Tag Archives: fall

Reliving the Glory of Summer – Pasta al Pesto Genovese in the Fall

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Post-Thanksgiving Pasta – Sounds like a bad idea, right? I am a few weeks late with this post, but I hope you will still find it entertaining.

Pretty Purple Taters and Green Beans Ready to go

Pasta al Pesto was great excuse to reminisce about the summer’s bounty.  And required no additional shopping – a bonus after hitting the grocery store multiple times while prepping for Thanksgiving. I pulled a glass jar of pesto out of the freezer Saturday morning to defrost, excited for my resourceful quasi-pantry meal. We had purple potatoes leftover from the last CSA pick-ups (remember, potatoes do last), and the green beans, while neither local or seasonal at the moment, were leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner. We cleaned and sliced them up, and boiled the potatoes first, then the green beans, using the same water.

Boiled potatoes and green beans, awaiting their turn

Set aside the veggies, then cook the pasta in the same water. While the pasta cooked, I thinned out my frozen pesto with some additional olive oil, and added 1/2 cup of grated parmiggiano to the pesto. If you prepare pesto for the freezer, don’t add the cheese until you are ready to use it.

Add the spaghetti, steaming, straight from the pot

Add the pasta to a large bowl with the green beans, potatoes, pesto and a splash of pasta water. Toss well.

Fabulous Fall Meal: Spaghetti al Pesto Genovese

Tutti a tavola! Spaghetti al Pesto Genovese on a chilly November night. I loved dipping into my pantry to pull out previously prepared treats.

Tell me what you’ve used from  your pantry lately.

Hearty Fall Soup for Frosty Temps

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Chopped leeks ready for some butter

Chopped leeks ready for some butter

The irony of this soup recipe is that I originally tried it back in May, and here it is in mid-October and I finally have all the ingredients available in my CSA basket. It took nearly 6 months and 2 seasons to reach the point where I can prepare the dish from local, seasonal ingredients. The recipe for Cabbage, Potato and Leek soup comes from Melissa Clark‘s NY Times column, “A Good Appetite.”

It is a deeply flavorful, thick and satisfying soup that in my opinion, is much more suited for the fall than early spring, so I’m glad I filed it away in the back of my mind for this season. I was excited to put my frosty leeks to work (truly nothing smells better than leeks sauteed in butter), use up some of that never-ending cabbage, and make some headway in our large stock of potatoes. What sounds like a rather bland and monochromatic soup actually turned out to be quite colorful during the prep stages. The soup was roundly praised by all. Baby Sam asked for thirds. Check out my modified recipe below:

Ingredients:

Sliced purple potatoes. Just because.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium leeks, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
8 cups shredded cabbage
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 small new potatoes (I used purple potatoes because I had them on hand) 
3 cups vegetable stock
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 thyme branches
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pecorino Romano rind, or parmiggiano rind (optional)
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to serve
Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the leeks and cook until soft and golden around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cabbage and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

Sauteed leeks

2. Stir in potatoes, stock, 4 or 5 cups water, salt, cheese rind (if using) and thyme. Bring soup to a simmer and cook, partly covered, until potatoes begin to fall apart, 45 to 50 minutes. Add more water, as needed, to reach the desired consistency. Use hand blender to partially puree and remove thyme stems. Season with black pepper and serve, topped with cheese.

Yield: 6 servings