Summer Vegetable Casserole

The quest to find new and interesting ways to use our CSA vegetables continues. Having received potatoes and zucchini again I was happy when I stumbled upon a recipe in Food and Wine magazine that used both. Jay and I were at our vacation house in Vermont last weekend and stopped at our favorite local farm stand, Dutton’s. Even though we are receiving quite the bounty from our CSA share, we could not resist. Having already found my recipe while leisurely reading magazines on the porch swing I knew we only needed tomatoes. Dutton’s provided some wonderfully red and ripe fresh tomatoes that were just bit ugly on the outside. As any tomato connoisseur will tell you the uglier the tomato the better!

The recipe was adapted from the one in the magazine. Since we had red potatoes from the share they were used instead of the Yukon Gold that were recommended.

Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 pound fresh red potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 pound fresh plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 small fresh zucchini (1/2 pound), sliced on the diagonal 1/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Spread the potatoes in the dish in an even layer; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Arrange two-thirds of the bell pepper mixture over the potatoes and drizzle with oil. Top with the tomatoes and the zucchini; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with the remaining bell pepper mixture and sprinkle with the cheese.

2. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Uncover the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and glazed on top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

The recipe was delicious and Jay and I both enjoyed it paired with a few ears of fresh corn also from Dutton’s. The idea of cooking it on low heat covered with tin foil is wonderful. This made the vegetables, especially the potatoes, have a fantastic flavor. I think it came from being “steamed” in the olive oil so the flavor was infused throughout. When I make it again I will cut the potatoes slightly thinner than ¼ inch as they were a touch undercooked. Jay and I both agreed that the recipe really would only work with fresh tomatoes as the shipped and packaged variety would not have as much flavor and would leave the recipe lacking.

The next day I took some of the leftovers and chopped them up further. I than placed them in a heated skillet and cooked like a hash. When almost heated through I added a couple of eggs to the pan and cooked over easy. This preparation was even better than the original. I would definitely consider this recipe a must do, especially if you want a fabulous breakfast or brunch the next day.

Mangia,

Margot

Ancient Fire Recipe Contest Reminders

Your Best CSA/Farm Market Menu Contest (closes Today!)
Kate’s Kitchen teamed up with us to challenge readers to come up their best menu from ingredients they picked up in their CSA share or at the farm market. This challenge ends TODAY. Another fresh and local plug, but that is what we are eating right now and we figured there would be plenty of people who would want to share. Post entries in the comments here (contains rules and information) or at Kate’s Kitchen by the end of the day. Winners will be picked randomly and will be featured in our blogs next week.

Boboli Beat BBQ Boredom Grilled Pizza Challenge (closes Saturday)

The grilled pizza recipe challenge runs until Saturday. We have several tasty recipe entries so far, if you haven’t posted yet, hop to it! Refer to the the challenge rules and information in the posted linked above. Our party is going to be so much fun!



Your Best Healthy and Fresh Backyard Barbecue Side Dish

The Manly Housewife and Ancient Fire are looking for healthy side dishes to head off to a backyard barbeque with. We know everyone is melting over their weekly fruit and veggies from the farm market or CSA. Are you going to share? Check out the post at TMHW and our own post for rules and information. Entries are posted in the comments and from the looks of the submissions so far we will all have some new tricks up our sleeves! This contest will be running until August 16th.

Cheers!

Jason

Your Best CSA/Farm Market Menu Contest

Ancient Fire Wines and Kate’s Kitchen and are teaming up to create some buzz for CSA/Farm Market inspired menus. There are so many fresh ingredients the possibilities are limitless!

For the next week we are asking for visitors to submit comments to this post on both blogs with a menu inspired by selections found in their CSA share or purchased at a local farm market. Menus can be for any meal of the day and should include the name and ingredients of each of the dishes being prepared. The majority of the ingredients used must come from the CSA/Farm Market, but staple items from the pantry and fridge are allowed; use your own judgment as to the “staple” nature of items used. Detailed preparation steps are not required for entry. Make sure you also tell us why you love a certain ingredient or what your goals were for combining the flavors, and of course anything else that excites you about fresh, local food.

The prize for the lucky winners will be a feature in each of the host’s blog one day the following week. The hosts will pick multiple winners randomly from all the entries we accept (see the rules above) and will contact winners for more information. Take pictures of anything applicable. If you win and you can get us photos we’ll post them. If you have complete recipes available we will also consider including those or link to your site where they are posted.

Kate's contest post. Please leave a comment with your/recipe menu idea and your contact info both on the Ancient Fire Wine Blog and with Kate.

Cheers!

Margot and Jay