Clara’s Courgette Oven Fries

A very very special recipe to commemorate my bucket loads of gratitude, love and respect for Clara Loizzo - a professional educator based in Nice 🇫🇷 who has been enthusiastically cooking most of my recipes for past two years - translating my recipes to French, printing those out to refer while cooking, hunting down specialty ingredients to try out my whimsical creations and sending me sweet note of appreciation after trying out the dish. Isn’t she the best?!

On several occasions, I would post a recipe feeling proud of creating something special and secretly wishing at least one person should make it to know what I mean - and that one person has always been Clara ♥️

Last summer, to honor her birthday and her love for Courgettes and Cumin … I created these Masa Harina Crusted Zucchini Fries baked in oven and spiked with toasted Cumin seeds and Chaat Masala. We usually have it with curry ketchup but any hot sauce or Garlic Aioli will be awesome!

Ingredients (serves 2-4 as side)

620g Courgette / Zucchini, cut into thick batons about 1/2” thick and 2-2.5” long

3 tbsp Chickpea Flour (substitute with regular White Rice Flour)

2 tbsp Masa Harina (substitute with Cornmeal)

1 tbsp Cornstarch or Cornflour

3/4 tsp Ground Turmeric

3/4-1 tsp Chaat Masala

2 tsp Toasted cumin Seeds, lightly crushed

1 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder 

Pinch of salt

96ml Neutral Oil (little more than 6 tbsp)

Lemon and chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro / parsley / basil for serving

Directions

💥Pre-heat oven to 425F (230C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, combine courgette / zucchini batons with everything. Toss until all the batons are well coated

💥Transfer the coated batons onto the prepared baking sheets (skin side down). Make sure not to crowd

💥Bake for 35-38 mins or until outside looks deeply golden and crisp. Transfer into a lipped platter, finish it with generous squeeze of lemon and some sprinkling of fresh herbs of your choice. Enjoy with some nice crisp white or Rosé

Very Green Summertime Pasta

Over the years, if there’s one thing, I sincerely feel like overpaying for in a restaurant is Pasta! I have nothing against all the restaurants serving pasta, but I firmly believe that with good quality ingredients, it’s so much easier and satisfying to whip up a bowl of phenomenal pasta in your home kitchen that most definitely costs less than $20!

Scout for good handmade or fresh pasta in specialty stores (I am a big proponent of making pasta from scratch, but that pitch is for some other day), pickup couple seasonal produce, good olive oil and top quality cheese (entirely optional) - that’s about it! There are enough resources and guides online for perfecting the sauces (even the finicky infamous ones - cacio e pepe and carbonara) - so here I’m urging you to take matter in your own hands, trust yourself and stop paying exorbitant amount of money on pasta.

Now coming to this dish, although I prefer using this lovely pasta called Mafalda Corta - thin lasagna ribbons with ruffled edges but any short pasta with ridges like Rigatoni, Cavatappi, Cascatelli or even Farafalle would be fine. If possible do get the Mafalda though! Slathered in a creamy green sauce and finished with blanched seasonal asparagus and green peas - this sprightly little bowl will brighten your day.

Ingredients (serves 2)

240g Mafalda Corta ( I like this one)

315g Asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 1.5-2” pieces

150g Frozen Green Peas (not thawed)

1.5 tbsp Olive Oil

4 Scallions, thinly sliced

1 Garlic, crushed

3 tbsp Pesto (either homemade or store-bought), here I have used my homemade Green Garlic Pesto but you can use any green sauce such as Zhoug, Salsa Verde or Chimichurri

110g Heavy Whipping Cream or Plant Based Double Cream

1/2 tsp Salt (more for blanching vegetables and cooking pasta)

4 tbsp Grated Pecorino or Vegan Parmesan

5g Fresh Mint Leaves (substitute with Sweet Basil if you don’t like Mint), shredded

Zest and Juice of 1 Small Lime to finish

1 tsp Aleppo Chile Pepper Flakes or your favorite Pepper Flakes

Directions

1. In a large bowl, prepare an ice bath - fill a large mixing bowl with lots of ice and keep it aside. Now, fill a deep bottomed pan with water (plenty!), add 2 tsp salt and bring it to boil. Once boiling, add asparagus and set a timer for 4 mins. After 2 mins add frozen peas into it. Once the timer is up, immediately transfer the asparagus and peas into the prepared ice-bath while reserving the hot water

2. Transfer back the hot salted water into the same deep bottomed pan and bring it back to boil. Add pasta into boiling water and cook for however long mentioned on the package. Reserve 3 tbsp starchy pasta water

3. Meanwhile, add oil, scallions, 2g mint leaves and garlic into a skillet and cook on low flame for 3-4 mins or until fragrant. Add salt, cream and reserved pasta water; increase the heat to medium high while swirling the skillet - this swirling helps in emulsifying the cream with starch to build the sauce (you can use a silicone whisk to do the same too). Once the sauce starts to form, add pesto and swirl for a minute to combine then add cooked pasta into the skillet and toss really well for a minute or two. Turn-off the heat and add pecorino, green peas and asparagus

4. Mix everything, finish with remaining mint, zest and juice of a lime. Divide into serving bowls, dust with aleppo flakes. Enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine or bitters and soda!

