Hearty, Healthy Italian Recipes
This week’s box is packed with the vibrant flavors of Italy, found in the forms of locally-made bucatini pasta, Italian sausage from Skagit River Ranch, and soft, pillowy focaccia—plus health-boosting, vitamin-rich produce like dried Porcini mushrooms and bright radicchio, plus carrots, Cipollini onions, garlic, fennel and a bevy of citrus fruit. Farm-fresh eggs, our signature chicken stock and freshly-baked lemon knot cookies help finish off this fresh and flavorful Italian lineup; mangia!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Bucatini Pasta with Italian Sausage & Porcini Mushrooms
Everyone will be asking for seconds of this extremely satisfying dish.
Fresh Radicchio, Fennel & Apple Salad
Tart, crunchy and crisp, this cool salad celebrates the classic combination of fennel and radicchio.
Baked Fennel
This classic Italian finocchi gratinati is simply sublime.
Carrots Marinated with Garlic & Oregano
This room-temperature dish packs in the flavor and makes for a lovely side dish or light lunch!
Fennel & Lemon Relish
This crisp slaw from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food II is excellent tossed with roasted vegetables, or even served as part of a charcuterie board.
Risotto Night Recipes
The calendar may say May, but the spring temps sure have remained chilly, so warm yourself body and soul this week with a lineup that stars one of our farmhouse favorites: cozy risotto crafted with arborio rice, wild and earthy Porcini mushrooms and our own signature chicken stock. Also including Gruyère cheese bread, soft, spreadable sheep’s milk cheese and a bevy of bold greens, this box is still flush with the offerings of spring despite the pervasive gray, from purple sprouting broccoli and gold potatoes to Hakurei turnips and red radishes. Enjoy!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Porcini Mushroom Risotto
Creamy and delicious, this recipe is a favorite here at the farm—just remember to stir!
How-To: Reconstitute Dried Mushrooms
Follow these simple steps to reconstitute the beautiful mushrooms for this week’s risotto.
Roasted Radishes
Seasoned with fresh thyme and red onions, these buttery radishes are an excellent accompaniment to just about any protein.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli Salad
This room temperature salad from The Barefoot Contessa has just the right amount of crunch!
Mustard Greens Pesto
Brilliantly green, this mustard green pesto packs a bit of a kick and pairs beautifully with grilled baby potatoes.
Pasta with Italian Sausage, Sauteed Kale and Mushrooms
Also tossed with sweet onions and a topping of Grana-style cheese, this pasta is incredibly satisfying.
Ingredients:
1 pound strozzapreti pasta, or other pasta of your choice
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 bunch Lacinato kale, stripped of tough ribs and torn into large pieces
2 cups Portobello mushrooms, washed and thinly sliced
1 sweet onion, peeled and diced
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons butter, divided
¼ cup Grana-style cheese, grated
Method:
1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil, then add the pasta. Cook until the strozzapreti is al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain pasta.
2. Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until done, breaking into bite-sized chunks with a spoon. Remove the sausage to a plate and reserve. Wipe any excess sausage grease from the pan and then heat 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter in the skillet. Once warm, add the onions, mushroom and garlic, tossing to coat with oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and sweat until mushrooms are tender and garlic is fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Add in kale and cook until just slightly wilted, about another minute or so.
3. Add drained pasta and sausage to the skillet with the vegetables, then toss everything together with the rest of the olive oil and butter. If pasta seems a little dry, mix in reserved pasta water. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with Grana-style cheese to sprinkle over pasta.
