If you’re one of those people who gets irritated by the specter of pumpkin spice — or, gasp, Halloween decor — on an 85-degree week in September; if you understand that there are what will feel like infinite months left to spend shivering and longing for stew, and there’s no reason to beckon them any sooner; if you find yourself gritting out “but there’s another week of summer!” at your screen when confronted with ads for wool coats and other things you simply refuse to acknowledge before you must, come sit down. You’re among friends.

Read more »

How about pizza tonight? It’s hard to beat classic pesto pizza. This simple vegetarian pizza recipe is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. It offers an irresistible combination of fresh, bright flavors from the basil pesto and tomatoes, plenty of cheesy mozzarella, and a bubbling crust with a satisfying chew.

This easy pesto pizza recipe comes together quickly with the help of your food processor. You can whip together the dough and pesto in about 15 minutes—just wipe down the processor in between the two components. If you’re looking for a super simple weeknight meal that’s better than take-out, use store-bought dough and pesto instead!

Continue to the recipe...

The post Pesto Pizza appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Let’s hear it for burrata cheese! I always order burrata when I find it on restaurant menus, and we’ve had some stellar combinations this summer. I can’t resist burrata’s contrasting textures—it’s like fresh mozzarella on the outside, but lusciously soft and creamy on the inside.

For this recipe, I designed a quintessential summertime burrata salad with fresh tomatoes. Serve it with crostini or a loaf of crusty bread to make it an appetizer. This burrata dish comes together in 15 minutes, believe it or not, and it’s a real showstopper.

I wanted to keep it simple but make it taste special, so I drew reference from my Easy Tomato Salad and Tomato Basil Bruschetta. I landed on a combination of cherry tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes for depth, plus freshly toasted pine nuts for a savory note. It’s not complete without a drizzle of rich olive oil, tangy balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of fresh basil. I hope it becomes one of your go-to recipes!

Continue to the recipe...

The post Burrata with Tomatoes & Basil appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Tabbouleh fans, have you tried making it with quinoa? This recipe is a fun variation on classic tabbouleh made with quinoa instead of bulgur wheat. It turns our favorite Lebanese salad into a gluten-free dish. The quinoa is fluffy and has a somewhat nutty taste, but overall, the flavor profile is quite similar.

Since I already changed one primary ingredient, I took the liberty of adding some chickpeas and feta cheese, more ingredients that you would not expect to find in tabbouleh. They’re entirely optional and absolutely delicious. They make the salad more hearty; if you use both, it could qualify as a light meal on its own.

This herbaceous salad is so refreshing on a warm day. It features fresh parsley and mint, tomato and cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and quinoa. The proportions remain true to the traditional recipe, so it contains more parsley than quinoa, and the lemon packs a punch. I think you’ll love it.

Continue to the recipe...

The post Quinoa Tabbouleh appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

During the current lockdown in Paris, you can still get most things at the supermarket. True, there’s less of a selection as some items are more popular than others; butter, of course, is popular, and so is flour. Fortunately I always have a good stock of both on hand, lockdown or not, but I did neglect to replenish my chocolate supply. But the pasta and rice aisles have suffered the most damage, and the selection of what’s available has been sparse.

Since I’m limiting my time going out, and food shopping, the other day I went to the frozen food store, Picard. Everyone in France loves Picard, although I’m usually happy to dice an onion and don’t need to buy frozen pre-diced onions, nor do I need to buy ice cream. (Theirs is rather good, but I’ve usually got several batches of my own in the freezer.) But I was craving pizza and they have a frozen one with arugula and speck that’s pas mal, as they say in French, which actually means “not bad.” However frozen pizza seems to be as popular as rice and pasta, so I had to get another kind that wasn’t so great (pas terrible.) But I did pick up a bag of those onions and some ground beef because I’ve also been craving Pasta Bolognese, and they were there, and so was I. So I caved.

Continue Reading Pasta Bolognese...