We're fans of pasta alla carbonara. Whole wheat pasta combined with lots of garlic and pepper, local eggs from healthy chickens, and just enough uncuredcenter-cut bacon make the seemingly indulgent classic a relatively healthy meal as well. (You can even add fresh greens, if you'd like.)
This late spring/early summer version features spicy, tender garlic scapes (the stalks of the garlic plant cut off in spring so the plant can focus all its energy on the garlic bulb) instead of mature garlic cloves. (Garlic scapes also make a lovely pesto!)
12 garlic scapes, cut into 1/2-inch lengths 2 ounces bacon, chopped fine
1.5 oz parmesan, freshly grated
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8oz whole wheat spaghetti
salt
Set a medium pot of water to boil.
Beat eggs lightly and stir in parmesan and pepper, reserving some cheese for topping the finished dish. Set aside egg mixture.
Heat a 12-inch skillet and cook bacon over medium heat for about 2 minutes, just until the fat begins to render. Add the garlic scapes. (Center-cut bacon has less fat, so I added about a teaspoon of grapeseed oil to keep the pan from being too dry.)
Continue cooking garlic scapes and bacon about 10-12 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the garlic scapes begin to shrivel and brown. If at any point the pan becomes to dry and food begins to stick, add a splash of water to deglaze.
Meanwhile, generously salt the boiling water and cook pasta until al dente. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta. Immediately add cooked pasta to the pan with the garlic scapes and bacon. Toss over medium heat with a splash of cooking water. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and add egg/cheese mixture, tossing over low heat, just long enough for the sauce to thicken and adhere to pasta. If you notice the eggs beginning to cook, immediately remove pan from heat an continue tossing.
Serve immediately topped with remaining parmesan cheese.
It’s great to be back in the kitchen! After spending the last few months buying a house, moving, attending night/weekend work events, and rehearsing and performing a show, we had one of our first free evenings at home. It was wonderful. I put together a patio table, tended my tomatoes and herbs, and made dinner! I even had the time to make notes as I cooked and hauled out the camera to take pictures of said dinner. It was CSA delivery day, so many of these ingredients made it onto the table the same day they left the farm.
Basil pesto is very dear to my heart (and palate for that matter). It was one of the first recipes I mastered and one of my first forays outside the world of spaghetti and tomato sauce.
My "greener" pasta alla genovese is so called because this particular recipe has a much larger ratio of green beans and potatoes to pasta than the original. For a more traditional version, halve the amount of potatoes and green beans and double the pasta (1 pound of each ingredient).
2 oz fresh basil leaves, washed
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 small-medium cloves of garlic
1/3 cup (1¾ oz) pine nuts
1 oz parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated (about 1 cup, if using a fine Microplane)
salt to taste (if needed)
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a food processor. Process about 5 seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat. Add cheese and process until ingredients are combined and reaches desired consistency. Taste for salt and add olive oil if pesto is too dry.
Use immediately or store as follows:
refrigerator: in an air tight container with a layer of olive oil over the top (up to 2 weeks)
freezer: freeze in an ice cube tray; transfer to a freezer-safe sealed container (up to 3 months)
For a more traditional version, use 1 pound each of potatoes, beans, and pasta.
2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 pounds fresh green beans, washed, ends snipped and cut in half
8oz farfalle pasta (or other short shape)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup basil pesto
freshly grated parmesan, to taste
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. With a mesh or slotted spoon, remove the potatoes to a large bowl.
Return the water to a boil. In a second large bowl, prepare an ice bath for the beans. Add the beans and cook for 3-5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Remove beans with a mesh or slotted spoon and immediately submerge in ice bath to halt cooking. After a few minutes in the ice bath, drain the beans and add them to the potatoes.
Add more water if needed to cook the pasta. Return water to a boil, and add the remaining tablespoon salt. Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water and drain pasta.
In a large bowl, combine the pesto and a splash of cooking water. Stir, adding more water as needed to great a smooth sauce. Add warm pasta, potatoes and beans. Toss to combine. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
I made these for my sister’s baby shower, and they were a huge hit! I made a large batch for a total of about 150 mini quiches. The recipe below is scaled down for a smaller audience.
Mini Quiche with Chard and Red Onion
Makes about 60 mini quiches.
Crust 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon salt 2½ sticks unsalted butter (20 tablespoons), cut into ½-inch pieces 6-7 tablespoons ice water
Combine the salt and both flours in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
Add butter and pulse until all the butter is coated in flour and the largest pieces are the size of small peas. Add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, and pulse until the mixture forms a cohesive mass.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Gather and press the dough into a ball. Add flour or water if the dough is too sticky or too dry. Divide into 3 pieces. Form each piece into a ball, flatten into a ½-inch thick disk, and refrigerate for at least one hour (and up to two days).
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Lightly grease 3 mini muffin tins (24 cups each, 1¾-inch diameter muffin cups), or you can reuse one muffin tin.
Remove chilled dough from refrigerator, one piece at a time. On a well flour surface, between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap, or on a pastry mat, roll the dough until it is 1/16 inch thick.
Using a small round cookie or biscuit cutter (2 to 2½ inches in diameter), cut circles from dough. Gently press the circles of dough into mini muffin tins.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The crust will not be completely cooked at this point, but should be set and barely beginning to brown on the edges.
Allow to cool in the pan for 3-4 minutes. Then carefully remove to cool on a wire rack.
Filling 1 small bunch of chard, washed and chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil ½ large red onion, chopped 4 teaspoons butter 2 eggs 2 egg yolks ¾ cup whole milk ¾ cup cream ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper pinch nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible) 4 oz freshly grated aged goat cheese, or other flavorful cheese (I used Midnight Moon “Cypress Grove,” and it was perfect.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange par-baked shells on the parchment paper.
In a large pan over medium, heat 1½ teaspoons of oil. And chopped chard and cook, stirring, until wilted – about 3 minutes. Remove chard from pan and set aside.
Add butter to the pan. When melted, add chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook onion over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, until translucent, soft, and sweet. Removed from heat; add to chard and gently toss to combine.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, milk, and cream; salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Divide chard mixture between the par-baked pastry shells. Top each with a sprinkle of cheese and about a tablespoon of egg. Alternatively, you can stir the vegetables and cheese into the egg mixture and divide evenly among all pastry shells.
Bake for about 14 minutes, until mixture is just set.
As August draws to a close, we have so many reasons to celebrate: birthdays, anniversaries, coming out of two natural disasters (within 5 days) unscathed, and anticipating the beginning of a brand new chapter of our lives!
August has always been one of my favorite months. Yes, it’s hot. Yes, its arrival means that summer freedom is coming to a close and school will soon be back in session. But it’s also the month of my birthday! (And my mom’s; I love that we share the same day.) For over a decade, it was also the month of an annual extended family beach trip. And for the last three years, it’s been the month of Brian’s and my wedding anniversary. So it’s a great month.
This year August was even more eventful than usual. I spent almost every weekend working on a film (rather than my usual sleeping in and going to the farmers market and cooking and blogging). I was also in the midst of a will-we-or-won’t-we-be-moving-across-the-country-next-month quandary, which was causing me more than a little anxiety.
Happily, everything seems to be turning out even better than we’d hoped.
A couple of days before my birthday, I was offered a wonderful and unique opportunity for a new job at an organization whose work I admire and that is actually in the same field as my graduate degree. (Imagine that.) I accepted the position on the morning of my birthday, which happened to also be the same day as my first earthquake ever. Maybe it means that this coming year is going to be particularly …. vibrant? Moving? Earth-shaking? Or maybe it doesn’t mean anything.
The new job means a new city and a cross-country move. Actually, we’re moving back home. We’ll be within driving distance of our families, close to lots of friends, and finally in a position to get a house with a yard, where I’ll finally get to grow some vegetables of my own(!).
I've learned a lot in my 5 years in DC. We’ve enjoyed our city life, but we’re at a point where being close to our families is a priority, where the comforts and ease of small-town living are more alluring, and the inconveniences of the city are starting to outweigh the advantages. A five- to ten-minute commute is also pretty appealing.
Guess what? I blew them all out in one breath.
Our destination town is Fayetteville, where Brian and I first met and where we both attended the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is a charming place nestled in the beautifulOzarkMountains. It’s a top college town and boasts a lively arts scene, a brand-new American art museum (nearby), and a 60-stall farmers market. It’s a place where college football passions run high and cost of living runs low. It’s also the home of some of my favorite people in the world.
Oh, but it does get hot there. And there’s no Trader Joe’s within a 199-mile radius. (The closest one is exactly 200 miles away. I checked.) Whole Foods is 180 miles away. I’m already anxious about where we’ll find our favorite cheeses. (Yes, I mean you, Santa Teresa.) Is it possible to buy cheese online? On the upside, there is a great locally owned natural foods store (a co-op, in fact) that I’m excited to explore.
September 28 will officially be our last day in the District.
John F. Kennedy said that “Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.”
