Freeform Zucchini-Ricotta Tart

This recipe is unabashedly inspired by this one at Smitten Kitchen. (She's much better at shaping round, tidy galettes than I am.) I used the cheeses I had on hand, though, and wanted to do a sturdier, less-rich crust. Hence, yogurt pastry! Yes, you can make pastry with flour and yogurt instead of flour and butter (I was shocked). Note that it's not a substitute for butter pastry -- it's its own thing altogether: crisp, sturdy, tasty, a little more bread-y. Takes more work to chew, but for a savory galette or tart like this for an everyday meal, I think it' s better. (Now, if it's a special occasion, use the butter pastry!)

Freeform Zucchini-Ricotta Tart

Pastry:
1 2/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup cornmeal, plus more for sprinkling
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2-5 tbsp water
1 egg (white, yolk, or whole beaten, your choice) for glazing

Filling:
1 medium zucchini (or a small pattypan squash and 3/4 zucchini), sliced thinly
1/2 cup ricotta (fat free is fine; you're mixing it with other cheeses anyway)
1/3 cup finely crumbled Rio Grande brand queso duro (or Parmesan, etc.)
1/4 cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil

To make the pastry: mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt and mix together with your hands as if you were cutting butter into flour (which I usually do by hand)-- keep working it with your fingers until you get a mixture that looks like many small peas. At this point, try squeezing it together to see if it will make a ball. If not, add cold water by the tablespoon until it does. Form into a ball and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Spread the sliced zucchini on paper towels, sprinkle lightly with salt, and add another layer of paper towels. Let sit about a half hour. Dry zucchini.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, queso duro, Monterrey Jack, basil, and pepper. Sprinkle a large nonstick cookie sheet generously with cornmeal. Roll out the dough as thin as you can, into a circle larger than 12 inches in diameter. (If the dough is too thick, it will not cook all the way through.) Spread the cheese filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1.5 inch margin. Arrange the zucchini slices, shingled, in concentric circles; drizzle with the olive oil. Fold the edges over, pleating them so that they stay. Brush the dough with egg. Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Serves 4 alongside a good salad; 2 if you're really hungry and not having any side dishes.

Apricot Pancakes

It's apricot season! I just got some really delicious ones yesterday at the market. Cooking them a little makes them even more delicious. Plus, I ran out of the world's best cereal, Kashi GoLean, this morning. Rather than eat any other, far inferior kind of cereal -- apricot pancakes!

You could always just put diced apricots in your regular pancake recipe, if you don't like the one below.

Apricot Pancakes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk (add more if you like your pancakes thin; less if you like them thick)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
butter or oil for greasing pan
6 fresh apricots, diced

Mix dry ingredients, then gently fold in wet ingredients. Don't overmix or they will turn out tough. Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add pancake batter, using 1 tbsp per pancake for little pancakes or 1/4 cup for larger ones. Add several pieces of diced apricot to each pancake. When they are bubbling and the edges look dry (just a minute or two), flip and cook another minute or so.

In my opinion, if you put in enough apricots you don't need syrup, but some people I know would be loathe to eat any pancakes without syrup.

Serves at least 3.

Zucchini-Potato Frittata

Despite the heat, turned on the oven today to make this. I'd never successfully made a frittata before, because we never had a pan that was both stovetop- and oven-safe. Just dawned on me that the Dutch oven would work! The tall sides make it difficult to remove the frittata in one piece, but it works just fine to cut it into quarters or thirds and lift the pieces out. The texture of this is lovely.

Zucchini-Potato Frittata

6 eggs
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 medium zucchini
1 medium-large Yukon gold or white potato (the waxy kind)
Plenty of fresh basil or another herb
salt, pepper
1 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cube the potato into half-inch cubes. Boil until nearly done; while it's cooking, cut the zucchini into thin half-moons. When the potato is nearly done, add the zucchini and cook one minute longer. Drain the vegetables and reserve.

Beat the eggs with the yogurt, salt, pepper, and basil until smooth (the yogurt will want to be lumpy for a while). Heat the butter in a skillet, Dutch oven or other oven-safe pan over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Add the vegetables and immediately add the egg, mixing with a wooden spoon to make sure the vegetables are evenly distributed. Cook on the stovetop until it's beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Transfer to the oven and cook until the center is just set -- in my Dutch oven, that took about 20 minutes, but it will vary depending on the size of your pan. Cut into wedges and serve either hot or at room temperature.

Serves 2-4.