Tonight's Dinner - Spinach Lasagne

We were able to pick an unlimited amount of spinach on Saturday and I am trying to get through it before tomorrow's harvest. Tonight we had a wonderful spinach lasagne.

I used:
1 Fresh Mozzarella
1 Package of Hard Mozzarella Grated
1 Pint of Fresh Whole Milk Ricotta
1 lb of your favorite Sausage
2 (16 oz) cans of Whole Tomatoes
1 jar or Rao's Marinara Sauce (Its so good, I figure using a Jar for half of the sauce is OK) or use your own
5 large Garlic cloves - minced
1 box of Whole Wheat Lasagne Noodles
a lot of spinach - maybe 2 pounds
salt and pepper

I first made my sauce by browning the sausage meat (I squeezed it out of the casing into the pan) then added the minced garlic and then the tomatoes from the 2 cans of whole tomatoes (I threw out the watery sauce they come in). I let that cook for a few minutes and smashed the tomatoes with a masher. Then drained the meat / tomato mixture and returned the liquid to the pan to reduce and added a splash of red wine and about 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. While that was going I took the raw spinach in batches and ground in the food processor. I transfered it to a bowl and squeezed the water out with paper towels.

I then took the ricotta over a strainer so that the milky water would drain.

Then I put it all together in the lasagna pan in this order. Rao's sauce, lasagna noodles, all the ground spinach and grated mozzarella, noodles, Rao's sauce and then the ricotta and then the sausage in the red sauce (I pored the reduced red sauce on top) and cooked it on convection for about 45 minutes at 400 covered. I took it off, turned to broil, and topped with the fresh mozzarella and broiled till the fresh mozzarella was bubbling and slightly browned.

We are all stuffed.

Tonight's Dinner - Steak Salad

Such an easy meal to pull together when you have a lot of vegetables.

This one contains the following grilled (start grilling those that need to cook longer first):
Eggplant
Cherry tomatoes (wait till late summer for real ones)
Red Onion
Broccoli Rabe
Asparagus
Fennel
Rib Eye (go for grass fed)

Top the salad with the sliced steak, a nice cheese (tonight I used a sheep's milk from France with green peppercorns) and a red wine vinaigrette.



A "not so local wine" that was a perfect pairing to this salad.

If you want a local wine the Musee from Bedell Cellars on the North Fork is amazing, but pricey!!

Tonight's Dinner - Iacono Grilled Chicken, Roasted Tomato Couscous, and Lemon Splashed Sliced Radishes

Iacono Farm Grilled Chicken with Bobby Flay's Oregano Vinaigrette, toasted Israeli couscous with caramelized onions, roasted tomato and balsamic glaze, sliced radishes and just picked today caesar salad.

Too bad we both felt horrible during dinner (seasonal allergies) but the spices I incorporated into the dinner helped a bit.

Iacono Farm is located in East Hampton, NY at 106 Long Ln. Call ahead to place your order (631) 324-1107. Best Chickens on the planet!!! And eggs too!

Afternoon Snack - Zucchini Blossoms

Oops, my daughter picked these at the farm today even though they were not of the list at the farm stand of vegetables ready to harvest. In that case, they really shouldn't go to waste. So minutes after coming home from the farm, I whipped these up.



Easy recipe here
I sprinkled with sea salt and lemon juice when plated.

"Wild" Flowers from today's harvest at the farm

Today at the Farm

Farm Stand, where we find out what we can harvest that day

Spring Onions on right (looks like we will be able to harvest on Tuesday)
Peach Trees!

Tonight's dinner - Black sea bass topped with local radish and pea shoots, local pea risotto, and local spinach

I made a simple lemon vinaigrette for the raw radish / pea shoot salad and then also drizzled it over the fish once it was on the plate.

For the spinach, I sauteed 2 garlic cloves in olive oil and then added a splash of whole milk, plain greek yogurt, and a handful of grated parmesan salt and pepper.