Vegetable Gratin

1 large onion
1 head of garlic
1 small eggplant
1 zucchini
2-3 tomatoes
Oregano
Basil (dried or fresh)
Salt
Pepper
Grated cheese of choice

Roast garlic cloves in advance. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut onion in half and slice; saute with a dash of olive oil. Spray an 8"x8" glass pan, and spread the onions and garlic cloves on the bottom. Slice the eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes thinly, and arrange in layers on top. Sprinkle very generously with spices. Cover with a lid or foil, and bake for 1 hour. Check to make sure it isn't drying out, and if it is, sprinkle water on top until wetted.

Add the cheese and broil to finish. Serves 4.

Asparagus Pizza

Pizza dough
alfredo sauce
several asparagus spears
caramelized onions
prosciutto or coppa
Romano cheese

Chop asparagus into 2-inch pieces and saute.  Cut meat into strips. Preheat oven to 450.

Shape pizza dough, spread the alfredo sauce, and arrange the asparagus, onions, and meat on top. Grate a small amount of cheese on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the meat is getting crispy and the dough is cooked.

Zucchini Parmesan

We got a huge zucchini from the CSA, and thought zucchini parmesan sounded good, and it was! I was going to make a batch of my marinara sauce to put in, but that didn't happen. It would have been out of this world if I had.

To serve 2 without leftovers:
1 foot-long, 4 in diameter zucchini, or 3 regular-sized zucchinis
3 T olive oil
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs
1 t herbes de Provence
1 t oregano
1/2 t thyme
1 t basil
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup marinara sauce
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese (string cheese chopped, or fresh mozzarella sliced, or the usual grated)

Slice zucchinis into "coins" about 1/3 inch long, thicker being better. In a small mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs and herbs. Combine a third of the parmesan cheese with a third of the bread crumb mixture in a separate bowl. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet, coat the zucchini slices with olive oil, and place on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the zucchini, salt and pepper, and put in the oven for 30 minutes or until browned. Pour most of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a small casserole (oven safe) dish, saving some to put on top. Remove the zucchini from the oven, and lower the temperature to 400 degrees.

Layer the zucchini into the casserole dish, doing a layer of zucchini, and then a sprinkle of the bread crumb mixture, a layer of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and then another layer of zucchini, and so on, until all ingredients have been used, reserving some cheese for topping. Spread the last of the marinara sauce on top, and then finish with the cheese. Put it back in the oven for 15 minutes without a lid to melt/brown the cheese.

We think in the future we will at least double, if not triple, the recipe because we think this would make really good lunch leftovers too.

Marinara Sauce w/ Meatballs

Make meatballs first in a pan large enough for the sauce.

Meatballs:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 eggs
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
dried thyme
salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together, and heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in the large pan. Shape the mixture into 2" diameter balls, and carefully drop onto the hot oil. Cook until browned on all sides.

Sauce:
1+ onion(s)
2+ cloves garlic
1 14-oz can artichoke quarters (not marinated)
2 zucchinis
2-3 small CSA carrots, 1-1/2 grocery store carrots
a large handful of fresh marjoram
rosemary
fresh thyme
2-3 32-oz cans diced plum tomatoes
salt to taste (more than you think to overcome the sweetness of the tomatoes)
dash of red chili flakes

Dice the onions and mince the garlic. Leave the meatballs in the pan. Add the diced onions and minced garlic to the pan, saute. Dice the zucchini, and chop the artichokes. Save the liquid from the artichoke can. When the onion and garlic have softened, add the vegetables, the artichoke liquid, and the tomatoes. Add the spices, and blend with an immersion blender until the desired consistency is achieved. Add salt until the flavor is good. Simmer while the pasta cooks.

Spaghetti alla Rucola

2 T butter
1 large bunch arugula, washed and cut into bite size pieces
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 lb spaghetti noodles
optional: garlic

Bring a pot of water to boiling for the pasta, and follow the directions for cooking on the package. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saute or saucepan large enough to hold all ingredients. If using garlic, mince, and saute, and then add the arugula, and wilt it (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the heavy cream and the cheese, and simmer over low heat until the sauce thickens. Toss the cooked noodles in, and stir until the noodles have absorbed some of the sauce.

Christy's Baked Eggplant "Parmesan"

Ingredients: 1 eggplant bread crumbs or crushed Ritz crackers (this was really good) or Panko italian seasoning 1 lb ground turkey (optional) mozzarella cheese spaghetti spaghetti sauce Preparation: Preheat oven to 415 deg. Cut up eggplant into small pieces or thin slices. Spray or grease 9x13 pan. Throw eggplant in pan with some bread crumbs and italian seasoning (sorry, I don't measure). Put it in the oven for about 30 minutes and stir it every once in a while, until it is brown and the eggplant is kind of dried out. While that is cooking, start boiling water for the spaghetti, brown the ground turkey, and grate the cheese. When the eggplant is done, mix it all together or make layers. Put some cheese on top. Turn the oven temp down to 350 deg and cook for about 30 minutes until the cheese is melted. You can put some Parmesan cheese on top.

