COOKING ON THE WEEKENDS

St. Tropez Summer Salad

The salad is so pleasant in look and taste that will please even the toughest guest. A single complex bite will bring the bohemian and sunny spirit to the table.

4 servings

Ingredients

4 fresh heirloom tomatoes

¼ baby fennel bulb, cut to thin ribbons

¼ green pepper, cut to thin slices

¼ red onion, cut to thin slices

5 fingering potatoes

1 Kirby cucumber, peeled and cut to thin pieces, lengthwise

8 nicoise olives

1 egg, hard-boiled

4 fillets of anchovies, in pure olive oil

1 spring parsley for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

FOR THE HERB OLIVE OIL

1-cup Partanna extra virgin olive oil

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh basil

2 bay leaves

2 whole black pepper corn

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

Preparation

To make the herb olive oil in a small glass jar, add one cup extra virgin olive oil and mix it with the fresh basil, rosemary, bay leaves, black pepper corn, and thinly sliced garlic clove. The herb olive oil can be prepared the night before.

Boiled the fingering potatoes and let them cool. Hard boil the egg, peel and cut it to 4 pieces.

Cut the top of the heirloom tomatoes and scoop out the inside. Stuff each tomato with slices of baby fennel, cucumbers, green peppers, red onions, small bite-sized pieces of fingering potatoes, and top it with a nicoise olive and rolled anchovies. Repeat the same with the rest of the tomatoes.

Serve it in the individual plate with a quarter piece of hard-boiled egg on the side. Drizzle it with the infused oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice and the St. Tropez dolls are ready to be served.

Endive Salad with Figs, Gorgonzola, and 

Toasted Almonds

A kaleidoscope for your senses

4 servings

Ingredients

1 bulb Endive

½ bulb Radicchio

5 stalks fresh asparagus 

4 fresh Figs

2 tablespoons Toasted Almonds

Gorgonzola 

Honey-Truffle Vinaigrette

Preparation

Cut the enduce and radicchio to ¼" thin pieces. Shave the asparagus thinly.

Place them in a salad bowl. Gently toss them with the honey-truffle vinaigrette.

Sprinkle on top the toasted almonds and the fresh figs, cut in quarters

Grilled Eggplant Dip

Eggplant dip cooked to perfection. The result is innocent addiction that knows no boundaries.

4 servings

Ingredients

Servings – 2 jars

1 medium size eggplant

1 plum tomato

2 garlic clove

1 tablespoon finely hopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place the eggplant, tomato and the two garlic cloves to a baking pan and bake for 40 minutes until soft.

Once cooked, cut the eggplant lengthwise in half and scoop out the inside. Pull the skin off of the

tomatoes and the garlic cloves. Shred the tomato through a metal grater. In a mortar mix the garlic with salt and black pepper. Mix well until gets a pasty texture.

To make the eggplant dip place all the ingredients — eggplant, tomatoes and garlic paste — in a medium-sized bowl and start stirring until it gets a smooth and homogeneous texture, about 10 min.

Season with finely chopped parsley and served with toasted bread.

Tip: When you're buying an eggplant, try to choose based on the shiny color. Your eggplant should have no dark spots, and it should not be too firm in touch, or too soft. Touch the meat of the eggplant to determine whether it's ripe and ready to be cooked.

Caramelized Carrots

Pan-roasted carrots, coated with honey and lightly caramelized

4 servings

Ingredients

4 Servings

1 lb different color baby carrots

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons Partanna extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Clean and peel the carrots.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat sauté the carrots with 2 tablespoons olive oil until browns yell on all sides. Add ¼ cup water and let it simmer. Just before it evaporates add the honey and mix well. Make sure carrots are evenly coated. Cook them for another 2 minutes or until water is completely gone.

Tomato Gazpacho

4 servings

Ingredients

6 medium-sized red tomatoes

1 carrot

½ green pepper

½ cucumber, peeled

½ small onion

1 garlic clove

¼ cup Partanna extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons apple vinegar

Preparation

Run the dull part of the knife over the whole tomato and pill the skin off. Peel the skin off of the carrot and the cucumber.

Blend all ingredients in a blender for 3 minutes and then add ¼ cup Partanna extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons apple vinegar, and pinch of salt. Fill it up with 1 ½ cup iced cold water and blend it for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a container, seal it and leave it in a refrigerator to chill for 6 hours before serving.