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Tag: fresh tomatoes

Italian Style Burgers

Italian Burgers I loved eating and making these burgers. Summer is almost done and I feel like grilling and eating all sorts of fresh produce. I had been busy all day Friday and we didn’t have any plans for dinner. We got home around five and I decided to grill burgers, roast some potato wedges and make a salad- simple summertime meal.

I still had to go and buy some ground beef. Usually I prefer turkey meat due to health reason but I decided to go look for grass fed ground beef. Before going shopping, I peeled and cooked the potatoes. I chopped basil, thyme and rosemary for the burgers. I minced garlic and grated a shallot. Once I got the meat and rolls, I simply added the chopped ingredients and that was it- I was done. My husband had asked me to purchase the ready to grill patties but I can’t get myself to do that. I have no idea what is in there.. especially the meat quality. I prefer to make my own- especially since it doesn’t take very long at all.

We grilled the burgers and ate a delicious, simple summer meal… I can’t believe it is almost done. Make this recipe this weekend…
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Paola’s Fresh Tomato Sauce with Fresh Broccoli Rabe Ravioli

I have wanting to make this sauce since we returned from Italy. This was one of the dishes Paola made in our kitchen at the apartment. She started by buying the most beautiful red tomatoes I have seen. The sauce itself doesn’t really have many ingredients. Good tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil (from her back yard), garlic and salt. The reason the sauce and pasta were so good- the ingredients were impeccable. My daughter who doesn’t like chunky sauces thought it was the best pasta she had ever tasted.Paola's Pasta

Once we got home, I started thinking how to replicate this sauce. I can’t compete with those tomatoes and the ultra fresh extra virgin olive oil. I bought a few heirloom tomatoes, some baby roma tomatoes (plum) and I had a bunch from my backyard. I cut all of them up and cooked them with olive oil and garlic. I cooked them for a while till the tomatoes began to break down and soften. Instead of serving the sauce with linguine like Paola did, I decided to buy fresh raviolis from Whole Foods- I found broccoli rabe raviolis. I was very excited about them since broccoli rabe is one of my favorite ingredients.

Since I was serving the sauce with the raviolis, I decided to smooth it out in a food mill. Once that was done, I noticed all the seeds- the sauce looked rustic and it was fine, but I decided to add another step and strained it. Out came the most luscious, delicious sauce I have ever made. It was totally worth the extra work.

The ravioli dish was a big success. Everyone really enjoyed it and there was no left over. My plan is to buy 5 or 6 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and make a big batch of tomato sauce before the season is over. I can enjoy it in the winter season and look forward to summer again!
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Rigatoni with Fresh Tomato Sauce Topped with Sauteed Scallops and Served with Arugula Bruschetta

Fresh Pasta with fresh tomatoes and sauteed scallops

I have been so inspired by my one day cooking class with Paola in Spello, Umbria that all I want to do is cook fresh tomato sauce. The problem with doing that and writing a food blog is that I need to switch the recipe around a bit so I can post it and inspire other people to make it as well. With all the yummy tomatoes around in the farmer’s market and my back yard, I just couldn’t help myself today and made yet another fresh tomato sauce.

I went to Whole Foods and bought fresh rigatoni- I haven’t made boxed pasta since I came back from Italy- not sure how long this obsession will last.. My plan was to buy some jumbo shrimp and make a shrimp scampi pasta with tomato sauce. I was standing at the fish counter when I noticed beautiful sea scallops from NJ. I had to buy them since they were so local. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them but bought them anyway.

I came home and cut the fresh tomatoes up and started cooking them. I boiled the fresh pasta and brought it together with the tomato sauce. I sauteed the scallops on the stove- very quickly- that is the trick to really juicy and tender- do not over cook them. I placed them on top of the pasta.

I remembered the arugula pesto in the fridge and decided to serve a bit of that in the form of a bruschetta. All in all it was a delicious meal. The fresh pasta with the fresh tomato sauce was of course delicious. The sweet and tender scallops were yum and the arugula bruschetta was out of this world. A bottle of Malbec made it even better!

  • 3 cups fresh plum tomatoes, cut into rough squares
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Pinch of sugar
  • ½ pound fresh rigatoni, cooked al dente (reserve ½ cup pasta water for the sauce)

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook on medium heat for at least 20 minutes or till the tomatoes start to get mushy and soft. Add the ½ cup pasta water and the al dente pasta. Mix well and check for seasonings.

Fresh pasta with fresh tomato sauce

Sauteed Scallops

  • 1 pound sea scallops, cleaned
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Heat a non-stick frying pan on high heat. Add the olive oil and scallops. Add salt and pepper. Cook on each side for 2 minutes on high heat. Cook in two batches is the pan is not big enough.

Serve the pasta with 4-5 scallops on top. Toast some sliced baguette and top with the arugula pesto. Serve with the pasta.