BELLOWS FALLS-It's here! Autumn arrived in Vermont on Sept. 22. The leaf peepers are viewing our annual colorful foliage show. The straw people have appeared on lawns and farm stands, looking quite chipper, at least until it rains!
But the autumnal equinox is not so much a line between the seasons as a time of transition. There are still hot days in the 80s with blue skies, or cloudy, chilly weather that definitely feels like fall. Many areas will have frost, and that same spot will have sweltering hot a few days later. Unpredictable at best.
It's a splendid time to hit the farm stands and farmers markets, which are also in transition. There are still a few summer stragglers hanging on like zucchini and beans, lots of sweet peppers, root veggies, greens, herbs, winter squashes and pumpkins, cauliflowers and broccoli, autumn strawberries, raspberries, plums, a few stray peaches and blackberries, and lots and lots of apples. There's still a bounty from which to choose, and all the supporting characters as well: cheeses, meats, eggs, honey, maple syrup, flowers for the table, and beer and other spirits, in great variety.
We also love the food booths as well, and this year the tiny little village hosted lots of diversity, including American barbecue, traditional breakfast dishes, pastries, a French crêpe food truck, and specialty booths featuring Korean, Mexican, Japanese, Mideastern, Nigerian, and Ethiopian dishes. Quite a lot of choices for lunch on market day!
However, it is all bittersweet; in a few weeks, the markets will end for the season, along with our weekly ritual. The seasons turn, and our routines change.
With a week's vegetables gathered, it's time to think about what they ask us to make this week, because they always rule the menu.
With some beautiful locally made fresh pasta in hand, our Sunday lunch was destined to revolve around this star with a lot of the other market players represented. It looked like a rainbow when we got home and emptied our bags.
Fresh Farmers Market Pasta with a Mix of Autumn Veggies
This is a quick dish to make, simple, feeds a crowd, and so fresh and flavorful, not a single person asked me where the meat was. I served this with a lovely side salad, and beautiful locally baked bread. Who could ask for anything more?
That diversity in color is a good thing on the nutrition front, and I always try to remember that the darker the color in a vegetable, the higher the mineral count. So if there's a choice between a white potato and a blue one, the blues win, unless there is a compelling reason to use the white. (Perhaps if creating Le Diner en Blanc? I have a friend who attended one of these events, where the location is secret and everyone wears white. I've never been, but am always waiting for one to happen here, and I have the outfit all picked out.)
But I digress. We've had lovely sweet Italian frying peppers for many weeks, and lots of these went in the pot. The broccoli family is happy again with the cooler nights, and potatoes will be our constant until next growing season. I don't usually put potatoes in a pasta dish unless it is part of the dough in a gnocchi, but we all loved the combination. Bless the basil! It's still hanging in there.
I also slipped a few cherry tomatoes from my plant that is still heavily producing; no one leaves my house without a bag of them, or two.
I've given lots of options here, because it all depends on what you find that is freshest and best at the market on the day you shop. So, I've used a purple onion, but you can certainly use a leek or even shallots. Use a firm potato, and a very sweet pepper, or make it even more your own and use a pepper with a little heat such as a poblano, there are lots of these beauties about as well. Basil is wonderful here, but mint would also be nice, or lovely chives. Also, chose whatever pasta catches your eye! If you use a dried pasta, simply adjust your pasta drop time to the beginning of the sauté.
Happy hunter-gather-ing, at least for a couple more weeks!
¶2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¶1 purple or yellow onion, or 1 large leek, sliced
¶4 cloves garlic, minced
¶4 to 6 anchovies, minced (optional)
¶1 lb. purple or red potatoes, diced
¶1 carrot, sliced
¶Sweet Italian frying peppers, or sweet minis, sliced
¶1 small yellow summer squash, cubed or sliced
¶1 head broccolini, broccoli rabe, or broccoli, chopped
¶½ cup dry white wine
¶1 lb. fresh fettuccini or spaghetti or whatever you like
¶Fresh basil leaves, about a cup
¶Parmesan or toasted anchovy or garlic bread crumbs to top
Prep all your veggies and put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Put on some good music, and enjoy the process - it can be quite meditative.
Warm the olive oil over medium high heat, and add the onion, stirring frequently until softened and just starting to brown at the edges. Add the garlic and a bit of salt and pepper and stir for about 30 seconds, until you start to smell the fragrance.
I also added a few anchovies here, chopped, but if you want to keep this recipe vegetarian, simply omit them. They add a ton of subtle but delicious flavor.
After a quick saute of the onion and garlic, add the potatoes and carrot to give them a jump start on cooking.
Add the wine and stir to deglaze, then toss in the potatoes and carrot, cover, reduce heat to simmer, and continue cooking until they are just starting to get tender, stirring now and then.
Add the peppers, squash, and broccolini or broccoli stems, season with salt and pepper, toss well, and cook until the stems of the broccolini are tender. It doesn't take long, so drop the pasta in the water to cook. Mine only took 2 to 3 minutes, so everything happens quickly now.
Toss in the heads of the broccolini to the vegetables, and rip up the basil leaves, stir well, cover and let cook a minute or so, just until the heads are crisp-tender.
Once the pasta is cooked, remove it from the pot and add it to the vegetables, along with some of the pasta cooking liquid to create a little creaminess as you stir it in. Taste for seasoning.
Plate and garnish with either Parmesan or vegan cheese, or with luscious anchovy breadcrumbs (posted on my blog). I used both because I love the crunch and flavor.
Dorothy Grover-Read's culinary talents can be found on her blog "The New Vintage Kitchen" (vintagekitchen.org), billed as "[a] Vermont innkeeper's collection of classics reimagined for today's kitchen," from which this week's recipes have been gleaned. Her column has regularly appeared in The Commons' Food & Drink and other special sections for years.
This Special section column was submitted to The Commons.