Tortellini Salad

It’s so easy to slip into being comfortable with the familiar, which can apply to just about everything, including cooking! “Lunch for guests tomorrow? How about ham and cheese paninis, chips, and a nice cup of soup. No wait—I’m on auto-pilot!” So it goes until the Holy Spirit gets involved—something refreshingly different—He does it again. Tortellini salad came to mind, with pesto, sunflower seeds, black olives, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese—and whatever else you might want to add: fresh spinach, basil, artichoke hearts, pieces of ham or salami. It makes for a delicious lunch and a nice change from the more traditional!

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Tortellini Salad
SERVINGS
4
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
10minutes
PREP TIME
15minutes
READY IN
25minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, adding salt if desired. Add Tortellini and cook for about 8 - 10 minutes, testing for desired consistency.
  2. Set aside and let cool
  3. Gently fold in all ingredients together and serve on a bed of lettuce, garnished with a plume of parsley - and accompanied with some crunchy cheese toast

Filet of Sole – A Cape Cod Classic

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Filet of Sole – A Cape Cod Classic
We are blessed by having visitors from all over the United States coming to stay in Bethany, our lovely Guest House—and the cooking Sisters love to serve them the best of Cape Cod cuisine. Situated right on the water, with fishing boats arriving and departing on each tide, it’s sometimes easy for us to forget what a fantastic opportunity we have to enjoy fish fresh from the catch. Our eager guests often prove to be an incentive for us to investigate new ways to prepare a Cape Cod classic, such as Filet of Sole—and this particular recipe has proven to be a big hit!
SERVINGS
1
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
10mins
PREP TIME
10mins
READY IN
25mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven on warm. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a pie plate
  2. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil and 1 Tbsp of butter in a skillet. Add cherry tomatoes, toss until thoroughly cooked; at the last minute, add most of the basil, saving some to sprinkle on when served. Place in a warm oven.
  3. In the same skillet, melt 3 Tbsp butter. While that’s heating, dredge the fish in the flour, then cook on medium to hot in a skillet until golden—about 2 minutes per side. As it’s browning up, add a little wine for flavor!
  4. When ready to serve, tumble tomatoes onto the fish, and garnish with chopped basil leaves or parsley and a lemon wedge.

Watermelon Gazpacho

One of the most popular events offered to the public here at the Community of Jesus at this time of the year is our summer dinner theatre.

Interest in this continues to increase every season, which is not surprising. Eating a splendid, perfectly prepared meal out on the patio overlooking the harbor, just in itself, provides a most enjoyable and memorable evening, but having that as well as a spectacular dramatic performance in Paraclete House following  it is an exceptional experience in every way.

Today one of the cooking sisters has been perfecting a recipe for the appetizer course of this week’s dinner menu. I came upon her in the kitchen as she was carving up a magnificent watermelon to go into this zesty chilled gazpacho, a refreshing flavorful creation. You yourself may want to consider serving for some meal in the near future!

This delicious meal will accompany Elements Theatre Company’s performance of Sylvia by A.R. Gurney. Follow this link to learn more about the show, and reserve your tickets! https://elementstheatre.org/sylvia/

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Watermelon Gazpacho
SERVINGS
4servings
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
servings
COOK TIME
PREP TIME
15-20mins
READY IN
15-20mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Coarsely chop cucumbers, yellow pepper, red onion, basil and parsley. Combine with cubed watermelon and cherry tomatoes.
  2. Working in batches, put a few cups of ingredients in the blender or food processor to combine. An immersion blender works for this process as well!
  3. Blend ingredients until just before gazpacho is completely smooth—there should be small pieces of pepper, tomato and herbs visible in the gazpacho.
  4. Chill overnight or in the freezer for an hour, stirring occasionally. This can be served with a garnish of diced yellow peppers on top. Serve chilled and enjoy a refreshing twist on a summer classic! We recommend pouring the gazpacho into bowls and chilling the bowls in the refrigerator prior to serving.

Leg of Lamb with Anchovies (Gigot d’Agneau aux Anchois)

When I was preparing for my first time to serve at Mount Tabor Center for Art and Spirituality in Barga, Italy, I knew that I needed to immerse myself in learning all I could about Tuscan cooking. Cooking “Italian” had always been one of my favorite methods, but come to find out, there are many different regions in Italy with vastly different cooking styles. I searched the internet for articles, recipes and cookbooks and came up with a real gem – The Twelve by Tessa Kiros, which is twelve months of Tuscan cooking. She organizes the book according to the months and the fruits, vegetables and meats that are available and in season. This is the great thing about Tuscany – there is what there is – you cook what is in season. You learn to appreciate and savor the flavors.

So, this cookbook became my bible of sorts and I cooked my way through it in the three months I was there, and then again, when I went back for another three months. Every recipe was unique, simple and thoughtful, not to mention the beautiful photography and lessons she taught about seasonal cooking.

So, as we were looking towards our grand opening, I knew that I needed a little help to put together truly Tuscan meals for such a special event. That’s when I started my correspondence with Tessa. She was happy to give me input, suggestions, and even serving ideas. It was a joy to learn from such a great master.

Her travels have taken her all over the world. She was born in London to a Finnish mother and Greek-Cypriot father. She has worked in restaurants and with families in London, Sydney, Mexico and Athens – and chose to work with people who really inspired her. They were mentors in her journey through the world of food. On a trip to Italy to study the language and food, she met her husband, and together they have two beautiful daughters.
In 2016 she won the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Book of the Year in food and travel.

Tessa is delighted to be sharing this recipe for Easter with us from her new cookbook ‘Provence to Pondicherry‘ published by Quadrille, Gigot d’Agneau aux Anchois (Leg of Lamb with Anchovies). Photo courtesy of Manos Chadzikonstantis.

“I have such a lovely memory of eating this deep in the countryside one sunny day, under a huge tree that provided shade for the masses…It is good served with a potato gratin or a vegetable tian. Braised artichokes are also very good served either as as starter to this or one side.”

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Leg of Lamb with Anchovies
SERVINGS
6servings
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
servings
COOK TIME
75minutes
PREP TIME
READY IN

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the garlic, anchovies, rosemary and thyme leaves with 2 T. of the oil. Drizzle 3 T. of the oil into the base of a not too large roasting pan that will fit the lamb and tomatoes.
  2. Make 3 incisions, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of the lamb. Stuff the herb mixture into the incisions and rub all over the lamb. Rub the surface with a little salt (not too much as the anchovies are salty) and a generous grinding of pepper, then put the lamb in the baking dish, presentation side down.
  3. Surround the lamb with the tomatoes. Lightly sprinkle them with salt and pepper and drizzle with the last tablespoon of oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the lamb is golden and the tomatoes are starting to look gooey.
  4. Turn the lamb over, move the tomatoes around if necessary and check that nothing is burning. Add 1/2 c. of the wine, turn the oven down to 350 degrees and roast for a further 30 minutes.
  5. Add the remaining wine to ensure that the sauce around the lamb is jammy and tomatoes are not blackening and roast for a final 10-15 minutes. The cooking time will depend on how well done you want the lamb, and on the size of the leg of lamb. I like this dish with the meat cooked through, and with a jammy, gooey sauce.
  6. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Transfer the lamb and tomatoes to a platter and serve warm.