Risotto is a labor of love, a dish where you must commit to standing and stirring from the beginning all the way till the dish is done. I call it Granny food since it brings to mind the iconic Italian granny, Nonna, standing over the hot pot, stirring for the full time it takes to make risotto.

You do not have to have or be an Italian granny to make risotto, especially if you have a bunch of mini-chefs around to take turns with the stirring. It was pretty great to have a whole lineup of chefs, stirring a minute or two a turn, to get this risotto cooked off, and they were definitely into the idea of adding the ramps and checking out how they taste.

New York is alive with ramp-mania right now. All the weekly restaurant specials are featuring ramps: ramp broth, ramp pesto, ramp quiche, ramp this and lots of ramp that. It is easy to see why chefs try to get in as much ramp time as they possibly can before the short season ends. They really do have a flavor that inspires greatness.

We combined the inspiring ramps with good old peas and carrots for our risotto, but of course we had to add a twist. We did a quick pickle on the carrots. The crisp, acidic flavor of the carrot ribbons help make this a true spring-time dish.

As the bowl of pickled carrots made its rounds on our table at the end of class, there were a few students who took some to top their risotto and then dipped back in for some to put on the side or re-top their risotto after they had eaten the first serving off the top and couldn’t resist a second helping.

Risotto with Ramps, Peas, and Pickled Carrots

For the Pickled Carrots:

• 1/2 pound of carrots, washed and peeled into carrot ribbons

• 1 c. apple cider vinegar

• 6 whole black peppercorns

• 1/2 t. fennel seed

• 1/2 t. anise seed

• 2 T. sugar

• 1 t. salt

1. In a small sauce pan, whisk together the vinegar, peppercorns, fennel seed, anise seed, sugar, and salt over high heat till the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for about a minute, whisking the whole time. Remove from the heat and pour over the carrot ribbons in a glass or metal bowl.

2. Stir the carrots gently so that they are completely submerged in the vinegar mixture and let them pickle while the risotto is cooking.

For the Risotto

• 2 T. butter

• 2 T. olive oil

• 1/2 bunch of ramps, root bottoms cut up and the rest roughly chopped

• 1 medium yellow or white onion, peeled, the root end cut off, and the rest roughly chopped

• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped

• 2 c. arborio rice

• 2 quarts of vegetable stock

• 1/2 c. Asiago cheese, grated

• 1 1/2 c. peas, shelled or frozen

• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped or torn

• salt and pepper, to taste

• optional: 1 T. creme fraiche or sour cream

1. Bring the vegetable stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

2. In your food processor fitted with the shredding attachment, shred the ramps, onion, and celery.

3. Heat the butter and olive oil over medium high heat. Add the shredded vegetables, stirring till very soft and cooked through. Add the rice, stirring it for a full minute so that the oil and butter are completely absorbed. Begin adding the hot broth, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir constantly. Have as many helpers as you like take turns, but keep stirring the whole time till all of the stock is absorbed into the rice.

4. Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the cheese, optional creme fraiche or sour cream, peas, parsley and season with salt and pepper.

5. Plate each serving of risotto and top with the pickled carrots.  Enjoy!

This past Monday was Cinco de Mayo, and the mini-chefs celebrated by making some soft tacos, complete with homemade corn tortillas.

Since my mom grew up in New Mexico, we never really had anything but homemade tortillas growing up. Her sister, my Aunt Holly, and her husband owned a Mexican restaurant when I was a child, and there I remember being served soft, steaming flour tortillas and refritos (refried beans) and a little sprinkle of cheese, which still might be my favorite, favorite meal of all time.

Growing up, my own mother, a doctor with a hefty work schedule, never made tortillas, but in recent years she began making them herself. We have definitely reaped the rewards of her corn tortillas in Huevos Rancheros and chalupas, which my children love and beg her to make.

Making a good corn tortilla is an art form all to itself, simple but subtle. I realized that, as I prepared for Monday’s class, I had never asked my mom for her corn tortilla recipe. What I learned is that, you barely need a recipe at all. You mostly need to use your senses.  Does the dough feel and look right? Can you shape it?

The mini-chefs had varying degrees of success with the shape of their tortillas. We had no tortilla press, and because this is a group class, we used the plastic bag technique, which was what seemed the easiest technique for cranking out a bunch of tortillas with the use of many hands.

This is not so much of a proper recipe as a suggestion of how to begin and proceed with the corn tortilla making process. The youngest chefs will need a little more guidance. Genevieve poked holes in the middle of her tortillas during the shaping process. Who am I to say, though; this might become a fad like cronuts.  Whatever the journey to get there, the corn tortillas were divine.

