Tomato bruschetta with Parmesan cheese and dried kalamata olives #184

A good tasting bruschetta is a great go-to dish when you run out of ideas, usually you´ll even find some stuff left over in the fridge that will work which is exactly how this one was made. I had a few tomatoes, a piece of cheese, some salad, dried olives and luckily some fresh bread.

There are only two things that are a bit complicated about this dish, first if you haven´t boiled and peeled tomatoes before that could be a bit tricky if it is your first time and then the olives that I have dried in my oven, it will take a day or two so if you don´t want to spend that much time simply use some good chopped olives instead.

This is how the olives are made, it is also described in my recipe for Burnt cod with grated kalamata olives (link, new window).

The drying of olives is not difficult but it will take a few days, I use fresh Kalamata olives, that is only fermented olives which is way higher in taste and quality so see if you can get your hands on some of those in a good grocery store. Then I simply put them on a plate and let them dry in the oven on low heat (about 50°C / 120F). If you have a dehydrator I´m sure this will work fine to but since I don´t have one myself I really don´t know. This took me four days to dry but I only turned on the oven whenever I was at home and awake. 

Also the olives should not get dried all the way through but only enough to be able to be grated. What I did was to simply grate an olive now and then until they were dry enough. Also if I forgot to mention it, the taste is simply amazing.

Now on with this recipe, and remember get great tomatoes, tasteless ones will give a tasteless dish.

Tomato bruschetta with Parmesan cheese and dried kalamata olives

tomatoes, small

fresh basil

olive oil

dried kalamata olives

a few leafs of salad, arugula or similar

balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper

Parmesan cheese

bread, white

Bring water to a boil and keep it boiling at the highest temperature, bring out a big bowl of ice cold water and add some ice to the water if you have it at hand. Cut a small cross at the tip of every tomato, add the tomatoes a few at a time to the boiling water. Let them cook for only a few seconds, once the skin of the tomato loosens immediately remove the tomato and cool them in the ice water. 

Repeat until all tomatoes are done. Then gently peel the tomatoes and put the in a oven proof tray, season them with a few leafs of chopped basil, olive oil, salt and pepper and let them dry out in the oven on low heat (about 100°C / 212 F), this will give the tomato a more intense flavor and infuse the oil and tomato with the basil.

Slice the bread and roast in a pan with olive oil, remove and place the salad on the toast, then the tomatoes and add some of the oil as well. Grate the Parmesan cheese and the olives on top, serve.

Cevichè with tomatoes, cod and holy basil #177

Cevichè is always a good idea but an even better idea once it´s hot outside, I have made a few variations of Cevichè here before but this time I added some tomatoes, this gives the dish a bit more sweet taste and almost resembles an Gazpacho (that I also made a few, link is below) that I think worked really good.

As always choose the freshest fish you can find and spend a little extra, as usual you´re only serving tapas so the cost won´t be too big anyway, good luck. For some other Cevichè recipes check out my previous Shrimp cevichè with mango or Cod cevichè with blood orange and chives.

For the gazpacho i recommend my Gazpacho salad or my Green gazpacho with cream cheese, happy cooking!

Cevichè with tomatoes, cod and holy basil

fresh cod

tomatoes

holy basil

olive oil

lime juice

salt, black pepper

spring onions

red chili

Dice the cod and tomatoes and combine, add lime juice, salt, pepper and sliced spring onions and chili and let marinate for half an hour. Roughly chop the holy basil and add to the fish, season with salt and pepper and let sit for another half hour. Before serving check the taste and adjust flavors if necessary.

Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes #176

Cod is an amazing fish, especially if you can get your hand on a big one, or at least a piece of a big one. This one is a small piece of the loin or back of the cod. The price is usually higher for the bigger ones but so is the quality so if you want the best you´ll need to spend a bit extra. 

I think cod is a great fish to serve with a bit more meatier sides like bacon, red wine sauces or like in this recipe a quick ragu with Italian Sasiccia and chopped tomatoes. It´s a bit rustic dish that suites the cod perfect.I pre-salted the cod a few hours before, this will make the fish a bit firmer. 

The ragu is simply diced raw Italian Salsiccia that is fried in a pan and then cooked with some fresh chopped tomatoes into a ragu. The Salsiccia was seasoned with fennel and garlic so if you can´t find a Salsiccia with that flavor you could add some crushed fennel seeds and a clove of garlic. 

The recipe can also be varied in many ways and of course served as a main course. Why not replace the fish for halibut, pork loin or maybe the Salsiccia for Spanish Chorizo.

Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes

fresh loin of cod

tomatoes

raw Italian Salsiccia

olive oil

parsley

salt, pepper

Cut the cod in serving size pieces, salt them and leave in the fridge for about two hours. Dice the Salsicca and tomatoes. Add the Salsiccia to a pan and add a little bit of olive oil and cook until they are done, about 5-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and lower the heat to low and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it gets to dry, season with salt and pepper. Chop the parsley and add to the ragu.

Take the cod and pad dry with paper and then cook skin side first in olive oil. Once they have a golden colour on the skin remove and finish cooking in the oven on medium heat. Serve. Good luck.

Home made dried tomatoes with arugula & garlic #170

Home made dried tomatoes is a great way to serve tomatoes and I think they are good enough to serve as simple as this, just the tomatoes with a few leafs of arugula and the oil and garlic from the drying. The technique for this is simple, all you need are good tomatoes, some herbs and garlic, olive oil and a few hours to spare.

What you are doing is simply to dry the tomatoes in your oven until they are about half their original size, this will concentrate the flavors and make taste amazing, however the result is very dependent on what tomato you will choose, you don´t have to spend a fortune but there is one simple rule, if the tomato is not good before drying it won´t be afterwards.

Home made dried tomatoes with arugula & garlic

tomatoes
some herbs, I used some chives, parsley and basil
garlic
olive oil
salt, black pepper
arugula

Bring water to the boil, prepare a big bowl packed with ice and water beside to boiling water. Cut through the skin of the tomatoes on the end sides, this will help the skin open up when you boil it. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and leave in the water for about 10-20 seconds and then lift out and chill them immediately in the ice water. If you are making a big batch then boil them in batches, otherwise the tomatoes will chill the water and either the skin won´t come off or the cooking will take too long and make the tomato soggy.

Peel the tomatoes and cut in half and put on a tray with the skin side up, drizzle with olive oil, add sliced garlic and a few leafs of chopped herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for drying at 110°C / 230 F. The drying will take anywhere between 4-8 hours, check them every hour and take them out when you like them. Add the tomatoes to a plate and add a few leafs of arugula and some olive oil and garlic from the drying.

This can of course be prepared one or two days ahead of serving, make sure you gently warm them in oven before serving. And I think it goes without saying that this is also great for all tomato dishes like a Caprese salad, on home made pizzas or as a side dish with some grated Parmesan cheese! Good luck!

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese #168

Easy to do, easy to enjoy, making crostini is a good way of serving great snacks that everyone will appreciate without spending the entire day in the kitchen. This is simply what it looks like, roasted slices of bread with Parma ham, good Italian sun dried tomatoes and some Parmesan cheese.

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese

baguette
Parma ham
Parmesan cheese
sun dried tomatoes
olive oil

Slice the baguette and roast the slices in olive oil until golden and crisp. Add Parma ham, a piece of tomato and grate some Parmesan on top. Serve!

Salsiccia with braised tomatoes & garlic #159

Great salsiccia is always a special treat, usually I try to keep it simple since the salsiccia has loads of flavor I think it goes best with simple things. Here I roasted the salsiccia on low heat until done then roasted some garlic and tomato paste in the fat that gets left in the pan, add a bit of white wine, a bay leaf and some fresh small tomatoes. If you get some small pieces of salsiccia left over you can leave it in the sauce as well. Then just slow cook for about one hour and you´re done.

I got my salsiccia imported from Italy, that´s great but if you have a local butcher or shop that happens to make their own sausages then they usually have their own, if so then get theirs since it´s always more fun to support your local shops then buying the imported stuff.

Salsiccia with braised tomatoes & garlic

Italian fresh salsiccia (or similar with the same flavor profile)
bay leaf
water
tomato paste
chives
garlic
white wine
chives
olive oil
small whole tomatoes
salt, pepper

On low heat fry the salsiccia until golden and cooked trough, then add chopped garlic, a little bit of olive oil, tomato paste and a few small pieces of salsiccia. Let it roast for a few minutes. Add white wine, a little bit of water and the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and then leave to simmer on low to medium heat for about one hour. Season if necessary, then reheat the salsiccia and slice, serve with a spoonful of sauce and some of the tomatoes and some sliced chives.

