Make your own paella

We're enjoying summer, which brings a time of relaxed cooking, eating outdoors and experimenting with new recipes. I've been playing around with paella, a rice dish typical of Valencia, Spain. In Spain, it's common to find families gathered around a large paella dish on Sunday afternoons in the summer. You don't have to go to Spain to have your own paella. Try out my Chicken and Vegetable Paella, and then experiment with your own ingredients. Add a large, fresh salad as a side dish and you have a great summery meal perfect for your outdoor patio setting.

Get the Chicken and Vegetable Paella recipe

Creamy Pumpkin Soup — without the cream!

Here’s a warm, satisfying soup that is healthy and delicious. It’s texture is creamy, but without the cream! We use olive oil instead of butter or cream. The secret is in the blending method. Okay, go ahead and drizzle some cream on top if you like as an added decorative touch.

Ingredients
Small pumpkin, cut in half
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons Olinda Ridge Olinda Gold extra virgin olive oil
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. oil the cut side of the pumpkin, and place cut side on a baking sheet. Place in oven and bake until the pumpkin is soft, and a fork can break it apart easily.
3. Remove the pumpkin from the oven. Scoop out the seeds and separate the pumpkin from the skin.
4. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft and golden.
5. Add the pumpkin pieces and salt and pepper, and stir to coat with the olive oil and mix with the onion.
6. Add the broth a little at a time, stirring. Cook for about 5-10 minutes. The consistency should be slightly thick, and not too liquidy.
7. Remove from heat and using a hand immersion blender*, proceed to blend the soup thoroughly until completely creamy. You will note the soup taking on a lighter color as you blend, as if you added cream to it.
8. Serve plain or with desired garnishes.

Serves 4

* If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor to purée the mixture.

Substitution: You can also try this recipe with butternut squash or zucchini.

Pumpkin Harvest Bread

This seasonal treat makes a great breakfast bread or hearty snack.






Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Olinda Ridge Olinda Gold extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
7 1/2 oz pumpkin puree
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 3/4 cup All-Purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preparation
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a greased pan
2. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, olive oil, eggs, and water
3. Add pumpkin puree and spices
4. Stir in remaining dry ingredients*
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 40-50 minutes

* You can also add 1/2 cup of your favorite chopped nuts (almond, walnut, pecans, macadamia, etc.) or chocolate chips.

Pan con tomate: A simple, tasty and healthy snack with bread and tomatoes

I have recently been living in Barcelona, Spain for a while and absorbing the rich food culture of the Catalonia region. Here, one of the simplest and famous dishes—using basic ingredients such as toasted bread, olive oil, ripe tomatoes, garlic and salt—is the well-loved pa amb tomaquet. In other parts of Spain it is known as pan con tomate or pan a la Catalana. It can be served as a tapa (snack) or to accompany a meal.

Although I had tasted pa amb tomaquet on trips to Spain before, the first time I had actually seen it made was in my own apartment in New York City when my Catalonian friends were visiting and cooked up a traditional Catalonian meal. I saw them take a bunch of small, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut them in half, rub them on the bread, and then throw the pieces away! I was a bit horrified at what seemed to be a waste, but years later, as I’m living in Catalonia and I prepare the snack for my guests, they look at me the same way. But the truth is, if you have the right tomatoes, you will use the whole thing. Then you will understand that the trick is to have super ripe tomatoes and get your hands really messy to get all the juices out.

This bread with tomato can be served alone or used as a basis for making a sandwich by adding manchego cheese, Spanish ham or prosciutto, anchovies or anything else on top. For my toddler daughter, it makes a tasty, healthy snack (I sometimes omit the garlic). I like to eat pa amb tomaquet for breakfast along with my café con leche.

Ingredients
4 thick slices rustic-style bread, toasted lightly
1 fat garlic clove, halved
Olinda Ridge extra virgin olive oil
1 large super-ripe tomato, halved (preferably vine-ripened or homegrown)
Sea salt

Preparation
Toast the slices of bread lightly on both sides. Halve the garlic and rub the cut ends over each slice of bread. Slice the ripe tomatoes in half across the middle and rub the cut side generously onto each slice until you are practically left with the skin. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil liberally, and sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top.

Enjoy!