Pasta of the Gods

And so the voyage continues. Tonight's Farmer's Market Bag creation is zucchini and summer squash pasta with mint. This dish can be summed up in one word- yum. I can hardly describe how good this was, but if a pasta dish can make a grown person purr, this is it. While this dish is super tasty, it is ridiculously easy to make. If you so desire (and you should), this is how to do it: After slicing the squash into coins, I patted them dry with a paper towel, seasoned them with some salt and pepper, lightly dusted them with flour and cooked them in batches in some olive oil until golden brown. After all the squash had been cooked, I added the garlic and red pepper flakes and cooked until the garlic just started to brown then added in the pasta, along with some of the cooking liquid, and a couple handfuls of Parmesan cheese. Now here is where some magic happens- as you vigorously shake the pan and toss the pasta, the starchy water, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese emulsifies to create a creamy sauce. Once this happens add the mint, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and dig in. Trust me, you won't be able to refrain from going back for seconds.

Zucchini and Summer Squash Past with Mint

2 Zucchini, cut into disks
2 Crockneck squash, cut into disks
2 garlic cloves, pealed and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons minced mint (or basil would be good here too)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1-lb pasta of choice, cooked until al dente (save about a cup of the starchy cooking liquid)
1/2 cup Olive Oil
Flour, as needed for dusting squash

Farmer's Market Bag 4-8-11

I am big fan of supporting local growers and small artisnal producers. That said, I am not a big fan of CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes. I signed-up for one a year or so back and I soon became bored with the contents of my box. I understand that one small farm cannot grow everything, but I'm a gal who needs variety in her life. Since then I have periodically visited the farmers market to purchase my produce directly, but with the hectic turn my life has taken I rarely find the time to support our community's farmers. That is until now...

I was recently introduced to Specialty Produce, a warehouse produce distributor and the best kept secret in San Diego. This place is my new Mecca. I am happy just walking through the plastic flap door. They have everything you could ever want and then some. While they do get their produce from sources World-wide, they also do quite a bit of purchasing from local growers and have started selling a "Farmers Market Bag". Each week they hand select produce from local farms, so you're able to support multiple growers as well as getting variety of produce each week. In addition to this bounty of produce, Specialty also provides add-ons to your bag from local artisnal companies. This week my bag of goodies included green spring garlic & all red potatoes from Weiser Farms, baby green zucchini from Tutti Fruitti, mint, Italian parsley, and rosemary from Ruitz Farms, arugula from Coastal Organics, Lyon artichokes from Life's a Choke, dandelion greens from McGrath Family Farms, baby yellow crookneck squash from Beylik Farms, Hass avocados and Eureka lemons from Stehly Farm Organics, Moro blood oranges from Pomack Farms, some Irish soda bread from Sadie Rose Bakery, Cypress Grove Purple Haze, Chuao Chocolatier Spicy Mayan chocolate bar, and two pounds of fresh caught yellow tail from Catalina Offshore (and some rhubarb that I couldn't help but get).

One of the challenges (and joys) of getting the Farmers Market Bag, or any CSA for that matter, is coming up with creative ways to utilize the ingredients and Saturday night dinner with a friend was a perfect place to start. The Lyon artichoke is unique in that the long stem, once trimmed, is fully edible and just as tasty as the heart. Armed with my chef's knife, I attacked the artichoke, trimming it down to just the heart and stalk. After steaming, I buzzed it in the food processor with some juice from the Eureka lemons, olive oil, and voila, Lyon artichoke puree was born. To go with my Kermit colored puree of awesomeness, I roasted some root vegetables, and served it all alongside pan roasted yellow tail topped with a wonderfully bright relish made with the mint and parsley, along with some capers, golden raisins, olive oil and a touch of lemon juice. So good! I also dressed the arugula simply with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and garnished it with Parmesan shavings. As for dessert, well that is a story that started out good, but took a tragic turn in the end. I love strawberries, so naturally my favorite pie is strawberry rhubarb. I had some left-over sweet dough stashed in the freezer from Baking and Pastry, so I thought now would be the perfect time to make pie. I put a lot of love in this pie- I stewed the strawberries and rhubarb in a little simple syrup and a touch of Bonny Doon Rose, I lovingly topped the pie with an oatmeal crumb, and baked it to a golden perfection. But unfortunately while cooling on the counter it picked a fight with a falling bag of sugar and lost horribly. In less than ten seconds my beautiful pie was reduced to a cratered mishmash of sugary goodness. While it looked like a meteor had landed in it's center, it still tasted pretty good.