Asparagus Recipe With Tomatoes and Eggs
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at
9:24 pm
Comments (3)
My Mother made this recipe often for our meatless Fridays or during Lent. She and my Dad would grow their own plum tomatoes, basil, oregano, and garlic. Needless to say, we had all the makings for homemade, fresh, and delicious tomato sauce.
When harvest time arrived Mom and Dad would be busy in the kitchen canning tomatoes, which they stored for the winter months. I remember watching them in the kitchen, boiling and peeling tomatoes. They placed them in Mason Jars and put the jars in a hot water bath. It was fun to watch them work in an assembly line. Mom would peel the tomatoes and add them to the jars. Dad would add a sprig or two of fresh basil and seal the jars with special lids and place them in the water bath.
My son, John, grew up enjoying homemade pizza since he was a toddler, had a few teeth, and could chew. Pizza became a staple in our home and I would prepare it every Friday night and whenever John had his friends over for dinner. The aroma of the sauce cooking and the sight of the dough rising brought everyone into the kitchen longing for the pizza to be ready. I would bake the pizza on a cookie sheet in a very hot oven. 
This recipe brings back fond memories for me as it was a dish my daughter, Allison, loved from the time she was a little girl. It became her all time favorite dish and she would always request it, no matter what the occasion was. Be it a birthday, coming home on a college break, or when she became a working woman. It was a dish she always looked forward to. It got to the point that we would all refer to this meatloaf recipe as “Ali’s Meatloaf”. 
Another meatless dish we often had was Eggplant Parmesan. However, I remember Mom always fried the breaded eggplant slices before placing them in a casserole dish. I have breaded the eggplant the same way Mom did, but I baked the slices instead of frying them. 
A very versatile dish my Mother made on meatless Fridays was a potato, pepper and mushroom frittata. It is delicious hot or at room temperature and leftovers can be reheated in the microwave. Mom would often use eggs in place of meat or poultry as she knew eggs were high in protein and had always been labeled “nature’s most perfectly balanced food”. In fact, eggs have been the standard which all protein foods are measured. 
A tradition in our home every Easter was to bake Easter bread. It is an easy recipe, but it is rather time-consuming. I use my Cuisinart food processor to mix and knead the dough, which made things a lot quicker and easier. This delicious sweet bread would be made into loaves, or bunny rabbits, individual little loaves,and even braided into baskets.
I always think of my daughter, Allison, when I prepare this topping. She loves it on her “all time favorite dish in the world, “Meatloaf”. I will post my recipe for Allison’s favorite meatloaf soon. This condiment makes an excellent topping on baked meatloaf, hamburgers and frankfurters. Serve warm. It replaces the usual ketchup and mustard toppings.
A dish that our family loved, not only during the Lenten season, but also during the growing season for plum tomatoes. I call it Egg Jumble since I cannot spell the Italian name, but it is pronounced “Jum-bort”. What Italian family who has a little piece of land doesn’t grow a vegetable garden? They would grow bushel loads of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, basil and other Italian herbs. These vegetables would be picked fresh and cooked the same day or they would be jarred for the winter months. 
I have tasted many versions of polenta, but nothing tastes as good to me as fried polenta. Mom made this often, especially when we were having Minestra (steamed mixture of greens and beans saute with olive oil and garlic). She would put the fried polenta in the bottom of the dish and spoon the greens over it. You would mix it through as you ate.