Corn Tortillas (makes about 8 tortillas)

• 1 c. masa harina
• 1/2 c. warm water to begin + more to make the dough just right
• a large pinch of salt
• gallon-sized plastic zipper bag, cut on one side seam, from the zipper to the folded bottom edge
• oil to grease the frying pan (grape seed or canola work well)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the corn flour and the salt.
2. Pour in the 1/2 cup of water and mix it in with a wooden spoon till you need to switch to using your hands. Knead the dough into a large, smooth ball. We are going for the consistency of Play-doh, not too wet and not too dry. Add more masa harina or more water, a tablespoon at a time, till you arrive at just the right consistency. Let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes, uncovered.
3. Take a medium handful of dough and sculpt it into a smooth ball. Place that inside the middle of the zipper bag and push down on the dough ball inside to make a pancake shape. Use your hands or a small rolling pin, and turning the bag in a circle, flatten your tortilla till it is an 1/16-inch-thick circle. Carefully peel the tortillas from the plastic bag and place it directly into your pan to cook.
4. Big Person: Heat up a couple of heavy-bottomed frying pans to medium high, pour a little oil into each pan, grease and, using a paper towel, wipe each pan so that you have a very fine layer of oil, covering the bottom of each pan.
5. Cook each tortilla for 1-2 minutes and flip when the edges of the tortilla begin to curl up. You can use tongs to flip the tortillas,
6. Wrap the cooked tortillas in a clean kitchen towel till the whole batch is done. Let steam in the towel for 5 minutes before serving. We also like to use a spray bottle of water to mist the kitchen towel and increase the steam on the tortillas as well as the softness of the corn tortillas.
7. Enjoy!

During each cooking class semester, we make one dessert, and the mini-chefs let it be known that they wanted that dessert to be cake this semester.

In a rather bleak part of this year’s frigid March, we were all craving sunshine. Around the same time on Facebook, a friend was having her birthday and was treating herself to a slice of lemon ricotta poundcake for breakfast. The power of suggestion. Well, with freshly made ricotta, made by none other than the mini-chefs, in my fridge, it was clear what I must do:  A bright citrus cake made with that creamy ricotta and well, while we are at it, why not add a swirl of jam?

This cake, which we made with the ricotta but also homemade creme fraiche (make it yourself by combining 1 part buttermilk to 2 parts cream in a glass jar, stirring it a few times over the next 24 hours, and leaving it right out on your kitchen counter, uncovered, till it is thick and delicious), coconut oil, and raspberry jam, is moist, tangy and sweet. The lemons can be regular, old lemons if you like a more sour flavor, or you can dip into Meyer lemons or even try mixing one large orange with two lemons. You can use limes, too, but since there is a lime shortage, save those for your guacamole. The jam? Experiment. We used both raspberry and sour cherry, and nobody kicked either version off the table.

Even the kids who always pick chocolate over citrus or berry loved this cake. At the end of class, I let the mini-chefs have dessert before dinner because, really, why not? Spring is finally here. The sun was finally shining. They all left with a satisfaction that can only come from making their cake and eating it, too.

Lemon Ricotta Cake with a Raspberry Jam Swirl

For the Cake:

• 1 1/3 c. flour

• 1 1/2 t. baking powder

• 1 t. salt

• 4 medium lemons (or Meyer lemons or 1 large orange + 2 lemons), zested first and then juiced

• 1 c. sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten

• 1/4 c. ricotta cheese

• 1/4 creme fraiche (or sour cream)

• 1/3 c. coconut oil + some to grease the pan(s)

• 1 heaping t. vanilla

• 1/2 c. raspberry jam

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of one regular or three small loaf pans.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and the salt.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, 1/3 c. lemon juice, sugar, eggs, ricotta, creme fraiche, coconut oil, and vanilla till they are completely integrated. Add the dry ingredients, and stir them with a rubber spatula.

4. Pour them into the prepared loaf pans, spoon in the jam, and swirl the batter and jam together gently with a fork. Bake for about 30-40 minutes for the mini-loaves and about 60-75 minutes for the regular loaf. They should be golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center should come out clean.

5. After letting them cool for 5 minutes out of the oven, turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely (about an hour) on a rack before glazing.

