baguette with tomato, basil + fresh mozzarella

The best tasting food can be made in the simplest way with fresh ingredients.  I had heard this so many times from renowed chefs that I couldn’t remember whom I first heard it from, but I wasn’t exactly a believer until I tried this sandwich.  I like to make it when I’m working from home and crunching for a deadline.  It takes almost no time to assemble, and makes use of what most of us have at home: freshly-picked basil (from my dining table centerpiece) and heirloom tomatoes (from the fridge or my mom’s garden).  It seems redundant to write a recipe for this, since all of the ingredients and steps are evident.

☞ to stack                    

ingredients:

makes 1 serving

    3 cuts fresh mozzarella, from buffalo or 

         cow’s milk, about 1/4” thick

    1 heirloom tomato, sliced

    3 leaves fresh basil
      baguette, about 7"

      salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Slice the baguette lengthwise in half.  Toast the bottom half.
2. Layer the sandwich with mozzarella, basil, and tomato.  Toast the top half of baguette.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Optional: drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

octopus and chickpeas in zimino

To celebrate the coming of spring, we found a small table and chairs for our tiny balcony, and filled the planters with luscious lavender.  It's perfect, except that we've only enjoyed it once, since.  It has been raining for the past seven days and looks like it will for the next two weeks.  On days like this I just want to curl up on the couch with a book and something I can eat with a spoon.  This versatile adaptation of Mario Batali's cuttlefish with chickpeas recipe (Seppie in Zimino di Ceci) has become one of my favorite guiltless treats.  It doesn't call for any cream or butter, but still offers a creaminess given by the chickpeas and kick from hot chile peppers and tomatoes.  What missing ingredients can be substituted with what I have in the fridge, and it may be served as antipasto, brunch, or even a simple meal.  I replaced the calamri with octopus, and potatoes with more chickpeas (for the carb-conscious, use one zucchini, diced, and only 1.5 cup of chickpeas).  The original recipe is of course delicious and promising like the other Batali's recipes I've tried, but I will save it for another time.

☞ to make

ingredients:
makes 4 servings

      3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

      1 medium Spanish onion, sliced into 1/4”-thick rounds
      1 sprig celery, cut to 1/4" sections

      4 cloves garlic

  2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained if canned

      1 teaspoon dried hot chile pepper flakes, or to taste

      4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry

  1 1/2 cup basic tomato sauce

  1 1/2 cup dried white wine

      2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

      2 pounds octopus, cut to 3/4” chunks

        salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
        fresh basil leaves, julienned, for garnish

directions:

1. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.
2. Add the onion, garlic, chickpeas, chile pepper flakes, celery, and anchovies and cook until the onion and celery softened and light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomato sauce, octopus, wine and vinegar and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the octopus is tender.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with fresh basil.