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients

• 1 pound linguine or spaghetti
• 6 strips bacon or pancetta, diced
  
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
  

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer to a paper towel and reserve the drippings.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Still whisking constantly, add 2 tablespoons of the drippings, or a spoonful of boiling pasta water, to temper the eggs. Working quickly, add the drained pasta and Parmesan to the yolk mixture and toss to combine. Add the salt, pepper, parsley, and bacon. Serve immediately.
   

Butternut Squash Risotto from Simply Recipes

6-8 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
Butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup butternut squash, roasted (or any kind of squash, Acorn to zucchini)
1 cup arborio rice (can substitute medium grained white rice, but arborio is preferred)
1/2 cup dry white wine or cooking sherry
1/2 cup+ freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt

1 Slice butternut squash in half, place on a baking pan with cut side up, and roast at 350 until soft. Allow to cool enough to handle, and peel skin off (should come off easily). Roughly chop to break up any fibers holding the flesh together. 1 cup is approximately half a squash. Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Chop onion. Melt 4 T of butter in a large saucepan; and saute onion, adding the squash at the end.

2 Add rice to onion and squash. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine has been absorbed by the rice or evaporated. Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, and the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite.

3 During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter and 1/4 cup Parmesan. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan.

Serves 4.

Doesn't freeze well.

Stuffed Shells

• 12-oz box of jumbo pasta shells
• 10-oz pkg silken tofu
• 1 head of spinach, or 1 bag of pre-washed spinach
• 1 egg
• 15-oz container of nonfat ricotta cheese
• ¾ cup grated mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 can spaghetti sauce

Put water on to boil for shells. Steam spinach (possibly in the same pot if you have a tall pasta pot with a steamer in the top). Cook the shells until nearly done, drain. Set the shells and spinach aside. Combine tofu, egg, ricotta cheese, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Fold in spinach.

Preheat oven to 350. Pour a small amount of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Make sure the shells are cool enough to hold, and then use a spoon to fill the shells with the cheese filling. Place the shells in the pan with the openings upward. You may need more than one pan. When the pans are full, pour more spaghetti sauce on top and then cover with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browning.

Note: the same cheese filling recipe can be used for lasagne, simply substitute lasagne noodles for the shells.

Pasta Salad

• Rotini pasta
• Italian salad dressing
• Vegetables of your choosing: red onion, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, grated carrot, marinated artichoke hearts, olives (ONLY if you so choose)
• Cheese
• Salami

Cook pasta. Cool. Cut up all other ingredients and add. Mix in sparing amounts of salad dressing.

Pasta Primavera

• 1 pkg angel hair pasta
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 T olive oil
• 2-3 tomatos
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• Salt & pepper

Prepare tomatoes- include as much of the tomato as you like. Remove skin if you choose to. Remove inside with seeds (recommended). Dice fruit of tomato. Dice basil leaves. Prepare and dice garlic. Place in food processor (you can skip dicing and just do this too), add dash of salt & pepper, and process. Mix in olive oil until easily spreadable. Boil pasta- angel hair only takes about 3 minutes, so have everything else ready. Strain, and mix sauce in well. Generously apply cheese on top. Provide spinner spoons. Enjoy!

Minestrone

• ¼ lb. bacon or ham, diced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 cups light stock or broth
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 head Swiss chard, shredded
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 15 ½ oz can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained
• 1 cup macaroni or vermicelli
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T parsley, chopped
• 2 T oil (olive, preferably)
• Parmesan cheese (no sawdust)

In a skillet, sauté the bacon until browned. Stir in onions and garlic and cook until onion is golden. Place mixture in crock pot with remaining ingredients except macaroni and seasonings, parsley, oil, and cheese. Cover and cook at low heat for 6 to 8 hours. Add macaroni, salt, & pepper. Turn heat to high heat; cover and cook for 30 minutes or until macaroni is done. At serving time stir in parsley and oil. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Lasagne

• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 package lasagne noodles
• 1 head spinach
• 1 small container ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook and drain the lasagne noodles. Cook the spinach and mix with the ricotta, egg, and parmesan. Heat oven to 400. Pour ½ the spaghetti sauce into a 9 x 13 pan. Arrange ½ the lasagna noodles on top, then spread the spinach mixture on top. Sprinkle with ½ of mozzarella cheese. Layer remaining lasagne noodles next and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes.