Cherry Tomato & Daru Galette

Spring is here. It’s official.

As I type this, I assure you I’m aware that back home in Eastern Canada people are still buried under ten feet of snow. I know you’re having a rough winter. I’m really sorry.

But spring is here in Tipperary!

There are puddles to jump into, new calves every day and my garden is once again starting to grow. I feel like it wasn’t that long ago that everything died. The winters here are very short compared to the ones I’m used to – yet another reason I’m glad I moved to Ireland.

The farm is busy at this time of year; mostly due to calving. Slurry needs to be spread over the fields, the cows still need to be fed silage until the grass starts growing, the calves need to be marked and separated (and fed) and the cows who have given birth once again need to be milked twice a day.

It’s not easy. Just today we lost a mother and one of her twins, and Maeve shared an apt new word: “sad”. We’re not 100% sure what happened, but we do know that it was sudden and there was nothing we could do. We take a little bit of solace in that knowledge, but it’s been a sad day anyway.

But even with those two losses, we’re surrounded by brand-spanking-new life every day, and that’s a wonderful thing. Maeve loves visiting the “baby moos” and watches them in earnest on our calf-cam (we’ve got a 24 hour feed in the birthing shed). She’s a little farmer already.

It’s still cold most days, but when the sun is shining it feels warm. It makes me want to eat fresh veggies, leafy greens and tangy cheeses.

Like this galette!

Sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh thyme from the garden and local Cooleeney Daru cheese. Daru is semi-hard, buttery and perfect for tarts. It’s made from their own cows’ milk. It’s distinctly Tipperary in flavour. And it’s made just down the road from me! I had a whole slew of Cooleeney cheese to work my way through recently and thought the Daru would be perfect with tomatoes.

Some other favourite Cooleeney cheeses? Their Gleann Oir (goat’s milk, semi-hard), Cooleeney Farmhouse (creamy, edible rind) and Gortnamona (goat’s milk, soft & creamy). It’s hard to pick just one.

This galette is so easy to throw together at the last minute (particularly if you have some pie dough in the fridge or freezer). Make sure you season the tomatoes as the salt content in the cheese will not be enough.

Cherry Tomato & Daru Galette

Ingredients:

One recipe pie dough, chilled

1 pint cherry or vine tomatoes, sliced in half

1 small wheel Cooleeney Daru cheese (if you can’t get Cooleeney cheese I think taleggio would also work well here)

A handful of fresh thyme, picked & roughly chopped

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper

A drizzle of olive oil

One egg, beaten

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (200 degrees Celsius, no fan). Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
• In a bowl, add the halved cherry tomatoes, chopped thyme, sea salt and pepper. Toss to coat the tomatoes and set aside.
• Remove the rind from the Daru and crumble the cheese. Set aside.
• Roll out your pie dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. If you want a clean looking galette you can trim the edges with a pizza cutter to make a neat circle; for a more rustic look don’t bother.
• Place the rolled dough onto the baking sheet and arrange the seasoned tomatoes in the center. Top with the crumbled Daru cheese.
• Fold the sides over the filling, leaving the center part exposed.
• Brush the exposed dough with the beaten egg.
• Bake at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes (check at 30 minutes to be safe). The crust should be flaky and golden brown; the cheese should be bubbly and the tomatoes cooked through. Sprinkle more flaky sea salt and fresh thyme over top; drizzle a bit more olive oil.
• Serve hot or warm with a simple salad.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Lemon Ricotta & Zucchini Pasta

We’ve been enjoying some beautifully sunny days here in Waterford (excluding today – I woke up to grey skies and low temperatures) and the past week has made me feel like summer is truly on it way. Even though, in Ireland, summer technically starts in May. I don’t really get it. I guess it has something to do with growing seasons? Explanations are welcomed!

So far, May in Ireland doesn’t feel any different from May in Cape Breton – temperamental weather abounds, where it’s warm and sunny one day and snowing (or hailing) the next. We’ll see how June goes.

I’m getting way off topic here! The point is, we’ve been enjoying sunny and warm weather in Waterford lately and it’s made me crave fresh, summery flavours. Hence, last night’s dinner.

I used to work the pasta station at a busy restaurant in Toronto called O&B Canteen. With the different seasons came our menu changes, and one of my favourite seasonal menu items was the pappardelle with pine nuts, zucchini, lemon, mint and fresh ricotta that we’d get in every morning, still warm, from The Cheese Boutique. We would julienne the zucchini into long strips and quickly bake it in the oven. The zucchini would entangle with the pappardelle and the whole thing tasted so fresh and creamy. Although this was a few years ago, I still crave this flavour combination when the days start to get warm.

I didn’t have time to make fresh pappardelle yesterday (can you believe it?!). I did have some fusilli in the cupboard, so instead of finely slicing the zucchini into strips, I cut them into a medium-small dice to better suit the pasta. I zested a lemon and mixed the zest into the ricotta with a bit of freshly ground pepper, salt and a few drops of habanero hot sauce. I have some gorgeous mint growing in the garden, but I decided not to go with the mint this time, since I was using sage with the chicken (everything in moderation!). I still need to plant a few more herbs – if I had some flat leaf parsley I would have thrown some into the pasta.

The chicken was very simply wrapped in prosciutto with a sage leaf and a smear of garlic mayo. I roasted it at a high temperature to encourage the prosciutto to crisp. Hope you like it!

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Lemon Ricotta & Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup mayonnaise or aioli

1 clove garlic

3-4 large sage leaves

3-4 slices prosciutto, parma ham or serrano ham (whichever you can find)

Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

For the pasta:

500 g dried or fresh pasta (I used fusilli, but any will do)

250 g ricotta cheese

2 tsp hot sauce or chili flakes

Zest of one lemon

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

1 medium-sized zucchini

1-2 cloves garlic

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (200 degrees Celsius, no fan).
• Prepare the chicken: mince one clove of garlic and mix with the mayonnaise or aioli. Smear 1-2 heaping teaspoons on each breast of chicken.
• Place one sage leaf on each piece of chicken, ensuring it sticks to the mayo.
• Carefully wrap each breast of chicken in one slice of prosciutto. Place in a baking dish.
• Add the tomatoes to the baking dish. Sprinkle a few sprigs of fresh thyme over the top, then season lightly with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.
• Prepare the zucchini: wash and cut off both ends of the zucchini. Cut the zucchini in half, then half again. Slice each portion into sticks and then cut into a medium-small dice. Place diced zucchini on a lined baking sheet and lightly season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Place in the 400 degree oven for approximately 5-8 minutes, until tender but still brightly coloured.
• Put a pot of water on to boil and place the chicken in the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
• Mix the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest and hot sauce, then season with salt and pepper. Finely dice 1-2 cloves of garlic and set aside.
• Boil your pasta in salted water until al dente. In a large pan, heat some olive oil and then lightly cook the minced garlic. Add the zucchini and ricotta mixture to the pan and heat through.
• Strain the pasta and add to the pan. Mix thoroughly with the zucchini and ricotta, then check for seasoning. You shouldn’t have to add any extra salt to this dish if you’ve properly salted your pasta water and seasoned the zucchini and ricotta.
• Remove the chicken from the oven. Plate the pasta and garnish with the roasted cherry tomatoes. Add the chicken to the plate and pour the pan juices over the top.