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| Vintage tomato slicer by dovetailvintage |
The hours spent fertilizing, hydrating and fussing over your tomato plants since you brought them home from the nursery or hatched them from seeds are finally paying off. The fruits of your labor are coming at you fast and furious. A favorite method of handling the bounty at our house is to saute tomatoes in small batches and freeze them into saucicles to sustain us over the long cold winter. But if the need for gratification is more immediate, there’s nothing better than pairing up fresh tomatoes and peppers with fresh pasta.
The beauty of fresh vegetables and pasta is that you don’t need a script to put on a fabulous production. Pretty much anything you bring home from the farm stand can be gently sauteed and tossed with pasta with audience pleasing results. Once you add the parmesan, which is to pasta and produce what cherries are to hot fudge and whipped cream, you’ve likely got yourself a bowl full of happy.
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| Ravioli chef by VintageResolution |
Improvisation is not our strong suit in the kitchen, however. The results are far more predictable if we work from a recipe, as we are then less inclined to try out unorthodox combinations that are unorthodox for a reason. If end-of-August tomatoes are the subject, then the place we always run first is Jeanne Lemlin’s Quick Vegetarian Pleasures. First published in 1992, it is now officially vintage. We have cooked almost everything in this cookbook and we can say that every single recipe makes us want to lick our plate. It is without question one of the most dogeared and stained books on our shelf.
Jeanne Lemlin’s Ravioli with Garlic, Peppers, and Tomatoes
serves four
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| Wooden serving bowl by fernswoodpixie. |
1 lb. fresh or frozen cheese ravioli
1/4 c. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 medium green bell peppers, cored and cut into 1/2″ strips
3 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the ravioli until tender.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes. Do not let the garlic brown.
3. Toss in the pepper strips and saute, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until the peppers are almost tender. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the tomatoes, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook 5 minutes more, or until the peppers are tender and the tomatoes are heated through. The tomatoes will have rendered their juices and made a light sauce.
4. Drain the ravioli and return to the pot or place in a large pasta serving bowl. Spoon on the sauce and toss lightly. Pass the Parmesan cheese at the table.
Respectfully submitted by Laurie aka RecentHistory.