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I’ve been trying to eat as seasonally as possible, and to always ask my local vendors “What’s good today?” At a recent trip to a favorite local cheese shop, the staff mentioned enthusiastically that it was “a perfect time of year for goat cheese.” So goat cheese has been on my mind, and I’ve been inspired to go along with the season.

One of the nicest ways to enjoy goat cheese is with a good, fresh pear, so I have been eagerly scouting the markets, hoping to find that perfect piece of complementary fruit. However, while it may be a great time of year for goat cheese, it seems the pears aren’t on quite the same schedule. The pears at my neighborhood supermarkets have been a little on the hard side recently—they may look great in the produce display, but are often just a little too firm to eat right away. At least, not without a little help—roasting them in the oven is an easy way to soften them and bring out additional flavor as well.

For a quick one-dish meal at home, I combined some crumbled goat cheese with roasted pears, walnuts (left over from trying Guilherme’s awesome ricotta walnut pasta recipe recently), a couple of handfuls of greens and penne pasta. This is wonderful served warm, or as a cold salad the next day. Enjoy!

Penne with Roasted Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pasta, such as penne
• 2 Bosc pears, ripe but firm (firmer varieties of pears work best)
• 1 tablespoon plus 3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 cup baby arugula (rocket)
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Slice the pear into thin wedges, leaving the skin on and removing the center core. Toss with one tablespoon of olive oil, coating lightly, then place in baking dish and roast in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir again, and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into smaller bite sized pieces.

Mix together the remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Cook penne according to package directions. Drain pasta and mix in the olive oil-vinegar-lemon juice mixture, then mix in the chopped pears, arugula and baby spinach. If desired, add a little sea salt to taste. Divide among plates and top with crumbled goat cheese and chopped walnut pieces.

Option: Skip the pasta and just serve with extra greens as a salad.

Sun-dried tomatoes were invented in the south of Italy to overcome food shortage during winter and difficult times.

Italian people cut tomatoes in halves and literally hung them in the sun to dry, so they could last much longer. Soaking them in olive oil not only makes them last longer, but also gives them a lovely extra flavor.

Personally, I love sun-dried tomatoes, and when I moved to Italy, one of the first things I did was my own conserve of sun-dried tomatoes.

One of the best things about sun-dried tomatoes is that they have a very strong flavor and, for this reason, I like to use them in sauces.

Last week I decided to mix sun-dried tomatoes with pasta sauce to enhance the flavor, and I added a bit of ricotta for a smoother texture and I just loved the results, so here is my recipe.

Ingredients

• 125g (4oz) of sun-dried tomatoes
• 125g (4oz) ricotta cheese
• 250g (9oz) of your favorite basic tomato sauce
• A tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions

• Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a food processor and chop them until they become almost creamy
• Add the ricotta and mix them together using the food processor
• Heat the plain sauce with a spoon of olive oil on a low heat
• Turn off the heat
• Add the mix of sun-dried tomatoes and ricotta
• Add it to your favorite pasta

(Pictured above: Tuna, Asparagus and Parmesan Frittata)

Eggs…they’re not just for breakfast anymore! I’m one of those people who can gladly eat eggs at any meal—one of my favorite no-brainer suppers is an omelet with a quick salad or vegetable dish on the side.

A frittata is like an Italian version of an omelet—however, the ingredients are mixed into the egg, rather than folded into the center as a filling. Traditionally, frittatas are cooked first in a pan on the stovetop, then popped under the broiler for a few minutes to brown. At the end of a long work day though, I like to keep things easy—I just bake my frittata in the oven and cook everything in one simple step.

You can pretty much throw anything into a frittata, and they are a great way to use up leftover vegetables or whatever items you have rattling around your refrigerator or pantry. I like using vegetables, since I always seem to have a few stray ones in the fridge. My boyfriend’s Italian mother often added sausage to hers. Canned tuna, cooked potatoes, shredded prosciutto and leftover pasta are also tasty filling ingredients. Basically, it’s all up to you and your imagination (or the contents of your refrigerator).

Here are a couple of simple frittata ideas to try. Hope you enjoy them!

(Each recipe makes 6-8 servings.)

Tuna, Asparagus and Parmesan Frittata

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 small (3 oz) can tuna, flaked and drained (I like a good quality Italian tuna)
• 8 cooked asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• Olive oil for the baking dish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly oil an 8-inch baking dish (round or square, it doesn’t matter) with olive oil. Beat the eggs, milk and salt in a large bowl. Stir in tuna, asparagus pieces, and shredded parmesan. Pour into oiled baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

Tomato, Basil and Asiago Frittata

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup fresh tomato, chopped and with seeds removed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (about 10-12 leaves)
• 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
• Olive oil for the baking dish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly oil an 8-inch baking dish with olive oil. Beat the eggs, milk and sea salt in a large bowl, then stir in chopped tomato, chopped basil and shredded asiago. Pour into oiled baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes or until firm. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

(Note: Frittatas don’t have to be served hot…they are often enjoyed warm or at room temperature, so they are also perfect to take to lunch the next day!)

I live in New Zealand now, but I’m still a very proud Australian — and I think about home often (sob, sob). But thanks to the Internet, I never feel too far from home. Not only can I easily communicate with my family through email, the Web also enables me to read my favorite Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, every day.

Like many newspapers published online, SMH includes a selection of blogs based on all sorts of topics ranging from politics to sports.

One blog I really enjoy reading is called Chew On This by award winning health writer Paula Goodyer, who writes very insightful posts about food and nutrition.

Recently she wrote a post called “Ten healthy habits from the Mediterranean” where she spoke with Dr Antigone Kouris, a Melbourne based dietitian and nutrition research fellow with Monash University, who is from a Greek family.

