Cooley Family Farm

Tonight Kevin said that as he distributed rapini today he either saw looks of excitement or of fear. So for those who may be unsure what to do with rapini I wanted to share this fabulous way to cook it that we enjoyed this evening.

Pasta with Rapini

Ingredients:

1 bunch rapini, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box uncooked pasta
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

When chopping the rapini you can use the entire plant other than the tougher portions of the stems. The stems may be used, but it is very important to only use the most tender parts of the stems. Coarsely chop the leaves and flowers. Cut the tender part of the stems into 1 inch pieces.

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the rapini, and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside.

Return the water to a boil, and stir in the pasta. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.

While the pasta is cooking, cook and stir the walnut halves in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set the walnuts aside, add the olive oil, and reduce heat to low.

Stir in the garlic, and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the broccoli rabe, and cook 3 minutes to reheat. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then stir in the drained pasta and walnuts. Toss with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Yum! I hope you enjoy it.

Tracy

I know I say this a lot, but yum, yum, yum! This really is one of my favorite ways to cook asparagus. Last season for asparagus I posted Asparagus with Vanilla Balsamic, Asparagus Soup, Pan Fried Asparagus, and Asparagus Pizza. (If you haven’t seen them, be sure to check them out in this blog in the older posts). I ran out of time to get this one posted last season, so I knew this would be THE asparagus recipe to share this season. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!

Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients:
Asparagus spears
Frozen phyllo dough sheets, thawed
Melted Butter
Garlic Pepper
Parmesan Cheese (Or your choice… blends are great)

Preheat Oven to 375

After thawing the phyllo dough, cut it in half like this…

Lay one of the half sheets of phyllo out so you can lightly butter it. Cover the remaining phyllo with a damp towel to keep it from drying out (which I did not do in this picture… ooops).

Next sprinkle with garlic pepper and cheese. Parmesan cheese alone works well, but I really enjoy combining other cheeses like ramano, provolone, asiago, etc. It all works just choose whatever combinations you like. It doesn’t take a lot of cheese so just sprinkle lightly down the center of the dough.

Select 3 or 4 asparagus spears. I usually choose spears that are close to the same diameter and length, but that is mostly so it looks pretty.

Roll the asparagus up and place them on a baking sheet.

Next, brush the top of the phyllo dough with a little more butter or spray lightly with a cooking spray. Put in the oven and bake for about 15 – 18 minutes.

Easy!! Yummy!! Even kind of fancy!!!

Enjoy…
Tracy

Yes… that’s right…. brownies with spinach and butternut squash. Quite a while ago I saw some recipes for spinach brownies. The recipes I saw called for spinach and carrots. My supply of carrots is pretty low this time of year, but Kevin still has a lot of butternut squash in storage from last fall and he is picking some beautiful new spinach now. I think butternut squash is my favorite sqaush… it seems there is nothing it can’t do! Well… my experiment worked out because the brownies turned out great!!!

I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top to make them look “fancy”. But they really didn’t need it.

Here is my version of the Spinach Brownie recipe:

Brownies (with Spinach and Butternut Squash!)

Nonstick cooking spray
3 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butternut squash puree (instructions below)
1/2 cup spinach puree (instructions below)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Self Raising flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with cooking spray. Melt the chocolate in in microwave starting with about 30 seconds… stir, then 15 seconds… until the chocolate is melted.

In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, spinach, butternut squash, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk in eggs. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

If you eat them warm you taste more of the vegetables. If you let them cool or refrigerate them they just taste like chocolate brownies.

Butternut Squash Puree
I cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash halves skin side up in a baking dish. Bake at 400 for about an hour or until very tender. Scoop the squash out of the skins and it is ready to use.

Spinach Puree
Thoroughly wash the spinach. I snap off the larger stems. I put a small amount of water in a skillet on the stove over medium heat. In small batches I add spinach to the skillet and cook them for about a minute and a half. Place the wilted spinach in a blender or food processor and puree.

Enjoy!!
Tracy