Garden Therapy

Sausage and Tomato Orzotto

Ingredients:

• 4 fresh Italian sausages
• 2 cups dry orzo (I use kamut but whole wheat would be great too)
• 3 cloves garlic – crushed
• 4 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced pitted green olives
• 1 cup green beans
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh parmesan

Directions: Put a large pot of water on the stove for the orzo and set to high. 

Add garlic and olive oil into a heavy bottomed skillet and set on medium high until sizzling.  Add whole cherry tomatoes (I used the frozen ones from my summer harvest and put them right in frozen), chopped green beans and the sliced olives.  Simmer until the juices release and ‘pop’ the cherry tomatoes with a wooden spoon.  Score sausage casings and add sausages whole to the pan.  Reduce heat to medium low, cover and let simmer. 

When the orzo water is boiling, make orzo according to package directions.  Cook until el dente—do not overcook.  When sausages are cooked through, remove from pan and set aside to rest.  Drain orzo and ladle into the skillet.  Stir over low heat until the liquid gets absorbed into the pasta.  Add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.

To serve, ladle orzotto into a pasta bowl and grate fresh parmesan over top.  Slice the sausage and serve over the orzotto.  Serves 4.

Summer's Tomato Bounty

January 08 2010 | Harvest and Recipes | 2 Comments »

Rhubarb Sorbet Recipe – YUM

I had a bunch of extra rhubarb (who doesn’t?!) and given it has been so warm this year, I made it into a sorbet that tastes tart and sweet just like the pie.  It is even better served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Note: You need an ice cream maker for the smooth, creamy texture.

Ingredients:

• 3 large rhubarb stalks, cut into 1-inch-long pieces (~7 cups).  Pick stalks with lots of red on them for pink sorbet.
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (eh!)

Put everything in a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat, bring to a boil, and simmer until rhubarb is tender (about 10 minutes).  Don’t overcook, or you’ll lose the nice pink colour.

Using an immersion belnder, puree until smooth (or pour into the regular blender in batches – be careful -it’s HOT). Cool purée in the fridge until cold to the touch. Then, freeze purée in an ice cream maker as per the machine’s instructions.  To harden, transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and put it into the freezer.

June 02 2009 | Growing Food and Recipes | 2 Comments »