Dr Kouris gave some very helpful tips on how to follow a traditional Mediterranean way of eating, which I’ll quickly summarize:

• Eat legumes (beans, peas, and lentils)
• Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, rocket, endive and chicory
• Eat a range of colored vegetables including tomatoes and capsicum
• Use extra virgin olive oil
• Include some foods like yogurt and feta cheese
• Eat fish and seafood
• Be generous with herbs like oregano, rosemary, dill and mint
• Snack on nuts and seeds

Then Paula finished the post by asking her readers: “Do you find it easy to include healthy Mediterranean style dishes in a busy week? Tell us how.”

For someone like me who’s super passionate about Mediterranean food and cooking, it was too irresistible a question not to answer. So even though it was quite late at night, I wrote down a list off the top of my head of all the sorts of Mediterranean meals I eat regularly. Many of these recipes Ric and I have posted on our site, MediterrAsian.com over the last four years, so I included a link. Then I went to bed.

The next day I checked the Chew On This blog, and saw that Paula had been kind enough to leave a note on my comment saying “Thanks — it’s a good site.” I don’t know whether it was this endorsement, or the list of Mediterranean meal ideas I described in my comment, but over the next few days more than a thousand people visited our site from Paula’s blog according to our server logs.

Anyway, if you’re looking for ways to include more Mediterranean foods in your own daily diet, I thought this list of meal ideas would also be of interest to you. So here it is (and I’ve linked to the recipe if we have it on our site):

Pasta served with tomato-based sauces like puttanesca (made with tomatoes, garlic, onions, anchovies and olives) or pomodoro (made with tomatoes and fresh basil), or with herb-based sauces like pesto and salsa verde.

Risotto made with salmon, tuna, prawns, scallops, chicken or beans.

Tagine (Moroccan stew) served over couscous.

Paella made with any combination of seafood, chicken, beans, and vegetables.

Ratatouille (a vegetable stew made with tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant and zucchini that goes wonderfully served on the side of grilled or baked fish, chicken or shellfish).

Tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette made with eggs, potatoes and onions).

Chicken or falafel kebab stuffed with tabbouleh salad.

Spanakopita (Greek spinach and feta pie).

Baked fish flavored with chermoula (a Moroccan herb sauce) and served with vegetables and rice or couscous.

Lavash wraps stuffed with hummus, diced tomato and cucumber, grated carrot, shredded cos lettuce, and sliced red onion.

Hearty salads like salade Niçoise and horiatiki (better known as Greek salad) served with some crusty bread on the side.

Bruschetta topped with grilled or roasted vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Toasted baguette slices spread with tapenade (Provençal olive, garlic and caper spread).

Toasted pita bread, cut into wedges and served with hummus for dipping.

If you find that spinach and ricotta are two ingredients I used together recently, then you are right. Anna is still away and in the meantime, I’m still more economic with the time I spend in kitchen, so I’ve been improving my ability to make gourmet dishes quickly and for a single person.

Since more often than not I have the versatile spinach and ricotta pate in the refrigerator, here is a dish I came up with this week: a delicious spinach and ricotta lasagna with bechamel sauce and topped with cheese.

Ingredients

• Sheets of pasta for lasagna
• The Versatile spinach and ricotta pâté
• 300ml (7 floz) of milk
• 100g (3.5oz) of grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• A hint of nutmeg

Directions for the bechamel sauce

• Dissolve the flour in the cold milk
• Add the nutmeg
• Cook over a low heat, mixing gently until it starts to thicken
• Remove from heat immediately

Directions for the lasagna

There isn’t really a rule of how many layers of lasagna or how much filling you should have, but I used 7 layers of lasagna and used a layer of filling of about 3mm (0.1in), but feel free to choose your own measurements.

• Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of the tray
• Spread the Spinach and Ricotta pâté on a layer of lasagna
• Position the layer on the tray, over the sauce
• Add a thin layer of the bechamel sauce
• Repeat the process until you’re done with the layers
• Cover generously with the sauce and make sure also the sides are covered
• Spread the grated cheese over the top and cook in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) for about 25 minutes

Now, the final secret. Lasagna cooks much better in a baking dish made of terracotta or other material that allows a slow cooking than a metal one.

If you’ve ever checked out the salads page on our website, you’ll have a fair idea that Trudy and I are both BIG salad lovers.

We enjoy eating lighter leafier salads as a side dish, but we also love more substantial, heartier salads — the kind that stick to your ribs. And no other salad has quite the rib-stickability of potato salad.

This Greek-inspired potato salad is quite different from the usual potato salad. The potatoes are roasted with thick slices of lemon which impart the most wonderful lemony flavor deep into the potato flesh.

Also, there’s a special ingredient in this potato salad that not only imparts extra flavor, but adds creaminess without adding virtually any calories. All we do is roast some unpeeled garlic cloves along with the potatoes. The roasting process gives the garlic a milder sweeter flavor, and it also turns it into a creamy puree which we squeeze out of the cloves and fold through the mayo before adding to the salad.

Lemon-Rosemary Infused Potato Salad with Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise

Serves 4 as a side dish

• 2 lbs. (1kg) potatoes — peeled and cut into large chunks
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive
• 8 cloves garlic — left unpeeled
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 lemons — thickly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

PREHEAT the oven to 210°C (425°F). TOSS the potatoes in a baking dish with the oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon and salt and bake for around 50 minutes tossing halfway through cooking. REMOVE from the oven and remove the lemon and garlic. SQUEEZE the roast garlic puree from the skins and mix into the mayonnaise until well combined. ADD the garlic-mayo to the baking dish with the roast potatoes and mix well to combine with the baking juices. SERVE warm or at room temperature.