Kitchen Garden Journal

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 5-6 brightly colored sweet peppers
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 oz sweet Italian sausage meat
• 1 pint tomato puree
• Salt & pepper ½ cup heavy cream
• Freshly torn basil leaves

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove stems and seeds from peppers and cut into bite sized pieces. Toss with a liberal amount of olive oil. Roast peppers for 1 hour on a large baking sheet, stirring from time to time, until limp and blistered. Set aside. Heat the pasta water. Brown the sausage meat in a little olive oil in a wide heavy skillet. (We like to use Pekarski’s sausage from their family smokehouse in S. Deerfield. They use plenty of fat and a nice amount of fennel seed in their mix.) If you have links, squeeze the filling out of the casings. When the meat is nice and brown, add the finely minced garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato puree and roasted peppers. Cook the sauce for 10 minutes or so to meld the flavors (just long enough for your pasta to cook).  Remove sauce from the heat and stir in the cream and basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (For a spicy version, add a few shakes of pepper flakes when you add the garlic.) Combine with the pasta and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Even better the next day.

Comment (0)

Red or white?  This is our version, a nice compromise.

• 1 lb. spaghetti, linguine, or cappellini
• 2 lbs. steamer clams, or 24 littlenecks
• 1-2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 head garlic
• 1/2 glass white wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• fresh basil and/or parsley, chopped
• salt & pepper

Scrub the clams and soak them in cold water for an hour or so to reduce the sandiness. Put up some water for the pasta.  Meanwhile slice or chop the garlic as desired and sauté gently in the olive oil in a large pan with a tight fitting lid. When the garlic is not yet brown but starting to get sticky, toss in the clams, tomatoes, and herbs. Put on the lid and cook over high just until the clams open, shaking everything around from time to time. Remove from heat and discard any unopened clams.  Sprinkle with pepper and taste for salt.  Now, at this point you have two options*: you can fish out the clams and scrape their bodies back into the sauce (makes it less messy and time consuming to eat) or you can simply toss your al dente pasta right in the pan and serve it up, steaming, brothy, shells and all.  Almost as good as being at the Cape! (Better yet, take your veggies with you and make it out there!)
*If using steamers, you’ll need to shell and de-”sock” them before returning them to the sauce.

Comment (0)

• Fresh egg pasta:
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 5 eggs

Pour out the flour directly on your countertop or a very large pastry board, making a well in the center like a volcano.  Crack the eggs into the center of this well and begin to beat with a fork.  Little by little, incorporate flour from the walls of the volcano.  Try not to let the egg mixture break through the walls and go spilling everywhere.  Patience is the secret to fresh pasta: beat it with the fork until you can't bear it anymore. When the dough ball is ready to be worked by hand, relinquish the fork.  If you proceed to hand kneading too soon, though, you will make a sticky, eggy mess of your hands.  Knead the dough by hand, incorporating as much of the remaining flour as possible.  Next, the dough needs to rest.  Wrap your precious golden ball in plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 30 minutes.

After the dough rests, it's time to roll.  (If you don't have a pasta rolling machine, now would be too late to go buy one.)  Have some extra flour ready.  Cut off about a quarter of the dough ball and roll it out using the machine.  My method is to make a round disc by hand, coat it with flour, and roll it through stage 1.  Dust again, fold the piece in half, and send it though 1 again.  Now dust, proceed to 3, dust again, and proceed to 5.  I usually stop at the second to last stage because if you go all the way, the dough gets really thin and tears easily. You will find, through practice, your own method that works in your kitchen.

• Spinach-Ricotta filling:
• 1 lb spinach, blanched, cooled, squeezed, and chopped
• 1 quart ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
• salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until incorporated.

• Simple tomato sauce:
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste 

Saute the garlic in the oil until just beginning to brown. Add the tomatoes and their juice and simmer until reduced, about 15 minutes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon along the way.  Season with the salt and pepper and toss in a few basil leaves if you have them.

Manicotti are the simplest type of filled pasta.  Just cut your pasta sheets into large rectangles, boil them until they float, and then drain.  Roll them with the filling, slather with sauce and some additional parmesan cheese, and bake for 25 minutes at 350.  Buonissimo!

Shortcut: use no-boil lasagna sheets and either just make it into a lasagna, or cut the sheets in half and boil them for a few minutes until soft enough to be rolled.

Comment (1)

This recipe is adapted from Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli. We have a little Italian hand-crank mill or mulino we like to use to make flour from buckwheat groats. This recipe serves 8 so feel free to cut it in half.

• 2/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups extra-fancy semolina flour
• 2 eggs
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 2 large or three medium boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 -inch thick
• 1/2 large head savoy cabbage, separated and torn into pieces
• 7 tablespoons butter
• 8 to 10 sage leaves
• 1 garlic clove, chopped fine
• 1 cup grated Fontina val d'Aosta cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Place the buckwheat flour and semolina in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and one-fourth cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Use a fork to stir the mixture together. When the dough begins to form a shaggy mass, alternately squeeze and press it with the palm of your hand. Press any loose bits of flour into the dough. If it is too dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. When the dough feels tacky and the flour is fully incorporated, transfer it to a clean, lightly floured surface and knead for 4 tor 5 minutes, or until it loses its surface moisture, is a uniform color and springs back when pressed. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour before rolling.

