Crockpot Season Opener!

After a year of encouraging from friends, I am finally doing it… I am starting a blog!

To provide some history of What’s In Jen’s Crockpot, I have to go back to the Christmas of 2008 when my sister bought me a Crockpot. I had just moved to Atlanta from Chapel Hill, NC for a job that doesn’t give me much time to cook long, luxurious dinners. So, I created Crockpot Mondays.

Why Crockpot? Why Mondays?

Crockpot because unlike most meals that you cook, a Crockpot meal actually gets better when you forget about it.

And, Mondays because, let’s be honest, Mondays are difficult enough to get through without having to worry about what you’re going to eat for dinner. Also, you have the time on Sunday to shop for and prepare the meal. And, last but not least, it’s an excuse to meet up with friends despite the fact that the weekend is over.

So, with that said, the first Monday of October, I dusted out the cobwebs in my slowcooker and cooked the Fall 2010 Season Opener. I invited Bindi and Amish over for Roasted Tomato Soup with Spinach Pesto.  The recipe comes from, Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever. I couldn’t agree more.

This recipe is a little bit more intensive than most slow cooker recipes because after you’ve let the soup cook for 8 hours, you have to empty the contents of the insert into a blender, puree it, and then return it to the slow cooker insert to keep warm. If you are fancier than I am and have an immersion blender, then you don’t have to worry about this step.

I served the tomato soup with a dollop of spinach pesto, Parmesan cheese and, of course, more red pepper flakes.  Here, I’m going to take the opportunity to give my white friends some advice:  If you want to be down with the brown, bring out the red pepper flakes or Sriracha sauce. I don’t care if you made blueberry pancakes, an offering of red pepper will go a long way with your Indian friends. To round out the meal, I made grilled havarti cheese sandwiches on olive bread.

For dessert, we had Trader Joe’s green tea and mango mochi. To quote Bindi, this meal set a high bar for Crockpot Mondays.

I’m looking forward to a great season…

Here's the Recipe...
Combine in a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker the following ingredients:
Two 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 cup chopped red onion
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours (however, I let it cook for 10 hours and the soup was terrific). Puree the soup with an immersion blender or cool and pour contents into a standard blender and puree.

Whisk in the following ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Cover and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Spinach Pesto:
In a food processor, combine:
Two 10-ounce bags of baby spinach (I only used one)
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper