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Spicy Roasted Tomato-Basil Sauce

Ingredients for the roasted tomatoes:

10 to 12 Ripe plum (Roma) tomatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil (or Garlic Confit Oil), as needed
Dried oregano (optional)
Kosher or Sea salt, as needed
Whole garlic cloves, peeled or unpeeled, as desired (optional)

Ingredients for the sauce:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, chopped (not too fine, leave some texture)
1/2 cup sliced fresh basil leaves, divided
1 teaspoon hot red chili flakes (or to taste)
A good pinch of aromatic, dried oregano (optional)
1 quart whole, roasted and peeled tomatoes, with any surrounding liquid from the jar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the roasted tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 300F (I use a convection mode). Line a shallow baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil and add the tomatoes to the pan. Rub the tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil or garlic confit oil so they are glistening. Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with Kosher salt and crumbled dried oregano, if using. Place in the oven for 1 hour or until tender and the skins have developed some golden pockets. Remove from the oven, allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature, then peel off their skins. If the core ends of the tomatoes feel much firmer than the rest of the flesh, use the tip of a paring knife to cut it out. Place the roasted tomatoes into a clean, quart-size jar with any accumulated juices or olive oil and either use now or refrigerate for up to 1 week. (If planning to store for up to 2 weeks, pour some additional olive oil into the jar with the tomatoes (and feel free to add some cooked garlic confit, if you’ve got it!). If using the extra oil, and it congeals in the refrigerator, allow the tomatoes to come to room temperature before using.

To make sauce: Heat either a 12-inch, deep-sided skillet (or a 2 ½ to 3-quart saucepan) over medium heat with a shallow layer of extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, ¼ the basil and the chili flakes and allow things to begin to really sizzle. Add the jar of roasted tomatoes and either use a kitchen scissors to snip them into irregular pieces or, if using a wide skillet, you can drive the blade of a rigid pastry scraper down into the tomatoes, repetitively, until they are chopped. Bring the mixture to a brisk bubble, with the cover ajar, over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until tomatoes and garlic are very tender and the surrounding liquids are slightly reduced and concentrated, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the remaining basil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Use now or later.

To use this sauce on a Sicilian (sheet) pizza: About 30 minutes before using the sauce on a sheet pizza, pour the sauce into a sieve, that’s positioned over a bowl to catch the juices. This will help keep the pizza dough protected from getting soggy, as will placing an overlapping layer of sliced “deli-style” mozzarella cheese over the dough and under the tomatoes.

Spaetzle

Special Equipment

Hand-held spaetzle maker
Spider (slotted utensil)

Ingredients

2 cups (9.5 ounces or 273 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (4 grams) fine table salt
1/2 (2 grams) teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 generous teaspoon onion powder or scant
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 generous tablespoon minced fresh chives, for the batter, plus extra chives for sprinkling
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup seltzer (still with fizz)
5 tablespoons melted butter
About 3 quarts (12 cups) of boiling salted water or well-seasoned chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (optional)
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Recipe Instructions

To assemble the spaetzle batter: Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and your choice of seasoning. Stir the chives into the beaten eggs, then add the milk and mix. Add the egg mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and pour the seltzer on top and, using a wooden spoon, beat the mixture together, vigorously, until thick, elastic and seems to want to pull away from the bowl (the mixture will be too slack to do this completely, however). Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the batter rest for 5 to 30 minutes.

To set up to cook spaetzle: While the batter is resting, fill a 12-inch, deep-sided skillet ¾ full of water and/or stock and bring to a boil. Season the liquid. Place a colander inside of another large bowl and place this near the stove.

To cook: Place half or a third of the batter into the well on a spaetzle maker and force the batter through the holes, rapidly back and forth, directly into the boiling liquid. When you reach the end, use a table knife to release any clinging batter from the underside of the gadget. The spaetzle will immediately float on top of the liquid. Let the small irregularly shaped dumplings cook, at a brisk boil, stirring occasionally to help redistribute, for an additional 30 to 60 seconds, or until somewhat firm. Use a large, slotted instrument (like a spider) to remove the spaetzle and place into the colander. Continue cooking the rest of the spaetzle and add this to the colander, as well. (If wanting to do things up to this point in advance, keep the cooked spaetzle in the colander, uncovered, for up to 1 hour. Shimmy the pan occasionally, to incorporate some air so things don’t stick together.)

To finish and serve: Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet, over medium heat, until the milk solids turn light golden brown. If not using the onions, stir in the last tablespoon of butter and let it melt. If using the onions, after the milk solids just start to turn golden, stir in the onions and sauté until tender and beginning to turn golden, then stir in the last tablespoon of butter. Add the drained spaetzle and continue to sauté, over medium-high heat, until piping hot and the dumplings have become golden in spots. Stir in the remaining chives and season with salt and pepper.

(Instead of onions, here I added crisp cracklings along with the onions used to render down duck fat.)

(If not using a nonstick skillet, you will see a browned residue develop on the bottom of the pan as the dumplings sauté. As this happens, use the flat edge of a wooden spatula to push and release these toasted bits of spaetzle, incorporating them with the rest.) Serve hot.

Eggplant Parmesan (inverted)

Slice a medium-large eggplant lengthwise 1/2 inch thick-no need to peel. (I prefer organic, heirloom eggplant that’s light purple with random white stripes.) Place overlapping, thinly sliced whole milk mozzarella cheese on one slice of eggplant and lay another eggplant slice on top.

Dredge each eggplant-cheese sandwich in seasoned all purpose flour. Smack off excess flour and then drag the sandwich through beaten eggs coating completely, then letting excess egg drip back into bowl.

Place directly onto tray with dried breadcrumbs mixed with an equal amount of best-quality grated Parmesan cheese and some black pepper). Coat well on all sides (you will need to wash and dry your hands in between assembling each sandwich.)

Place on a tray lined with wax paper and refrigerate until ready to fry (chilling for at least 30 minutes helps crumb coating adhere). Fry in 1/2 inch of hot oil, in a large nonstick skillet, until golden on both sides. (I used a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and grape seed oil-and to turn each safely, use two large off-set metal turning spatulas.)

After frying, place on a wire rack that’s placed over paper towels, to drain.

To assemble: place tomato “sauce” (Instead of the usual tomato sauce, I used whole plum tomatoes that I roasted the day before on a baking sheet- first rubbed with my garlic confit oil-in a preheated 300f oven for 1 hour (I used a convection roast mode-) When done, tomatoes were very tender and a bit blistered in places. I placed the cooked tomatoes in a jar and covered with oil and cooked garlic (garlic confit) – and refrigerated.

To use, I slipped off their skins and tore the tomatoes into pieces and placed on fried eggplant sandwiches. Top with more Parmesan and bake (covered loosely with aluminum foil) in a preheated 375f oven until hot throughout (25-30 minutes), then uncover and cook 10-15 more. Strew the top with some ribbons of fresh basil and serve now – with fresh bread 🥰😋 (I forgot to use my basil ribbons!!)