Baked Tomato Bruschetta

Seasons are changing. There is no denying it. Just yesterday I was still sitting on my terrace in the early evening, enjoying the diffuse light of a sun that is not reaching as low anymore - blocked by trees and buildings - but yet able to beam down on the higher parts of the house, painting those sharp, bright orange lines on the walls. The air was warm and tight; you could feel it. This summer was not one of those that genuinely deserve that name. It was unsettled, more cool and cloudy than anything else with one day after another looking like it was just about to rain or raining.

So last week it felt like summer actually had to proof something. Like it still wanted everyone to know that it actually existed. Suddenly it was hot. Not that hot you could hardly motivate yourself to do anything, but hot. For one week and if I am being honest, not even a full one. Then it was yesterday evening, and hell broke loose. Within moments, the sky was tinted in a deep gray with wind starting to build up. First lightnings already went down in the distance before it reached us and hastily I put all the flower pots and herbs I could on the floor. Torrents fell from the sky in a moment's notice. Wind. A strong breeze. A storm. Pots I thought where heavy enough went rattling to the ground. The place I just sat – soaking wet. It went on until deep in the night and had its last flare-up early in the morning.

Some Food Porn - always a good idea, right?

Now I am sitting again in my chosen place on the terrace, a mild sun shining on my face in clear and cool air. Autumn.

Yet still I am not ready to bring myself completely in that season's mood, so with this little recipe, I am clinging on the little rest of summer that is left.

It contains what I would call the queen of summer, tomato (with zucchini being king), and my personal holy trinity of summery herbs: Basil, thyme and oregano. Depending on the size of the bread you choose, this can either be an appetizer or a light little meal.

Baked Tomato Bruschetta

Makes about 6-10 slices of bread, depending on the size

Serve on your bread of choice. I recommend a nice baguette or ciabatta.

• 250g cherry/date/plum/any kind of small tomatoes (8.8 oz. but does not have to be exact)
• 1 ball of mozzarella
• 2 twigs of thyme
• 1 big twig of oregano
• a nice hand full of basil along with the stalk
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 gloves of garlic
• Bread of choice, I used ciabatta but it is also great on a baguette or even plain white bread.
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
2. Depending on their size, half or quarter tomatoes, removing most of the seeds (important). Set aside.
3. Finely chop up onion, add to tomatoes.
4. Remove leaves from the twigs from both thyme and oregano. Chop them up along with the basil. No need to remove the stalk (as long as it is green) – you can chop it up like chives. Add to tomatoes.
5. Pour in vinegar and olive oil, add salt to taste (a few dashes, probably), stir well.
6. Let sit for about 15 minutes. The herbs, garlic and onion will get stuck in the hollow parts of the tomatoes.
7. Lay out slices of bread on baking tray lined with parchment paper.
8. Place tomatoes, mostly cut side up, on bread. To help them stay that way, lay some of the onion/herb mixture on bread beforehand. The whole procedure does not only look prettier, it also keeps most of the nice juices in the tomatoes, preventing the bread from getting soggy.
9. Pour remaining mixture over tomatoes until there is nothing left.
10. Tear mozzarella apart with your hands and evenly place on bruschetta. It should be enough for all of it. You do not want to cover it up completely with the cheese.
11. Put in the oven for 15 minutes or until mozzarella is completely molten and slightly brown.
12. Add pepper to taste and serve immediately.

My little storm is nothing compared to the hurricane that is barreling towards New York and the East Coast. Let's hope for the best!

Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup

I'm no vegetarian. Hell and I am miles away from being a vegan.

I love meat. Meat Meat Meat. I love me some juicy beef in my mouth. Yes. You heard me right!
Innuendos aside, I also am a complete hypocrite.
When it comes to eating meat, I block out the fact that what I am stuffing into my face has once been alive and kickin'. Whole fish with head and all is also not the most comforting sight to see.
Hey there big fella! You enjoy my filet? Don't mind me, I'm just watching you devouring my body. SHIIIIVERRS.

Is that a good thing? No. But that's the way it is with me and I doubt I'm alone with that.

Most people, including my humble self, are used to dishing up good ol' steak and Co. almost on a daily basis or at least too often. While many may argue at this point that ANY number is too often, I'll leave that aspect out for now. However, sneaking in some days where the only things on the menue never had a pulse is not the worst thing you can do to yourself and probably to your wallet as well. I mean, it should not be too difficult to find other nice things to spend that extra money on, right? (Like uhhm, a better camera...? Although that would take some major meat-omitting...so...hm.)

And then, there is the extra step again. Veganism. I know that to many, "vegan" is a term that equals "bland",  "boring" or, well, "thank you, but no thank you". Not. The. Case. Let that be told to you by an omnivore: Vegan cuisine DONE RIGHT can be down right delicious, comforting and filling - without leaving the feeling of anything missing.

A great resource for super healthy vegan cuisine is FatFree Vegan Kitchen. I love how Susan finds ways to veganize known and loved dishes and also reduces the fat to a minimum. You also find many recipes with Asian and Oriental twists. The only thing to critisize for me is that many recipes require spices and ingredients that I usually don't have myself and probably won't use completely before they expire. However, this is not the case with the following, which to me perfectly captures the way a mild evening in summer is supposed to be.