Braised calamari with tomatoes, chili and garlic #154

Calamari is not something I eat very often, I do love the flavor but it somehow seems like I forget how great it can be. Serving it like this just slow cooked with tomatoes, chili, garlic and some herbs is a great way to enjoy calamari. 

If you have guests that don´t like it I highly recommend to try to serve this recipe with some pasta, do like in the recipe but instead of leaving the calamari whole then chop them up in small pieces. This will give you a rich great tasting pasta sauce that most people who claim they don´t like calamari will love. Usually people don´t like it due to the texture and once chopped up you have eliminated the problem.

However if you are serving the way I have in this recipe then leave them whole or in bigger pieces if you can´t find small calamari. The ideal size is one bite for each calamari.

Braised calamari with tomatoes, chili and garlic

calamari, as small as you can find or bigger cut in bite size pieces

high quality canned tomatoes, crushed

olive oil

garlic

fresh red chili

parsley

thyme

salt, pepper

Slice garlic cloves, part and remove the seeds from the chili and the slice it. Add olive oil, garlic, chili and the calamari to a frying pan and let it cook for about ten minutes on low to medium heat. Add a few leafs of parsley, thyme some salt and pepper. 

Then add the canned tomatoes and turn down the heat to low and slowly simmer the calamari for about one hour. Remove from the heat and let cool of for a little while, add some julienne of parsley and serve warm.

Sliders #138

Sliders are my favourite way of serving hamburgers, you can eat many and you can put different toppings for each one. I´m starting with classic toppings so I have the opportunity to come back with more ideas for great sliders.

So this is home made buns, mayonnaise, lettuce, burger, cheese and tomato. I do know that a lot of hardcore burger eaters like their burgers with only cheese and bread but I think that gets to rich, the lettuce and tomato adds better texture and serving food with a great variety in textures and temperature almost always make it better.

For the buns I used a standard wheat dough and rolled small buns that I brushed with a little bit of egg yolk before baking them. Home made or store bought mayonnaise is up to you.

Sliders

slider buns
ground beef
lettuce
tomato
mayonnaise
cheese
water
salt, pepper

Combine the ground beef with a little bit of water, salt and pepper and shape hamburgers. If you´re making your own buns then make them before you shape your burgers so you can make them in the same size as the buns. Also remember that the burgers will shrink a little bit when you cook them so make the burgers a little bit bigger than the bun.

Cut the buns and roast in a dry pan, fry the burgers. Dress the burger with mayonnaise and lettuce, add the burger, cheese and tomato. Good luck.

Lamb skewers with tomato salsa & lemon yoghurt #129

Lamb skewers are a great and spicy tapas that is packed with flavor, buy ground lamb meat and combine it with paprika, garlic and herbs. Make sure to check the fat content of the meat because lamb meat tend to sometimes be really fatty and the next be very lean. A fat content at around fifteen percent is perfect. If you can´t find meat with the right fat level you can mix it with either ground pork or beef.

Lamb skewers with tomato salsa & lemon yoghurt

ground lamb meat
parsley
oregano
garlic
paprika powder
olive oil
water
tomatoes
white wine vinegar
salt, black pepper
yoghurt
lemon

Combine ground lamb meat with chopped parsley, oregano, crushed garlic, paprika powder, salt, pepper a little bit of olive oil and some water. Combine the meat. Fry a little piece of meat to check the flavor before shaping the meat for the skewers. When you´re satisfied with the flavor then shape the meat to fit the skewers and grill them on high heat on each side. Continue to cook the lamb in the oven until done.

Dice the tomatoes and combine them with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper and let marinade for one hour. Remove the liquid from the tomatoes and check the taste of the salsa.

Combine the yoghurt with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve the skewers with equal amounts of salsa and yoghurt.

Gazpacho salad #126

Usually when I make Gazpacho I make the classic way, mixed on a hot day served with grilled bread. But using the same stuff as you would when you´re mixing that very same Gazpacho can make a great tasting, looking and refreshing salad. All you need is good vegetables and a bit of time.It´s the marinading that will make the difference when you make this salad, you need to let the vegetables rest for an hour or two to get that Gazpacho taste, if not it will still taste good but not as Gazpacho.

And if you´re not serving tapas then it´s of course great to serve as a side for a main dish or as a appetizer, if it´s the only thing you´re serving as an appetizer then add some bread or maybe some cheese.

