Mitts! Mitts! Mitts!

Sometimes when you see a skein of yarn, you have to buy it because you're in love with the color. I never worry about what I'm going to do with it. I know the inspiration for the perfect project will come along at some point, and that's exactly what happened when I found this tutorial on The Purl Bee. This is the perfect project for playing with colors and using up odd bits from your stash.

I've been on a mitt-making extraaaaaavaganza for weeks now. The options are endless and they're so quick to make. Oh, plus aren't they just so cute?! Perfect for fall.

Tortiglioni alla Norma (pasta with roasted eggplant)

We were just browsing one of our favorite local shops when I stumbled upon this cookbook. I almost didn't pick it up because it looked "gifty" vs. for actual cooking. But it was called "Pasta" - and that was enough to catch my attention.

This was the first recipe we chose to make and it is a total show stopper. The caramelized eggplant is to die for and the instructions to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce make all the difference. Ridiculously delicious and a total new fave!

Tortiglioni alla Norma

Pasta with Tomato Sauce, Roasted Eggplant & Ricotta Salata

Serves 4, generously

1 large globe eggplant (1 to 1 1/2 lbs), peeled, leaving stiles of skin and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 cup olive oil

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

25 Italian basil leaves

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

36oz canned whole San Marzano-style tomatoes, pureed with a hand blender or chopped by hand

1 lb tortiglioni or rigatoni

4 oz ricotta salata, grated on a box grated using the large holes (about 1 1.2 cups)

Heat oven to 400º. 

In a large mixing bowl, toss eggplant with 1/2 cup olive oil and season generously with salt. Put the eggplant on a baking sheet with parchment paper and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes until the eggplant is soft and golden brown.

Meanwhile, but 1/2 cup olive oil, the onion and a pinch of salt in a 14-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.

Add the basil leaves and the hot pepper to the onions and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Add the tomato puree and simmer the sauce until it has reduced by half. 

When the eggplant is tender and roasted, drop the tortiglioni into boiling salted water and cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is almost al dente. Drain the pasta 3 minutes before the indicated cooking time, reserving 1 cup cooking water. The pasta will cook for the last few minutes int he sauce and absorb its flavors.

Transfer the pasta and three-quarters of the roasted eggplant to the tomato sauce and turn the heat to medium-high. Simmer the pasta in the sauce for about 2 minutes, adding cooking water as necessary and stirring frequently to avoid sticking. Top with remaining eggplant and freshly grated ricotta salata and serve immediately.

Plum and Pluot Galette

For years now I've thought baking just wasn't my thing. It's too precise, requires a lot of technique and I'm just not patient enough to embrace it. 

But I also believe that knowing how to make a pie crust from scratch is an important life skill. I churned out many failed crusts before my friend Leslie showed me what a good dough feels like in your hand. That gave me confidence, but I still produced no pies.

Until this summer, when I found the galette. Not quite a pie, not a tart, the galette is a rustic bit of deliciousness that is simple, easy and a total crowd pleaser. What's not to love about that?

Plum and Pluot Galette

From Chez Panisse Café Cookbook

Serves 8

10 ounces Galette Dough (recipe below), rolled into a 14-inch circle

1 1/4 pounds ripe plums and pluots unpeeled

About 1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon ground almonds 

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Optional: 2 tablespoons plum jam

Preheat over to 400º.

Remove pre-rolled dough from the refrigerator or freezer and place on a buttered or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Cut the plums and pluots in half and gently twist the halves to separate them. Remove the pits and cut the fruit into slices about 1/3-inch thick. You should have about 5 cups of sliced fruit.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the sugar with the flour and ground almonds (I just chopped my almonds very finely), and sprinkle the mixture over the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border. Arrange the fruit slices on the dough in barely touching concentric circles, again leaving the 2-inch border. Sprinkle the fruit evenly with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

Trim away most of the 2-inch border, leaving about 1/2 inch of pastry. (Save the trimmings to make little sugar cookies.) Finish the tart by folding the exposed border over on itself, crimping to make a narrow pastry rim around the fruit. Brush the rim generously with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in the lower third of the over for 45-50 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the crust is well browned and its edges slightly caramelized. Let the alette cool for 20 minutes. If you would like to glaze the tart, brush it with a little gently heated plum jam. Serve the tart warm with vanilla ice cream.

Galette Dough

Makes 20 ounces dough, enough for 2 galettes or tarts

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing blow. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Add half the butter to the flour mixture and work it into the flour with your fingertips, until the dough has the texture of coarse oatmeal.

Add the rest of the butter and quickly work it into the dough until the biggest pieces are the size of large lima beans.

Dribble about 1/2 cup ice water into the dough in several stages, tossing and mixing between additions. Don't try to dampen all o fthe dough evenly. It should look rather ropy and rough. Stop adding water when there are still a few bits of dry flour remaining in the bottom of the bowl.

Gather the dough into 2 balls and wrap each tightly with plastic wrap, pressing down to flatten each package. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before rolling. (Dough may be frozen for a few weeks.)

Roll each flattened ball into a  14-0inch circle on a lightly toured board; the dough will be a little less than 1/8 inch thick Refrigerate the rolled-out dough for at least 1/2 hour before using. 

Summer Sandwiches

We're in the middle one of the best times of year in Northern California for produce. The stone fruits are in, the strawberries are amazing and the tomatoes! The tomatoes are AMAZING!

One of the best ways to enjoy a luscious ripe heirloom tomato is to slice it up and throw it on a piece of crunchy bread over a layer of soft creamy goat cheese. We like to drizzle a little mustard vinaigrette and some freshly cracked black pepper on top. What could be better? If you want to go for double bonus points, serve it along with our other summer fave; Avocado Sandwiches.