First Harvests and Kitchen Acquisitions

I have some quirky vices. Maybe I'm not the only one. Chances are, I am. I could peruse kitchen stores for hours daydreaming about the dishes I want to buy - dishes that would stay in my china cabinet untouched most of the year, because, let's face it: you can only use so many dishes at a time. Of course, it doesn't just stop at the dishes. Utensils, appliances, cutting boards: if it pertains to getting food on the table, I'm intrigued. It's through this fascination that the Wilton Popover Pan (pictured above) came to live in our kitchen. I have to admit, I'd never thought much about Popovers and had no real desire to make them. Then, a couple months ago while ambling through the aisles at Target, I saw this pan on clearance for $5 and change. Suddenly, I couldn't live without it. A popover pan was exactly what my kitchen had been missing. So the pan came home with us, and found a place on our cabinet shelves, and sat there. For months. It's not that I didn't think about making popovers. I just never got around to it - until Tuesday night. Tuesday, I made Parmesan Garlic Rosemary Popovers. The recipe was conveniently located on the back of the pan's label. (Unfortunately, Wilton's website, www.wilton.com, doesn't list it, but it does list several other yummy-sounding dessert recipes.) The popovers were a success, and a successful batch of popovers made that pan purchase seem like a smart idea, indeed.



So what to eat with Parmesan Garlic Rosemary Popovers? We came home to find zucchini ready-to-be-picked in the garden, so we settled on Jamie Oliver's Beautiful Zucchini Carbonara printed in Jamie at Home.

Here is our adaptation:


Salt some pasta water and bring to a boil. Prepare a box (about 14 oz) of penne pasta according to box instructions.


Quarter 2 large zucchini and discard seeds. Thinly slice quartered pieces.


In a small bowl, mix 4 egg yolks, 1/2 c. heavy cream, and 1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.


Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add a Tbsp. of olive oil and 8 oz. of prosciutto, chopped into pieces. When the prosciutto has browned a bit, add the zucchini. Season with a few good cranks of freshly ground black pepper. Add in a Tbsp. of chopped thyme leaves. Stir to combine and coat zucchini in oil. Cook until zucchini has softened.


Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 c. of the pasta water. Add penne to the saucepan with zucchini. Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1/4 c. pasta water and the cream sauce. Add in another cup of freshly grated Parmesan and the rest of the pasta water if needed to make a smooth sauce.

I got a little kick out of seeing the zucchini and thyme come straight from our garden to my cutting board. After a long drive the day before to get home, lists of errands to run and chores to do, it was nice to have something be no farther than the backyard.