Zephyr is a breeze, a mild yet refreshing wind, hailing from the west. It is so named after Zephuros, mythic Greek god of the West Wind—considered the most benevolent of The Winds.

Zephyr is also a unique summer squash, a two-toned slender beauty: yellow with faint white striping and green-tipped at the blossom end. Do you know it? Tallahassee May introduced me to this delicious vegetable several years ago through her Fresh Harvest Co-op, and I look forward to its fleeting appearance each summer.

I am quite taken with Zephyr. Aside from its distinctive look–indeed attractive–it possesses other prized qualities worth this gush.

The flavor is slightly sweet and nutlike. Its texture is firm, yet pliable: not the least seedy, or watery. You can easily slice it into long ribbons that will retain their lovely shape in a saute.

With a bounty of squashes now filling our gardens, CSA baskets, and farmers markets, I have been considering different ways to highlight this paragon of summer in dishes, without becoming squash-weary.

And, I could readily imagine ribbons of zephyr squash tangled with ribbons of papparadelle. Soon after I had this notion, I came across a zucchini-shrimp-linguine recipe on Tracy’s blog, Amuse-Bouche for Two that followed a similar line of thought. Serendipity! That cinched it. Really, there is nothing new; we are all accessing from the same wondrous creative fount.

The recipe that I put together is ridiculously simple, and enormously satisfying: all designed to let the toasted goodness of Zephyr to breeze through….

Sauteed with some onion in a combination of butter and olive oil, the julienned strips make a lively tangle on their own.

Those interlacing ribbons like a liberal grind of black pepper. I think the dish is very good, even at this basic stage, but a crumble of chevre….even better.

It lightly coats while imparting bites with creamy tang.

I brought a bowl of this to a Sunday covered dish supper, where we all gathered to view slides of a Colorado Trail hike from our friends, Jen and Jenn. It was a favorite–even with the wee ones—who doesn’t love a toasty tangle of noodles?

ZEPHYR RIBBON PASTA
1 medium Onion, sliced thin
4 Zephyr Summer Squash, sliced lengthwise into thin strips
2 T. Butter
1 T. Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
8 oz. Papparadelle or Fettuccini
2 oz. Goat Cheese

Heat skillet and melt butter with olive oil. Saute onion until translucent. Add julienned strips of squash. Stir until the squash is coated with butter/oil, and gets tangled up with the onion. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until soft and tender, but still with bite.

Boil pasta in salted water, according to package directions. Drain, but reserve a cup of pasta water.

Toss ribbon pasta into skillet with zephyr. Toss well, adding some reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt and black pepper. Add crumbled goat cheese and serve.

Serves 4-6

Listen, what if I told you that the festive-as-confetti salad above was created using the stovetop for, say, five minutes. That’s the time it takes to boil less than 2 cups of water, right? Five minutes of cooking.

Sounds pretty compelling, especially when you consider the oppressive, in-the-nineties heat that barged in last week like an unwelcome guest—and has yet to pack up and leave.

But credible?

BELIEVE! This Too Good To Be True recipe is bonafide: Healthy, full of intriguing flavors and textures, Curried Fruit Couscous also requires almost no cooking.

This fabulous recipe comes courtesy of Michele Watkins Knaus, a chef and food activist currently living in Portland, Oregon. She worked for me several years ago, filling in while my right arm Tonya was on maternity leave. Later, we catered Michele’s wedding, and this was one of her specialties that she asked us to prepare.

The basic recipe serves 6-8 generously, and readily multiplies: Doubled, Quadrupled, Times Twelve, Times Twenty—-it’s one of those caterer’s dream recipes that can be made in mass quantities with exceptional results.

You can serve it mounded in large bowl, or molded into pretty individual servings. Eat it by itself, or along with salad greens. Or, take it uptown: Use it as a foundation for fancy-pants grilled sea scallops, or butter-sauteed trout.

Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients. You already have some of the essentials in your pantry. For the rest, with a little forethought, and a quick trip to the grocery, you can assemble everything you need. The beauty of the dish is in the couscous itself.

Boiled water poured over the couscous in a bowl, stirred and sealed, cooks it to fluffy perfection. While the tiny pasta grains sit in that bowl, effortlessly absorbing the water, you can shred carrots, slice dried apricots, chop flat leaf parsley.

