Welcome to the 5th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!
Here’s what’s in the share:
- Snap Peas or Snow Peas – first of our peas this week!
- Garlic Scapes or Green Garlic
- Artichokes
- Carrots
- Head Lettuce
- Fava Beans
- Cooking Greens Mix – a mix of various kales and chard
- Strawberries – We’ve picked organic strawberries at Fairfield Farm for you this week!
First and foremost, we have a potluck at the farm coming up on Sunday! We hope you all remembered to mark it on your calendars and are planning to join us for dinner and farm tours. We love sharing the farm with its members and look forward to seeing you all in a less-rushed scenario. We’ll be including further details in your email inbox, so please let us know if we miss you!
Over the past week Jeff finished off the last of our major plantings. We’re starting to shift into maintenance mode and are happy to begin focusing on weeding some of the crops that were somewhat neglected during our planting frenzy. This is good timing with the first of the season’s potlucks coming up. Inviting you all out to the farm is a fantastic incentive to catch up on weeding and generally sprucing up the place.
Stepping back from the constant need t be transplanting also allows us time to fully survey the state of the farm. Our ‘To Do’ list has been growing over the last few weeks as we’d add projects that needed doing without having the time to actually address them. It’s nice to begin checking those extra projects off the list. We’re getting into a more efficient rhythm with our irrigation schedule. Were getting caught up on basic equipment maintenance. We’ve even been keeping up on trellising the peas, which is one of those tasks that we tend to slack off on after a while. Hopefully you’ll be joining us at the farm Sunday for the open house and you’ll get to see our spring progress for yourself!
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler .Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:
Farfalle with Green Garlic, Peas, and Herbed Ricotta
| 1¼ | cups whole-milk ricotta cheese | |
| 1 | oz. fine-grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup) | |
| ½ | cup fine-chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme, marjoram) | |
| ~ | Kosher salt | |
| ~ | Ground black pepper | |
| ~ | Lemon juice | |
| 12 | oz. farfalle pasta | |
| 1 | cup fresh or frozen peas, or sugar-snap peas, cut into ½-inch pieces | |
| 2 | Tbsp. unsalted butter | |
| 2 | Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil | |
| 1 | large bunch green garlic, root end and tough top greens trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced thinly on the bias |
Steps
- Combine ricotta, Parmesan, and herbs in bowl and mix until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add lemon juice to taste; set aside.
- Bring large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Season water liberally with salt and cook pasta according to directions on package. Three minutes before the pasta is to be done, stir in peas; drain.
- While pasta cooks, combine butter and oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add garlic and large pinch salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is wilted and soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Toss pasta with sautéed garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide equally among warmed bowls, top with large dollop of ricotta mixture, and serve immediately.
From Culinate.com via Matthew Card, http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collections/Contributors/Matthew+Card/farfalle_with_green_garlic_peas_and_herbed_ricotta
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Kale and Fava Bean Spring Pasta
- 1 onion, thinly sliced into half moons
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (use green garlic here)
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 15 oz. can fava beans — or fresh and cannelloni is a great sub here
- 1 bunch chopped kale ( a few cups — will cook down)
- 1 bag of wide egg noodles
- 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese (more or less, to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Boil a large pot of water, with a pinch of salt. Cook pasta according to directions, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for about 5 minutes, until they start to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt, cover, reduce heat to medium or medium-low and cook for 10 minutes or longer (if I have things to do around the kitchen I’ll stick it on low and let it go for awhile).
- Add the beans and kale, cover cook for another 10 minutes. If it’s a big bunch of kale you don’t have to use all of it, but keep in mind that the kale will cook down. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Note: in this recipe I’m using canned favas, but sometimes I do use fresh. Here’s how I prep it for saute: shell the beans, parboil in salted water for a few minutes, drop in ice water, and then add then to the saute them for 5 or so minutes.
- When the kale is cooked, toss the veg with the pasta, adding the reserved cooking water to keep it moist. Salt and pepper to taste — add spicy red better for a touch of heat, and add the grated parmesan to taste. It shouldn’t be a tomato-based sauce — nice and light, flavorful yet mild.
From Food52.com, http://food52.com/recipes/17530_kale_and_fava_bean_spring_pasta
pitchfork & crow 