Tag: fresh
Tomato Toasts with Ricotta and Anchovies
Warm bread, creamy ricotta, ripe tomatoes, and a quick garnish of anchovies and fennel seed is a quintessential summer dish.
It is not only beautiful and tasty but is literally perfect at any time of the day. It’s a great breakfast, a perfect quick lunch, or a great start to dinner.
This isn’t quite a “recipe” but more a list of items to put on bread. Make 1, make 10, and adjust accordingly.
It is highly recommended to eat this as many times as possible during tomato season.
Tomato Toasts with Ricotta and Anchovies
Ingredients
- Slices of crusty bread – highly recommend F&F Levain
- Bellweather Farms whole basket ricotta – sheep or cow
- Ripe tomatoes – cut into slices or chunks
- Ortiz anchovies
- Crushed whole fennel seeds
- Herbs, greens, or microgreens
- Olive oil
- Crunchy saly and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Drizzle bread slices with olive oil and lightly toast in the oven or in a skillet.
- Spread with a thick layer of ricotta.
- Arrange tomatoes on top.
- Lay anchovies on top of the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle with fennel seeds, crunchy salt, and black pepper.
- Drizzle with olive oil.
- Garnish with greens and serve.
Mortadella Pasta Salad
“Pasta salad: both pretty boring and the most popular dish at every outdoor gathering you go to, a true mystery of our time.”
Alison Roman
Thank you Alison for that oh-so-true food nugget.
While pasta salad has to be the most ubiquitous summer potluck item, there is much to be improved on the expected curly noodles, black olives, and bottle of Italian dressing pasta salad.
This recipe, brought to you by another great cookbook author Molly Baz, incorporates one of the most underrated meats in the Aperitivo case – mortadella.
You can sub any other thinly sliced cured meat from the case, but morty-d adds a beautiful creamy, fatty, and saltiness to the pasta salad.
This is a perfect salad to make a few days before, add the nuts and herbs before serving, and snack on it the entire day.
Mortadella Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 lbs dried large short cut pasta – rigatoni, cavatappi, whatever the fun shape from the photo is called
- 1 lbs fresh mozz – cow or buffalo
- ½ lbs mortadella – thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup pistachios – chopped
- 1 cup basil leaves – torn
For the dressing:
- 1 ½ cup Castelvetrano olives – about one small container
- 2 lemons
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 ½ oz grated hard Italian cheese – Parm, Pecorino Romano, Toscano, Provolone
- ⅔ cup EVOO
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil noodles according to package directions in salted water. Drain and rinse under cold water to wash off the excess starch. Let cool.
Make the dressing:
- Pit the olives and tear the flesh in half. Add to a large bowl.
- Zest one whole lemon into the bowl. Cut both lemons in half and squeeze the juice over the olives.
- Grate the garlic into the bowl. Add the grated cheese.
- Pour in the EVOO, season with salt and pepper, and stir the dressing together.
Assemble the salad:
- Tear the fresh mozz and mortadella into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl.
- Add the cooled pasta and gently stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and lots of pepper.
- Just before serving, add the chopped pistachios and torn basil leaves.
- Serve cold or room temp.
Grain Salad with Feta Dressing
As fresh spring vegetables start to pop up, combine them with some cooked grains and a creamy feta dressing. Add some protein by topping the salad with our newest tinned fish line, Scout Canning Ontario Trout with Dill.
Grain Salad with Feta Dressing
Ingredients
Feta Dressing
- 2 cups mixed tender herbs – basil, cilantro, mint, dill, parsley, tarragon
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 jalapeño – seeds removed to reduce spiciness
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemons
- ¾ cup buttermilk or greek yogurt
- 4 oz Feta
- salt
Grain Salad
- 1 cup dried grains – farro, freekeh, barely, bulgar, wild rice
- 1 lbs mixed crunchy spring vegetables – snap peas, cucumbers, radishes, fennel
- 3 scallions
- ⅔ cup pistachios
- 1 can Scout Canning Ontario Trout with Dill
Instructions
Make the dressing:
- In a blender, combine the herbs, garlic clove, jalapeño, olive oil, Feta, the zest of half of a lemon, the juice of 2 whole lemons, and the buttermilk. Blend until smooth and pale green. Season the dressing with salt and transfer to a medium bowl.
Make the salad:
- Cook the grains according to package directions. Place in a large mixing bowl to cool.
- Thinly slice the crunchy vegetables. Add to the bowl with cooled grains.
- Coarsely chop pistachios and thinly slice scallions. Add to the bowl.
- Pour half of the dressing over and stir well to combine, adding more as needed until thoroughly coated. Reserve the remaining dressing for another use. Season the salad with salt.
- Divide among plates. Open the can and flake trout on top of the salad.
