Farmer's Market to Table

There is a lot of talk lately about Farm-to-Table, meaning cooks to get their food directly from the source rather than through a refrigerated truck. I've extolled the virtues and fun of the farmer's markets here in PDX, but one of the best things about them is that it lets me get closer to the farm-to-table state of cooking.

Since it's summer (at least it's trying to be summer) there is a wealth of amazing produce available at the farmer's markets right now. Inspired by a recipe from NPR I went on the hunt for my ingredients.
I made the linguine with slow-cooked zucchini, basil, and cream- it was delish!

First step- went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market for some fresh ingredients: summer squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Next stop, Fred Meyer (a local grocery store) for some heavy cream, pecorino romano cheese, and pancetta bits. I always keep garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and other basics on hand.

The recipe calls for the squash/zucchini to be cut in equally thick disks and the garlic to be sliced very thing (think Goodfellas when he was slicing the garlic with a razor blade). While this can be done with a knife it can get challenging. So for this job I brought out the mandolin. It's a great tool to have in the kitchen for dishes like this, lasagna, casseroles, pies, etc. It is VERY sharp so watch out. You just slide the food down the plane into the blade and it slices right through it.

The result:

Super thin garlic and evenly sized zucchini.

Once you have the veggies prepped it's time to heat up the pan and get cooking. I started with my cast iron skillet, a tsp of olive oil, and the pancetta on med-high heat. Toss in the pancetta and let it cook out most of the fat (about 8 mins). Reduce the heat and add the garlic- I turned the heat way down on my pan so I didn't brown or burn the garlic. Once the garlic is about translucent turn the heat up again to about medium and add the zucchini and squash. 

Let all of that cook down for about 30 mins- check in on it periodically to make sure it's not burning and that everything is cooking evenly. Add some salt and pepper to taste knowing that you can always add more but can't take it out once it's in there.

While all of that was getting to smell amazing I sliced up some fresh heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market and sprinkled them with a little finishing salt from The Meadow. The Meadow is a great little specialty shop in the Mississippi neighborhood in North Portland. The sell finishing salts and salts from all over the world- who knew there was so much salt and that it could be so different? Back to the story at hand- let the salt and tomatoes sit while you finish cooking to really draw the flavors out. 

You'll know the zucchini is ready when it looks like this:

Pancetta is browned and has rendered it's fat out, garlic is golden, and the zucchini is soft and flimsy. 

Next add 1/2 cup heavy cream and let it thicken. In the meantime, get your pasta boiling so it will be ready once the sauce is finished. Slice the basil and it to the sauce just before adding the pasta.

By the time the pasta is ready it's time to add the cheese (remember the pecorino romano I bought earlier?). Sprinkle it into the sauce and stir to let it melt. Before you dump out the pasta, take 2 scoops of the pasta water and add them to the pan to lighten up the sauce. Strain the pasta and the put it in the pan with the sauce and toss to coat all of the noodles.

My sommelier/boyfriend picked out a great white wine to go with this dish. It was the 2009 Pinot Blanc from VX winery (aka Vercingetorix) in the Willamette Valley. Great notes of apple and fruit with just enough to punch through the rich cream sauce.

The wine is poured, the noodles are coated, and the salt has worked it's magic on the tomatoes- it's time to eat! Serve the pasta warm with a little parmesan on top. Enjoy!