Fresh Tomato Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust

      Well, we're quickly moving through spring, with summer just around the corner.  I love all of the season's fruits and vegetables showing up in the market now!  Something that we seem to wait for, all year, are those wonderful summer tomatoes.  Red, ripe, and juicy "spheres of deliciousness" !  Beefsteak, heirloom, cherry, plum, pear......so many varieties and so many ways to eat them!!   (All delicious, in my opinion)

Sweet Basil Smoothie

    O.k. all you berry lovin' people, don't hit the "close" or "delete" button yet.  I know this doesn't sound like your usual smoothie, but it's yummy!  AND.......it's a great way to use some of  that basil you've been growing all summer.  Keep some simple syrup in your fridge and you can whip this up in no time!  Enjoy it as a mid-afternoon snack or, like me, as a quick and light breakfast.  It's delicious and a bit more sophisticated than the typical strawberry/banana combo!

Sweet Basil Smoothie      4 (6 oz.) servings
(recipe from Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis)

1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Lemon Zest Syrup (recipes follows)
1 cup ice

    Combine everything together in a blender until smooth and frothy.  Serve immediately.  ENJOY!

Lemon Zest Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

    Combine everything in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring it to a boil; then reduce the heat.  Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.  Take off the heat and cool about 20 minutes.  Strain into a small pitcher and use immediately or store in refrigerator for later.

For printable recipe, click here.

Rigatoni alla Toscanini

    As I've mentioned before, Italians are pretty frugal.  If at all possible, nothing goes to waste.  Well, I recently found myself with some fresh ricotta in the fridge, left over from a recent trip to an Italian market.  I'd already used some of it to bake an orange ricotta cheesecake but still had a little bit left.
    After looking over my shelves of cookbooks, I decided to pull out one that the hubby had brought home for me quite awhile back and see what I could find.  The cookbook is called La Cucina di Andrea's. It has recipes from a well-known Northern Italian restaurant in New Orleans.  I pretty quickly found a pasta dish that happened to use the same amount of ricotta that I had left, so.....that would be dinner.  The recipe actually used penne, but rigatoni was in my cupboard so that's what I used.  A little side note.....apparently this dish was named after the famous Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini.  This is some rich, delicious tasting pasta, whoever it's named after.