If you´re looking for other types of Gazpacho you can head right over to my green Gazpacho recipe, if not then keep reading.

Gazpacho salad

tomatoes, different sizes and colors
cucumber
bell peppers
red onion
garlic
dried chili flakes
parsley
white wine vinegar
olive oil
black pepper
sea salt

Dice and slice the cucumber, peppers and tomatoes, make sure to cut them in different sizes and shapes, this will make the salad look much better. Peel and thinly slice the red onion and garlic. Combine all vegetables and add olive oil, chili, red onion, garlic, parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper and then let marinate for at least one hour.

It´s fine to let it marinade for longer but serve it the same day as you made it, in my opinion it looses it´s freshness otherwise. When time for serving taste the salad and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve.

Meatball sandwich with Parmesan & herbs #124

It´s great fun to take something that´s usually served as an main course and make it smaller, this is a variation to sliders with meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with loads of fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese. Served on a bun with some extra cheese on top makes it a fun dish to serve tapas style.

Meatball sandwich with Parmesan & herbs

ground beef and pork
eggs
milk
parsley
thyme
chives
Parmesan cheese
sage
salt, black pepper
olive oil
garlic
canned tomatoes
onion
baguette
butter

Roughly chop the herbs, garlic and onion and combine in with the ground meat. Add eggs, milk, olive oil, salt, grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Use the same proportions as you would for normal meatballs or ground meat patties.

Take a bit of the mixed meat and fry it in a pan to make sure you´re satisfied with the seasoning. Once done roll all of the meat into meatballs. Fry on medium heat in some olive oil and butter, when the meatballs are starting to get some color then add the canned tomatoes and let the meatballs simmer for one hour on low heat. Season the sauce if necessary.

Cut the baguette into pieces that will fit one meatball, toast the bread in an toaster or dry pan. Add a meatball to the bread and grate some extra Parmesan on top. Put the lid on and put a wooden skewer trough the bread and meatball to stop it from rolling away, good luck.

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa #113

Mackerel is not something I cook a lot, usually I buy smoked ones but fresh ones are great too but the taste and texture is quite different in comparison to white meat fishes. Make sure you don´t grill it for to long because once it´s dry it won´t be good. And if you´ve just bought some smoked mackerel then don´t worry, I´ve got a recipe for that too, just click here!

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa 

fresh mackerel fillets

lemon

tomato

paprika

cucumber

parsley

olive oil

salt, pepper

De bone the mackerel and brush it with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Dice all vegetables very finely and combine, season with salt, pepper and a little bit of olive oil. Cut of the skin of the lemon and cut out the fillets and add to the salsa. Squeeze out the juice of the lemon into to salsa. 

Get your grill as hot as you can and grill the mackerel fillets, start with the skin side and flip it over when it starts to get cooked half way through. The skin have a tendency to stick (at least on my grill) but this can be solved using a thin spatula and loads of cursing, fortunately this won´t keep it from tasting great. Good luck!

Caprese salad #95

For me this is one of the must have dishes for summer, with great tomatoes, high quality buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil you simply can´t go wrong. If you can´t get hold of buffalo mozzarella then I shouldn´t make this dish because it is so dependent on the cheese.

Also use different sizes and shapes of the tomatoes, this make the dish look better and it´s more fun to eat when the tomatoes varies in taste.

Caprese salad

tomatoes, different varieties
fresh basil
buffalo mozzarella
black pepper
salt
olive oil

Cut the tomatoes in different shapes, break the mozzarella into smaller pieces and combine with fresh basil leafs and the tomatoes. Season with salt, black pepper and olive oil. Serve immediately, if you need to make or prepare the salad ahead of time then keep each ingredient separate until serving, otherwise the salad loses it´s freshness and tends to get soggy. Good luck.

Tomato, cucumber & honeydew melon tartar with mint & black pepper #84

Tomato, cucumber & honeydew melon tartar with mint & black pepper

tomatoes

cucumber

honeydew melon

olive oil

salt

black pepper

fresh mint

lemon juice

Peel and deseed tomatoes, cucumber and the melon, when cutting away the skin of the tomatoes I usually cut them into wedges first. After seeds and skin is removed dice them into small cubes and combine with olive oil, some lemon juice, salt and black pepper. 

Finely slice a few leafs of mint and add to the tartar. Serve with a few extra drops of olive oil and some more freshly ground black pepper.