Easy Mediterranean Recipes for the Home Cook

I am in love with Italy and while I was there, I was fortunate enough to be able to dine at various restaurants in the different regions we were visiting. I will be writing about some of the dishes I tasted and sharing how I've made my own versions (though not nearly as good) of the originals.

The first recipe is for roasted red peppers. It's easy to buy a jar of roasted red peppers but it's just as easy to make them. Once you've made your roasted red peppers, you can use them on bruschetta or puree them in sauces, layer them in sandwiches, and find other uses for them in many recipes.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS IN OIL & VINEGAR MARINADE
(Preheat Broiler)
4 to 6 sweet red bell peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place whole peppers on a baking sheet and broil until peppers are thoroughly blackened and blistered. Turn occasionally to ensure all sides are blackened, approximately 5 to 7 minutes per side.

2. Place blackened peppers in plastic zip-lock type bag and seal shut. Set bag aside for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from bag and peel off blackened skin. Remove core and seeds.

3. Cut pepper into strips and place in shallow bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt, & pepper, and toss to blend. Serve immediately.

The amounts of olive oil can be reduced if necessary but I like storing the pepper in the oil and use the infused oil on salads. If you choose to reduce the amount, I would recommend using no less than 2 tablespoons and storing no longer than one week in the refrigerator.

While in southern Italy, specifically Sorrento, we saw lemon trees everywhere we walked. The lemons were beautiful and they were the biggest lemons I've ever seen! Some of the lemons we saw were the size of footballs! They have such an abundance of lemons that they are used in everything from a lemon liqueur (limoncello) to pasta a' Limon.

I personally love lemons and I learned last year how to preserve lemons. Preserved lemons are typically a Middle Eastern practice but I like to use my preserved lemons in my own version of pasta a' limon so I get a more robust, "lemon-y" flavor.

Before I share my pasta a' limon recipe with you, I'll explain how to preserve lemons. There are no real variations on preserving lemons with the exception of certain spices that are added to the brine but I am explaining the basic, and most widely practiced, way to preserve lemons.

PRESERVED LEMONS
6-8 lemons (Meyer lemons are best but any lemon will work)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (to top off the jar)
1-1 1/2 cups kosher salt
Quart-sized Mason jar

1. Sterilize the Mason jar before using.

2. Wash lemons thoroughly. Trim both ends of the lemons then quarter the lemons length-wise; however, do not make the cuts all the way through (but if you accidently do cut all the way through, it's not a big deal).

3. Layer the bottom of the jar with a few tablespoons of kosher salt. Take a lemon and stuff it with kosher salt. Squeeze it all together and place it at the bottom of the jar. Repeat with a second, then third lemon if needed to cover the bottom of the jar. After the first layer of lemons, layer with more Kosher salt then repeat procedure with lemons. Layer lemons and kosher salt until the jar is full. Layer more Kosher salt over the jar full of lemons then add fresh squeezed lemon juice to ensure that all lemons are covered. Place the lid on the jar and leave it on your counter for at least 3 weeks, turning the jar over occasionally to make sure the salt is well distributed. (If you aren't comfortable with leaving the jar on the counter, you can put it into the refrigerator after the first few days.

To use your preserved lemons, remove a lemon from the jar and rinse it thoroughly in water to remove salt. You can discard the pulp before using, if you like but I like to use the pulp and the rind in my recipes.

You can use the liquid from the same batch almost as a "starter" when you begin getting low on lemons. Just cut some fresh lemons, stuff them with salt and place them into the brining liquid of your present batch. You can keep "refilling" your jar for as long as you like.

PASTA a 'LIMON
6 quarts water
2 tablespoons salt
1 pound dried pasta (I prefer thick spaghetti)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
Zest of 2 lemons (*reserve juice)
1 preserved lemon, thoroughly rinsed
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste
6-8 leaves of torn basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Bring 6 quarts and 2 tablespoons of water to a boil.

2. Remove seeds from preserved lemon. Dice pulp and rind and set aside.

3. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add lemon zest and preserved lemon.

4. Add the pasta to the water and cook until al dente (almost cooked). Drain the pasta and add to lemon butter. Remove from heat and toss with cheese and basil.
(* I like my pasta with extra lemon flavor so I actually squeeze the zested lemon juice over my pasta before I toss it.)

Now that you have made some preserved lemons, I'll share another of my favorite recipes for using them. A basic use of preserved lemons is usually in some kind of chicken dish with couscous and I like couscous, but I like the texture of orzo better so I adjusted the typical Moroccan dish and made it my own.

LEMON CHICKEN AND ORZO
3 quarts water
1 tablespoon of salt
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound of chicken breast tenderloins
2 cups of spinach leaves, washed thoroughly
1 preserved lemon
Juice of one lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Bring 3 quarts of water and salt to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

2 Cut chicken tenderloins into bite-sized pieces. Remove seeds from preserved lemon. Dice rind and pulp and set aside.

3. Heat butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red pepper and cook until garlic is golden brown. Stir in chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook until chicken is lightly browned and juices run clear.

4. Reduce heat to medium and add cooked orzo. Place spinach in the skillet and continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted. Add diced preserved lemon and lemon juice. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

While in Italy, we were fortunate enough to travel all over the country and while we were in Orvieto, we ate at a small trattoria that served the best soup I had in Italy. It was a stale bread and tomato soup called "Papa al Pomodoro". When I got home, I began experimenting with various recipes and decided a simple, stripped down version of all the recipes I found resulted in the tastiest soup, most like the one I tasted in Italy. This is a great soup to make when you bake bread and don't know what to do with the half-loaf that is going stale and it's best made in the winter. The other thing I did that you don't see often with this recipe is that I puree my tomatoes. Most of the recipes for this soup call for chunky tomatoes or diced tomatoes and if the rustic aspect of this appeals to you, eliminate the puree part.

PAPA AL POMODORO
3-32 oz. canned, diced or chopped tomatoes (I like the Italian seasoned version)
3 cloves garlic, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups water
Salt & pepper
A loaf of stale bread, torn into bite-sized pieces
Freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil for garnish
1 bunch of basil, torn

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over a medium-high. Add the diced garlic and saute for a few minutes until the garlic is cooked but not browned. Drain the tomatoes of most of their juice then add them to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook until the tomatoes begin to soften and break down, about 5 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree until there are no large pieces of tomato left.

2. Add the water and salt and pepper to taste. (You may want thicker soup so add less water accordingly). Continue to simmer until thoroughly heated through.

3. Add the stale bread chunks. Continue simmering until all the bread has absorbed as much liquid as possible. The soup will develop a thicker consistency. Again, season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Let the soup continue simmering for 10 more minutes, then serve immediately with a garnish, of grated Parmigiano cheese, torn basil and a drizzle of olive oil. Let the soup stand for a short while before eating to allow the flavors of the oil, cheese, and basil to meld.

Keeping the roasted red peppers and the preserved lemons as staples in your kitchen, you can add a bit of Mediterranean flavor to almost anything you decide to cook.

I hope that you are able to actually travel to Italy one day and that you get to taste some of these recipes for yourself but until then, I find them to be pretty great substitutes. They are easy to make and full of sunny, Mediterranean flavor.