Good morning, dear folks!

After a whole string of days of dark, cloudy, rainy weather, yesterday the sun appeared in all its warm, golden splendor. Hooray!

One of the nice things about having lots of rain is that my landlord doesn’t mow my lawn, and it turns into a wonderful meadow filled with all sorts of wildflowers popping up in the most random spots. I love them all, but on hot, sunny afternoons I like dandelions best. They’re like sunshine in a flower.

How has your week been, my friends? Have you been going “flat strap” as an Aussie friend says, or have things been motoring along just fine?

My week has been spent in bed, or propped up in my armchair covered in a quilt as my body adjusts to the remedies designed to get the mold out of my system and my pituitary functioning properly. It’s been painful, so painful, and I’ve had a few teary moments weathering each gut-wrenching moment. Last night was horrible and I awoke bleary-eyed and exhausted like I’d just gone through battle. So I was very happy to see sunshine dappling the trees and bushes outside my window, hear birds twittering away, and know that this is a new day, the long night is over and I can start fresh.

Perhaps that’s why you’re seeing so many flower pictures this week. I haven’t been able to go anywhere or do anything, so my simple pleasures are very simple indeed. Funny how wonderful little things become when your world suddenly becomes very small. Like a cup of tea in the biggest, cheeriest mug I could find, Christmas music while I do office work remotely, and these perky Morning Glories so radiantly white in the sunshine.

Kevin at Closet Cooking has been inspiring me with his super simple but delicious savory tarts. There’s no dough making involved, no tedious rolling out or carefully fitting dough into a fluted tray. Nope. He simply rolls out puff pastry, tops it with pesto or sauces and layers on his veggies of choice and pops it in the oven. I love that.

So yesterday I waited for my pain pills to kick in, then hastily assembled one using phyllo dough as a base topped with sun-dried tomato pesto, thinly sliced zucchini drizzled with oil, salt and pepper, and Herbs de Provence. Mine turned out a little darker than it should be because I decided to add some Parmesan cheese on top, place it under the broiler to toast, and promptly forgot about it. 🙂

It tasted heavenly though. Simple, light and so savory.

I hope you have a beautiful day, my friends. 🙂

Zucchini Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Tart

Ingredients:

10 sheets phyllo dough
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1-2 small zucchini, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
1 cup shredded Italian cheese (Parmesan, mozzarella)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lay one sheet phyllo dough on baking sheet, brush with olive oil. Layer and repeat until all phyllo dough is used.
3. Spread pesto across dough within 1/4″ of edge.
4. Layer zucchini over sauce, slightly overlapping.
5. Spray or drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over Herbs de Provence.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and return to oven under broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese is slightly browned.
7. Serve warm or at room-temperature.