He knew what he was talking about, and there are a number of things we won’t miss about the city, including the WMATA with its myriad problems and those of the DC/MD/VA drivers who refuse to use their blinkers or turn their lights on in the rain.
On the other hand, there are plenty of things we will miss about DC. I’ll miss my kitchen and its humongous island (but hopefully I’ll find a new one with equally excellent counter space). We’ll miss having the year-round Dupont farmers market and our neighborhood14th and U farmers market, Ethiopian food, and great grocery stores. We’ll miss the U Street Corridor; wine happy hour and bocce at Vinoteca; fried oysters and gypsy jazz at 1905. I’ll miss the shopping (but not the inconvenience of getting there). We'll miss impromptu weekend trips to New York City that don't require a plane ticket. We’ll miss the view from our rooftop deck and seeing the Washington Capitals play live. We’ll miss the parish we’ve grown to love and the beautiful Masses at the Basilica. Most of all, we’ll miss our DC and New York friends. But we'll have great excuses to come back and visit.
So, here’s to August 2011, and all that the next year has to offer!
Lima beans are not sexy. No one gets excited about lima beans, right? What child – or adult for that matter – doesn’t feel a little put-off by the thought of a can of lima beans? But have you ever had fresh lima beans? Like right-off-the-farm fresh? If you had, you might just think lima beans were pretty fantastic.
I’d been wanting to try them fresh since I came across them at the market last summer. I was determined not to miss them this time, so I snagged the first pint I saw.
Here are a couple of simple, quick, healthy recipes that exemplify the philosophy that food doesn’t have to be complicated to be amazing. A few fresh, quality ingredients and a few minutes in the kitchen are all you need. This small batch lasted the two of us through 2 ½ meals, but it can also be doubled or tripled for a larger group. You can jump to the recipes by clicking the links below.
10 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh lima beans (or more) 2 cups of water (per 10 ounces of beans) ¼ teaspoon salt (per 10 ounces of beans)
Rinse beans. Combine beans and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue boiling for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse beans.
Add salt and ½ cup water and boil an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow beans to cool in water (which allows them to absorb the salt).
The white wine adds a nice brightness and elevates to another level this otherwise very basic dish.
Serves 2 as a main course.
1 ½ cups cooked lima beans 2 teaspoons olive oil ½ medium yellow onion, chopped 2 teaspoons butter 4 ounces fresh sausage (I used North Mountain Pasture’s Lincolnshire sausage, seasoned with sage, mace, and ginger. Yum.) ½ cup dry white wine 1 clove garlic, cut in half
8 slices baguette or other rustic bread extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
Rub bread slices with one half of garlic clove and brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Arrange (oiled side up) on broiler-safe baking dish and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
Add sausage and cook, stirring and breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until very little pink remains. Add butter, beans, ½ clove garlic and white wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is cooked off.
Meanwhile, turn broiler on high and toast bread until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. (Watch the bread closely, as it can go from “almost there” to burnt in no time.)
Serve beans and sausage warm alongside toasted bread.
I particularly love this dish because it’s like a non-soup version of pasta e fagioli, evoking similar flavors and nostalgia.
Serves 3.
1 cup cooked lima beans 2 teaspoons olive oil ½ medium yellow onion 1 ounce bacon, chopped fine 6 ounces fresh tagliatelle or dried fettuccine ½ cup passata (strained tomatoes)* salt pepper 1 ounce parmesan, freshly grated
Fill a medium saucepan about ¾ full of water and set to boil.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes. Add bacon and cook until onions are translucent (about 8 minutes).
Stir in passata and season with pepper. If your tomato puree did not already have salt added, season with salt to taste.
When water is boiling, cook pasta a minute or two short of al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking liquid and drain pasta. Add pasta and cooking liquid to bean/sauce mixture and cook down for 1-2 minutes. (The starches in the pasta water and the cooking help the sauce stick to the pasta.
Serve topped with freshly grated parmesan.
*Passata (or strained tomatoes) is a staple in Italian kitchens. It’s made from raw tomatoes “passed” through a sieve (hence its name) and packaged without any additives. Strained tomatoes are becoming more and more common in American grocery stores. Boinaturae and Pomi are both great brands. You can also make your own from fresh tomatoes! If you can’t get strained tomatoes, substitute tomato puree or plain tomato sauce.
Just in time for Independence Day, a breakfast (or anytime) treat in patriotic colors.
I had my first scone at the campus bakery my freshman year of college. It was moist and flaky, slightly cakey, and just the right amount of sweet; in other words, love at first bite. I must have caught them on a good day because I’ve heard several people say that they didn’t like scones (campus bakery variety included) because they always thought they were too dry and crumbly. Not so with this homemade version.
Even though I had every intention of trying my hand at scone-making, it took me ten years to finally do it! It turns out that they are easy and quick and can take as little as 30 minutes, start to finish. Perfect for whipping up on a lazy Saturday (or holiday) morning.
This recipe is fairly flexible and can accommodate a variety of fruit/flavor additions. I usually prefer my scones with dried cranberries and orange zest, but 4th of July weekend and the abundance of fresh berries at the market called for a little something extra. The sweetness of the fresh blueberries is a nice compliment to the tart cranberries and the orange zest infuses the entire dough with a hint of citrus.
Red, White, and Blue Scones (Blueberry-Cranberry Scones) adapted from “Classic Currant Scones” from The Joy of Cooking
Yield 8 scones.
2 cups flour ⅓ cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons butter, very cold and cut into ¼-inch pieces ½ cup heavy cream 1 large egg 1 heaping teaspoon orange zest (from ½ medium orange)** ½ cup dried cranberries* ¾ cup (4 ounces) fresh blueberries
for topping 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1-2 tablespoons coarse raw sugar
*I went with a combination of dried and fresh fruit because I didn’t want to create too much extra moisture in the batter. However, based on my results, I think it would work well to substitute seasonal fresh berries, such as raspberries or (pitted and quartered) cherries, instead of dried cranberries. **Lemon zest also works well in place of the orange zest.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until the butter pieces are well coated in flour and about the size of small pebbles. (Do not allow the butter to become fully blended with flour or form a paste.)
In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, eggs, and orange zest.
Very carefully fold the blueberries and cranberries into the dry ingredients.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and gently fold together (using a spatula or wooden spoon) until all the flour is moistened. Use your hands to gather the dough and press against the sides of the bowl to collect any remaining bits of batter and form a cohesive ball. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8- to 9-inch disk. Cut into 8 wedges using a bench scraper or butter knife.
Place scones at least 2 inches apart on a large baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until tops are golden and the centers are set.
Cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and serve warm. (Or serve at room temperature.)
One of the many wonderful things about shopping at the farmers market is that it inspires me to try new things. I’m generally a rather adventurous eater, but the grocery store is so overrun with familiar products that I hardly notice the unfamiliar ones. Faced with the comparatively small number of in-season selections at the farmers market, the unusual and unfamiliar catch my eye. Chances are there’s someone at the stand who can advise me on how to use whatever I pick up, and if I forget to ask, there’s a wealth of information online.
Among my culinary firsts this spring are garlic scapes. A garlic scape is the stalk part that grows up from the garlic bulb, which is developing underground. Apparently the stalk is cropped off in the spring so that all of the plant’s efforts can be concentrated into growing the garlic bulb itself. It’s baffling to me that I’ve never seen garlic scapes in the supermarket. I mean, a garlic plant is a 2-for-1 deal, so why isn’t anyone taking advantage of it? My confusion was only compounded when I actually tasted the scapes.
Garlic scapes are milder than mature garlic. Every bite is infused with that wonderful garlicky flavor, but it won’t jump out and bite you if you get too close. Chopped and pan-fried garlic scapes have the appearance and texture of cut green beans or cooked asparagus.
But the best way to enjoy these curly green curiosities? Pesto!
Garlic scapes with a touch of basil and lemon. It’s like a warm afternoon sun tempered by a cool spring breeze. Try it. You’ll see what I mean…
Garlic Scape Pesto
Serves 4
8 ounces pasta, fresh or dried 5 garlic scapes (about 3½ ounces/100g), plus 3-4 garlic scapes for garnish* ¼ cup almonds (1¼ ounces/35g) small handful basil (½ ounce/14g) ½ cup freshly grated parmesan (1 ounce/28g) ½ teaspoon lemon zest scant ½ cup olive oil pinch of salt
*Note: Sautéed garlic scapes add additional texture to the final dish, but the pesto can be made without them.
Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast almonds, tossing frequently, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Remove and discard bulb and top of garlic scapes. Chop five scapes into 1-inch pieces. In a food processor combine chopped garlic scapes, toasted almonds, basil, 6 tablespoons parmesan, lemon zest and olive oil. Process, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Stop before pesto becomes a smooth puree; it should still have a bit of texture.
For the garnish, heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cut remaining garlic scapes into 1-inch pieces. Add to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and well browned. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Salt well and cook pasta until al dente. Before draining, reserve ½ cup of cooking liquid.
