is Analena, and she’s just as beautiful as her name! I could hold her for hours ( and I have) and never tire. We just can’t get enough of her!

But now I’m back in the kitchen enjoying the bounty of summer with all the apricots and peaches that are in the markets, and thinking of different ways to use up all my tomatoes!
I’ve always had a fear of phyllo, because every time I worked with it disaster struck, it would tear and be a big mess. But I wanted to conquer it once and for all because phyllo can be a great alternative to a pastry crust. Its light, flaky and crispy and as long as you don’t drench it in melted butter or olive oil it can be a perfect low fat choice for the crust of a tart. I thawed mine in the frig for 24 hours, I think that was key.

I roasted my apricots in the oven at 400F with just a sprinkling of brown sugar until soft, about 20 minutes. Mixed 1 lb of ricotta with 2 eggs, orange zest, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of cornstarch,1/4 cup of sugar ( or Splenda), and a heaping TBL of apricot preserves. Sprayed my tart pan with butter spray, which will cut down big time on the calories along with butter spraying each of my 7 layers of phyllo which I placed one by one in the tart pan. Spread my ricotta on the phyllo dough and positioned the apricots on top. Baked it for about 1/2 hour in a 375F oven, you want it golden brown and crispy, so just keep checking. While still warm, glaze the top with thinned out apricot preserves. Drizzle some honey on your slice!
For the tomato tart I used my red and yellow heirlooms that I cut into a 1/4″ slice. I let them drain out a little on paper towel because they were super juicy.
Mixed 1 lb of ricotta with 1 egg, grated romano cheese, grated asiago, and fresh chopped basil, salt and pepper. This time I sprayed my tart pan with olive oil spray, along with each sheet of phyllo, I used 7 sheets. Layered the tomatoes around the top, and baked until golden and crispy, about the same time and temperature as above. Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are you might have to cook it longer, I did.

These tarts are best if eaten the same day, but if you have leftovers like I did, don’t worry if your phyllo becomes soggy. I just put my leftover pieces on a baking sheet in a 400F oven and it all became nice and crispy again!
Phyllo is now my friend and I can’t wait to use it again!

Enjoy your weekend, and Buon Appetito!

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40 Comments Filed Under: Desserts, Savory Tarts Tagged: , ,