For the Lemon-Vanilla Glaze and Candied Lemon Slices:

• 1/4-1/2 c. lemon juice

• 1 c. confectioner’s sugar

• 1/2 t. vanilla

• 1/2 lemon, washed and sliced as thin as possible width-wise into circles

• 1/4 c. water

• 1/4 c. sugar

1. In a small sauce pan, whisk the water and 1/4 c. sugar together for a few seconds over high heat. Add the lemon slices in one layer, and let them simmer till the rind begins to look translucent and the sugar water syrup mostly evaporates. Let cool completely on a rack.

2. Over a large bowl, sift the confectioner’s sugar. Whisk in 1/4 c. of the lemon juice and the vanilla. Taste to make sure that it is both sweet and sour. Add more lemon juice if you want more of a sour kick or if the glaze is too thick.

3. Place the loaf or loaves facing up on the cooling rack. Underneath the rack place a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. Use a large spoon to drizzle the glaze over the top of the loaf. Place the candied lemon slices on the top of the loaf to finish.

Happy Birthday to Her Pinkness, our funny girl, clever and kind-to-the-core. Third time really is a charm.

A few weeks back, my older daughter came to me saying she would like to try salad. Trying not to show my surprise, I told her that I could probably hook her up with some salad seeing as we have one several times a week around our place. My son loves salad and eats them very adventurously: kale, fennel, mixed greens, every fruit and every dressing we’ve ever offered. Perhaps Mira was feeling left out since guests always commend Liev on his salad eating.

When I was a little girl, six years old and a bit of a fussy eater, I ate and finished a salad for the very first time ever. My family gave me a standing ovation. I will never forget being pulled up onto my mom’s lap and told how proud of me she was for eating my iceberg lettuce, cucumber, and Italian dressing salad.

What kind of salad might we make for Mira that she would actually consider eating? Iceberg lettuce, with it’s mild flavor and sweet crunch, definitely came to mind. The classic wedge salad served kid style- with a homemade creamy ranch dressing in place of the blue cheese that usually accompanies it.

In class, we set out to make our wedge salads by first making homemade mayonnaise, a very important ingredient in ranch dressing. We used raw eggs from the farmer’s market.  We discussed the fact that pregnant women, very young children,the elderly, people with immune deficiency, etc. should not eat something made with raw eggs, and this is the disclaimer: DO NOT EAT RAW EGGS IF YOU ARE PREGNANT, A YOUNG CHILD, ELDERLY, HAVE AN AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASE, OR DO NOT KNOW FROM WHERE YOUR EGGS COME.

While I will not touch store bought mayonnaise, using the fresh raw eggs and making the homemade stuff puts mayonnaise in a whole other category. It is creamy and yummy and silky and good, and if you make it in the food processor, as we did, then it is also very quick to make and very economical. You will want to refrigerate the mayo and/or ranch dressing as soon as you make it or serve it immediately, and please use good sense.  If it is a scorcher outside, or inside your kitchen for that matter, keep everything cold as you make it.

Mira did try the salad, and guess what? No cigar. She has not yet joined the salad eating club. She did try it, though, and she will, I hope continue to push herself out of her comfort zone. A lot of the other kids in class woofed it down, and we have added a new (old) salad to our weekly line up at home.

This wedge salad would still make a really great starter salad for anyone who is unsure about eating green things but wants to give salad a chance. Try it with your mini-chefs, and let me know how it goes.

Wedge Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

For the Mayo (makes about 2 c.):

• the juice of one lemon

• a pinch of salt

• a pinch of dried mustard

• 2 raw eggs, taken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before using

• 3/4 c. olive oil

• 3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine the lemon juice, salt, mustard and eggs in the base of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.

2. Secure the top of the food processor and turn it on. Slowly, slowly add the oils in a very fine stream. When all the oil has been added, you will have the tasty emulsion, mayonnaise.

For the Ranch Dressing:

• 2 c. buttermilk

• 1 1/2 c. greek yogurt

• 1 large clove of garlic, chopped into 4 pieces and woody end discarded

• 2 T. chives, chopped

• 1 large handful of parsley, chopped

• 1 1/2. c. mayonnaise

• 1/2 t.  salt

• black pepper, to taste

1. Place everything in the food processor and blend till smooth.

To Assemble Salad:

• 1 large head of iceberg lettuce, washed and cut into large wedges

• 1 -2 c. ranch dressing

1. Place the iceberg wedge on a salad plate and spoon the dressing over the top, to taste.

In cooking class with the older mini-chefs this week, we endeavored to make a multi step tart especially for Spring. It involved some quick cheese-making, thanks to this wonderfully easy ricotta recipe via The Barefoot Contessa, and puff pastry dough rolling, cutting, and baking, and throwing together some Sweet Pea Hummus in the food processor.