Baked Feta, Tomato & ‘Nduja Pasta
While most of us are not TikTok users, we have noticed the food trends that pop up every now and then. The internet has been cooking this Baked Feta Pasta dish non-stop, and we were excited to give it a try.
The idea is that you bake a block of feta in a dish of tomatoes and olive oil. There are many iterations and lots of opinions about this particular dish on the internet, and we appreciated these tips to make the best version of the viral dish.
- Don’t Over Do It On the Pasta
- Short Pasta Is Preferred
- Save Your Pasta Water
- Get Good-Quality Feta
- Don’t be Afraid of the Amount of Oil
- Get Creative with Seasoning
- Don’t Forget to Season with Salt
We used a fun fusilli corti col buco as our noodle, but 8-10 oz. of your favorite short cut pasta will do great.
Pasta water is the secret ingredient in most great pasta dishes. The starchy water helps to bring the sauce together. Just scoop out some water using a coffee cup before you drain the noodles. Bonus points if it’s a cheese-themed cup.
Using a sheep’s milk feta is the best choice for this dish. It is creamy, a bit salty, and not too acidic or sour. Our favorite is the Hidden Springs Feta, coming from Wisconsin.
To add some Aperitivo flair, we threw in some ‘nduja. Because if we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times before, ‘nduja makes everything better. If you are looking to keep this recipe vegetarian, opt for some chopped Calabrian peppers or crushed red pepper flakes.
Most recipes call for baking the tomatoes and feta at 400, then broiling or increasing the temperature for the last 10 minutes to achieve some golden color and caramelization. We found that the dish was still able to take on some color without the broiling step. Since the Aperitivo Test Kitchen is now home to a little baby, and the fire alarm is known to go off anytime the oven is above 400, it wasn’t worth the risk. And it still turned out great. If you do not have a sensitive firm alarm or a sleeping baby, go for the broil!
Lastly, tomatoes on the vine make for a great photo, but are by no means necessary to make this dish. Loose tomatoes are the preferred option. 🍅
Jump on the train and make this!
Baked Feta, Tomato, & ‘Nduja Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup EVOO
- .5 lbs Hidden Springs Feta – drained
- 2 oz 'nduja – room temperature
- 10 oz short cut pasta – penne, rigatoni, fusilli
- 1 garlic clove – finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves – chopped
- Salt and pepper
- Flaky sea salt – for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Toss the tomatoes and EVOO with salt and pepper in a medium bowl until well coated. Add tomatoes to a 2-3 qt. baking dish. Smush the 'nduja between your fingers and scatter the pieces around the baking dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to burst and the feta is soft and slightly golden. Increase the heat to 450F, and continue to cook until everything is caramalized, 10 to 15 minutes more.
- While the tomatoes bake, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Just before draining, grab a coffee cup and use it to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- After 40-45 minutes, remove the baking dish from the oven and add in the chopped garlic. Stir and smush the tomatoes and feta around until a sauce begins to form. Add in the pasta, half of the chopped basil, and a splash of pasta water. Continue to stir until the sauce coats the noodles. Add more water if the sauce becomes too thick.
- Dish up the pasta onto plates, top with remaining chopped basil and flaky salt.
Charred Corn Salad with Queso Fresco
We love it when our favorite creameries introduce new cheeses! Evergreen Lane, a quaint farm and dairy in Fennville, MI, is most known for their seasonal goat’s milk cheeses and jersey cow’s milk cheeses.
Queso Fresco is Evergreen Lane’s newest addition to our case. It is a fresh cow’s milk cheese, perfect for crumbling over salads, tacos, enchiladas, and this charred corn salad. Compared to traditional queso fresco, Evergreen Lane’s version isn’t as dry. So let it sit out, unwrapped, for a few minutes to dry out.
This corn salad is a perfect dish to take on a picnic, to a BBQ, or just eat alone in your house. Thanks to food goddess Alison Roman for the idea to add corn nuts to a corn salad. The extra crunch and saltiness takes the salad to the next level. If making this ahead, wait to stir in the corn nuts just before serving, so they stay nice and crunchy.
Charred Corn Salad with Queso Fresco
Ingredients
- 6 ears of corn
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 Divina Calabrian Chili pepper, finely chopped
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 1 lime, juiced
- ½ tbsp Tajin or other brand of chile lime seasoning
- ½ cup corn nuts
- ½ piece Evergreen Lane Queso Fresco, crumbled
- Salt and pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a dry cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the ears of corn. Cook and rotate corn until kernels begin to char, about 8 minutes. Remove from the skillet and place on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.*
- In a mixing, place an upside down glass or bowl that fits in the bottom part of the bowl. Trim the bottom end of one corn cob to sit even on the bottom of the glass. Slice the kernels off the cob and let them fall into the bowl. Repeat with remaining ears. Remove the glass and stir the kernels.
