Spaghetti with Ricotta and Double Broccoli

You're wondering this: What the heck is double broccoli? We're talking about broccoli and broccoli raab. I bought both at the farmers' market because when things start showing up for the first time, that's what you do. And when you have two confirmed broccoli lovers for children, that's also what you do. And so, you get to work on making them delicious. As any market devotee may know, when you're buying good, fresh, local stuff, you don't need to do a whole hell of a lot to turn that into a reality. 

A quick note about the scapes and scallions: In this application and most of my regular market cooking, I utilize most of these items. For scapes, you want to slice them pretty thin; think of them as a garlic substitute here. And for scallions, I only slice off a tiny bit of the bottom, where the roots are/were (depending on what they look like when you buy them), and the top quarter, especially if the tips are looking raggy. I'm a believer in utilizing as much of an item as possible. It's less wasteful and you get a little bit more of complexity of flavor from each individual foods when you use them this way, in season. 

Choppin' broccoli...... choppin' broccoli...... (Insert Dana Carvey joke here.) 

Ingredients

• 12 ounces of spaghetti or other long pasta
• 1-2 T unsalted organic local butter
• 3 garlic scapes, sliced thin
• 3 scallions, sliced thin 
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped into florets (about 4-5 cups)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 large bunch of broccoli raab, chopped into one-inch pieces (about 4-5 cups)
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped (about 4-5 cups)
• Zest and juice of one lemon, separated
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 
• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of pasta water

Instructions

Bring a large stock pot filled with salty water to boil over medium-high heat. It will likely be up to boil while you cook up the veggies. 

Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the scapes and scallions for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften a little bit (the scapes won't totally soften). Add the chopped broccoli and 1/2 cup water and cover, steaming the broccoli for a couple of minutes until it brightens in color and the water has mostly cooked off. Remove the lid and add the broccoli raab and lemon zest. Stir ingredients together and turn off the heat.

In a medium bowl, stir together the lemon juice, ricotta, olive oil, which you've salted and peppered with the good stuff.  

Before you drain the pasta, scoop out 1/2 cup of the hot starchy water. Stir a little bit of water into the ricotta mix to create a sauce. Add the pasta and ricotta mix to the pot with the veggies. Turn the heat back on to medium low and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon to bring it together. If the ricotta seems too thick, add a little bit more of the pasta water. 

Yield: 4-6 as a main course.

Spaghetti with Ricotta and Double Broccoli. Ta da! 

Propaganda Cookies, or, Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue

I've revisited this recipe, which was born about four years ago when I received an email from my father-in-law with the subject line: "Cookie idea." 

The man knows how to get my attention, even if I'm reading email while swatting children off my leg.

So, he begins to tell me, succinctly and quickly, that he had this amazing cookie at Russo's, which in addition to its farm-fresh produce and flowers and such, has been running a baking operation for as long as I can remember. (We used to get the apple cider doughnuts as kids.) He says me it's a red, white, and blue cookie and I almost rolled my eyes, except he said it was delicious.

I wrote back and said, "That sounds like cookie propaganda!" But I was curious, you see. My in-laws live two hours away and don't buy their own cookies because, as my mother-in-law has told me, I've "spoiled" them for store-bought cookies, both the supermarket-bakery-kind and the chemical-laden, metallic-tasting, packaged kind. I then quizzed them on the taste and texture: dried cranberries AND dried blueberries or were the blueberries fresh? Was it soft? Chewy? Hard? Crispy? Sweet?  I thought chopped white chocolate would go better than chips; it needed a contrast. Chewy but not too soft: that's what they said.

I've modified this yet again, by reducing the sugar and using dried cherries instead of dried cranberries. I like the way the cherries play off the blueberries, white chocolate and lemon. Plus, y'know, George Washington and all that. 

Propaganda Cookies, a.k.a. Red, White and Blue Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oats (regular, old-fashioned)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Zest of half a lemon
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. lemon extract (or a squeeze of the lemon you zested)
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly mix the sugars and the zest until combined. Add butter and cream together until light and fluffy. Add large egg and egg white, along with the vanilla and lemon extracts (or juice), and mix until combined. Stir in the dried fruits and the chopped white chocolate. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour; longer if it's hot in your kitchen. 

Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the cookies by leveled tablespoons (I used one of my OXO cookie scoops, which I can't live without) onto the sheets and bake for about 9-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, until lightly browned around the edges. 

Yield: About 3 dozen cookies.