In the end, we ate our tarts at a very messy table, flour everywhere, and the topping ingredients set out for each to have his or her own assembly process. Lately, especially with these older kids, we have been allowing them to serve themselves and be involved in choosing what works for them. Letting them choose makes a difference because sometimes it gets them to take a tiny taste of something that they otherwise might not. It allows them to begin the creative process of recipe crafting and begin to understand balancing flavors in a dish.

My daughter Mira ate her tart, as you can see just above, with a schmear of ricotta and two little peas whereas some of the other mini-chefs loaded their tarts with scallions and chives and large spoonfuls of the hummus. Being together and eating together, is helping Mira, very conservative about what she will try, become more adventuresome over time. She even tasted, but said she didn’t like, the hummus.

With some kids, you just keep exposing them to new foods and slowly some light seeps through the cracks in their food wall.  For Mira, The Princess and Her Two Peas, adding those two small green polka dots was a big step.

Sweet Pea Hummus and Ricotta Tarts

For the Hummus:

• 1 1/2 c. peas (if using frozen, thaw first)

• the juice of a large lemon

• 1 large clove garlic

• 1-2 T. chives

• 1/2 t. salt

• 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

• optional: small handful of mint leaves

Place all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and secure the top of the processor. Process for a minute before adding the olive oil through the feed tube at the top. Taste to adjust the seasoning. If you’d like to make the hummus ahead of time, store in an air-tight container with a tablespoon of olive oil drizzled over the top to avoid discoloring.

For the Tart:

• one recipe of Sweet Pea Hummus

• 2 packages of puff pastry dough, thawed in the refrigerator overnight

• a bit of flour to roll out the dough

• 2 c. ricotta cheese

• 1 c. peas

• a handful of chives, chopped

• 2 scallions, sliced thin

• optional: a few tablespoons of soft goat cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

2. Roll out the dough. On a lightly floured board, roll out the first package of puff pastry till it’s 1/4-1/8-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the puff pastry into squares or rectangles, etc.  You can decide how you’d like your tarts to look.  Artistic license rules here.  Place the puff pastry pieces onto the lined baking sheets leaving some space for each piece to puff up and expand as they bake.  Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden.  Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry.

3. To assemble and serve: Place bowls and spoons for all of the toppings out on the table and serve family/buffet style.  Allow your diners to choose how they’d like to load up their puff pastry.

Never will I forget the story about the raisin buns from Frank McCourt‘s memoir about growing up in Limerick, Ireland, Angela’s Ashes.  Frank and his classmates, all varying degrees of impoverished, received their daily bread, a raisin bun, at school lunchtime. Only, the raisin buns never, ever, ever had any raisins. The raisins were a mythical thing, elusive and idealistic, like a unicorn or a mermaid, but something that never appeared in real life. As the story tells it, though, one day a single raisin appeared in Frank’s raisin bun, and each child begs Frank, famous now among his classmates, for that precious treat.

When I set out to construct a recipe for Irish Soda Bread, my first thought was about Frank’s raisinless raisin buns, and the second was of the two months I spent living in London the summer I was 20.

London, let’s say, was not my cup of tea. Since I was a student, mostly vegetarian, and could not afford expensive meals, I hunted around for something, anything to eat there.  The fruit and vegetables at the local grocer looked pallid and sad.  They cost so much, too, that I could not bear to buy them very often, even if for philosophical reasons. I subsisted mostly on Cadbury Dairy Milk, imported Swiss yogurt, PG Tips, and Irish Soda Bread from the Irish Bakery in the neighborhood near Hampstead Heath, where my flat was.

The Irish girl who handed me my roll each morning was all business, and I never did thank her for keeping my spirits up while in London as it would have embarrassed us both. Somehow, that bread sustained me through a dreary time till, eventually, I ran away to Rome, where, by the way, I ate like a queen for pennies and much more in my element.

So, here is an Irish Soda Bread of our own.  It uses cake flour, which makes it taste moister and richer than the traditional, and my goodness, we did not skimp on the raisins, or currants as the case is. In fact, we added a lot- so many that you will need to encourage them back into the bread as you carefully and gently knead it. You can be more judicious about the amount of currants that you add, but as for me and the mini-chefs, we delighted in the excess.

