Pesto Twist with Gnocchi

We've been talking about how handy it would be if there was a website where you could type in the ingredients in your house and it would produce menu ideas for the whole week.  In absence of that, I typed in a search for "basil and beets and kale" which produced several interesting recipe ideas.  I was particularly intrigued by this recipe on Moderate Oven website for Kale & Beet Green Pesto.

It seemed like the perfect way to use some of the kale, beet greens, and garlic scapes from our Open Oak Farm CSA.  I liked the idea of blanching the greens before blending them.  I made a couple of modifications to the recipe (not toasting the walnuts and adding a handful of parsley).  It is simple but delicious. The adventurous eaters in our house ate the pesto over store-bought whole wheat gnocchi (and the non-adventurous eater had the gnocchi with Parmesan Cheese but he liked helping with the food processor).  The greens had just a fabulous color!

A few days after preparing this, I also made a small batch of basil and garlic scrapes pesto and added it in with the leftovers.  The two types of pesto went really well together.  And I was inspired to make my own gnocchi.  This is a recipe that I have tried many times over the last 15 years.  The first time I made it, they were delicious.  However, the next several times that I tried the recipe the gnocchi were just terrible.  Fortunately, this time I had success!

Potato Gnocchi from The Compassionate Cook
4 c potatoes peeled, cubed, and boiled
2 c white flour
1/2 t salt
2 T olive oil.

Boil potatoes and then drain off the water.  Dry mash the potatoes, then add in flour, salt and olive oil.   Boil a large pot of water.  Kneed dough until well mixed using extra flour if necessary.  Divide dough into 4 portions.  Kneed each a bit more and then roll into a 1-inch diameter "snake."  Cut into approximately 1-inch pieces.  Drop gnocchi into boiling water.  Once they float to the suface, boil them for 2 minutes.  Remove from the water and drain.  

Serve with fresh pesto.  It tastes like summer!

Mezza Dinner

Despite the 60-degree, rainy weather summer is coming, and we can see it in the change of local produce that is available!  I was inspired to start making dinner with some basil that I had in the refrigerator and fresh garlic scrapes from Open Oak Farm.  But then I realized that for several years I have wanted to make a mezza dinner with many of the recipes identified in the Moosewood Cookbook.  The pesto was just a start.  I also made tabouleh, walnut-green bean-egg dip, and hummus (made with rio zape beans from Lonesome Whistle Farm).  Each recipe was very easy to make and they all went well together especially served this with fresh bread from Eugene City Bakery and with fresh strawberries for dessert.

Pesto
1 bunch basil (from Eugene Local Foods)
3 garlic scrapes (from Open Oak Farm)
Olive oil
2 handfuls parmesan cheese
2 handfuls walnuts

Put everything in the food processor and blend until well mixed.  Serve over pasta.  The pesto was just a gorgeous brilliant color and so amazing!

Tabouleh

1 c hull-less barley (from Lonesome Whistle Farm)3 c water
1 bunch parsley (from Open Oak Farm)
2 garlic scrapes (from Open Oak Farm)
lemon juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1/3 c olive oil
1 tomato chopped
salt
pepper 

Cook barley in water.  Chop parsley and garlic together in the food processor, and then mix with olive oil and lemon juice.  Fold in barley once cooked and added in tomato, salt and pepper to taste.  Cool before serving.

The last item I made was a Walnut Dip from the Moosewood Cookbook that I have been wanting to try for years...but never seemed to have all the ingredients at the same time.  I don't think that it tasted like chicken liver pate (like the description says it would), but it was very tasty.

Walnut-Green Bean-Egg Dip 

1/2 onion chopped
Olive Oil
1 1/2 c green beans (from Thistledown Farm)
2 hard boiled eggs peeled
2 t lemon juice
1/4 c walnuts
handful parsley
salt and pepper  

Saute the onions in oil and then add green beans until softened, and then put them in the food processor with rest of the ingredients

Everything can be eaten together like this on a plate.

Or it can be eaten all mixed up like this mixed up on a high chair tray.  She seemed to especially like the pesto pasta.  However, dipping her fingers into all of the dips was great fun too!

Pan Bagnat

I love it when we manage to drive in our car on Sunday evenings so we can listen to  The Splendid Table on OPB!  I always turn off the car in my driveway inspired to try something new in the kitchen! I am so glad that we got to hear Melissa Clark describe her Pan Bagnat Recipe from her book In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite.  This time, I'm equally glad that my husband loved the idea too, rounded up all the ingredients, and orchestrated the sandwich creation.  Calling Pan Bagnat a sandwich does not really do justice to this tuna, basil, cucumber, tomato, garlic, anchovy, olive oil, mustard, onion, red wine vinegar, olive, hard boiled egg deliciousness.

On the bread, layer cucumber and onions in vinaigrette.  Then add tomatoes.

Next, add slice hard boiled egg.

Followed by basil leaves.

Next, add in olive halves.

Put the cucumber-onion vinaigrette on the other half of the bread.

Lastly, add canned tuna.

Carefully roll in foil and balance a heavy cookbook on top.

The best part of her description of making the sandwich is that it needs to be smooshed by 7-year old child or heavy skillet for 7-10 minutes on each side.  We substituted our 4-year old. 

It really does flatten!

And all the juices mix into the bread.

Served with fresh local cherries, strawberries and artichokes.

Next time, oh and there will be a next time for Pan Bagnat in our house, we will use a more substantial bread than the hoagie roll that we used that just didn't stand up to the smooshing.   But there is no denying that the flavor was amazing!  I can't wait to try this at the height of our local tomato and cucumber season!