The dressing whisks up in a heartbeat. The yogurt binds the oil and vinegar, and serves as a terrific vehicle for the spice. Vegan friends can substitute a soy based yogurt; that’s all it takes to make it vegan friendly.

You may want to double the Curried Yogurt Dressing, and save half to drizzle over some salad greens, or grilled chicken, alongside your couscous.

The colorful array combines to make a satisfying summer dish, spice and sweet, fast and cool. Thanks, Michele!

CURRIED FRUIT COUSCOUS adapted from Michele Watkins Knaus

The Couscous
1 ½ cups Couscous
1 ½ cups Water
½ t. Kosher Salt

The Curried Yogurt Dressing
¼ c. Plain Yogurt
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 t. White Balsamic or White Wine Vinegar
1 t. Curry Powder
½ t. Turmeric
1 t. Kosher Salt
1 t. fresh ground Black Pepper
dash of crushed Red Pepper Flakes

The Salad Fruits-Veggies-Nuts
½ c. Carrots, shredded
½ c. Flat Leaf Parsley,coarsely chopped
½ c. Dried Apricots, slivered and diced
½ c. Golden Raisins
¼ c. Toasted Almonds, chopped
3 Scallions, chopped, green tops included

Place couscous into medium bowl . Add ½ t. to 1 ½ c. water and bring to a boil. Pour over the couscous and quickly stir. Cover tightly with plastic wrap—the couscous will absorb the water and be cooked in 5 minutes. Remove wrap and fluff with a fork.

Whisk together: yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry powder, turmeric, salt, black and red peppers. Pour over the couscous, and stir until all is well coated.

Add all the dried fruits, nuts, carrots, parsley and stir well. Serve in a large bowl, or make individual molds by pressing the salad firmly into a small bowl, and then invert onto a salad plate.

Serves 6-8

Arugula, rucola, rocket…by any name, this addictive peppery green has flourished in my front yard garden (our farmette!) this spring.

Two varieties emerged from the melange of the all-encompassing mesclun seed packet: one with smooth leaves and mild sourness, the other rippled, and biting hot. Both have been delicious tossed into salads, folded into omelettes, rolled into sandwich wraps.

And now, cooked into this oh-so-simple pasta dish, inspired by a dinner in Siena, Italy.

A few years ago, while wandering the narrow cobbled alleys of the many Sienese contradas, we were drawn to a small restaurant, Osteria Il Campaccio. Their sign was bannerlike, bold and red, with a stylized dragon head on it, (the symbol of their contrada, or ward, district.)

Through the windows, it appeared refined, yet homey–white stucco walls and vaulted ceilings, white damask draped tables surrounded by wooden chairs, set with pretty glassware, silver, burgundy napkins…all ready and waiting. Pretty splashes of color, too: baskets of bright red geraniums, bowls of lemons, tomatoes, eggplants.

The menu was distinctly Tuscan, with Sienese specialties like that fat tube like spaghetti called pici, served with ragu. Another plus: The owners had a committment to serving seasonal, locally-sourced fare. We noted the hours and made a plan to return.

The meal was exceptional. We enjoyed radiccio baked (al forno!) with gorgonzola and hazelnuts, marinated baby artichokes, tagliatelle with assorted mushrooms, a grilled ox-heart tomato drizzled in basil-infused olive oil.

The surprising stand-out of the dinner was the whole wheat linguine tossed with rocket, shallots, toasted bread bits, and pecorino toscano.

Rustic and robust—and healthy. I liked the balance of hot, almost bitter greens with sweetness of the shallots, the grated pecorino providing salty tang. I also had never eaten toasted bread bits in pasta before, and why not? They add another element of texture and bite to a dish–aside from being another good use of dry nubs of bread.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today is similar, only I’m using my bounty of beautiful spring green onions instead of shallots, and grated pecorino romano cheese–the toscano is not always easy to find.

For the bread bits–use a sturdy baguette, or similar crusty type, and toast them in good olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

The list of ingredients is short and sweet, the process, too! Enjoy the Hot Rocket Linguine as a prelude to an entree—a nice grilled piece of fish perhaps—or make it the focus, served with a refreshing side bowl of cut fruit.

Whole Wheat Linguine with Rocket, Scallions, and Breadcrumbs
3-4 T. Olive Oil
1 bunch fresh Scallions (spring onions) chopped, using green tops
1/2 t. Sea Salt
1/4 t. Red Pepper Flakes
1 big bundle (6oz) Rocket (a.k.a. arugula, roquette, rucola) coarsely chopped
1 cup toasted bread bits, cut or torn into smaller-than-bite size pieces
4 oz. grated Pecorino Romano

1/2 lb. Whole Wheat Linguine

Heat skillet and add olive oil. Stir in scallions, salt, and red pepper flakes. Saute for about 3 minutes, until scallions become soft and translucent.
Add coarsely chopped rocket and remove from heat.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, and cook linguine for 10 minutes—al dente. Drain, and reserve one cup of pasta water. Return pasta to the pot and add the scallion-rocket mixture. Toss well, adding a little pasta water as you stir. The greens should coat the linguine well, continuing to collapse from the residual heat.

Sprinkle in toasted bread bits and grated cheese. Dress with a little more olive oil, if you like. Taste for salt and serve.

Serves 4

This past weekend in Washington DC we experienced Full-Blown Spring: warm, almost hot sun, cloudless blue sky, trees outlined in new green emerging on drab hillsides, wide patches of daffodils, butter yellow, drinking in the light.

And, the cherry blossoms.

Oh, my. Blooms in Peak. Gorgeous ruffles of pink surrounding the Tidal Basin, shimmered pink in the water, showered pink in the breeze.
Ensconced by these lovely trees, The Jefferson Memorial, its marbled dome and columns gleaming white, ethereal, seemed to belong to another world.

We didn’t mind the throngs who joined us down at the basin—who could mind sharing in the beauty of such a place? A lot of people were walking with heads bent back, looking up, taking in all the pink. Children danced in the bluster of petals. Babies laughed when held up, face-to-face with the blossoms.

Delightful.

Of course, all of that Spring joy spilled into my daughter’s kitchen, where we prepared a Sunday feast featuring the season’s best:

Young Asparagus grilled in olive oil and thyme,
Butter lettuces dressed with strawberries and dulce di gorgonzola,
Orzo with leeks, shitake mushrooms, and sweet snow peas,
Fresh Ham roasted in rosemary-sage-garlic pesto.

Have you ever had a fresh ham? Likely you are familiar with smoked hams, some highly salted, redolent of hickory; others sugar cured rosy-pink, the rich hind leg of the pig baked under a fruity glaze.

Fresh ham, the uncured, non-smoked variety, is infrequently available, yet makes a wonderful pork roast–sweeter, more deeply flavored than, say, pork loin. I hadn’t cooked one in a number of years (I hadn’t seen one to purchase in as many…) and so when we found one at Whole Foods (at a surprising $2.49lb) we decided to make it the centerpiece of our Sunday DC Family Supper.

A pesto assertive with garlic, rosemary, and sage, is rough chopped with salt and black pepper, mixed with a little olive oil—as a medium—and slathered over the entire roast. You can’t have too much garlic or herb, really. This cut of meat can take it: the garlic gets toasty, the herbs and salt make an incredible crust. The pan fills with savory juices that make a rich brown gravy flecked with garlic bits.

It’s best to cook the ham uncovered, fat side up, on high for the first 30 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and let it roast along for another 2 1/2 hours. You can rotate the meat in the oven, pour a (very!) little water in the bottom of the pan to keep the juices from burning–that’s all there is too it. But, that’s why a liberal coating of the herb pesto is so important.

While the meat is cooking, you’ll have plenty of time to make the spring orzo with leeks, mushrooms, and snow peas.

Roasted Fresh Ham
6-8 lb. fresh Ham, trim any thick fat, but do leave a layer
6-8 cloves Garlic
4 sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 bunch fresh Sage
2 t. Sea Salt
1 t. Black Pepper
2 T. Olive Oil

Rinse off meat and pat dry. Make coarse pesto by chopping all the garlic and herbs together with salt and black pepper. (You can pulse this in a food processor if you like, but in this instance, I prefer the hand chop.)

In a bowl, combine the rough-chop with enough olive oil to act as a vehicle for spreading. Coat the entire ham with the mixture.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove the roast from the pan and let it rest for 15 minutes (or longer) before carving. In the meantime, make the gravy. Mix a heaping tablespoon of all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup water, and stir into roasting pan on the stove top under low heat. Add more liquid as needed; gravy will thicken and be dark and luscious.

Serves 10-12, leftovers make an AWESOME roast pork sandwich.

And, I think that you’ll enjoy the orzo dish below; the silky pasta and mushrooms, savory leeks, and sweet crunch of snow peas balance the richness of the meat.

Orzo with Leeks, Snow Peas, Shittakes
1 box (1lb.) orzo or riso
2 Leeks, cleaned and sliced (I use as much of the leek as possible)
1 lb. Shittakes, sliced
1 lb. Snow Peas, strung and chopped
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a deep skillet, heat butter and olive oil together. Sauté leeks until soft and translucent. Stir in mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid. Finally, add the snow peas and sauté for another 3 minutes.
Remove from heat.

In a large (4 qt.) saucepan, bring lightly salted water to a boil and cook orzo according to package directions–about 10 minutes. Drain and add to the skillet of vegetables. Toss until all the ingredients are well mixed. taste for seasonings and serve.

Makes 10-12 servings.

“If there’s one thing I can do, I can grow leeks.”

That was Gigi’s pronouncement, as we trudged, shovels-in-arms, up the hill to the sunny patch where a long row of leeks stood tall and fat in the ground.

But as we surveyed the rest of her Wedgewood Urban Gardens, we leek-diggers were most amazed—and thrilled—to find an array of other good things growing. Mother Nature was doing what she does best, mostly unattended:

Thyme and tarragon, rumpled spinach,
Chives and spring onions, feathery carrot greens,
shoots of sorrel, cilantro, rainbow chard,
Big tufts of curly kale.

Very quickly, the idea for my community pot luck dish took shape.
I had a package of Heirloom Borlotti Beans (from Rancho Gordo, yes!), several pints of a very prolific peach tomato that Gigi had canned last summer (She can grow those, too!) and now a raft of leeks, chives, and kale. How about a sort of Springtime version of Pasta e Fagioli: Pasta and Beans?

Rather than begin with the usual suspects, onion-carrot-garlic-celery,
this base is All Leek. Sauté the color of spring in some fruity olive oil and give plump borlotti beans a tumble in the greens before adding water and tomatoes.

After simmering for about two hours, the beans become firm but tender. Add the torn-up, crinkly kale leaves to collapse into the stew, and sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes. The kale is a wonderful add-in here, those crinkly leaves sop up the flavors and mellow, while retaining tooth.

Something about Gigi’s lemon-colored tomatoes nudged me to take that citrus sensibility a step further, and I sliced a lemon, squeezed a little juice into the pot, and plopped in the fruit, rind and all.

Lovely. That acid tang compliments the nutlike bean, smooth pasta, sweet spring earth of leek. It adds more light to the dish. Perfect, as the sun adds more light to each day…

Oh, and about the pasta: You can put in whatever sort you’d like–small bits are best, saved for the last ten minutes of cooking. Since I have it on very good authority
that it is perfectly acceptable—possibly preferable—to break up ribbons of tagliatelle (but never spaghetti!) into pieces for the pasta component of the dish, that’s exactly what I did!

To Spring!

Heading into Spring Pasta e Fagioli
4 T. Olive Oil
4 Leeks, cleaned and chopped
Salt and Black Pepper
1 lb. Borlotti or Cranberry Beans, soaked overnight
3-4 pints of Canned Tomatoes
1 bunch Kale
Red Pepper Flakes
1 Lemon, cut in half, seeded
1/2 lb. Tagliatelle, broken into pieces
Chives–a handful, chopped

In a stockpot, sauté leeks in olive oil for about five minutes. They will soften and sweeten. Season with salt-n-peppa. Stir in the beans, and let them get well-coated with the olive oil-leek mix before adding water. Add just enough water to cover the beans by an inch or two.

Simmer for 30 minutes and add the canned tomatoes, juice and all.
Simmer, covered, for another 45 minutes. Add the kale and a dusting of red pepper flakes. Squeeze in the lemon juice and toss in the rest.
Simmer another 30 minutes. Taste for salt, black pepper, and red chili heat.

If you want the Pasta e Fagioli thinner, add more liquid (water, tomato juice, vegetable stock) If you’d like it Stand-up Thick, mash a few beans and let it simmer, uncovered.

Break up pasta into the pot, stir in, and cook until pasta is cooked. Garnish with some chopped chives, if you like, and serve.
Makes a Big Batch. (4 qts.)

That’s Kara, intent on carefully stirring this big batch of Italian meatballs in hearty red sauce, the centerpiece of a meal made by her and fellow Brentwood Academy students attending our cooking seminar at Second Harvest.
For Winterim, she and eight others chose to come to our Culinary Arts Center to learn some kitchen skills and tasty recipes.

We are fortunate at our food bank to have a teaching kitchen. Each week, volunteers get hands-on experience in a commercial setting, preparing our Friday First Harvest Cafe buffet lunch.

Mark and I also feel strongly about teaching youth to cook—informing the palate and developing skills in the kitchen are as critical as reading, math and science (all of which come into play with understanding recipes, measurements, temperatures….)

We have designed a series of classes specific to teens. Periodically during the school year, we host these three-day seminars. On the first day, the kids make a big lunch for themselves. The next day, they cook a full course dinner to bring home to their families. The final day, they assist with our First Harvest Cafe: cooking and serving for the hundred-plus guests who attend.

In the summer, we offer COOKS RULE, week-long cooking camps that expand on some of the skills and recipes touched on in the smaller seminars. We have sophisticated menus exploring cuisines from around world and incorporating fresh local products from our farmers.

For this class, our students learned some Italian-American basics:
meatballs, tomato sauce, pasta, salad and red wine herb vinaigrette
The morning was spent preparing our lunch.

I developed these recipes to be straightforward and simple, without sacrificing flavor, and have found them to be well received by just about anyone interested in learning to cook. I’ve taught them to teens and to formerly homeless. Mindful of what people have access to, the meatball and sauce recipes indicate options for fresh or dried herbs.

We always emphasize that recipes are starting points, guideposts: free to adapt as you choose. It’s all about creativity. Cooking is foremost an art. Happily, there are myriad variations of meatballs and sauce out in the world, and there’s always another tasty take on a known dish.

Our students work in teams. We strive to have a good balance of lecture and demonstration with mainly hands-on work. And, really, that’s why they are there. Everyone wants to get her hands in the action. Mixing and rolling meatballs is a perfect means…..

Plus, it is a WHOLE lot of fun. We strive to have joy in our kitchen.
But, truly, that’s something we don’t have to work hard to achieve!

The meatballs are oven roasted. It’s an easy way to cook them, and drain off any excess grease before they are plunged into the pot of red sauce to simmer. (Of course, big batches of meatballs can made, roasted, and frozen—ready to use at a later point in time.)

While the sauce simmers, the students clean, spin, and toss greens with a vinaigrette they whipped up themselves. We prepare the pasta (linguine in this case) and set up our buffet…dine on our reward, a delicious lunch. Good work!

Italian Meatballs
1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
¼ lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, casing removed
2 -3 slices of French or Italian bread, torn into small pieces
2 teaspoons minced Garlic
1 small Onion, chopped very finely
2 Tablespoons dried Italian herbs (or finely chopped 2 T. fresh basil, 1 T. fresh oregano, 2 t. fresh thyme, 1 t. flat leaf parsley)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
6 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten

Break up the ground beef and sausage into a large mixing bowl.
Add the bread pieces, garlic, onions, herbs, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese and the beaten egg.
Vigorously mix all the ingredients together by hand-almost like kneading bread dough-until all the herbs and bread pieces are well mixed throughout the meat.
The mixture will get a little fluffy and shiny when it is mixed well.
Shape into balls-about the size of a golf ball, (or smaller, if desired). Place the meatballs on a baking sheetpan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until done.
Drain any excess grease and place the cooked meatballs into your thick Italian Tomato Sauce.

Hearty Italian Tomato Sauce
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 small Onions, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 large (28 oz.)Can Tomatoes in juice-coarsely chopped, save the juice!
1 small can (6 oz) Tomato paste
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black pepper
1 Tablespoon Basil
2 teaspoons Oregano

In a large saucepan (3-4 quart size) heat olive oil.
Add the chopped onions first and sauté until soft and translucent-about 7 minutes.
Then add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly.
Add the coarsely chopped tomatoes and their juice, the tomato paste, all the herbs and spices and stir well until it begins to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked meatballs and continue simmering. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

If you’re like me, you are feeling this sense of RELIEF that a new year has begun. And, it’s not just for the usual psychological “new beginnings” or resolutions reason. It’s because of the lead up to this moment. The frenzy of food making and eating, from Thanksgiving through the entire month of December, IS, despite all its glut and glory, OVER.

Whew.

I’m ready for a little stark reality—but it doesn’t have to be bland, does it? Look at this beautiful container of Olive Oil, a gift from our friends in Italy. They befriended Elio, the Tuscan grower and maker of this Bio-Dynamic Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s so fruity green and delicious. I love the label’s painting by one of his children, showing the olive harvest under the Shooting Star (Il Meteorite)

So, I’ve cooked up a quick pasta dish, with less pasta, more vegetables. It’s full of health and flavor: Whole Wheat Linguine from DeCecco. Leeks, garlic, a dice of sweet red bell. A few shreds of pecorino cheese.
And Broccolini.

I had originally been looking for Broccoli Rabe–broccoli’s wild cousin, but I ended up with the baby sister instead. It was a good choice.
The quest for bitter ended up sweet.

Whole Wheat Linguine with Broccolini, Pecorino, & Fruity Olive Oil

Your Favorite Fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bunch Broccolini–separate skinny flower ends from stems,
cut stems at an angle into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup chopped Leek
1/4 cup diced Red Bell Pepper
3 cloves Garlic, minced
Sea Salt
Red Pepper Flakes pinch or two
1/4 box Whole Wheat Linguine (4 oz)
Pecorino Romano Cheese–not much, just for shredding

In a deep skillet, warm 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil. Stir in leeks, garlic, and red peppers. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and red pepper flakes, and increase to medium heat. Saute for 5 minutes, then add the broccolini stems. Saute for another 5 minutes and add the broccolini flowers. Add a little more olive oil. Cook for 3 more minutes and remove from heat.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the whole wheat linguine according to package directions (about 10 minutes) Drain, reserving a little starchy pasta water.

Toss linguine with cooked vegetables, tossing well, until the veggies are distributed throughout. Taste for salt and heat. If it needs a little loosening, spoon in some of the reserved pasta water. Sprinkle with shredded pecorino and serve.

Serves 2 generously, or 4 sides

Happy Eating in 2010!

Butternut Everything!

Of all the winter squashes, butternut is my favorite. And not for its rich, creamy flavor alone—its pretty fall color, dense, smooth texture, and relative ease of preparation (not as hard an exterior as, say, acorn squash) make it outshine the others.

And, it’s so versatile. There are dozens of delicious ways to make it–in soups, risottos, stuffings, salads….

Gigi had grown quite a bit of butternut in her Wedgewood Urban Gardens, so we wanted to feature it in a special way at our community pot luck last week. She had bundles of leeks waiting to be pulled from the garden, too.

We LOVE leeks, and so I created this lasagna variation to include them. The leek and butternut union became the big hit at our dinner.

What made it unique was the layering of these three components:
roasted butternut squash puree
leek-ricotta bechamel
stewed or roasted yellow tomatoes

What made it simpler was the “no-bake” lasagna that I used. If you’ve never tried it, you’ll be surprised. It really works well, and is not as heavy as the typical thicker, ripple-edged pasta that we all have used many times.

One less pot to deal with, no big wads of broad noodles clumped together, a whole step eliminated!

Both the butternut puree and the bechamel have an earthy sweetness. The yellow tomatoes add a bright, citrusy-acid note in the middle. If you don’t have these, no worries. The dish is still very good without them.

I grated some sharp pecorino-romano over the several layers. If you like, you can garnish the top with some walnuts.

