In Spite of the Blight, Fresh Tomato Lasagna

I grew up with an Italian grandma. Garlic, basil and tomatoes are in my very DNA. That said, traditional lasagna is a lot of work. Delicious, yes, but also heavy and time consuming to make. Traditional lasagna is the sort of thing I crave when the leaves start to turn and the low spots bear frost in the morning. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful friend who is also a wonderful cook. Molly Belle was my high school best friend's aunt and she would have the two of us over to her apartment in Cambridge (Massachusetts, y'all), take us to art-house movies and feed us artisan bread and spectacular dinners. This recipe is one she made us back in 2000 and it's been since then that I've had it. I'm making it tonight.

This morning I woke up and had to have this. We ran out to the smaller (better?) Hilldale farmer's market and grabbed an enormous bunch of basil, several plum tomatoes ($1.50/lb.!), some scallions and a huge number of patty pan squash for just over six dollars.

Mid-summer is a time for fresh vegetables and allowing them to show off their myriad wonders of flavor. Fresh tomatoes and basil cook down into a spectacular sauce that must be sopped up with a fresh loaf of Italian bread. Better yet, there is no fussing with pre-cooking lasagna noodles (though, I admit I gave that up the day Barilla introduced their no-cook noodles anyway).

Fresh Tomato Lasagna
(400* 1 hour)

6 large tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
4 oz. fontina cheese, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated
lasagna noodles, as many as it takes
salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil

In the bottom of the dish (I am using an oblong 2 qt. Corningware) place a layer of tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a layer of noodles on top, followed by another layer of tomatoes and salt and pepper. Next, layer all of the fontina, more noodles, all the mozzarella, 1/2 the Romano, further noodles and the remaining tomatoes, basil and Romano. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake.

As I said before, it's soupy. Serve it in bowls with the aforementioned bread, buttered. This is a summer meal that cannot be beat and the ease of preparation makes it all the more alluring.

(As a side note, I had half a tomato left over, along with basil and mozzarella. I must confess to being a lifelong raw tomato disliker and know it is more a textural issue than a flavor one, but I have been teaching myself to eat them. I made a tiny Caprese salad with the remaining bits and enjoyed it thoroughly. So, to the raw tomato haters, give it a shot by taking slices of tomato, slices of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves, layering them, sprinkling with s+p and drizzling with olive oil before eating. You may be surprised. Alternately, you can take those very same things plus some Italian or French bread, turn on the broiler and have a nice little pizza.)

Zucchini Muffins

Our CSA has been churning out produce like crazy lately. It's hit full stride and I'm both overjoyed and a little overwhelmed. We've gotten tons of carrots, garlic, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet corn and now, that perennial summer veg, the zucchini. After receiving 2 last week and 2 this week, I decided something had to be done. That something was muffins.

Zucchini Muffins
(350* 20-25 mins. Makes 24
or 50-60 mins. and 2 loaves))

3 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 whole wheat and 1 1/2 all purpose)
1 tsp. (heaping) cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit or combination thereof

Preheat the oven to 350 and line 24 muffin cups with liners or grease and flour 2 5 x 9 in. loaf pans. Whisk together the eggs, oil, butter and sugar then add the zucchini and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and stir just until moist. Fill the muffin cups/loaf pans evenly and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for several minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

When life (or the CSA) gives you garlic scapes, make pesto!

We grabbed our 3rd CSA pick-up this afternoon to find some lovely strawberries, 3 adorable radishes, an enormous head of escarole, a bag of salad mix, a head of Romaine lettuce, more garlic scapes and some scallions.

Now, I like salad. I like it a lot. But, Luke doesn't. Not only does this make for a sad tatertot, it also makes for an overwhelmed one. My fridge is overflowing with greens! 2 heads of lettuce, that giant escarole(!) and a bag and a half of salad mix is a lot for one person to try to slog through. But, I digress. It will all get sorted out. We will eat salads (both of us!) this next week until it comes out our ears. We will also make soup from the Escarole of Doom.

Now, back to the matter at hand: garlic scape pesto.

Garlic scapes are also known as garlic tops. Because garlic reproduces asexually, it shoots up tall stalks with buds on them with the hope of going to seed. Farmers, wishing for that energy to go into growing plumper heads, lop them off and sell them. Prior to the discovery they could be eaten, they would be thrown away.

They taste like garlic with none of the rawness of a raw clove and they can be used in exactly the same way. Some even use them as you would green beans.

I choose to make pesto from them, using just a bit of parsley to up the 'green' flavor quotient. With said pesto, you can throw it on pasta, mix it with balsamic vinegar and make dressing, cover a pounded chicken breast with it and pan fry or scoop it up with crackers and eat as is.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 scant cup garlic scapes, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup pine nuts (pignoli if you're hardcore)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup good quality olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the first four ingredients and pulse until everything is in tiny, uniform bits. Next, with the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until combined and pesto-y. Eat!