Tomato Relish

Ok, that's not really accurate, but it's as close as I can come to describing it. We had a pint container of cherry tomatoes (one of those clear plastic vented deals) that we bought, like, weeks ago. I noticed it on the counter again, and discovered that they were all perfectly good! So, I washed them, and threw them in the food processor along with various ingredients and left it in the fridge overnight. We ate it last night with yellow corn chips, and it turned out darn well if I say so myself.

• 1 pint small cherry tomatoes
• 2-3 tbsp freshly shredded Parmesan cheese, maybe more
  
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic (I also used some Sherry vinegar)
• Some pepper
• Squeeze of half a lemon
  

Buzz it all in your mini food processor, and let sit overnight. This might also be good on little toasts, bruschetta style. Thoughts for next time -- chopped Kalamata olives? A couple of anchovies? I'll definitely be trying this again.

Quasi-Mediterranean Pasta

Defrosting my fridge tonight (every 3 or 4 months, it starts sounding like there's an idling moped in my kitchen) so wanted to use up some of the spoilables inside -- namely a tub of ricotta that I ordered from Peapod this weekend.

I wasn't in the mood for anything super fancy, so while I was boiling water for pasta, I threw into a small bowl:

• A small handful of Kalamata olives (pitted)
• A clove of garlic
• A tablespoon of olive oil
• A few shakes of lemon pepper
• About a quarter cup plus of the ricotta

I turned it all into a paste with a hand-held stick blender, and tossed it with some linguini, and topped it with some of the cherry tomatoes from my front yard. All in all, it took about 5 minutes of effort (not including the time to make the pasta). I'm pretty sure I'll be trying this again -- nice, simple and tasty.