Pasta with Roasted Tomato Sauce

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon planning my meals for the upcoming week and went grocery shopping. I rarely do this, so I felt really productive and prepared for the busy week ahead. I made enough quinoa salad to last me for the whole week, made a delicious steak and potatoes dinner and slow roasted tomatoes. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it felt good knowing that I wouldn't have to slave away in the kitchen during the week.
Now, back to the slow roasted tomatoes. I wanted to make pasta for dinner, so this was an easy way to make a hearty sauce. This recipe was inspired by Sophie Dahl's roasted tomato soup except much more simpler and rustic. No blender or immersion blender is required and you don't have to stew the tomato sauce for hours.

Ingredients:
6 tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
Dried rosemary
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese
Spaghetti

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Chop tomatoes into chunks and smash the garlic cloves. Place everything in a baking dish. Add, salt, pepper, dried rosemary, sugar (I eyeballed all of the measurements). Slow roast in the oven for 50 minutes.
3. Take the pan out of the oven and mash tomatoes with a fork. You can blend everything into a smooth sauce, but I love the rustic chunks of tomato.
4. Pour the roasted tomatoes into a pot and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. About 20-30 minutes. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and more sugar if the sauce is too sour.
5. Cook the pasta, top with the tomato sauce and garnish with some chopped parsley.

Serve immediately with lots of Parmesan.





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Twice baked potato + roasted carrot soup

I spent Sunday afternoon watching Delicious Miss Dahl on YouTube and felt inspired to make dinner from scratch. In this particular episode, Sophie was feeling nostalgic and made a homesick lunch. She prepared twice baked potatoes with goat cheese and crème fraiche and a roasted tomato soup. I definitely did not have any fancy ingredients stocked in my pantry, so I raided my fridge to avoid running to the grocery store. To my surprise, I found gouda cheese, scallions, onions, garlic and a carrot. I instantly came up with my own twist to Sophie's nostalgic meal and decided to make twice baked potato with gouda cheese and scallions and a roasted carrot soup. There was no recipe involved, just whatever I thought would taste delicious together. I think I learned this from my mom, she rarely cooks with a recipe.

Ingredients:

Twice baked potato
1 potato
1 stalk of scallion
Gouda cheese (Any cheese you prefer would work, also as much as you like)

Roasted Carrot Soup
1 Carrot
1 Small onion
Dried Rosemary
Few cloves of garlic
Enough olive oil to coat the vegetables

Directions:
1. Wash and scrub the potato well. Place potato in 400 degree oven and bake for an hour and a half.
2. Cut carrots and onions and place on a sheet pan. Add the garlic cloves, rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and place in a 400 degree. Roast for 45 minutes.
3. Once the potato is cool enough to handle, cut it in half length wise. With a spoon, scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Grate the cheese and add chopped scallions into the bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher until blended. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins and top with more cheese. Place the baked potato back into the oven and bake until the top is golden brown and bubbly.
4. Once the vegetables are golden brown and fork tender, they are ready. Place the vegetables into a blender and add some hot water or chicken stock. Blend until smooth. (Tip, if you do not have chicken stock, add bouillon powder)
5. Reheat the soup before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.









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Jil Sander

Today I am wearing my Jil Sander shoes for the first time. They are probably the prettiest shoes I own.

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Lamb

If you want to serve an elegant dinner that's simple and delicious, then my rack of lamb recipe will do the trick. You can buy New Zealand spring lamb from your local grocery story in the frozen meat section. The night before your dinner party, take the lamb out of freezer and leave it in the fridge to defrost.

Ingredients:
Dijon Mustard
Rosemary (dried or fresh)
2-3 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel to remove the moisture
2. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper
3. In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, minced garlic and rosemary. If you happen to have fresh rosemary on hand, remove the leaves from the woody stem and chop finely.
4. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil to the mixture and whisk. The mixture should have the consistency of a thicker salad dressing. You still want the marinade to be thick enough to stay on the meat.
5. With a spoon, pour the marinade on top of the lamb to create a beautiful yellow crust.
6. Place in a 400 degree oven and broil for 15-20 minutes for rare-medium rare



I also tested this recipe out on the barbecue the other night and it turned out beautifully. Start grilling the lamb on the bone, then in 10 minutes turn the meat onto the other side. The marinade will cause some flames, so be careful. Finish cooking the meat for 10-15 minutes.

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Just Dance

Lanvin Fall/Winter 2011 ad campaign.

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Crochet

The perfect crochet shorts worn with a loose tank and cork wedge sandals.

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See-through

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