Add pesto to the now-empty pot and stir in half of the reserved cooking liquid, adding more as needed until pesto resembles a thick sauce. Toss pasta with pesto over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
Serve topped with sautéed garlic scapes and parmesan cheese.
I was first introduced to fava beans seven years ago at an Italian professor’s home on the outskirts of Siena. We had them whole with young Tuscan pecorino and thick, partially-crystallized Acacia honey. Since then, I’ve remembered fondly how the little bits of earthy springtime paired perfectly with the tangy, buttery pecorino and sweet honey.
Although I’d encountered the mention of fava beans and recipes for their use over the past several years, my thoughts of them were merely passing fancies, and I never took the initiative to seek them out. When we stumbled upon them at the farmers market Saturday, I jumped at the chance to take a few home and rekindle the old flame.
I thought I’d dress them up a bit in the hopes of building something a little more lasting this time around. (Luckily, my husband was all for it.) The result was the following recipe for a refreshing fava bean puree, which we had as a main course on homemade whole wheat baguette rounds with 4 different types of pecorino*, alongside a salad of local red leaf lettuce, spring onions, and “sweet slice” cucumbers.
*I am admittedly a bit infatuated with pecorino. (Can it still be considered infatuation if it’s been going on for close to a decade?) When the grocery store was out of my favorite – Santa Teresa Pecorino Sardo (a young pecorino aged 30-40 days) – I picked up a few others just for fun. They were: Pecorino Romano, Fulvi (aged 10-12 months), Pecorino Toscano (slightly younger, aged 6 months), and Cacio de Roma (another young pecorino aged about 30 days). We had a bit of Santa Teresa left in the fridge, so we were able to compare all four. Although Santa Teresa is still my favorite, I thought the 6-month-old pecorino toscano went best with the fava bean puree.
Fava Bean Crostini
Yield about 32 crostini. Serves 8 as an appetizer or 4 as a light main course.
for the bread 1 whole grain baguette or other rustic loaf (about 12 ounces) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove
for the puree 14-16 ounces shelled fava beans (1 cup shelled and peeled) ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 1 medium garlic clove 2 teaspoons fresh mint or fresh basil, chopped ½ teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon lemon juice ¼ teaspoon salt
for serving 4 ounces pecorino (young or aged), thinly sliced
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Slice the bread into ¼- to ½-inch thick diagonal slices. Peel garlic clove and cut in half. Rub cut side of garlic onto the top cut side of each slice. Brush slices with olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet.
Bake for about 5 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned. Set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to boil. Add fava beans and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately submerge beans in ice water until cool. Drain beans and peel off the tough outer layer. (The easiest way to do this is to carefully pinch off the outer layer of one end of the bean and squeeze the opposite end so that the bean pops out.)
In a food processor, combine peeled fava beans, ¼ cup olive oil, garlic, mint or basil, lemon juice and zest, and salt. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl, as needed.
Divide the puree evenly between the slices of bread (about 2-3 teaspoons per slice). Serve topped with a small slice of pecorino.
I can’t believe how long it’s been since my last blog post. I really have been cooking these past two months, but all I have to show for it are several scribbled, half-finished recipes and about a thousand photos. Hopefully a few of them will make it up here soon. In the interest of actually finishing this one, I’ll keep it short and to the point.
These zucchini-ricotta rolls are ridiculously good and inspired by the first farmer’s market zucchini of the year and some leftover ricotta (from Keswick Creamery). They make an easy-but-impressive, refreshing summer appetizer.
Zucchini-Ricotta Rolls Zucchini-Ricotta Rotolini
Serves 4-6 (about 24 rolls).
5 ounces ricotta juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 10 basil leaves, finely chopped 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium zucchini olive oil or grapeseed oil, for grilling
Heat a grill pan over medium heat. (The thin strips of zucchini are probably too delicate for an outdoor grill.)
Stir together ricotta, lemon zest and juice, chopped basil leaves, and extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Set aside.
Using a peeler or mandolin, slice zucchini very thin (about 1/16 inch). Gently toss zucchini strips with oil, a few pinches of salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Grill zucchini in batches over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, depending on thickness. The thinnest strips will not need to be flipped. When zucchini is tender and well marked, remove to a plate or platter. Continue with remaining zucchini.
To make the rolls: Place 1-2 teaspoons of ricotta mixture at the end of each zucchini strip. Roll.
Serve zucchini rolls at room temperature.
(They are also great served hot: place rolls in a casserole dish and heat in the oven at 350⁰F for 8-10 minutes.)
Guess what? I blew them all out in one breath.
