Up to my Elbows in Tomatoes

Our kitchen garden is not exactly giving us much joy this year - the zucchini are flowering and flowering but have not produced one single fruit, our lovingly seeded butternut squash does the same, the peppers are probably proud to show one (in numbers: 1!) scrawny little pepper and the only tomatoes that grow are the cherry tomatoes we planted more or less for decoration purposes into pots against a sunny wall. So to our farmer's market I go. There, talk about adding insult to very much bruised gardener's pride, they are selling tomatoes cheaper than ever this summer since they have such a bountiful harvest....

Of course I can't resist and have been spending much time in the kitchen up to my elbows in tomatoes - coring and cutting then cooking them. Then passing them through my newest toy, the "Passatutto Master" that removes skins and pips (and no, unfortunately I don't get paid for this and even bought and paid for this tomato wonder machine myself).

 Tomato skin and pips remover

Once skinned and deseeded in went little chunks of carrots and zucchini, garlic and some onions, loads of basil, a bit of sugar and salt and pepper and lots of tender loving stirring care. Lots. For the best pasta sauce ever. Almost as good as the one a former colleague used to bring back from her Nonna when returning from her summer vacations in Sicily. But I can still practise - tomato season is still on and tomorrow is farmer's market day.

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Carrots need Butter

Our "potager" (kitchen garden) is spoiling us this year - not only are the tomatoes ripening almost faster than we can eat them, we also have plenty of herbs and salads. And now carrots. Many carrots. Some I peel and chop and freeze for winter soups but for tonight I peeled some that I am going to prepare as a side dish to some roasted chicken.
Years ago I used to cook carrots as our mothers used to - in plenty of water to which a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar was added. Cooked them until soft - and bland.
Then I read an article by one of my favorite cooks Lea Linster who taught me that carrots need butter but not water or just a few drops to be precise. I have never looked back and this is how I always cook my carrots now:
Peel and cut carrots diagonally, then very finely slice a clove of garlic.

 Melt a generous dollop of butter, add the carrots and garlic slices, a pinch or two of kosher salt plus a little slug of water. Put lid on pan and let simmer over moderate heat for about 15 minutes, stirring once in a while.

When cooked nicely al dente add a few turns of the pepper mill and plenty of freshly chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley. Simple but delicious!

How to grow your Herbs in Style

Just one more post from the Loire Valley before I will return to Provence: until now I thought I was doing pretty well with my "potager" (kitchen garden), but that was before I went to Villandry. The formal garden of this lovely Castle is designed with salads (photo above), herbs, and fruit bushes.

And this is how it looks when you grow your parsley in style!