Pepperoni, Mozzarella and Tomato Appetizer

Now, you may never have this problem:  Leftover pepperoni.  But I had lovely guests last night and we made pizza!  It was delicious and the companionship sublime.  I finally saw the final, final Harry Potter movie in very good company.  When he died?  My heart stopped.  When his eyelid wiggled, my heart leaped.  J.K. Rowling is a master.  

Anyhoo, I had leftover pepperoni and since I had spent the day cleaning out my cupboards and freezer in anticipation of my move to Cairo, I felt I deserved a bit of bubbly.  And you just can’t drink bubbly, even one glass, without a little something to go with it.

As a child, I remember fondly the days my mother would let us fry, yes, fry, salami.  Did we not have bacon? Did we prefer salami?  I have no recollection of the reasons why.  But I do remember how the salty salami tasted and how it rolled up to a little bowl when it cooked.  I wondered if pepperoni, basically a small salami, would do the same.  If it didn’t, my plan would be spoiled.

Whoo hoo!   It does curl up.  Which means I can fill it.  Man, I am happy!

Ingredients

Pepperoni – as many slices as you need to feed your guests at least two or three each (But, this isn’t the only appetizer you are serving, right?)

Mozzarella – this can be the packaged kind.  As much as you need to cut a small cube of 1cm or 1/2in each per pepperoni slice

Red, ripe tomatoes – once again, as many as it would take to cover your pepperoni with a thin slice of tomato

Black pepper

Method

Drizzle a little olive oil in a non-stick pan and then fry the pepperoni until it curls up into tiny bowls, turning them over halfway through.

Turn the fire off and remove the pan from the stove.  Cut small chunks of mozzarella and put them in each pepperoni bowl. 

Cover the skillet and let the cheese melt.  Meanwhile, slice your tomatoes pretty thin and cut the slices into pepperoni sizes pieces.

Check on the cheese.  Fix the ones that melted out of the pepperoni bowls.  As the cheese cools again, it will stay in the pepperoni.  Just keep putting it back in.

Transfer your mozzarella-filled pepperoni bowls to a plate.  Top with the tomato slices.  Give the whole plate a good couple of grinds of freshly ground black pepper.

I can’t tell you how nicely all these three things go together: the spicy, salty pepperoni, the mild mozzarella and the naturally, slightly acidic tomatoes!  Especially with a cold glass of bubbly.  Try it yourself.   Pop this in your mouth!

Fresh Tomato Soup

Is there anything more fun than the Specials board at a nice café or restaurant? For me, nice means fresh, often locally grown food put together with flair.  I love to see what the chef thinks is a good idea, based on seasonal vegetables.  Here in the tropics, many vegetables and fruits are available year round so chefs are spoiled for choice. There is no reason not to be creative.  And the best part of a trip to Singapore is that PORK turns up on the Specials board and menus!  While pork is available in Kuala Lumpur, many of the restaurants do not serve it to cater to the majority Muslim population.

Last weekend I met some wonderful friends for lunch at the PS Café in Paragon Shopping Centre in Singapore.  We were all three delighted to see that the soup-of-the-day was Tomato Bacon. We practically rubbed our hands together in glee (okay, I did) while we ordered each a bowl.  Much to our disappointment, we were informed the tomato soup was finished.  At 11:45 a.m.  Before the lunch crowd even got started.  Turns out that Tomato Bacon was Friday’s soup-of-the-day and no one at the PS Café could be bothered to erase the blackboard and add the new soup for Saturday.  Which turned out to be a very unsatisfying smoked turkey/potato. With deep sighs and eventually justified reservations, we ordered it.  Very disappointing, PS Café.  On at least two fronts.  (They never did change that board the whole time we sat there, and, fair warning, when you puree the whole pot of soup, including the turkey, the soup texture is gritty! )

But ever since then, I have been itching to make my own tomato soup.  This one does indeed have bacon, but, by simply eliminating the bacon step, it would be a delicious fresh vegetarian tomato soup.

Ingredients

Olive oil

105g or 3 3/4 oz bacon

4 cloves of garlic

5 medium ripe red tomatoes

3 oz or 85g tomato paste (half the small can or tin)

1 liter or 4 1/4 cups or almost 34 ounces of vegetable stock (fresh or made with cubes – either would work)

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

Black pepper

1/4 cup cream to serve

Method

Chop the bacon into little strips.  In a pan big enough for your soup, fry the bacon with a little olive oil.

Peel and chop the garlic finely.  Here, for the first time, I used smoked garlic which is available in many local stores, but once you get past the smoky outside, the garlic inside seemed pretty much the same as the regular raw garlic.  I was rather disappointed because the outside smelled like an outdoor campfire and reminded me of the happy Girl Scout campouts of my youth.  So go ahead and use normal garlic.

When the bacon is cooked and most of the fat is rendered, add the chopped garlic and let it fry over a low fire for just a few minutes.  You don’t want it to brown which makes garlic bitter. (If you are going for vegetarian soup, start by gently frying the garlic in the olive oil alone.  Remove it from the pan when it softens slightly.)

Meanwhile, halve your tomatoes and remove the core and seeds.  Chop the tomato into small pieces.  Set aside one chopped tomato for later.

Remove the garlic and bacon from the pan.  Or just the garlic if that's the way you roll. 

Add the tomato pieces (not the reserved one!) and give it a quick stir.

Add the liter of stock, the half teaspoon of sugar,  a few good grinds of fresh black pepper and the tomato paste to the pot.

 Allow to cook for 20 minutes on a low to medium heat then puree the soup carefully in a blender.

Add the soup back to the pot and then add in the bacon/garlic pieces and the reserved tomato pieces.   Cook for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and to cook the reserved tomato slightly.

At this point, the soup can be taken off the heat and even cooled, to be served at a later time.   Before serving, gently warm the cream in a microwaveable measuring cup or in a separate pot.  Heat the soup to boiling, turn the stove off and add the cream, stirring well.   

Serve immediately.  Of course, you will need grilled cheese sandwiches or hot buttered toast on the side.  Dipping of either is not only allowed, but encouraged. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Eggplant

I started school in the British system, with three years in Trinidad, and so I like to joke that I was bilingual before I learned my second language.  Sometimes the British words are indeed different from the American ones. When I am writing out a recipe, it is a challenge to make sure my various readers (many thanks to all five of you!) will understand the terminology and units.  (My goal is always to get you to try the recipe!) Like the units, the name I use for ingredients depends on where I first came across the recipe. Then I tend to revert to American for the method. Ride along with me!

Ingredients

2 large aubergines or eggplant (or eggplants?  What is the plural?)

6 ripe tomatoes, 4 chopped and 2 sliced

1 lb or 500g minced or ground lamb or beef (I used lamb.)

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Sea salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

There's the recipe on my iPad! 

From Jamie’s magazine, issue 22, from an app on my iPad.

Method

Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Cut your eggplant in half and scoop out the flesh, leaving a 1cm or 1/2 inch edge. 

I used a grapefruit spoon. Worked like a dream. But any spoon will do. 

Drizzle the shells with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  

Place them on an oven tray and bake for 30 minutes.  (Jamie’s original recipe said, Cover with foil and bake, but somehow I missed that step and they turned out just fine.)

Meanwhile, dice the flesh, the onion and the garlic. Fry all three in the olive oil until soft.  Set aside.

Brown your meat and then stir in the herbs and cinnamon and chopped tomatoes.

Add in the eggplant mixture and cook for 10 minutes.

Fill the shells with the stuffing and top with the sliced tomatoes.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

I served this with a lovely salad of greens. 

Enjoy!