Tag Archives: pine nuts

Recipe: Lamb with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts

20 Apr

This is a Lebanese dish for saucy eggplant (and lamb) lovers. Lamb and eggplant are natural partners and frequent appear together in Middle Eastern, Turkish, Greek and Balkan dishes. There are many recipes for this as a stuffed eggplant dish but I like this deconstructed version, which layers the filling on top. As it all cooks together, the lamb and tomatoes season and soften the eggplant below, resulting in comforting, cinnamon-scented mouthfuls that are enhanced by the taste and texture of buttery pine nuts.

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Lamb and Eggplant

Ingredients:

olive oil
3 small-medium eggplants, thinly sliced
garlic powder
salt and pepper

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
salt and pepper
1 lb. (450 gr.) ground lamb
1 can (14 oz./411 gr.) petite diced tomatoes
1 can (14 oz./411 gr.) tomato sauce

1/3-1/2 c. pine nuts
chopped parsley (optional; I forgot it this time around!)

Preparation

1. Cook the eggplant slices in olive oil (in a singe layer, working in batches) in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until they are golden, tending to them carefully so they don’t burn. You will likely need to add more oil to the pan with every new layer. Place the eggplant slices in the bottom of a 9×13-inch (23×33 cm) baking dish and sprinkle them with a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper as you layer them, while they are still warm. (I have a garlic salt grinder and sometimes grind that over the layers, along with some black pepper, so that’s another option.)

2. In another pan, cook the onion in about 2 tbsp. olive oil until soft. (Note: If you’d like to up the heat factor of this dish, you could also add a pinch of red-pepper/chili flakes along with the onions.) Add the minced garlic and cook a couple minutes more, then add the cinnamon and allspice and cook for another couple minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Add the ground lamb to the pan and cook until no longer pink; drain,* then add the cooked onions, the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Simmer until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 20 minutes. Check the seasonings after about 10 minutes, and add more cinnamon, allspice, salt, or pepper as needed.

3. Melt a bit of butter or olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and sauté the pine nuts until they start to turn golden.

4. Spoon the lamb mixture over the eggplant slices in the baking dish and sprinkle the pine nuts on top. The photo below shows this step halfway through.

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4. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) until bubbling, about 30 minutes.

5. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and serve with vermicelli rice pilaf. I also like to eat the lamb and eggplant (and the rice) with plain full-fat yogurt on the side, too.

*In the United States, the lamb sometimes requires draining. If your lamb is leaner, you can add the ground lamb directly to the cooked onions in the pan and skip the draining part.

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Recipe: Roasted Tomatoes, Onions, and Garlic with Basil

28 Jun

This year, I planted three tomato plants, which are beginning to completely take over the vegetable garden. If that weren’t enough, a fourth rogue plant sprung from the seeds of  last year’s tomatoes is giving them a run for their money. Which means I’m soon going to be faced with a bumper crop of tomatoes and the challenge of figuring out what to do with the ones I keep. This recipe is one of my all-time favorites for tomatoes, and I often serve it at brunches as an accompaniment to cold roasted meats. It is a very flexible recipe: it can be made ahead, served warm or at room temperature–and you can play around with the ingredients depending on what you have on hand. However you tweak it, it’s hard to go wrong with tomatoes, red onions, garlic, basil, and pine nuts.


Roasted Tomatoes, Onions, and Garlic with Basil
12 servings

3 lb. roma tomatoes (other smaller types work well, too)
2 large red onions, cut in half, each half cut into eight wedges
30 cloves garlic /2 bulbs, peeled (slice large cloves in half)
2/3 c. olive oil
2 tsp. sambal oelek (or sweet chilli sauce)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. bottled pesto (or fresh, if you have it)
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. shredded fresh basil
2 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 c. pine nuts, toasted

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 400º.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Place tomatoes, cut side up, in large baking dish, then nestle the onions and garlic around the tomatoes.
3. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, sambal oelek, sugar, pesto, and salt. Pour over the vegetables.
4. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until tomatoes, onions, and garlic are soft.
5. Meanwhile, dry toast the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium-high heat (watching carefully), until they start to turn golden. Remove them from the skillet and reserve.
6. Once the tomatoes come out of the oven, add the vinegar, herbs, and pine nuts, and mix gently. Serve warm or cold.

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Recipe: Spaghetti with Chicken Chorizo, Zucchini, and Pine Nuts

5 Aug

Let me count the ways I love this dish:

  1. It is incredibly quick and easy,
  2. It is bold and zesty thanks to the spicy chicken chorizo and the tangy Pecorino Romano,
  3. It isn’t a typical tomato- or cream-based pasta dish,
  4. It contains pine nuts (a heavenly food, but one to be used sparingly because of the cost), and
  5. It is another way to use up some of that bumper crop of zucchini (… if you’ve had your fill of Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Squares).

I made this tonight in about 20 minutes–and yes, I did add the pine nuts, but they all went into hiding at photo time. If you have a bit more chorizo than you need for this recipe, add it to a delicious egg scramble in the morning, maybe with some poblano chilies, onions, and mushrooms. Mmmm.


Spaghetti with Chicken Chorizo, Zucchini, and Pine Nuts
Serves 4

3-4 tbsp. olive oil
2-3 links spicy chicken chorizo, removed from casings (about 2/3-1 lb.)
1 large zucchini, diced into small cubes (about 3 cups total)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 tbsp. pine nuts
1/2 lb. spaghetti
1 tbsp. butter
1 c. Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Start preparing spaghetti according to “al dente” directions on the package (check for doneness about a minute before the minimum time listed).
2. While water is coming to a boil, cook chorizo in olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until chorizo is no longer pink, breaking up the chorizo as it cooks. Add zucchini and cook until it has softened and the chorizo is golden. Add garlic during last five minutes of cooking time. If chorizo/zucchini mixture seems dry, add a bit more olive oil.
3. Push chorizo/zucchini mixture to one side of the skillet and sprinkle pine nuts onto the cleared space; cook the pine nuts for a couple minutes or until they turn golden. Incorporate them into the chorizo/zucchini mixture. If the pasta is not yet done, turn off the heat under the chorizo mixture and keep warm.
4. Just before draining the spaghetti, remove about 1/2 c. of the cooking water (or dip a glass measuring cup right into the pasta pot); reserve the water.
5. Drain the spaghetti, toss the drained spaghetti with butter, then pour the chorizo/zucchini mixture on top of the spaghetti and mix in well. If the mixture seems a bit dry, add a small amount of pasta cooking water to moisten.
6. Mix in the Pecorino Romano cheese, add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

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