2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick, then cut it into wide strips 6 inches long.

3. Heat the broiler.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the salt. Add the potatoes to the boiling water, then after 2 minutes, add the cabbage. Boil the vegetables for about 5 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender but not soft. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and keep the water boiling.

5. Meanwhile, place a wide sauté pan over medium heat; add the butter, sage leaves and garlic. Lower the heat so the garlic does not brown, and swirl the pan a couple of times so the butter melts and the flavors merge. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

6. Cook the pasta in the same water as the vegetables to al dente, about 4 minutes; drain well and add to the sauté pan. Over low heat, stir to coat with the butter mixture. Remove from the heat.

7. Butter a 10-inch gratin or baking dish and assemble by layering one-third of the pasta, vegetables and cheeses. Repeat, until all the pasta, vegetables and cheeses are used. Place the gratin under the broiler for 2 to 4 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve at once.

Comment (0)

 One of our favorite recipes is winter squash ravioli with sage butter.  We try to make it at least once a year, but it takes all afternoon to make and all evening to clean up, with about 5 blissful minutes somewhere in the middle.  Recently we found that you can get much of the effect just by cutting up a roasted squash into bite sized cubes and dousing them with some sage infused melted butter. By the way, the best way to roast a squash is to cut it in half the long way, scoop out the seeds and place face down on a baking pan or cookie sheet with a bit of water to prevent sticking.  Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

• 1/2 butternut squash (about 1 pound)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 recipe basic pasta dough
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 1 large amaretti cookie (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with the olive oil, and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 25-35, or until the squash is very soft. Remove from the oven, let cool, the scoop the flesh from the skin.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled squash, cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Roll out the pasta dough (see below) to the thinnest setting on a pasta machine. Using a biscuit cutter or water glass, cut out 2-inch circles. Pipe or carefully spoon a rounded tablespoon of filling onto the center of half of the rounds and cover the filling with a second pasta round. Press the edges together firmly to seal.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Drop the ravioli in the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 12- to 14- inch sauté pan until it foams and subsides. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and whisk to emulsify. Drain the pasta and add it to the butter. Add the sage leaves and toss gently for 1 minute over medium heat to coat the pasta with sauce. Divide the ravioli among four warmed plates, grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano and amaretti over each plate, and serve immediately.

Basic Fresh Egg Pasta

• 3 cups all purpose flour
  5 eggs

Pour out the flour directly on your countertop or a very large pastry board, making a well in the center like a volcano.  Crack the eggs into the center of this well and begin to beat with a fork.  Little by little, incorporate flour from the walls of the volcano.  Try not to let the egg mixture break through the walls and go spilling everywhere.  Patience is the secret to fresh pasta: beat it with the fork until you can't bear it anymore. When the dough ball is ready to be worked by hand, relinquish the fork.  If you proceed to hand kneading too soon, though, you will make a sticky, eggy mess of your hands.  Knead the dough by hand, incorporating as much of the remaining flour as possible.  Next, the dough needs to rest.  Wrap your precious golden ball in plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 30 minutes.

After the dough rests, it's time to roll.  (If you don't have a pasta rolling machine, now would be too late to go buy one.)  Have some extra flour ready.  Cut off about a quarter of the dough ball and roll it out using the machine.  My method is to make a round disc by hand, coat it with flour, and roll it through stage 1.  Dust again, fold the piece in half, and send it though 1 again.  Now dust, proceed to 3, dust again, and proceed to 5.  I usually stop at the second to last stage because if you go all the way, the dough gets really thin and tears easily. You will find, through practice, your own method that works in your kitchen. 

Comment (0)

• 1 lb. eggplant
• 1-2 lbs. tomatoes, chopped
• 1 head garlic
• canola oil for frying
• olive oil
• a few sprigs fresh basil
• salt & pepper 

Slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch rounds and fry them over medium high in a wide skillet with 1/4-inch of canola or other frying oil. When things get going, the eggplant slices will absorb the oil and you will gradually see it penetrate through to the top.  Make sure that they don’t get too brown on the bottom before this happens.  If the eggplant slices absorb all the oil and still don’t look wet, you must add more—but don’t worry, because they will release much of it as they cook.  When they look like they have absorbed enough oil and they start to get nice and brown on the bottom, flip them over and brown them on the other side.  If the pan is dry at this point, don’t add more oil because the slices have absorbed enough to fry themselves.  When they’re done, drain the slices on paper towels and sprinkle them liberally with salt.  Don’t neglect to taste a few slices now, as eggplant properly fried and meltingly sweet is one of the real delights of summer.  Continue with another batch until all the eggplant is fried.

