Tomatoes, Tomatoes, I love Tomatoes! Pappa al Pomodoro Soup

Tomatoes are one of my most loved fruits, yes a fruit, not a vegetable according to botanists.  Either way a fruit or veggie I'll take them, any way they are served I love them.  They are loaded with lycopene a powerful antioxidant, a decent amount of vitamin C and Potassium, Folate and Vitamin K, all so very good for you.  

My favorite tomatoes are Campari, they are smaller than a regular tomato but larger than a cherry tomato and they taste like a Summer tomato all year long.  Plums are my second favorite, they are very meaty and not too juicy so great in sandwiches.

Today I made tasty and hearty Pappa al Pomodoro soup with regular slicing tomatoes.  This soup is thick and full of flavor, and you won't be hungry after eating it because it is so thick. It is a simple food, most ingredients you will have in your pantry.  Considered peasant food back in the day, it is has now earned culinary kudos from renowned chefs all over the world.

These are the ingredients I used in my Pappa al Pomodoro soup. Olive Oil, garlic, onion, fresh tomatoes, I also used a can of petite diced tomatoes for more color, winter tomatoes are not as brightly colored as summer tomatoes.  You could certainly use all canned if you like.  I thought I would try it with fresh ones.  Now, back to the ingredients, crushed red pepper, fennel seed, salt and pepper, fresh basil, tomato paste (in tube) its easier than wasting a 6 oz. can, and garlic paste in the tube for more added flavor. The tubes are great, worth investing in them to have on hand when you only need a teaspoon or tablespoon of paste or garlic, and last, one small loaf of Italian/French bread, a crusty bread a day or two old, even better.

Peel the skins off the tomatoes, slice and scoop out the seeds, only the seeds not the meat of the tomato.

 I would do this over the sink, it can get messy,

Chop them up.

A little crushed red pepper for some heat and crushed fennel for flavor, love the smell of fennel. I used a mortar and pestle to crush the seeds.

Yes, I used a can!  You can use all canned tomatoes if you like.  Garlic and onion cooking up, they smell amazing together!

Ohhhhhh baby, looky here! And that fresh basil, what can I say, I could lay in a room full of that fragrance.

Cubed loaf of bread, reserve a  little to make croutons for the top of your soup.

The bread is added and mashed with a potato masher, it helps to cook it down.

WOW, coming together nicely!

My reserved bread for croutons.

A little olive oil on the baking sheet.

Toss in the cubed bread, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, when cooled, toss with a little parmesan cheese.

Piping hot! It's so good topped with more cheese, the homemade croutons and fresh basil. Delizioso!

Pappa al Pomodoro Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small sweet onion, diced small

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of Amore Garlic Paste in tube

1/4 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper (more if you like heat)

1 teaspoon fennel seeds. crushed

4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or you can use 3- 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes with juice)

1 14.5 oz. canned regular Petite diced tomatoes with juice

1 1/2 tablespoons of Amore Tomato Paste in tube (or use canned)

2 tablespoons sugar (more if you like it sweeter, taste first)

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 1/2 cups of water

6 large basil leaves, sliced

1 loaf of crusty Italian/French bread, cubed (big enough for 6 -7 cups of bread cubes, reserve 1 cup for croutons)

Parmesan cheese and more fresh sliced basil for serving

Directions

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until just transparent.  Add the garlic, garlic paste, crushed red pepper and fennel seed.  Cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes until all is fragrant, but be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add all the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper.  Let tomatoes cook down, about

10 -15 minutes.  Taste and adjust your seasonings to your liking.

Stir in the bread cubes, don't forget to reserve about 1 cup for your croutons.  Add the 4 1/2 cups of water and the basil.  Bring the pot to a simmer, stir and mash the bread with a potato masher until the soup is really thick.  Add more salt, pepper and basil if you like.

Serve piping hot topped with parmesan cheese, your croutons and fresh sliced basil.  Enjoy!

Note: If using all canned tomatoes just use the 3-14.5 oz. cans of petite diced tomatoes, do not add the other one for use with fresh tomatoes. So a total of 3 cans only.

 

What To Do With All That Zucchini

You all know, if you ever planted zucchini, that it grows like a weed.  One plant often yields too much zucchini for one family to eat.  Everyday I go out to my garden and there is another zucchini ready to be picked.  Many ways that I use my zucchini are - grilling them with other vegetables, use them in soups, putting them through my Veggetti slicer to make veggie spaghetti, ratatouille, I stuff them, I fry/bake them and I make chocolate zucchini bread, that is delicious.

In a previous blog (2/9/14) I posted a recipe for regular chocolate zucchini bread.  If you haven't checked it out yet, please do it's great!  In this blog today, I tweaked the recipe a little to make it vegan, so my son would eat it.  The recipe came out great, the only difference is that the bread did not rise as high.  The flavor and texture of the cake was not compromised, it just didn't rise as high because I did not use eggs.  I substituted golden omega fine textured ground flaxseed (meal) mixed with water for the eggs.

  Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

Grated my zucchini, and I used walnuts this time instead of chocolate chips.  Chocolate chips whether dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate, have milk fat in them and he won't eat them, he is a committed vegan, little bugger!

My bag of golden omega flaxseed (meal).  It's ground up and has a fine texture. You can't taste it or see it, so don't worry about not liking it.  It is also very good for you.  

 I used 2 tablespoons of flax meal and mixed it with 6 tablespoons of water.  This equals the same as 2 eggs.

Cocoa powder makes it chocolate flavored.

Mixing the dry ingredients.

Mixing the wet ingredients.

Add the zucchini and stir.

After combining the wet and dry ingredients together, I use Baker's Joy to spray my pans.  It is made from soybean oil and flour. Pour batter into loaf pan or pans.  I have an extra long loaf pan, it's great for bigger batters, could also be the reason for the flatness of the bread, hmmmm......

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour....

And look how good that looks!

And it tastes even better.

Vegan Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw grated green zucchini

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons fine texture ground flaxseed (meal)

6 tablespoons of water

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts tossed in 1 teaspoon flour (so they don't sink to the bottom of the pan)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease pan with canola oil (or vegetable shortening) and flour, set aside.

Use a food processor (if you have one) or a box grater, and grate the zucchini on the side that looks like the rain drop, until you have 1 1/2 cups of zucchini.  Do not drain or squeeze the zucchini dry, you need the moisture for the bread.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice, set aside.

Mix together the 2 tablespoons of flaxseed and the 6 tablespoons of water, let it sit for about 5 minutes before adding to the wet ingredients.  In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the oil, sugar, brown sugar, flaxseed mixture, and vanilla until combined.  Shut the mixer off and stir in the zucchini.  Turn the mixer on medium speed and add the flour mixture and beat until all is combined, scraping bottom and sides and it is mixing.  Fold in the walnuts with a wooden spoon.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, about 50 -60 minutes depending on your oven. When bread is done, place pan on wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.  This bread can be frozen, wrap tightly in plastic wrap then in foil.

Lightly Sweet Easter Bread

Easter is right around the corner, so I thought I would dig out my Easter Bread recipe and make a few loaves.  It is so good, lightly sweet and soft.  It can be eaten for breakfast or as a dessert, with a nice cup of coffee or tea.   Recipe below.

It's very festive after the glaze and sprinkles decorate it.

This recipe makes two large loaves, or 4 small loaves.

EASTER BREAD

INGREDIENTS

Dough

8 cups of unbleached flour

1 1/2 cups milk, I use skim

1/2 cup white sugar

2 navel oranges

2 envelopes active dry yeast

1 cup butter, melted

8 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon anise or almond extract

Canola oil

Extra flour for kneading

2 tablespoons of melted butter

Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup skim milk

multi colored nonpareil sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

Dump the 8 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl and set aside.  Attach dough hook to your mixer. Zest the oranges.  Juice both of them into a small bowl and set aside.  Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the salt and the anise extract, lightly scramble together, set aside.  

Heat the milk in a small saucepan over low heat, stir occasionally until it is warm, but not hot.  In the meantime, put the sugar in a small bowl and stir the orange zest into it, set it aside.  

When the milk is warmed, stir the sugar mixture into it until it dissolves.  Next, add the yeast to the mixture, stir and let sit for 10 minutes.

Add the milk/yeast mixture to the flour and begin to mix with your mixer.  The dough will be stringy. Add the melted butter, and continue to mix.  Add the orange juice to the dough and mix to combine. Next, add the egg mixture and continue mixing.

Depending how big your oranges are, and the juice you squeeze from them, you may have to add flour to the dough.  Once a sticky ball of dough forms, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes, or until it is soft and elastic.  It will still be slightly sticky. 

Coat the surface of a large bowl with 2 teaspoons of  canola oil.  Place the ball of dough into the bowl and turn it to coat, so it does not stick to the bowl.  Cover the bowl with a towel and set in a draft free warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

While waiting for the dough to rise, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

When the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured surface and divide in half.  Divide each half piece in two, so you will have four pieces of dough.  Roll two of the pieces into 24 inch ropes.  Loosely twist them together. Lay them side by side and fold over each other like mock braiding.  Put the braid onto one of the baking sheets and form it into a circle, carefully pinch and seal the ends.  Repeat with the remaining two pieces of dough to make another loaf.  Brush the tops with melted butter.  Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of each braid, and let rise in a draft free area until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Unless you have double ovens, bake one at a time.  Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown on top.  Remove from baking sheet to cooling rack and cool completely. Once they cool, glaze and decorate them.

For the glaze:  In a medium bowl add the confectioners sugar.  Gradually pour in milk and whisk together to reach your desired consistency of glaze.  Drizzle the glaze over the bread and sprinkle with nonpareils before it dries. Let glaze dry completely.  Wrap and store the bread at room temperature.

Grab The Butter and Jam - Homemade Wheat Bread

For the love of bread!  And I do love bread, I actually think I could live on it.  Since my son is on this crazy vegetarian way of eating, he is making all kinds of homemade things, granola, granola bars, vegetarian wraps, raw sweet potato snack bars, you get the picture.  He has been hounding me to make homemade wheat bread.  I said to him,"you work in an Italian bakery, bread doesn't get any better than that!".  And,  he's still nagging me to make the wheat bread.  So, I go and dig out the bread machine, dust it off, and make it from scratch.  It was wonderful, for a few hours the house smelled great! I couldn't wait to cut it, but I knew I had to control myself, you know the carbs are not good for me.  Recipe below.

My ingredients all lined up and ready for the bucket.

 add all to the bucket, push a button, and something fantastic happens, BREAD! It's like a magic box.

 After a little over three hours it's all done and ready to be sliced.

 Sliced it up and ready for sandwiches, toast or just to eat with some butter.  The texture is soft and it has a crispy crust.  Homemade bread is the best, and it was effortless to make.

Homemade Wheat Bread

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of warm milk, I used skim

1/2 cup of water 70 - 80 degrees

1 egg

3 tablespoons of clover honey

2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt

2 cups of King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour, I used Bob's Red Mill Organic Stone Ground

1 Package of Fleishmann's Active Rapid Rise Dry Yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

DIRECTIONS

In the bucket of the bread machine, place the milk, water, egg, honey and butter.  In a large bowl whisk together the salt, bread flour and wheat flour, then pour into the bucket.  Make a well in the flour and add the yeast in the middle of the well.  Select settings on your machine, choose your crust color and loaf size (1 1/2 lb loaf).  Turn the machine on and let it do the work.  Yields 1 loaf.

"You're The Top Banana" Bread

I am not much of a banana eater, I like them, I just don't really eat them.  I buy bananas for my husband, but when he doesn't eat them fast enough, that means I have to get busy baking or cooking something, so I don't have to throw them out.  I started making this banana bread a few years ago and it is the best one I have ever had.  It's moist, full of banana flavor and best of all, it's so easy to make.   You don't need a mixer (although I use one) to make this bread.  I had a piece right out of the oven,  it was so good with a cup of coffee or maybe tea.  I put nuts in this for the first time and it's amazing!

Recipe below. 

Ingredients, and  ready to start mixing.  Peel three ripe bananas.

 Mash them up, they should look like this.

 Mixing all the good stuff together.

 Add the nuts, then into the pan and oven.

 Warm, full of banana walnut flavor, delicious bread.  See Note - Try this baking spray it's great! 

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, I use unbleached

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Directions

Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Mix in the eggs, melted butter and mashed banana.  Add walnuts if desired.  Pour into prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and turn pan on it's side for five minutes.  Invert onto a cooling rack, let cool before putting on a serving plate.

Note:  Check the baking aisle of your grocery store for BAKER'S JOY.  It's a non-stick baking spray with flour.  No mess greasing and flouring baking pans, all you have to do is spray them.  It's all in one. I have been using this for years, a tip from my mother.  Nothing ever sticks in the pan.