I was given this recipe from another mom from a photocopy that she scanned and sent to me. I am pretty sure it is from Whitewater and I have never used a recipe with less direction. Despite that it turned out delicious and Megan and Greg and I had a hard time saving some for Chad. I decided to make the recipe again last night for dinner with friends this time with some changes so I am going to share my modified version (hopefully with a bit more direction).
This recipe has quite a few pieces but is well worth the effort. I made the sauces the day before to make things a little easier

Tortia Rustica
Tomato Sauce
Preheat oven to 400°F
10 tomatoes
6-8 garlic cloves (depending on your level of love for garlic)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Teaspoons chipotle chili pepper (this can be quite spicy so add to your level of spicyness – Chad and I like it quite spicy)
Quarter tomatoes and chop garlic. Combine tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and chipotle in a bowl. Transfer to roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have caramelized. Then blend until smooth. You can remove the skins before blending but I always leave them on.

Lemon-Basil Aioli
1 cup mayonnaise
juice of half a lemon (add more if you love lemon)
large handful of basil, chopped
Combine and refrigerate until needed.

Torta
10 corn tortillas (I always use small ones as I have never found large corn tortillas at the store)
1 red onion
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
1 cup goat cheese
1 cup pesto
2 cups of mozzarella
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons rosemary
Preheat oven to 375°F
Slice vegetables into roughly the same size, you are going to be layering them and want them to sit nicely.
Toss with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Roast until tender – about 25 minutes.
Mix goat cheese and pesto together.
Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a springform pan with parchment paper (you don’t have to do this but it makes releasing it from the pan  much easier though the final presentation is not as fancy).
Put in a layer of tortillas (I use 2.5 to make a layer, I use one whole one and 1.5 halves) then add a layer of roasted vegetables (I did each layer as one vegetable but you can mix and match), spread some goat cheese and pesto mixture over the vegetables and sprinkle with mozzarella. Repeat with anther layer of tortillas, veggies, pesto mix and mozzarella. I ended up with four tiers to my torta last time. When you run out of veggies and pesto mix (or space) top with a final layer of tortillas and cover with mozzarella cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove tinfoil and continue for baking for 10-15 minutes more or until the cheese is fully melted and browning on top.
To serve: carefully remove the springform pan. Plate and  drizzle the warm tomato sauce over. Don’t forget to add a spoonful of the lemon-basil aioli.

Ready

Set

Go

Had a impromptu dinner with Megan and Maddie last night. Maddie hasn’t seen Theo since the May long weekend and was surprised by the 5lbs he had gained. He looks like a completely different baby. She also joined  us on our weekly Trailbabies walk/hike. Yesterday was definitely a walk as the more babies we have the slower the pace and we had 6. We did manage to make it 8km along a beautiful path through the Lower Seymour Conservation Area. Theo has three loves in his life right now: outside time, dogs and the jolly jumper. Yesterday he got to experience all three.

Last night I decided to do salmon as I had it thawed in the fridge and it wasn’t until we sat down to dinner that I remembered that Maddie doesn’t eat fish of any kind. oops. She enjoyed the rest of the meal though. Rosemary roasted potatoes, sauted asparagus, maple-soy salmon and salad with goat cheese and berries. Megan brought some rhubarb wine from the winery on Westham Island. It was a wonderful summer meal with Theo sitting on my lap watching every bite. He started solids on the weekend so his meal consisted of brown rice, quinoa and blueberries.

Salmon
4 pieces of salmon
1Tbs maple syrup
1Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp gluten free soy sauce

Place salmon in a hot frying pan, let cook for 4-6 minutes on one side (time varies depending on thickness of salmon and your pan). Once you flip the fish add combined syrup, oil and soy sauce. It will bubble and carmalise making your kitchen smell like candy. Cook for another 4-6 minutes or until fish flakes apart with a fork.

Asparagus
A handful of stalks per person. Cut off the woody portion of the stalks. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Put in a medium-high heated frying pan and saute until slightly soft but still crunchy. (I like mine a little crunchy but you can continue cooking if you like it softer)

Rosemary Potatoes
4-5 medium red potatoes, washed and quartered
Toss in a large  bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.
Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and roast in a 375°F oven for 25 minutes or until soft and golden.

Spinach Salad with Blueberries and Goat Cheese
Combine:
4 handfuls of spinach, rough chopped (one per person)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
Small handful of cherry tomatoes per person, halved
1 cup blueberries
1 TBSP fresh mint, chopped
1 TBSP fresh basil, chopped
crumbled goat cheese

Dressing
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
Whisk to combine and pour over salad
Note: I like my salads lightly dressed so if you prefer more dressing just double the measurements.