Tag: sheep
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.
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.
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.
Napa Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds and Paški Sir
Have a head of Napa Cabbage from your CSA or farm share box? Not sure what to do with it? Make this salad!
The leaves of the cabbage get softened with some salt and tossed with a sweet and tangy dressing. It is fresh and bright, crunchy and sweet. A perfect salad to accompany a light dinner.
The cabbage doesn’t take too long to soften up – only about 5 minutes. So make sure you have everything else ready to go so you can plate and serve the salad before it gets too soggy.
Paški Sir is a Croatian sheep’s milk cheese that is salty, savory and tangy. It is delicious shaved over this salad, but feel free to use Parmesan or a Pecorino in its place.
This salad is super easy to scale up or down. A full head of Napa Cabbage should make 4 plated salads. But if you are making this for less people, use about 4-5 leaves per person.
Napa Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds and Paški Sir
Makes 4 servings
- ½ cup Marcona Almonds (about .25 pound container)
- ½ tsp lemon zest (or any citrus you have on hand)
- 1 head Napa Cabbage, tough outer leaves removed
- 1 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning dressing
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Italian Cherry Blossom Honey
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup parsley leaves, torn
- 1 Tbsp sliced chives
- 3 oz. Paški Sir, shaved, plus more because more cheese is always better
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shake the plastic container of Marconas to redistribute the oil. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes until warmed and slightly golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle over the lemon zest and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop.
Remove the leaves from the cabbage core, tear off the tough white bottom, and tear into 3″– 4″ pieces. Add to a large bowl and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the leaves. Gently massage with your hands and set aside until ready to serve, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey and black pepper together. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and drizzle over the cabbage. Add the chives, parsely, shaved Paški Sir and the chopped Marconas and toss together.
Transfer salad to a platter or individual plates. Sprinkle on more cheese, chopped Marconas, salt and pepper and serve.
Fiore Sardo and Pink Peppercorn Crackers
Try an update on the classic cheese shortbread crackers.
Pecorino Fiore Sardo is a firm sheep’s milk cheese from Sardina, Italy. It is sharp, earthy and smokey, pairing great with the floral and fruity notes from the pink peppercorns.
These crackers are a great addition to a cheese board and make a great snack to bring to all your holiday celebrations.
Fiore Sardo and Pink Peppercorn Crackers
- 8 ounces Pecorino Fiore Sardo – 0.5# piece
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room
temperature - 1/2 tablespoon crushed pink peppercorns*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat oven 350°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
Remove the rind from the cheese and grate on the small holes of a box grater.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, salt and pink peppercorns on low speed until blended. Add the grated cheese and flour to the bowl and mix on low speed until smooth.
Pour the dough out onto a cutting board and shape into a dish. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼ – ⅛ inch thick. Using a smaller cookie cutter (or a champagne flute or shot glass) cut out dough circles and place on baking sheet.
Bake crackers 13-15 minutes until lightly golden and just starting to brown around the edges. Let crackers cool and store in an airtight container.
*Gently crush peppercorns by putting them in a Ziploc bag and push down on them with the bottom of a skillet.
