Farm Musings & Recipes for You

On this somewhat overcast Sunday morning, I think about how blessed we are, to be able to gaze out our windows and see a myriad of russets, ambers, golds and greens bursting forth from the trees this autumn. They are truly putting forth a glorious show before the stark days of winter make up the landscape that will surround us for the next few months. As fall presents itself, I offer you a few autumn recipes that let you make use of some of what will be in your CSA boxes this fall. Enjoy!

Recipe for: Butternut Squash Lasagne (Kim Carlson)

Introduction:
This lasagne calls for no tomatoes, but has plenty of other vegetables: butternut squash, greens, and mushrooms. If you don’t have sausage on hand, or you prefer to leave it out, the recipe will not suffer.
Ingredients:
1medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 to 2Tbsp. olive oil
½lb. Italian sausage (pork or chicken)
¼cup butter
2small onions, chopped
3cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper
1bunch chard, stems removed, leaves chopped
1tsp. dried thyme
2lb. ricotta cheese
3 to 4cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2cups Parmesan cheese, grated
4large eggs, beaten
Extra-virgin olive oil
1package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagne noodles

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread squash in a single layer on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, tossing squash with your fingers to coat. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning once, until tender and golden brown. Set aside. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large skillet; when cooked, remove to a large bowl. Melt butter in same pan, add onions, and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until tender, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper, and remove to bowl with sausage. Add chard to skillet with dried thyme and cook just until chard is wilted. Remove to bowl with sausage and mushrooms. Toss together.
In a medium-size bowl, mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1½ cups Parmesan cheese, and eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
Brush a 13-inch-by-9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Spread 1 cup ricotta mixture over bottom. Arrange 3 noodles on top (or 1 sheet). In the following order, layer the remaining ingredients: 1½ cup ricotta mixture, one-half of the squash, one-half of the sausage/mushroom/chard mixture, one-half of the (remaining) mozzarella. Place 3 dried noodles on top, and again layer the ingredients: ricotta, squash, mushrooms mixture, mozzarella. For the final layer, top with 3 noodles, spread with remaining ricotta mixture, and sprinkle ½ cup Parmesan cheese over the top. Cover with oiled foil.
Bake lasagne, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
Notes:
If you’re lucky enough to live near a shop that sells fresh pasta, buy three sheets of pasta to substitute for the dried lasagne noodles in this dish.

TURNIP GRATIN

Yield: Makes 6 servings
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 and 1/2 pounds medium turnips, trimmed and left unpeeled, 1 tablespoon chopped thyme, 1/2 tablespoon chopped savory, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, Rounded 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, 1 cup heavy cream, and 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (use a Microplane)

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Melt butter in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet, then cool.
Slice turnips paper-thin with slicer, (mandolin if you have one), then arrange one third of slices, overlapping tightly, in skillet, keeping remaining slices covered with dampened paper towels. Sprinkle with about a third of thyme, savory, kosher salt, and cayenne. Make 2 more layers.
Cook, covered, over medium heat until underside is browned, about 10 minutes. Add cream and cook, covered, until center is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Sprinkle evenly with cheese, then bake, uncovered, until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Roasted Sweet Potato Gratin Matthew Card
Ingredients:

4½ to 5lb. sweet potatoes
1cup heavy cream
1large bay leaf
1vanilla bean
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1Tbsp. plus ⅔ cup brown sugar

Steps:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Poke sweet potatoes several times with a paring knife and spread potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, turning once, until very tender and easily pierced with a knife, 1 to 1½ hours. Cool (cutting in half will expedite cooling) until easily handled. Scrape flesh from skins into a large mixing bowl. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Combine cream, bay leaf, and a generous pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Using a sharp paring knife, split vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape seeds into the cream. Add vanilla pod to the pan and bring to a simmer; cover, removed from heat, and steep for at least 10 minutes. Remove pod and bay leaf.
Using a standing or hand-held electric mixer, whip potatoes, infused cream, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and a liberal amount of black pepper until smooth, light, and homogenously blended. Adjust seasoning to taste and evenly spread potato mixture into a 7-by-11-inch (or 9-by-13-inch) Pyrex or oven-safe baking dish. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar in an even layer across the top of the potatoes. Bake until bubbling around the edges, about 20 minutes.

Adjust oven rack as close as possible to broiler element and broil gratin until the sugar is well browned, bubbling, and crispy, 4 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.