- Add the minced shallots, chopped calabrian pepper, chopped cilantro, EVOO, lime juice, and chile lime seasoning to the corn. Stir to combine. Taste and add more chile lime seasoning or salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
*You can also char the corn on an outdoor grill.
Fried Feta with Basque Pepper Honey
If you’ve been to a Greek restaurant in America, you’ve probably had saganaki – a flaming cheese appetizer that is fried, then flambéed at the table. This is the Aperitivo spin on this fried cheese dish, with a little Spanish flair.
There are a few different types of feta that you may find in the Aperitivo case – French, Israeli, Bulgarian, or Greek. These cheeses will be made primarily with sheep’s milk, sometimes with goat’s milk as well. Unlike the dry and sour-tasting cow’s milk feta that is available in the grocery stores, each of these varieties will be rich, creamy, and have varying levels of saltiness.
Any type of honey can be used in this dish. But if you use plain honey, try adding a touch of heat with ground pepper – Aleppo, cayenne, red pepper flakes, harissa, etc.
You can serve this with soft pita bread, naan, pita chips, or just simply eat it with a fork.
Fried Feta with Basque Pepper Honey
Ingredients
- 1 lemon, zested
- ¼ cup Marcona almonds
- ½ cup AP flour
- 1 large egg
- Basque pepper honey, or plain honey with a pinch of hot pepper flakes
- Fresh thyme leaves
- EVOO
- Salt and pepper
- Pita bread or chips, for serving
Instructions
- In a shallow frying pan or cast iron skillet, add a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and set over medium heat. Drop the Marcona almonds in and fry until they start to get golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add in the lemon zest (save a small pinch to garnish at the end) and cook just until fragrant, only a few seconds. Remove almonds from the pan with a slotted spoon, keeping as much oil in the pan as you can, and set the almonds and lemon zest aside to cool. Take the pan off the heat until you are ready to fry the feta.
- In a shallow bowl, add the flour and season with salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, add the egg with a splash of the brine water from the feta container and beat with a fork until mostly homogeneous.
- Slice the feta block into 1-in thick slabs. Take a slab and dredge it in the flour to coat the entire piece. Dip it into the egg wash to hydrate the flour and allow the excess to drip off. Return the feta back to the flour bowl and dredge until the egg is coated with flour. Repeat with the remaining slabs of feta.
- Return the frying pan with the lemon and almond oil to a medium heat. Add extra oil to cover the surface if needed. Carefully place the coated feta in the hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Flip over and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set on a paper towel-lined plate and fry the remaining feta slabs.
- To plate, lay the fried feta on a platter. Drizzle a few over-generous drizzles of the Basque pepper honey and sprinkle on the marcona almonds, leftover lemon zest and thyme leaves. Serve with pita bread or chips.
Notes
*Tip: Zest the lemon zest with the concave part of the zester facing upwards, and zest like you are playing a violin. This allows you to ensure you aren’t zesting too deep, but also collects the zests and allows you to set it down until ready to add to the recipe.
Tomato Ricotta Zucchini Rollatini
Late summer’s harvest can sometimes get a bit excessive. Having giant zucchinis and hundreds of juicy cherry tomatoes overflowing in bowls in your kitchen is a wonderful problem to have. But you still need to find a way to use the abundance of veggies before they pass their prime.
Combining sweet cherry tomatoes with fluffy ricotta cheese to make a rich and creamy sauce makes a delicious base for rolled zucchini slices.
If you have leftover Tomato Ricotta sauce, it is great tossed with pasta, spooned over roasted vegetables, or smeared cold over crusty bread.
Tomato Ricotta Zucchini Rollatini
Ingredients
Tomato Ricotta Sauce
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano freshly grated
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Zucchini Rollatini
- 1 large zucchini or 2 small
- salt and peper
- 12 slices La Quercia Prosciutto thinly sliced
- 1 ball fresh mozzarella sliced into 12 pieces
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano plus more to finish
- Fresh basil leaves
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- To make the sauce, process the tomatoes, cheeses, garlic, anchovy fillets, and olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Add the basil, and pulse until combined but with some green flecks, 7 to 8 times. Taste and add salt and pepper. Use right away for zucchini rollatini, or cover and refrigerate for up to one week.
- To make the rollatini, preheat a grill pan on medium-high heat. Using a mandoline, slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin strips until you have 12 full slices. Strips should be a little less than ¼ in. Season both sides of the zucchini slices.
- Spray grill pan with cooking spray. Grill zucchini slices 2 minutes on one side until slightly softened and grill marks appear. Gently flip over and grill for another 30 seconds. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with all zucchini slices.
