Call for Recipes: Dinner in a Hurry!

Editor's Note: It was two years ago when TILife’s copy editor, Elspeth Naismith, presented "Call for Recipes!" The article showed a tea towel that proudly hangs in her kitchen and provides the ingredients for a "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner," written by the late Les Cook, a renowned Canadian fishing guide. Elspeth suggested that our River communities have many farmers, restaurants, storekeepers, and, yes, both year-round and summer residents who have favourite recipes with special River meanings. Since then, we have published some fantastic culinary suggestions! Elspeth provides this month's call with Dinner in a Hurry... (I need that for sure!)

Dinner in a Hurry

What do you make when you need to put a tasty, nourishing meal on the table fairly quickly?

Well, if you’re in my kitchen, you can pretty much be guaranteed that there will be:

• pasta of varying shapes and sizes
• fresh garlic
• fresh grape tomatoes
• feta cheese (sheep’s milk, not cow’s milk!)
• components for a salad

This one is fall off the log simple. Pretty much every foodie web site has it’s own version. It’s easily scaled up or down. You’ll need an oven safe skillet (preferably cast iron), but if you’re cooking for 1 – 3, use a smaller size. For four or more people, use a 10 – 12 inch skillet. The amount of pasta will vary based on the size, but 2 – 3 oz of dry pasta per person is a good rule of thumb.

Ingredients:

85 g (3 oz or ~1 cup) pasta per person (smaller pasta such as farfalle, fusilli, penne, shells, etc)
30 g (1 oz) feta per person (in a chunk, not broken up)
150 g (5 oz or ~1 cup) grape tomatoes per person
2 – 4 cloves garlic, smashed (or more or less to your tastes)
2 – 4 Tbsp or so olive oil (for 4 or more servings, increase to 1/3 – ½ cup oil)
½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes or a small dried chili, to taste
slices of baguette or crusty bread for serving

Instructions:

1. Put an oven rack in the oven middle and preheat the oven to 375 – 400°F.
2. Pour a small glug (a generous Tbsp) of olive oil into the skillet and swirl it around. Smack the garlic cloves, remove the skin, then toss into the skillet. Wash and dry the tomatoes, then toss into the skillet and add 2 Tbsp oil. Place the brick of feta in the centre of the grapes, and also coat with oil, turning it so that it’s covered with oil. Add pepper flakes or dried chili, if using. Drizzle a little more oil over the whole works if it looks dry, then put into the preheated oven.
3. While cheese and tomatoes bake, make the pasta and a side salad. Once pasta is done, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.
4. Bake for 15 – 20 mins or until the tomatoes are collapsing and the feta is starting to slump. Remove from the oven and with a fork, coarsely smash together the tomatoes and cheese. I prefer it to be chunky, but you can make a smoother sauce if you wish. If it seems a little thick, use a bit of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up, 1 Tbsp at a time.
5. Divide the pasta into serving bowls and ladle the cheese and tomatoes on top. Serve immediately with a side salad and bread to sop up the sauce.

Notes:

Yes, feta made with sheep milk does make a difference in how the cheese melts and tastes. Don’t like feta? Try a log of goat cheese. I haven’t tried this variation, but I’m told that it’s quite tasty.

By Elspeth Naismith

Elspeth Naismith grew up in Gananoque, graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton (B.Sc (Bio)), and then from Centennial College as an RN. She also joined the Naval Reserve (thanks to a high school chum), and after spending time on both east and west coasts, she took a break from nursing and accepted a 3-year posting to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. The "break" turned into 25 years, and included jaunts to East Germany, Wales and the Irish Sea, and Bosnia. She retired from the Navy in 2011 and moved back to Gananoque in 2013. Today Elspeth not only leaves her mark on all TI Life articles, as she is the "Real Editor," "Comma Queen," and "overall lifesaver," but she is also an official recipe tester for America's Test Kitchen.

Illustration by Marie-Ann Erki

Marie-Anne Erki is a Kingston artist and emeritus professor of civil engineering at the Royal Military College. Marie-Anne initially considered a career in architecture, but her love of mathematics led her to become a structural engineer. She says, "At a time before computer assisted drawing (CAD), both disciplines required a huge amount of freehand and mechanical drawing. After a quarter of a century of great fun as a structural engineer, I decided to pursue painting full time." We at TI Life are fortunate that Marie-Anne has agreed to be our Official Illustrator, and you will find her work in many of our articles. You can also see her works at marieanneerkipaintings.blogspot.com/