Pesto, Fritto Misto, Tomato Potato Soup

Dinner 6/12

Pesto

Fritto Misto
(Scapes, Onion)

Tomato Potato Soup

You can chart the course of summer by what is in season -- in this case: scapes. We decided to use our first batch of the year by making a platter of fritto misto along with an onion -- there is no truth that fritto misto is just a fancy word for Onion Rings. ;)

After Liz's second "pine mouth" incident earlier in the year, we've been reluctant to use pine nuts of unknown origin. The pesto uses Marcona almonds in place of pine nuts -- give it a try sometime, it's really, really good -- a giant hat tip to Scot Jones from Vegiterranean for the idea.



The soup was a request from our daughter, and although it's best later in the season when the fresh tomatoes are plentiful, I can't say no to my little girl.

Tomato Potato Soup

4 cups of water
3-4 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes, roughly chopped
1 roughly chopped onion
10 cloves of garlic, left whole
1 tbs. salt
1/2 tbs. of herbes de provence

1 tbs. olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
salt/pepper to taste

Add the potato, onion, garlic, salt and herbes de provence to the water and bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are cooked through (about 10-15 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, add the olive oil over medium heat and add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt/pepper -- cook the tomatoes down until they're released their water and have started to thicken -- about 4-5 minutes.

In a blender combine the potato mixture with the tomato mixture and puree (you may need to do this in two batches) -- check for salt and serve hot...