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Spread 1/4 cup of the tomato ricotta sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- On a cutting board, lay out a slice of zucchini. Take one slice of prosciutto and lay flat across zucchini. Place a piece of mozzarella on one side of the zucchini and roll up the slice. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all 12 slices are complete.
- Spoon additional sauce on top of each zucchini rollatini and sprinkle on freshly grated Parmesan. Bake in the 400℉ oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.
- Top with torn basil leaves, more grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.
Goat Cheese Butter
Rethink the cheese board by mixing together rich and creamy butter with tangy and bright goat cheese. Stirring in a few chopped herbs makes a delicious spread to smear on bread. Serve on a board with veggies, chips and some tinned fish, and you’ve got a beautiful and tasty platter.
At Aperitivo, we have access to some great goat cheese creameries. Use your favorite fresh chèvre for this recipe. It’s a great way to use a half-empty container, or stretch the cheese to feed a crowd.
Adjust the extra mix-in’s to match your season. During the summer, fresh herbs like basil or tarragon. In the winter, use items in your pantry like dried spices and honey.
Goat Cheese Butter
Ingredients
- 3-4 oz. fresh chèvre, at room temperature
- 2-3 tbsp softened butter
- 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the chèvre, butter and chopped basil until combined.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread.
Chèvre Green Chile Breakfast Tostadas
Laura Chenel is considered by many to be one of the founding mothers of American artisan cheese. Laura, along with Allison Hooper of Vermont Creamery, Judy Schad of Capriole and Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove, blazed the trail for farmstead cheese in America.
During the 80’s, when most of America was producing – and eating – artificial cheese made in large factories, these women took what little resources and knowledge they had and began to make small-batch, artisan goat cheese.
These women’s contribution to America’s cheese culture is undeniable, and we are honored to feature many of their cheeses in the Aperitivo case.
Laura Chenel’s marinated goat cheese comes in the most adorable (and recyclable) handled buckets, and pack a ton of flavor. The rich and creamy goat cheese is then blended with green enchilada sauce, making for the most addictive and versatile condiment.
This recipe uses the sauce as a base for breakfast tostadas. But could be used in traditional enchiladas, as a dip with corn chips or as a southwestern inspired salad dressing.
If you are feeling up to the challenge, make your own green chile sauce. But if you are pressed for time (or lazy,) the store-bought jarred variety works just fine.
Chèvre Green Chile Breakfast Tostadas
For the sauce:
- 1 15 oz. jar green chile enchilada sauce
- 1 bucket Laura Chenel Marinated Goat Cheese – Jalapeño Chile
For the tostadas:
- Tostada shells
- Eggs, fried to over medium or sunny-side up
- Pickled jalapeños or Mama Lil’s peppers
- Cilantro, chopped
- Salt and pepper
To make the sauce, add the jar of enchilada sauce and all but one of the marinated goat cheese discs to a blender and purée until smooth. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge up to one week.
To make the tostadas, place the shells flat on a plate. Generously spoon the sauce over the shells. Top each shell with an egg. Crumble the last disc of the goat cheese and scatter around the tostadas. Lightly drizzle oil from the goat cheese bucket around the tostadas and garnish with pickled peppers, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper.
Labneh and Sardine Dip
Fact – everyone should eat more tinned fish. They are packed with flavor, nutrients and come in beautiful little packages. They are also extremely versatile – delicious enough to eat on their own with some crusty bread or a killer ingredient to use in cooking.
Aperitivo has been apart of the tinned fish movement since opening, and the shelves continue to house high-quality and unique conservas from around the world.
This dip is the perfect way to get to know a familiar, but often overlooked fish, the sardine. Matiz Sardines with Lemon have a bright acidity that balances out the richness of the labneh.
If you haven’t tried the Brush Creek Creamery Marinated Labneh, this is your chance! Labneh is strained yogurt, very common in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Brush Creek’s is spiced with garlic, parsley and salt, then marinated in olive oil, peppercorns and chiles. You won’t need the entire jar for this recipe, so spread the leftovers on toasted pitas or dollop on roasted veggies.
Labneh and Sardine Dip
- ⅓ cup marinated labneh- about ⅔ of the jar
- ¼ cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons Mama Lil’s Peppers, more if you like it spicy
- 1 tin Matiz Sardines with Lemon
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley, lemon zest and oil from labneh, for garnish
- Belgian endive and Rustic Bakery crackers, for serving
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, labneh, lemon zest and juice and the chopped Mama Lil’s
Open the tin of sardines. Gently pull apart the fillets and pull out the skeleton that runs down the middle. Flake apart and add to the bowl. Add the chopped parsley and stir to combine.
Taste and add salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with parsley, lemon zest and drizzle with oil from the labneh. Serve with endive and crackers.
