Not so boring butternut, pretty pasta & new sourdough! • 09/28/2024

Butternut squash is so plentiful this time of year but is often overshadowed by more exotic or, well, prettier, winter squash that are smaller and less unwieldy to peel. But sweet butternut really does tick all the comfort boxes when it comes to flavor, texture and color.

Why not buy a couple this weekend and make this chicken  and butternut orzo dish? Easy enough for weeknights, but pretty and filling enough for guests. 

Or, since Tivoli Mushrooms is now joining us weekly, do fold this winter squash and wild mushroom curry into your fall repertoire. Or make this spicy fettuccine with roasted butternut squash.

Luigi Speranza, the chef behind La Trafila, is making sunflower-shaped ravioli filled with butternut squash and sage this week.

Check out this cool video of Luigi in action! We are very excited to welcome a new guest pasta vendor Wildyards Pasta: purveyors of rustic, fresh pasta made with local, whole grain and heirloom wheat. 

To try it, you can pick up readymade cacio e pepe sauce from La Trafila, or tomato sauce from Sun Sprout Farms...or make your own with the last of the market tomatoes. You can also make your own pesto this weekend as basil remains abundant at the market, though not for long! 

Thousand Leaf Gardens will start bringing some of their dahlias this week. 

Did you spy those stunning purplish-back tomatoes at their stand last week? Almost too pretty to eat. These black beauties made for a beautiful tableau next to their soft pink lisianthus. I would reserve them for a pretty tomato carpaccio, served with some delicious sourdough bread.

During the pandemic a lot of shoppers started making sourdough loaves at home but stopped once they resumed their busy lives. Enter Shhhh-our-Dough, a new sourdough bread vendor that lets you enjoy the magic (and aromas) of home-baked sourdough bread with minimal effort. Crafted with the finest ingredients, including premium flour from Castle Valley Mill in Pennsylvania, these rustic sourdough country loaves are partially baked and sold frozen, ready for you to pop into the oven right when your guests arrive. They also sell sourdough starter packs should you be inspired to get back in the bread-making game.

For those who will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah, you should know that Harlem Valley Homestead is offering a deal on brisket this weekend.

Speaking of specials... Dough Co Bagels brings back its summer special: a dozen bagels for $20 instead of the usual $25. Mix and match and pop some in your freezer for later in the week!

River Valley Community Grains is here so buy some of their pancake mix for those chilly Sunday mornings before you head out apple picking! (Talk to Mead Orchards about this!) Or buy some of their local flour to make pie. Elderberry Road will be bringing homespun apple and blueberry/plum pies as well pumpkin spice cookies and pumpkin bread to pull you into the pumpkin fray.

We are thrilled to bring back Hastings Public Library’s Children’s Librarian, Allee Manning, for a dedicated story time at the market. She will be reading to your kids from 10 to 10:30, before the always fabulous Peter Calo settles into the music tent with his guitar. 

See you at the market!