Cherry tomato pasta

Another summer recipe. This one is inspired from several pasta sauces I grew up eating, but I admit is my own concoction. Given that my family enjoys it, I'm passing it on.
It's summer, so we often BBQ, which means grilled vegetables (if using fresh vegetables, then sauté them with the garlic).
Also, our move to the country means we've fallen into the trap of growing organic vegetables. The most successful crop so far is cherry tomatoes, hence, the recipe that follows.


TIP: Put the salted water on for the pasta before starting the sauce, as it should only cook about 10 minutes.

20+ cherry tomatoes
20+ black olives
4 cloves garlic
grilled vegetables (pepcapers, eggplant, onions...)
tbsp capers
3 large anchovies (optional if vegetarian)
parsely
olive oil

Slice garlic in half. Chop anchovies. Simmer both in oil in a large saucepan.
Slice tomatoes in half. Chop grilled veggies. Add to the saucepan.
Add olives, capers & parsley. Stir, turn heat off.
When pasta is cooked, drain & mix directly in the saucepan. Serve immediately.

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVERS-Pasta sauce, sausages & beans, sauteed shrimp

Another glorious weekend, another group of friends & their (8) children. A usual, we hosted a potluck & as usual there was too much food. Some of the leftovers got eaten up in their original form, but there was still too much.

Tomato & mozzarella sauce
Tomato & mozzarella salad is inedible the next day. Loathe to throw anything away, I tranformed it into a cooked pasta sauce. The ingredients in my friend's version of the salad include fresh basil leaves & anchovies.
Remove the chunks of mozzarella & cook down the rest in a little olive oil. When the tomato is ready, turn off heat and let cool a bit. Purée & set aside covered until ready to use. While pasta is cooking, add the mozzarella, but careful not to melt it into the sauce: should be chunky, it will melt with the hot pasta.

Beans & sausages
Slice a carrot & onion. Sautée in oil. Divide left over sausage into quarters, add to onions & carrots. Add beans of choice (I use white beans), with some fresh sage. A little of the fresh tomato sauce is optional.

Sauteed shrimp
Slice garlic, sautée in olive oil with a chili pepper. Add whole shrimp (do not remove shells) & a glass of white wine.

Nettles-ortiche

Nettles (NOT to be confused with poison ivy!) are usually associated with nasty itching, but not only are they commestible, they have medicinal properties as well (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle). It so happens I treat my annual hay fever with nettle tea, which means during the month of April tons of nettles get boiled up. Pity to waste a tasty green, therefore I've dusted off some old fashioned recipes and adapted others to use the nettles. Since nettles grow all over the place, next time you see some just pick a generous handful (preferably with a plastic bag or gloves, or else grasp bottom, avoiding leaves).
All of the recipes below are made with pre-boiled nettles. If using fresh ones, clean & cook them like spinach (for those who don't make fresh spinach, this means remove stems & dunk in boiling water for 2 min). Actually, nettles may be substituted for spinach in many recipes! In Italy pasta fillings calling for spinach are made also with nettles (ex: cannelloni, tortellini, ravioli....)
Nearly all the recipes call for them to be sauted in garlic & olive oil or butter. Or just add them to soup!

Nettle cream sauce
Great on pasta! Sauté nettles with garlic & a few chili peppers. Add heavy cream. Serve on pasta of any kind (very nice on ham tortellini) with parmesan cheese.

Frittata di ortiche (Nettle omelet)
Sauté with onions or garlic. Whisk 5 eggs with some milk & parmesan cheese. Pour over nettles, wait until mixture firms a bit then turn down heat and cover. Cook until center is firm & edges golden. Place a plate over pan, flip omlet onto plate, then slide back into pan to cook other side. Serve hot or cold.

Risotto di ortiche (Nettle risotto)
Boil down nettles, remove from water, set aside to cool. Either melt a boullion cube in the left over water or add stock.
Sauté onions in oil or butter. Add nettles when onions turn transparent. Stir well.
Add arborio rice, stirring until transparent.
Add a glass of white wine, lower heat.
As wine evaporates, slowly add stock 6 nettle water mixture, stirring constantly until rice is al dente.
Serve hot with parmesan.