Pesto Bread

For those of you fortunate enough to have a lot of basil in your garden right now, this is a perfect summer bread.  I make fresh bread almost every day for my family using this super easy method but once in a while it's nice to stuff the bread with a savory filling.

When I make this, I don't really use a hard and fast recipe for the pesto, but I've written one up for you.  Pesto is so easy - a big handful of fresh basil, a garlic clove, a little scoop of pine nuts and some grated cheese and olive oil.  Make it into a paste by either chopping by hand (I like my mezzaluna) or whirling it all up in your food processor.  I do like doing it by hand sometimes because the texture has such a rustic feel to it.  The food processor, or course, is much faster.  No time to make pesto?  Use a store bought version and you'll still have a very tasty bread.  

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Your New Summer Cocktail: The Collinzano

Doesn't this look refreshing? While we were in Chicago for our son's graduation last month, we ate at an Italian restaurant which served a cocktail that I had never heard of.  I was curious because it contained Aperol, the Italian liquor that I wrote about previously. This cocktail is delicious and just right for an evening on the patio!

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Tomatoes Stuffed with Ricotta, Eggplant & Pepper

There's been a lot going on around here!  It seems like we haven't had much time at home because of all our out of town trips on the weekends.  All fun stuff, though.  I just have to share a couple of the highlights with you.  First of all, our oldest son graduated from college and I still can't get used to the idea. It was a great weekend in Chicago, with dinners at Anteprima, Va Pensiero and what turned out to be everyone's favorite - Uncommon Ground.  I'm going to be highlighting a cocktail we had in Chicago that we loved. I'll post about that next time.  Here is my Northwestern graduate with his brothers.  We are so proud!

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