In the meantime, boil some water for the pasta (penne or rigatoni) and salt it well.  Cook the pasta al dente.  Prepare a simple tomato sauce by sautéing some garlic in olive oil until it just begins to get sticky.  Before it browns, add the chopped tomatoes and cook over high heat about 15 minutes or until the liquid is cooked out.  Salt & pepper to taste and remove from the heat.  Stir in the basil, tearing the leaves right over the pan.  Cut up the mozzarella into cubes.  When the pasta is cooked, add everything to a large bowl and mix well.  Buon appetito!

Comment (0)

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed the strong slant in the recipes we provide toward Italian and specifically pasta dishes.  Our experiences living, working and eating in Italy were a major factor inspiring us to take up farming, and our time there shaped our palates. But that doesn't fully account for the Italian emphasis: it was the food itself that initially inspired us to go there, get involved and have those experiences.

Italian country cooking is simply the best food. This cuisine uses high quality raw materials and makes minimal additions during the cooking process. Vegetables and herbs are used to bring interest and delight to bread, pasta and grains, which are the center of the diet. The combinations are simple and precise.  Olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, basta. That is enough. The vegetables do the rest.

The mission of our farm is to grow the freshest, tastiest vegetables we can and get them into the hands of people who will cook with them. What cuisine could better serve these purposes? This is simple food. It's not daunting or complicated. Rather, it is an invitation to the kitchen, accessible to all.

Comment (0)

One of the best things to do with fully ripe tomatoes at the height of the season is to oven-roast them.  The resulting concentrated flavor is similar to that of sun-dried tomatoes. Choose firm fleshed varieties, cut them into halves or wedges (depending on size), arrange them on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Bake in a medium oven (375 degrees) until slightly shrivelled and starting to brown. Use these roasted tomatoes in numerous ways, including this pasta.

• 2 lbs small ripe tomatoes, roasted as above
• 1-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp Italian parsley, cut into fine ribbons
• 1 lb capellini (angel hair) pasta

Roast the tomatoes as described above and set aside. Heat half the oil in a wide skillet and saute half the garlic until just beginning to brown. Add the tomatoes. Sautee briefly to heat through and set aside. This mixture should be fairly dry and not soupy. Saute the remaining oil and garlic, add the breadcrumbs*, and toast over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add parsley and stir briefly to mix. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Boil the capellini until al dente.
To serve: Mix the pasta thoughouly with the garlic-tomato mixture. Serve in bowls and top with breadcrumbs and grated parmesan.
*If you are in the habit of buying artisan breads and not always finishing them before they go stale, slice the unused ends and save them in a paper bag for making your own breadcrumbs.  Simply grate the stale bread on a box grater or smash it into smaller pieces and pulse them in the food processor.  Of course, this time of year all of this is pretty much impossible due to the extreme humidity. The stale bread molds and becomes too moist to properly form crumbs. An alternative is to use oven-made dry toasts.  Simply toast bread (baguette works nicely) in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes, until completely dry.   

Comment (0)

This is an unusual recipe for pasta sauce but PLEASE, don't be dissuaded. It is a traditional recipe from northeastern Italy where I did my radicchio research. The combination of onion and anchovy is simply sublime, and this is the simplest dish I know that expresses this particular flavor. (The pissaladiere flatbread of southern France is essentially a pizza with this sauce on top. Onion tarts flavored with anchovy, olives and tomatoes are also a fixture of Provencal cooking.) Cipollini onions are the best ones to use for this recipe because they have such rich flavor when cooked.

• 1 lb Thick Spaghetti or Whole Wheat Spaghetti
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium cooking onions or 1 pound of cipollini onions, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp dry white wine
• 1 tin flat fillets of anchovies, drained and finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp Italian parsley, cut into fine ribbons

Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onions over medium-low heat for about 10-20 minutes, until very soft and glistening but not browing. Add the white wine and stir until evaporated. (The acidity in the wine offsets the sweetness of the onions and the deep primordial saltiness of the anchovies). Add the anchovies and continue to cook over low heat until they disappear into the onions, about 5 minutes more.  Add the parsley and turn off the heat.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta al dente.  Drain and mix the cooked pasta with the onions before serving. Though not traditionally served with grated cheese, we think a little parmigiano never hurts. 

Comment (0)

• 1 lb barlotti beans, shelled
• 2 slices bacon or pancetta, diced (optional)
• 1 cipollini onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped, optional
• 4-6 cups vegetable stock or water
• salt & pepper
• parsley or rosemary, chopped 
• 8 oz. pasta of choice (fresh egg tagialtelle, spaghetti broken in small pieces, or ditalini)

Shell the beans, discard the shells.  In a large pot, add the diced bacon and sauté until golden and crispy.  Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes.  Add the optional tomato, the beans, and the stock and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the beans are tender.  At this point, about half the beans are removed from the pot, pureed and added back.  This gives it a nice thick, velvety texture.  Add the herbs and continue simmering another 5 minutes.  Cook the pasta al dente in a separate pot of boiling salted water and combine with the bean soup just before serving. Perfect for these cool nights!

Comment (0)