The Start of Summer

Some of my haul from the market.

Our local wine store, Big Nose Full Body, had a bunch of NY wines to try out. I used the red in my sauce and look forward to the LI Rose. The store also gives you handy reusable 6 bottle bags that are much easier than boxes or plastic.
Well, summer is officially here and I decided it was time for comfort food, lasagna and grilled peaches.
My lasagna was inspired by my trip to the farmers market today and probably doesn't deserve to be called lasagna. It has no cheese and uses squash and noodles to make the layers. I love making it because it lasts all week, can be made cheaply and easily, and packs a lot of veggies. You can easily adapt it to add locally made cheese or a different set of proteins and veggies. The biggest surprises were the sweetness of the tomatoes and the mellow flavor of the local garlic. I am constantly amazed at how different fresh, locally grown food tastes from its mass produced counterparts.

One note: Russo's makes their noodles and some cheeses on site but I don't know the provenance of the ingredients. I think the recipe is still somewhat local because I didn't use noodles from a box. I would like to add pasta making to my cooking skills but today was not the day to try.

Lasagna

2 squashes sliced thinly lengthwise (Farmers Market)
Assorted veggies- broccoli, peppers, spinach (all present at the FM)
Lasagna noodles- fresh pasta from Russo's

Sauce
1.5 lbs Tomatoes (FM)
1 cup Long Island Red Wine (Big Nose Full Body)
1.5 lbs ground turkey (FM)
4 cloves Minced Garlic (Union Sq Farmers Market)
Basil, Rosemary, Chives, Parsley from Fire Escape and window boxes
1 tbs Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

I start by making a basic tomato sauce. Most people should start with browning onions in EVOO followed by the garlic and then brown the turkey. Turkey is very different than red meat but I appreciate the health benefits and like the texture if properly browned. The only way to learn to love different substitute proteins is to play around with them. Once the meat is browned, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer. I do this all by feel and have no real set time or methodology. My tomato sauce always tastes differently and I can play around with different spices and basically empty my cupboard or fridge into the recipe.

The highlight of the sauce are all the spices. I pruned all of my herbs today and did a rough chop before throwing them in. I sometimes add cinnamon to the sauce but chose not to because it was so sweet already.

To make the lasagna I layer the noodles with sauce and veggies. My sister is trying to cut down on carbs so I hit on using squash a few years ago. I end up with 2-3 layers of noodles instead of 5-6 and my lasagna is very chunky and unlasagna like. I usually end up baking it for 45 minutes on 450 but again, I go by the floppiness of the noodles. Since the noodles were fresh, I made sure to slice the veggies really thin to make sure they would cook.

Grilled Peaches with a Lemon Verbena and Honey Goat Cheese Custard

I experimented with grilled peaches last summer and fell in love. Half them, take the pit out, and brush a touch of EVOO and sugar on them. I think they're done when you can squeeze them really easily with your tongs. They will also really stick to the grill so try some tin foil. This also works great in a grill pan and would probably work with poaching or roasting. I often add a bit of ice cream or creme freche to the top with a drizzle of balsamic reduction on top.

Tonight, they were topped with the goat cheese custard. Actually, you should top the custard with the peaches. I adapted the recipe to take advantage of the lemon verbena I planted in April. It is a beautiful smelling plant and I had written that the custard would be good with lemon zest. I followed the recipe already in the blog but added the lemon verbena by pulsing it in the food process with the sugar to break up the leaves. I added the honey for an added flavor component.

All of these components except for the sugar can be found at the local farmers market and other stores. If you don't usually make desserts this is an easy custard to get you started and will give you lots of ideas of toppings. I think next time I will try a brown sugar and ginger frozen yogurt.