Caprese

Caprese Burgers

July 12, 2017

Summer means burgers and burgers means you’re the luckiest person alive because you’re about to eat something amazing and delicious. Especially if said burgers are flavored with pesto and topped with fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes and fresh basil. You catching what I’m throwing at ya? Classic burger meets everyone’s favorite Italian salad. I’m using the word salad loosely here because there’s no lettuce involved and I’m not complaining about it. Anyhow, where was I? If this burger doesn’t hit you over the head, screaming at you, “THIS IS SUMMER!” Then I don’t know what will. I don’t think I know the answer to that. I don’t think I know you at all. Lucky for us all though, these Caprese Burgers are here to rescue us from the summer heat and cooking conundrum that plagues us all on a week to week basis, “What’s something easy and delicious that I can make for dinner tonight?” I mean, you still have to fire up a grill or heat up a griddle and cook these, but I mean at least you’ll have a burger at the end of it, and isn’t that what we’re all after in the end? A tasty burger that’s out of the box. These are for you.

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Caprese Fundido

May 26, 2017

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and so I thought what better way to celebrate such an occasion than with a hot melty bubbly decadent appetizer. You know me well enough by now to know that I really don’t need a specific occasion, let alone a reason, to eat melted cheese on a piece of bread. I can and will do it every single day of my life with no regrets whatsoever. Somehow though, I think the fact that it is a holiday weekend, helps this all go down a little smoother. Somehow I’m not the bad guy forcing you to endure a mountain of melted mozzarella with roasted tomatoes and homemade pesto with endless amounts of flatbread for dipping all for nothing because there is a specific purpose. It’s Memorial Day and how else can we show our patriotism? There is no other way believe me, I’ve checked. So you might as well not even try to fight it. Just give in to all this goodness and whip up a batch this Caprese Fundido this weekend. Your family will thank you, your friends will thank you, but most importantly, you’ll thank yourself.

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Heirloom Tomato Caprese and Corn Galette

August 3, 2016

A friend of mine posted a photo on Instagram a few weeks ago of this galette here. It was incredible. You can check it out here, so you know what I’m talking about and we’re on the same page. I loved it so much that I left him a comment telling him that I was going to steal it. So steal I did, and took about a week to recreate it, with some minor changes here and there and now I’m sharing it with you all because how could I not? This Heirloom Tomato Caprese and Corn Galette is like summer wrapped around a savory pie crust and you need to make it today because you won’t regret it, I promise you that. A switched it up with a black pepper and thyme crust, heirloom tomatoes, and a sun dried tomato pesto because nothing goes better with tomatoes than even more tomatoes, am I right?

I always say that galettes are the food of the summer because they can be either savory or sweet and most often than not they’re made with summer berries or summer produce. It’s that epitome of farmer’s market meals because you can visit your local farmer’s market (or just local grocery store) and grab whatever looks fresh and vibrant in the produce section at the time and place it on a pie crust and call it good. It doesn’t get any easier than that. If you really want to make things easier for yourself, then by all means, use a store-bought pie crust and then just slice and arrange the tomatoes and cheese and corn on top. We won’t tell anyone. But really, if you can, try the black pepper and thyme crust yourself because it really is incredible. Also, a big thanks to Alex for the inspiration!

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Caprese Panini and Roasted Tomato Soup

September 30, 2013

I have the craziest soup stories of when I was a child. Nothing out of this world crazy, like all I ever wanted to eat as a kid was soup or anything like that. This is a whole other level of crazy. This kind of weirdness I blame on my mother, and now of course I’m sure my mom is somewhere reading this thinking, “Oh naturally, the mothers are always the first to get blamed.” But the truth of the matter is that this is in fact her fault. Where should I begin? I guess I should start from the beginning and when I get to the end, I’ll stop. You should know that I only like eating soup on the hottest days of the year. No that’s not a typo, you read that right. The hottest days of the year. That’s when I want a steaming bowl of soup the most. Not on cold rainy days, like normal people; no I crave soup when the sun is blazing and when we’re all wearing nothing but shorts and tanks. When it’s so hot outside and you’ll do anything to cool off, that’s when I want soup. In the worst possible way. When you’re drenched in sweat because it’s so freaking hot and when the last thing you’ll want to do is eat soup, that’s when I’ll want nothing but soup.

So where does my mother come into this picture? How is it her fault you ask? Well she would only make soup for us on the hottest days of the year. We’re talking about full-on big pot of soup boiling away on the stove while the sun is baking the world outside. I’d be playing in the backyard while my mother cooked, and I remember staring up and seeing the windows full of condensation and steaming from the heat radiating not only outside but inside as well. I knew she was making soup. We all knew. Her reasoning behind it—and to this day I have the same reasoning now because of her—is that the heat from the soup will cool you off. Heat cancels off heat. I’m not sure if and how that works but somehow it made sense. I didn’t question it, and if there was anything I learned as a kid, it was that mothers are always right. Write that down.

So there I was, little ol’ young me drinking my hot soup on a hot day not knowing that something was off. Thinking that every kid ate soup on scorching sunny days. Totally normal. Of course I ate the soup without hesitation because if I’m being honest, it’s the best soup I’ve ever eaten. My mom makes really great soup and I’m not just saying this because I’m throwing her under the bus here. Now that I’m older I’ve come to the realization that hot summer soups, isn’t a thing. No matter how much my mom wishes it were. So for those of you who love soup during the cold seasons—what an odd thing to crave on cold days really—I decided to make a soup post. Much like everything in life, soup is a lot better with a side of bread. Bread wasn’t enough for me though so I decided to make this soup with a side of a sandwich. An accompaniment of a sandwich wasn’t sufficient enough for me however, so I decided to serve the soup alongside a panini. A boring panini wasn’t going to cut it, so I stuffed this one with lots of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes and a homemade basil spread that is super addicting. Although soup is only tasty when it is served in the summer (thanks mom) I’m willing to overlook that little tidbit because this soup and sandwich combo is up there on the deliciousness scale. Get at it folks.

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