Irish Soda Bread

• 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal for lining the baking pan
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of cake flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1 1/2 t. cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 T. sugar
• 2 T. butter, room temperature and cut into 8 pieces
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 c. currants (or golden or regular raisins)
• 2 T. butter, melted

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Sprinkle a rimmed baking sheet, for buns, or a 5 qt. cast iron dutch oven, for the large loaf, with the cornmeal.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and sugar. Throw the butter pieces on top of the flour mixture, and using your hands, mix it together till the dough looks like a clumpy mess, with butter pieces here and there. Slowly pour in the buttermilk, stirring the dough with a large fork as you pour. Stir with that fork till the dough just barely comes together.  Add the currants.
3. On a lightly floured board, with lightly floured hands, knead the dough few times to shape it into one large ball, or smaller, individual sized balls to make buns.  Place the buns onto
4. Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes for the single loaf or 20-30 minutes for the smaller buns. They should be golden brown on top.
5. After removing the bread from the oven, use a pastry brush to immediately brush the entire crust with the 2 T. melted butter.
6. Let cool for a couple of minutes, and then dig in. Enjoy!

In cooking class this week, we began celebrating St. Patrick’s day a little early. Because we were also making Irish Soda Bread, the recipe for which we will share in another post, we needed something fresh and GREEN to balance out our meal.

Enter The Green Smoothie.

We like drinking our greens, but we prefer smoothies to juices since, when you keep all the parts of the fruits and the veggies, you get more fiber. In the afternoon class, we are still practicing our knife skills. We had quite a few apple core pieces that made it into our smoothies, but they did not affect the final effect after it’d gone through the blender.

Some of the kids were making stank faces as they tore up the swiss chard leaves, cut the celery, and added the spinach leaves, or some merely looked unconvinced that they were actually going to imbibe these things. They seemed excited about the vanilla and, of course, the raw honey.  We talk a lot in the classes, especially when a Yummy has food aversions, about how being a chef is magical. You may think a certain ingredient is yucky on its own, but when you put it with other ingredients, the magic happens.

O., one of my mini-chefs, sat happily slurping up her green smoothie, and her mama came over to her and asked, “Can you believe that you’re eating swiss chard?”

She looked a bit shocked at herself, replied, “Nope!”, and continued to drink it till it was all gone.

The sole mini-chef who refused to take even a single sip of her smoothie was, of course, one of my children. Genevieve told me that she wasn’t going to try it.  When I asked her why not, she replied, “It is a green smoothie. I only drink pink smoothies.” Hmm, seems like the perfect remedy for pinkatitis to me!

May the luck of the Irish be with you, Yummies, and may you try this incredible fresh, green smoothie very soon.

Green Smoothies with Greens, Celery, Green Apple, and Mint

• 1 large handful of spinach
• 2 large swiss chard leaves, torn into pieces and middle stems removed if you have red swiss chard (for color only)
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 tart green apples (Granny Smiths work well)
• a handful of fresh mint
• 1 T. raw local honey
• 1 c. yogurt (optional)
• 2 c. apple juice (milk, water, almond milk, etc. are also good)
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 3 bananas, cut into 1-inch pieces and frozen

1. In the pitcher of a blender, add all of the ingredients.
2. Place the lid on the blender, and put the pitcher onto the blender’s base.
3. Blend till completely, uniformly, green.  Pour and serve with a straw.
4. Enjoy!

One of the first things we did in preparation for making this dish was to discuss the term “coddled”. After discussing its meaning, we decided that the more modern name for these coddled eggs is “Helicoptered Eggs”.

Now, although, you will have to treat these eggs with special care to not break the yolks, all of the mini-chefs, even the two-year-olds, were able to break the egg into the ramekin without breaking the yolk. If a little shell drops in, carefully pull it right back out again with your fingers. No biggie.

With the Littles, we made polenta in the rice cooker, something I highly recommend if you have a rice cooker sitting around and would like to break that baby out on a more consistent basis. The older mini-chefs practiced making polenta the old fashioned way: stir, stir, stir. Both turned out creamy and delicious.  It is worth noting, too, that if you do not like or do not eat dairy, then you can make this dish dairy-free by stirring in olive oil instead of the butter and adding a tablespoon or two of organic virgin coconut oil instead of the cream. The spilled soft egg yolk will make either version luscious to eat and, of course, very rich.

While our eggs were cooking in the afternoon class, the Yummies decided to get to work with some impromptu physical fitness.  Jumping jacks, push ups, and sit ups ensued.  Well, you do need to be strong to be a coddler!

