We were pleasantly surprised to find local tomatoes when we visited the Charleston Farmer's Market on Saturday. We had expected to wait another week or two before starting our seasonal tomato frenzy. The six pounds of tomatoes we bought have disappeared rapidly and now we are anticipating picking up more so we can make all of our summer favorites. At the top of the list will be the bread and tomato salad recipe we "perfected" last year, closely followed by any recipe that includes tomatoes, basil, roasted red peppers, and/or pasta. We have decided that any tomato sauce can only be enhanced by the addition of roasted red peppers. We plan to add them to a cold tomato soup that we enjoy and see if they become a permanent addition to the list of ingredients.
The first of today's recipes comes from Anne Willan's Perfect Pasta cookbook (Dorling Kindersley, 1992). When we first tried this recipe, we did not have fresh tomatoes or basil and made substitutions. The sauce was so good that we knew fresh ingredients would only make it better. We have included the original recipe along with our winter substitutions, in parentheses. We have served the sauce over plain cooked pasta and again, found it to be excellent. The second recipe is also pasta, but a very quick version made with tomatoes and Brie.
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Spinach And Cheese Pinwheels On Pepper Sauce |
As you can see, this dish makes an impressive presentation.
Sauce Ingredients:
Ingredients for Spinach Filling:
Remaining Ingredients:
Pepper sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and onions and saute until soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes and basil and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened (20-30 minutes). Cool slightly. Place sauce and roasted peppers in food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until smooth. Season to taste and set aside.
Spinach filling: Cook the spinach according to package directions. Drain and squeeze dry. Chop the spinach finely and place it in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until all the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and add the goat and ricotta cheeses. Season to taste. Add the beaten eggs and combine well.
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Using a metal spatula, spread 3-4 TBS of the spinach filling on each pasta rectangle, leaving a 1/4 inch border. Roll up the rectangles, starting from the short end. Arrange them in a single layer in the baking dish. Combine the melted butter and whipping cream and pour evenly over the pasta rolls, covering the entire surface. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.
To serve, reheat the pepper sauce and spoon onto serving plates. Place the pasta rolls on a cutting board and cut each roll into 1 inch slices on the diagonal, discarding the ends. Arrange eight pinwheels on the top of the sauce and garnish with fresh basil. Serve immediately. 6 servings.
Ingredients:
Place olive oil in a medium skillet and over medium-high heat, saute tomatoes and garlic just until tomatoes are softened and liquid is slightly reduced (6-8 minutes). Lower heat to medium, add the Brie and continue cooking until the mixture is creamy, stirring constantly. Stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over cooked pasta and serve immediately. 4 servings.
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