Like most lasagnas, it is not difficult to make–but there are two main steps involved before you can assemble the layers.

Roasted Butternut Squash
2 Butternut Squash–medium size
Olive oil
Salt and Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butternuts in half. Scoop out seeds. Brush both sides with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place skin side up onto a baking pan and roast uncovered for 30-40 minutes. The outside skin will brown and blister slightly, and the whole squash will soften and collapse. When this occurs, remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When cooled, the skin will peel away from the meat of the squash.
Where it doesn’t peel away, scoop out the meat with a spoon.
Place all roasted squash into a food processor fitted with the swivel blade and puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper. The mixture will be fairly thick and creamy. If it’s too thick (as in too difficult to spread with a spatula over lasagna) thin with a little half-and-half.

Leek-Ricotta Bechamel
4 Leeks, cleaned well and chopped–use white and green parts
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Flour (all-purpose)
1 1/2 cups Half-and-Half
1 cup Ricotta
Salt and Black Pepper–to taste

In a 3 qt. saucepan, melt butter on medium heat and add leeks. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until leeks soften and separate.
Sprinkle in flour, and stir rapidly, so that the leeks are well coated. When the flour has absorbed all liquid/butter, and cooked onto the leeks, pour in the half-and-half. Keep stirring. Soon, the sauce will bubble and thicken. Add the ricotta and stir well. Season with salt and black pepper. The sauce will be rich tasting and somewhat sweet from the leeks.

The Assembly
1 box No Bake Lasagna
Leek-Ricotta Bechamel
Butternut Squash Puree
1 cup cooked Yellow Tomatoes
1 handful fresh Sage leaves, chopped
Pecorino-Romano cheese to grate

Lightly coat a 9×13 deep-dish style baking pan or casserole with olive oil. Then, cover the bottom of the casserole with a layer of leek bechamel. Place lasagna on top. Spread a layer of butternut over that. Sprinkle chopped sage over the butternut, and spoon over with bechamel. Add your 2nd lasagna layer, then the yellow tomatoes. Grate some pecorino-romano over the tomatoes, dot with bechamel and add 3rd lasagna layer. Spread butternut over the lasagna, sprinkle with chopped sage, and cover with 4th (and final) lasagna. Cover the top with remaining bechamel. Grate romano over the top.

At this point, you can refrigerate it and bake it the next day, if you like. Otherwise, seal with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (This helps the casserole to steam up as it bakes, cooking the pasta.) Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Serves 8-10 generously.

Summer is fleeting. I awoke this morning to cool, crisp air moving through the house: 59 degrees! So rare on this last day of August in Nashville Tennessee, so telling of the season to come.

These are days to savor outdoors: Clear skies, warm, steady light. There’s still a bounty coming in the garden–corn, squashes, melons, beans, tomatoes. Basil plants the size of shrubs. Today, we’ll enjoy a lunch made with some of these summer garden elements, and relish them at our backyard table.

This tortellini salad is similar to one we always served at the café years ago–with some updates. For a pleasing variety in color, taste, and texture, I recommend using both green snap and yellow wax beans, if you have them at your disposal. And, this salad is the perfect place to toss in an assortment of grape and cherry tomatoes. I used my Cherub grapes, Husky cherries and the brilliant Sungolds. In café days, I had dressed this in balsamic vinaigrette–long on flavor, but less visually appealing , with its flat brown color. With all my basil begging to be picked, I’m going for a pesto vinaigrette. It delivers the flavor, while allowing the salad to shimmer.

Summer Tortellini Salad
1/2 lb. fresh green beans
1/2 lb. fresh yellow wax beans
1/2 lb. fresh (or frozen) cheese stuffed tortellinis
1 pint cherry (or grape) tomatoes–assorted reds and sungolds
1/4 cup toasted pinenuts
1/4 cup basil chiffonade

1 cup Pesto Vinaigrette

Fill a skillet with water and bring to a boil for blanching the beans. Set up a large bowl of ice water. If you are cooking two types of beans, cook them separately. Wash and snap beans–pinching off the stem and place into boiling water. Blanche for 4 minutes. Plunge into the icy water bath to shock them—stop the cooking process. Drain well and place into a salad bowl.

