One of my favorite food experiences is being able to take time to prepare a meal and share it with good friends and wine at home.  It was a beautiful, cool autumn day in New York this past Saturday and I invited some friends over for dinner. Since we had a vegetarian in the group I decided to challenge myself in making a veggie-centric menu, loosely following the meze style of dining:

• Moroccan Sweet Tomato Jam
• Rosemary Skewered Vegetables
• Spanakopita

I served Israeli couscous flavored with traditional North African spices as a side and will post more about that dish soon.

Moroccan Sweet Tomato Jam

I learned how to make this cool, sweet tomato jam, which seems to be a mild cousin of the fiery harissa, during a trip to Morocco this summer (more to come on that amazing trip!). It’s a nice complement to meat, vegetables or as a spread on bread.  It’s a favorite of mine already and I’m sure you’ll find it works as a nice accompaniment to many dishes.  I wrote down this recipe to the best of my memory after a cooking lesson at Riad Zolah in Marrakesh.

Ingredients

• 5-6 ripe tomatoes (preferably on the vine or Roma), quartered with seeds and core removed
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbs sugar
• water/olive oil as needed
• salt and pepper to taste
• sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and add tomatoes, ensuring that the tomatoes fit snugly in the pan. Saute over medium-high heat and add salt and pepper.  Cook for 30-40 minutes, constantly stirring and mashing tomatoes with a flexible spatula. Add cinnamon, sugar, and water/oil as needed to keep the tomatoes from sticking to the skillet. The tomatoes should turn into a paste-like consistency and reduce in volume.  

Turn off heat and remove any chunks or skin that didn’t break down during cooking. Transfer tomato spread to a serving dish, sprinkle with sesame seeds and let cool for an hour (or refrigerate) before serving.

Rosemary Skewered Vegetables

I’ve saved this recipe from Self magazine for a few years and finally gave it a go.  I pared it way down to include just zucchini and squash, and didn’t make the white bean hummus dip, but it turned out to be a simple and tasty preparation.  The rosemary adds a beautiful mellow flavor to the vegetables. Note: I could only find short sprigs of rosemary about 3-4″ and they worked just fine.

Spanakopita

Ah, what a classic Greek dish.  Who doesn’t love cheesy spinach cradled in buttery layers of filo? This was the main dish of the meal and was a definite crowd pleaser. I changed up the recipe and substituted Manouri cheese, which has a very smooth and soft flavor, for the traditional Feta. 

There are many recipes online for spanakopita and I basically made this one from memory, no exact measurements except ‘a little of this and a little of that’!  I would have preferred it be a bit thicker and a toastier color and I’ll dive into the details and process for the perfect spinach and cheese pie another time. Maybe I’ll even try to make the time-consuming triangles. Where is yia-yia when you need her?