Finding a Happy Home for Hash Browns
It’s one of my favorite times of year—there are a shit ton of tomatoes everywhere. The tomato soup I made last week left an awesome taste in my mouth and I couldn’t wait to create that on a bigger scale. More tomatoes. More garlic. More wine.
This time around I again roasted the tomatoes, but I also sauteed an onion while the tomatoes were in the oven. Oh, and before I roasted the tomatoes I strained the juice and reserved that for later in the process. So onion, roasted tomato, garlic, juice of tomatoes, red wine vinegar (no wine opened) and then some fresh sage.
Ah. Fresh sage. I was at my uncle’s house this past weekend and holy lord he has a serious garden. I lugged back 3 or 4 bags worth of rosemary, sage, basil and this herb that smells so strongly of lemon (lemon balm?).
Actually, here’s my uncle with a tomato. He also grows raspberries, blueberries, hot peppers, mustard greens, purple beans, okra and lots of other goodies. One day I’ll have a backyard… (or maybe I can stay in the city and take advantage of a rooftop!)
Anyway, the soup was crazy chunky and I just wasn’t perfectly pleased. Then my sister grabbed leftovers from lunch: hash browns from the diner. She conducted a search for a snack while I thought up dinner, but concluded cold, old hash browns were not the snacking answer. They were however, the answer to dinner.
Tomato, Hash brown and Zucchini Bake
In an oven proof dish, spread a layer of tomato “sauce” on the bottom.
Then add the hash browns (we seasoned every layer of the hash browns with salt and pepper), then quickly cooked zucchini disks (salt and peppered, laid on a hot pan until just slightly browned and soft, flipped over for 30 seconds, then off the pan), then parm cheese, then sage leaves. Then again and again.
Leave enough sauce to cover for a top layer and sprinkle with more cheese, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 until hot (maybe 30 minutes, but cover the dish the majority of the oven time) and then garnish with the rest of the sage.
Even Slugger approved!
@gansie: Speaking of purple beans, Edubs used purple beans from the farmers market in a sautee last week and they turned green as soon as they were cooked and just looked like normal green beans. We were both so disappointed! Has anyone else had this happen when cooking purple beans? I mean what’s the point of the suckers if they are just going to turn purple as soon as they get heated up!!!!!
lemon balm is GREAT in drinks, i use it to make the fakin’est fake mojitos ever.
Ok , I want your uncles garden and I want slugger!!!! Yet again, your creativity with what you have amazes me! Looks so so good!
Slug piece’s eyes were bulging out of his head after eating this.
all true very tasty of course gansie didnt mention not to over stuff cookie tray with liquidy veggies that over flowed and caused a mess of the oven of which i had to clean (she did offer) but …..
oh well food was worth the clean up…ask 80p too??
sorry mom gansie never give up her partner, blanket and shadow