In the same pot of water, cook the cheese tortellinis, about nine minutes. Drain and add to the bowl with beans. Wash, dry and cut the cherry or grape tomatoes into halves or quarters—depending on size—and add to the salad, along with the toasted pine nuts. Pour vinaigrette over all and toss well.

Garnish with a chiffonade of fresh basil.

You might enjoy this served on a bed of fresh greens, or by itself, with a piece of crusty bread to sop up the dressing.

Serves 6 generously.

Pesto Vinaigrette

1 clove fresh Garlic
1 cup Basil leaves
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3/4 cup Fruity Olive Oil

Place the first five ingredients into a food processor fitted with the swivel blade and pulse until basil and garlic are well chopped. Then, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while processing, until well-incorporated. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Makes one cup.

It was the desire for more color that took an already delicious pasta dish to a higher level.

Unexpected!

I was to prepare a large batch of linguine tossed with sauteed Swiss chard, pine nuts, golden raisins, and red pepper flakes, always a favorite for its healthy dose of green things in pasta, with a little sweet-and-heat.
It was one of several dishes I cooked recently for a local dinner held at Kipp Crusa and Tallahassee May’s farm.

Tally either grew or gathered all the lush produce for the meal. When she delivered the locally grown goodies to my home, she brought in a sack bulging with chard: long white stems with large dark green leaves that resembled ceremonial fans for an Egyptian deity. Fabulous.

And yet, she lamented the lack of Rainbow Chard, a variety loved for its brilliant, almost iridescent yellow, pink, and purple stems. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought you some beets.”

Mind? No, never would I mind such a thing.

The beet greens and chard cooked beautifully together, the beet’s magenta stem and veined leaves providing a lively color burst. And, a little more. In contrast to the supple chard, the beets added an assertive, earthy bite to this rustic dish.

Pasta-wise, I have typically made this with whole wheat linguine. For Tally’s dinner, I chose to continue the mix-up by using whole wheat, regular, and spinach linguine—a blend sometimes referred to as “Straw and Hay.”

This is a discovery worth repeating—-and sharing.

Today, I’ve got small quantities of Swiss chard and Red Russian Kale harvested from my urban farmette, plus a few spring onions grown tall and fat from all our rain. I’ll toss in the leaves from a beet bunch in my fridge–in short order, this festive straw and hay will be ready to enjoy for dinner! The remaining beets will turn up in the next day or two in a salad or side dish.

Color begins releasing when you saute the stems with spring onions.

The greens like to swim in the stock.

Greens, Straw and Hay
3-4 T. Olive Oil
3 Spring Onions, chopped-use both white and green parts
1 bunch Swiss Chard, Beet Greens, Red Russian Kale (any or all in combination)
cleaned, dried, destemmed:chop stems like celery and set aside; coarsely chop leaves
You’ll have 2 heaping cups of chopped leaves.
1 t. Sea Salt
1/4 t. Red Pepper Flakes
1 cup Vegetable Stock
1/4 cup Golden Raisins
1/4 cup Pine Nuts

Pasta Assortment: use about 2 oz. of each (6 oz. total)
Linguine, Spinach Fettuccine, Whole Wheat Capellini

Heat a large skillet, add olive oil. Sauté spring onions and the chopped stems from your selection of greens on medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and red pepper flakes. Stir in coarsely chopped leaf greens and sauté for another 2 minutes. Pour in vegetable stock and stir well. Leaves will collapse. Add golden raisins and toasted pine nuts. Toss throughout the mixture. Set aside.

Bring a 4-5 qt. pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook your sturdier pasta first: follow package directions. Whole wheat linguine takes 10 minutes, regular takes 7-8. Do a little math, and figure the timing so that you can add the second pasta after 2 minutes so that all is done at the same time. Drain, and reserve 1 cup liquid.

Gently toss pastas with sauteed greens, insuring a good distribution of all the elements throughout. If the mixture doesn’t seem wet enough, add a little of the reserved pasta water.

You may want to grate a little parmegiano-regianno over the top, if you like. It is delicious, of course. But there’s enough good flavors–and textures—in this dish that you may not want to.

Serves 2 as main dishes or 4 as first course.

A tangle of flavor and color…