Coddled Eggs with Cheese Polenta

• 1 c. dry polenta
• 2 c. water
• 1 T. butter
• 1/4 c. creme fraiche, sour cream, or heavy cream
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c. grated Romano or gruyere cheese
• a dozen eggs
• freshly chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, chervil, etc.) or some extra cheese to top the eggs

1. To make the polenta: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Stir in the polenta, and keep stirring as you add the butter, cream, and cheeses.  Stir and stir some more till the polenta is soft and creamy, about 30 minutes. If using a rice cooker instead, place all ingredients into the rice cooker, stir, and cook on the white rice setting. Open up the rice cooker a couple of times to stir the ingredients as the polenta cooks.
2. While the polenta is cooking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Boil a big pot of water in a pan with a pour spout or in a kettle.
3. Scoop the polenta into the bottoms of 12 ramekins.  The polenta should come about 1/3-1/2 way up the side.  Pat it down a bit to create a bed on which to place the egg.  Carefully crack an egg on top of each bed of polenta.  Sprinkle with a little more cheese or some herbs if you like. Place each ramekin in a large baking pan (you will need two 9×13 Pyrex type pans). Very slowly, taking care not to get any of the water in the ramekins themselves, pour the water into the baking pans so that it comes up about 1/2 way to the top of the ramekins.  Place in the oven and cook for 25 minutes, or until the white is fully cooked and firm but the yolk is still runny and soft.
4. Using oven mitts to protect your hands, place each ramekin on a plate, let cool a minute or so, and serve.  Remind the eater that the ramekin is very hot!!!  Enjoy!

In cooking class, we are always trying to walk that fine line between making something with a good shot of being eaten by the mini-chefs, especially the two year olds who have often sworn off most foods, and being adventuresome. Harira, a Morrocan tomato and chickpea dish, straddles both worlds.  On the one hand there are familiar favorites, like the tomatoes and the chickpeas. On the other hand we’re embracing the fact that onions and garlic, things that might be the tiniest bit stinky when raw, end up being delicious when we work the magic of cooking on them.

We do an extra step of roasting the tomatoes with a bit of brown sugar before chopping them and putting them in with the rest, and I, no nonsense chef that I am, will swear to you that roasting your tomatoes in this way adds depth of flavor to the soup. It’s also a really fun part for the mini-chefs.  However, if that step is a little too TOO for you, skip it, chop up your tomatoes and get on with the soup.

Here we made a vegan, gluten-free version of Harira. It is simple and hearty and lovely. You can add many things to it: cooked chicken or lamb, greens, rice, and even raisins can be part of this traditional dish. As always, feel free to consult your mini-chef and play with ingredients to make this dish your own.

Harira

• 28 oz. whole tomatoes with their juice reserved
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 2 T. olive oil, plus a little more for oiling the baking sheet
• 3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and woody ends cut off
• 1 medium onion, cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks of celery, leaves included, cut into large chunks
• 1 T. flour (gluten-free fine here)
• 1 heaping T. tomato paste
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. ginger
• 1 t. paprika (sweet, smoked, or spicy, as you like)
• pinch of cloves
• 4 c. stock (vegetable or chicken work well)
• 4 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1/4 c. parsley
• optional: 1/4 c. cilantro, lemon wedges, 1/4 c. white wine vinegar

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, pour a bit of oil onto the foil, and have your mini-chef finger paint the entire surface of the foil. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl, pour in your tomatoes, and, using your hands, try and get as many of the seeds off of each tomato before placing it on the baking sheet. When all tomatoes have been placed in one layer on the sheet, sprinkle them with the brown sugar and place them in the oven to cook for about 20 minutes, or until the juices of the tomato have dried out completely. Let them cool and, once cooled, chop them up.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, glug in 2 T. of olive oil. Turn the heat on low to warm the oil.
3. With the motor off, add the celery, garlic, and onions to your food processor fitted with the shredder attachment. When you have replaced the top and all fingers are out of the way, turn the machine on and let it shred the vegetables. Add the shredded vegetables  and the spices (cinnamon, paprika,clove, and ginger)to the pot and cook, stirring, for a few minutes, till the vegetables are very soft. Turn up the heat to medium, add the flour and stir constantly for a minute. Add the tomato paste and stir another 3o seconds. Pour in the stock, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, and the reserved tomato juice and bring the soup to a boil. Have your mini-chef tear the parsley with their hands, and add that to the pot.  Turn the heat back down to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. At the very end, stir in the white wine vinegar or serve with lemon wedges and a side of cilantro for anyone who wants it to tear into their bowl. Enjoy!