I served the soup with some nice oven-roasted herbed potato wedges, but some nice bread'll do just fine.

Directly adapted from her blog:

Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup
Servings: 6; my own comments are put in italics.

• 2 pounds zucchini (about 5 small to medium)
• 1 large Vidalia onion, chopped (I just use onions I have got on hand)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 cups vegetable broth (I simply use water and then add the needed amount of granulated vegetable broth directly to the pot)
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• 3 tablespoons raw cashews
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (I find the soup tastes just as good without the yeast. And a teaspoon of Marmite or Vegemite would do the trick just as good. Or simply another one of granulated broth)
• additional salt & pepper, to taste

1. Set aside one of the zucchini; trim and coarsely chop the rest.
2. Cook onion in a large saucepan for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Stir in the chopped zucchini, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
4. Add the broth and simmer until zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Pour into a blender (in 2 batches, if necessary) taking care to avoid burns by not filling the blender more than halfway. 
6. Add the basil, cashews, and nutritional yeast and blend until smooth.
7. Return soup to the pot, season with salt and pepper to taste, and keep warm. 
8. Shred the remaining zucchini with a spiral slicer, mandolin, or grater. Pour soup into bowls and sprinkle grated zucchini over top.  (I also garnished the soup with some cashews and crushed pepper)

Enjoy!

Zucchini & Pesto Pasta Salad

Yes. This is finally happening.

Ehhrm. Hi there! I'm Tobias - the "T" in the title - and a complete greenhorn when it comes to foodblogging.

Yet, here I am. And so are you. Thank you for that.

After a tough and lengthy time of planning how to pull this off  (do you know what an exhausting process it can be just to come up with a nice name?!) I can finally present you the very first post on my brand new nice and shiny foodblog! Tada! FYI, I just tapped myself on the shoulder for that.

Soo, what's to expect in the future?

There are certain attributes that I like.

I like me recipes:

Layed-back. Cooking and baking is supposed to be fun. At least for me. When I find myself in the kitchen close to a nervous breakdown, yelling things like "Why are you DOING this to me? What's WRONG with you?! I'm supposed to WHAT?! HOW?!! What MORE do I have to do to make this work?" - it's not fun anymore. It's stress. I'm not in a break-up fight. I'm cooking.

While sometimes it's worth going the extra mile, stepping out of ones comfort zone and acquiring new skills, it just has to seem FEASIBLE. This especially applies to weekday dishes.

Not too pricey. There is always a certain limit. When that is passed, it just does not seem worth it to me, anymore. So no matter how delicious, extravagant and gorgeous the finished meal may be, a price that's TOO high overshadows the joy.

PRETTY! C'mon! I am not going to spend my time in the kitchen just to force an unidentifiable beige goop down either mine or other's throats. Especially simple food dressed to impress has always something satisfying to me.

So, while there are always exception, my agenda is going to be: Delicious, pretty, DOABLE recipes. :)

Oh, and I am not afraid of NOT doing EVERYTHING from scratch! Embrace the semi-selfmade, people!

That's why my very first - did you just hear that? - recipe is going to be this super simple, quick pasta salad that still kinda got it. You can whip it up last minute for a potluck BBQ and I guarantee you it's still not going to be that weird dish nobody's taken just a spoon of. In fact, just this summer I brought it with me three times and on each occasion was asked for the recipe, so, there you go. ;)

Zucchini & Pesto Pasta Salad
This makes a huge portion to feed a crowd, so make sure your bowl is large enough or take two.

• 3 medium sized Zucchini
• 1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil (about 150g or 5.5 oz, drained)
• 190g - 200g Pesto alla Genovese or your favourite basil-pesto (self-made or store-bought, about 6.7oz)
• 1 bag of penne pasta (about 500g or 16oz, whole wheat or regular)
• 1 pack of baby leaf spinach (frozen, 450g or 16oz)
• 125g grated parmesan (4.4 oz, fresh or store-bought)
• 1 tbs oregano (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste (I use freshly ground mixed pepper)

1. Bring water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In the meantime, using a kettle or another pot, bring another 1.5l (50 fl. oz) to boil
3. Slice zucchini as thick as a finger, half or quarter them afterwards. You want them nice and chunky, yet bite-sized.
4. In another pan or pot, thaw spinach under low heat until it is hot. Set aside.
5. Drain the dried tomatoes and slice them lengthwise into 3 stripes each. Set aside.
6. In a heat-proof bowl, pour the boiling-hot water from the kettle over zucchini to blanch them, leave for about 10 minutes.
7. Drain pasta and pour it in a very large bowl, tossing it with about 1/3 of the pesto to prevent the pasta from sticking.
8. Drain zucchini and combine with the pasta.
9. Add spinach to the mix.
10. Add remaining pesto along with the parmesan. mix well. As the ingredients are still warm, the cheese will melt.
11. Add tomatoes and oregano (optional)
12. Season with salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.
13. Let it cool and dig in!

That's it. So easy. So good. The Zucchini won't be raw anymore but still keep a nice crunch to it.
I'm sure that you can leave a nice amount of this salad home for lunch the next day.

My very first post. A summery salad although the blog title refers to cake. Yeah, that's how I roll. The next recipe sure has to be something sweet, right?

Enjoy!