Remy's Ratatouille- My Way

Back in 2019 summer, after watching “Ratatouille” gazillionth time, I made my first ratatouille and I remember vividly when my husband took that first bite of confit summer squashes wrapped in peppery sweet tomato sauce and gasped “This is ridiculous! I think this is your calling, everyone needs to eat this”. It was hard to believe him as it’s such a humble dish. The recipe has evolved a wee-bit since then but the reaction I receive (now my friends too) is exactly the same and believe it or not it still continues to be the most requested dish by my husband…

With a bit of planning, its a perfect make ahead dish for a summer dinner party. Make the sauce the night before, arrange the vegetables on top, cover and keep it in the fridge until an hour before your guests are due. Bake and serve right away with some good sourdough or baguettes! Double the recipe to make it in a large 13’ x 9’’ roasting pan / casserole dish. Don’t stress too much about the arrangement or pattern to be perfect, with such vibrant colors and flavors it will be stunning.

*Note: in the second image I have a dinner party spread inspiration with the radicchio and apple salad, seared asparagus with lemon and parmesan, marinated olives and goat’s cheese and pinot grigio sauteed wild mushrooms.

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 Medium Zucchinis, thinly sliced (approximately 1/8” thick)
1 Medium Yellow Summer Squash, thinly sliced (approximately 1/8” thick)
4 Vine or Roma Tomatoes, preferably equal sized and thinly sliced (approximately 1/8” thick)
1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1-2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sauce
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Red Onion, thinly sliced
1 Large Red Bell Pepper, oven roasted and chopped or 160g Roasted Red Pepper from Jar, coarsely chopped
1 Large Very Ripe Tomato, skin removed and pulp grated or 240g Canned Crushed Tomato
1 tsp Paprika or Kashmiri Chili Powder
1 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper or any Hot Pepper Flakes
Heaping 1/2 tsp Ground cumin
210g Canned crushed tomatoes (if not using a fresh large Tomato then just use 454g or 1lb Crushed Tomato from the can)
75ml Vegetable Stock or Water
2 tsp Dried Basil (substitute with dried oregano)
1 tsp Fine Sea Salt

Topping
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced or crushed
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp dried Basil or Oregano

Garnish
Fresh Basil or Oregano leaves, whole and torn
Flaky salt & Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Top Quality)

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F / 190C (175C with Fan). If making the sauce the day before then skip this step until ready to bake. If using a large casserole dish then grease it with Olive Oil and keep it aside. Prep the vegetables at this point (I prefer using a mandoline for uniform thickness, but a sharp knife is fine and slight variation in thickness is fine too), toss the sliced vegetables in 1/4 tsp salt and keep them aside

2. Make the Sauce: heat up oil in a oven safe skillet (if using casserole dish then any 10’ skillet is fine), on medium flame. Add onion, fry for 5 mins then add roasted pepper and continue sautéing for 5 more mins. Add grated tomato (if using crushed tomato from can then add half qty), half of spices and dried herb - cook everything for 4 min. Now add crushed tomatoes (remaining if using entirely crushed tomatoes) and stock/water. Season with salt and bring everything upto vigorous simmer. Turn off the heat now

3. Arrangement: Once the sauce and skillet are cool enough to handle, pat any excess liquid out from the salted vegetables and arrange them in alternating colors on top of the sauce in concentric circles (fan them out to your preference). If using a casserole dish, then transfer the sauce from skillet into the greased casserole dish and arrange the vegetables on top. Drizzle 1-2 tsp oil and sprinkle remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Cover and bake in the oven for 42-45 mins and then uncovered for 20 mins. (If making ahead then just cover and refrigerate until 90 mins before serving, pre-heat oven to the recommended temperature and bake as per instructions)

4. Serving: Just before serving, combine first topping ingredients in a heat safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute in 30 second bursts. Pour the topping on top of ratatouille, garnish with fresh herbs, pepper flakes, a bit of flaky salt and a generous drizzle of very good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil on top. Enjoy!

*It tastes much better the next day so making a big batch to ensure leftovers is a great idea