Cabled Sheep

It’s the peak of summer vegetable season, so I’ve been doing my best to find creative and delicious recipes for all of those fresh tomatoes, summer squash, eggplants, and herbs.

On Monday I decided to give this recipe for Summer Vegetable Gratin, originally published in Cook’s Illustrated. I knew that it would take a while to prepare, so I planned it for a day when I had plenty of time.

Although not difficult to make, it’s definitely time-consuming. I didn’t actually time it, but it took nearly 2 hours from when I started until it was ready to eat. But about half of that is baking and resting time.

I always judge recipes by how much I like it in proportion to the time and effort it took to make. If it takes a lot of time, effort, and/or clean-up, it had better be incredibly good. On the other hand, if it’s really quick and easy, I don’t mind if isn’t the most fabulous recipe ever, as long as it’s reasonably good.

While making this dish, I kept thinking that it had better be pretty darn good to be worth the time, and I wasn’t too sure that it would be.

But the result? Worth every minute. It was fabulous.

I did make a few minor changes – I only had a little over a pound of zucchini and yellow squash, so I added in some sliced eggplant to make a total of two pounds. I only used one onion instead of two, and since I didn’t have any shallots, I used some fresh chopped garlic chives from the garden. The basil and thyme were both fresh from my garden, and I think using fresh herbs in this recipe makes a big difference. Don’t be tempted to skip the process of draining the vegetables – you don’t want it to be soggy.

The recipe definitely passed my work-to-flavor ratio, and I’d certainly make it again.

It was delicious served with this special treat – Syrah wine made from grapes grown by a friend of ours (hence the lack of label). Wow. I’d buy a case of this if I could. Guy knows how to grow grapes. And his winemaker friend knows how to make wine.

I’ve been overrun by basil in the garden this year – a huge improvement over last year when my basil barely grew at all.

I’ve just been using it fresh, but today I finally got around to making pesto sauce.

This is just about the easiest thing ever. Really. If you like pesto, but have never tried making it, you must give it a try. Of course, having nice fresh basil is the key, so it’s best (and most cost-effective) if you’ve grown it yourself, or can beg/borrow/steal some from a friend or neighbor. Once you have all the ingredients, you’re just a couple of minutes and a food processor away from yumminess.

I like to spoon it into ice cube trays and freeze it, then pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer container. One “cube” is about 1 tablespoon. Then I can just grab a cube or two whenever I need a bit of pesto. It’s great for adding to pasta, or sauces such as marinara or Alfredo sauce (no need to defrost the cube first – just heat it in the sauce). Or if I want a little dollop of pesto as a garnish for some grilled salmon, it doesn’t take long to defrost. One recipe is just enough to fill up this ice cube tray.

Pesto Sauce

3 cups packed fresh basil leaves (no big stems, just the leaves)
2-4 cloves garlic depending on how garlicky you like it.
½ cup good-quality olive oil
¼ cup pine nuts (I buy the big bags at Costco and keep them in the freezer)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process into a smooth paste.

That’s it! See? Easy as pie pesto.

And if you aren’t big on basil? Try this wonderful Sage Pesto instead. You can leave out the Parmesan cheese for a vegan version.

Sage Pesto

¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
½ cup packed fresh sage leaves
¼ cup fresh parsley
½ cup pine nuts, toasted (or walnuts, if you prefer)
½ tsp. salt
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice (½ lemon)
½ c grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Combine all ingredients in food processor, process until well blended.

Very nice on fish, sautéed summer squash, or pasta. I also just spread some on crackers.