My Favorite Varieties - 2015 Summer Garden

Romanesco zucchini

Variety is the spice of life, right? With that in mind, I thought I would share with you my favorite varieties from our summer garden. I tried several new varieties this year and many of them were hits! Maybe you will find something new to try next year.

I think the most shocking winner for me was the Romaneso zucchini. I am not a lover of zucchini, but this type has won me over with its delicately crisp texture and sweet flavor. Everyone who tried it said the same thing, "This is the best zucchini I've ever tasted." With raised longitudinal ridges, it creates beautiful gear-shaped slices. I love it lightly sauteed in butter and sprinkled with tarragon.

The tomatoes always steal the show in the summer garden. I grew 12 varieties and my favorite was Black Krim. This is a hearty, robust, flavorful tomato.

Black Krim tomato

One look at the deep color and you can just imagine the rich complex flavor. It tastes how it looks.

Black Krim tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato is light and fruity. This was my most prolific grower. The fruit is incredibly sweet, and when the sun hits it the bright orange color glows. It has a pink blush at the bottom too, making it even prettier.

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

What a treat it was to share my Black Krim and Pineapple Hawaiian with my dear friend, Jane, on our little get away to Ventura Beach. This is why we put up with the traffic to live in L.A. One hour in the car and we are at the beach, at the ski resort in the mountains, in the desert, or in farm country.

The tomatoes were fabulous with pita chips and red pepper hummus, topped with fresh tarragon and basil.

When I bit into my first Red Pear Abruzzese tomato, it finally made sense why tomatoes are considered a fruit. By far the sweetest tomato I have ever eaten, this one is like candy.

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Out of the 12 pepper varieties I planted, my favorite are these Italian heirlooms. Quadrato Rosso D' Asti is a red sweet pepper which is deliciously flavorful with a slightly spicy finish.

Quadrato Rosso D' Asti bell pepper

Its yellow cousin is Quadrato Giallo D' Asti. Isn't it beautiful? It's also crisp, sweet and tasty.

Quadrato Giallo D' Asti bell pepper

This little melon is not much to look at, but it is fantastic. Sakata's Asian Melon is a small crisp melon that is intensely sweet with a hint of cucumber flavor. I will grow this one every year.

Prosperosa eggplant is stunning with its embre effect. The plant was a prolific producer and its upright growth habit takes less room than my spreading Kamo eggplant. 

I purchased all of my seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds. (I am not compensated by them in any way, I am just a customer.) One thing I like about them is they have collections of seeds which makes trying new varieties easy. This bush bean collection was just fabulous. They call it "Annie's Rainbow Beans" and it contains Contender, Golden Wax, Royal Burgundy, and Dragon's Tongue. 

And finally there are the Cosse Violetta pole beans. With flowers this pretty, and pods that are striped then mature to a deep violet, these are a stunning (and delicious) addition to the summer garden.

I hope you are inspired to try a new variety next year. Now I am off to start looking through seed catalogues for unusual additions to try in my winter garden. 

Oh, the possibilities!

Prosperosa Eggplant Becomes Pasta alla Norma

Trying to find a new way to cook that eggplant you grew? This recipe is a winner! Pasta alla Norma is a classic dish featuring eggplant, Roma tomatoes and basil. It gets a kick from red pepper flakes and garlic.

The recipe is below, but first let me introduce Prosperosa eggplant, perhaps the prettiest eggplant I've grown.

The contrasting white collars make this eggplant a standout. A closer look reveals the details are an ombre effect that is a delightful combination of shades of purple and pale green. In the bright sunlight, the colors come alive.

As photogenic as they are, I couldn't help myself. I love purple and green together.

Beautiful, rich colors!

The plant is an upright grower with large leaves. Mine is currently approaching 4 feet tall, and it has produced several eggplants that are softball-sized and larger.

We have been enjoying eggplant parmesan but we wanted to make something new, and my husband found this recipe for Pasta alla Norma. It's from Jamie's Italy, by Jamie Oliver (Hachette Books). He adapted it a bit to use what we had on hand. He also left out the onion since I can't eat it. What can I say except this may be my new favorite pasta dish. The way the eggplant is prepared, it combines with the tomatoes to create a creamy sauce. Oh my, it is good!

2 large eggplants, tops removed

9 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

salt

6 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 28-oz can plum tomatoes in puree, pureed or hand crushed in the sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 lb spaghetti or other pasta

1 cup torn basil leaves

shavings of Parmesan or Pecorino (we used grated instead of shaved cheese)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees with racks on the upper and lower thirds. Cut each eggplant lengthwise into eighths. Cut out the fluffy cores from the wedges, leaving 1/2 inch thick shells. Cut the shells crosswise into 3/4 inch thick strips. Toss them with 6 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Place them onto 2 oiled rimmed baking sheets and roast in the oven. Stir the eggplant and switch the location of the backing sheets half way through. Cook until tender and browned, total of 20-25 minutes. 

While the eggplant is roasting, heat the remaining oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, saute the garlic, stirring, until golden, then transfer the garlic with a slotted spoon to a small bowl. 

Stir onion, red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt into the skillet. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 6 min. 

Add the tomato puree and sugar, briskly simmer, uncovered, until thickened slightly, 10-15 min.

Cook pasta per the package instructions. Reserving 1 cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta and return pasta to the pot. Add the sauce and the eggplant. Toss for about one minute to cover the pasta and eggplant with the sauce, thinning with the pasta cooking water as necessary. Stir in the garlic and half of the basil. 

Serve, and top with the remaining basil and the cheese.

If you happen to have left-overs, it is amazing as a cold pasta salad the next day!

A Handful of Tomatoes and Such

Here are a handful of the tomatoes we have harvested so far.

Red Pear Abruzzese

Red Pear Abruzzese

San Marzano

Amish Paste

Amish Paste on the left, with 3 San Marzano

Black Krim

Black Krim

Black Krim

Cherokee Purple

Cherokee Purple

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Pineapple Hawaiian

Pineapple Hawaiian

I had to throw these in there, couldn't resist.

Kamo eggplant

California Wonder bell pepper

Happy gardening!

Kamo Eggplant

Kamo eggplant is a baseball-sized treat, round and small. We used this one to make eggplant parmesan and it was just enough for the two of us. Unfortunately, that meant no left-overs for lunch the next day. My, it was delicious!

I find these plants to be so beautiful with their velvet leaves of purple and green.

This variety is especially showy as the purple is a deep color which creates a spectacular contrast against the green leaves. Kamo is attractive enough to plant it as an ornamental.

Pretty purple flowers hang gracefully.

 But don't let their beauty fool you. They are protected by thorns.

A wonderful eggplant, Kamo is shiny enough to reflect the blue sky.