Chopped Salad and Pasta

Finally lots of tomatoes in the Market! We made one of our favorite pastas. We originally had it at an Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles: Italian Lentil Pasta. When you eat this you would believe you are eating a sauce with meat. There is no meat in the dish. I wish all vegetarian food was this good. We enhance the recipe by using the recipe for Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes from: The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

We started with an improved version of Chopped Salad. I really want to get the recipe for a chopped salad down and this one is approaching what I want. I hope to make several more this summer. Red Onions, Garbanzo Beans, radicchio, romaine lettuce, cubed salami from The Cheese Store of Silverlake, cubed cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a fresh herb vinaigrette.

Lots of leftover pasta, yea!


Italian Lentil Pasta
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From Locanda Veneta in Los Angeles

¾ cups lentils
water
bunch spinach
Oven-Candied Summer Tomatoes
Salt, pepper
1 small bunch Italian parsley, chopped
Dried Oregano
Olive Oil
1 small carrot, minced
1 red onion, minced
1 stalk celery minced
1 lb. Spaghetti
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Rinse lentils, then cover with water and soak 2 hours drain
2. Rinse spinach and remove stems, keeping some water on the leaves. Saute spinach in skillet over medium heat until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat 1/3 cup oil in in large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrot, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and celery, and sauté until vegetables are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add lentils and enough water to come to 2 to 3 inches above lentils. Cook over low heat until lentils are al dente, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Return reserved water to lentils and set aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan over high heat. Add spinach and tomatoes, breaking them up with wooden spoon. Saute 1 minute. Add lentil mixture and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.
5. Cook Spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Strain and pour spaghetti into saucepan with the lentil sauce. Cook 1 minute over high heat, adding butter and Parmesan cheese while tossing.
6. Serve with additional cheese


Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes
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From: The Italian Country Table (Lynne Rossetto Kasper – one of our favorite cookbooks)

2 to 2 ½ lb. delicious ripe medium sized tomatoes
1 cup robust extra-virgin olive oil
salt

Use only the ripe, delicious summer tomatoes. Be sure to “ripen” the roasted tomatoes at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours before eating. Store them covered in the refrigerator up to 6 days. They freeze beautifully for 3 months – they sometimes even taste better for it.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Core the tomatoes and halve vertically. Do not seed. Leave small tomatoes in halves, cut slightly larger tomatoes into 4 wedges, medium ones into 6ths, and large ones into 8. In a half-sheet baking pan, or two 2 ½ quart shallow metal baking pans (not glass or enameled metal), arrange the tomato wedges cut side up, about ½ to 1 inch apart. Coat the tomatoes with oil. Sprinkle with salt.
2. Bake 30 minutes then, lower the heat to 350 degrees. Bake another 30 minutes and turn oven to 300 degrees and bake 30 minutes more, or until the edges of the tomatoes are slightly darkened. If the edges are not yet colored, turn the heat down to 250 degrees and bake another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the oven. Cool 20 minutes. Transfer them to a shallow glass or china bowl and pour the oil from the pan over them. Let mellow, uncovered, at room temperature 4 to 6 hours.
3. Layer the tomatoes in a storage container, pouring in their oil, and refrigerate or freeze in their oil in sealed plastic container up to 3 months.
4. Serve at room temperature.