Summer harvesting in Montana has finally begun! Sure we have been harvesting lettuce and arugula and some speedy radishes for a little while now, but we finally are starting to pick some sage, and thyme and putting nasturtium flowers on our salads and celery and the sugar snaps are now just becoming edible! Tomatoes have started to form and I have enough basil now to actually make some pesto or dry some to can tomato sauce this fall. And we are swimming in greens, collards and kale. Our chard and beets are not looking so hot. It could be a mite, or it could be a soil deficiency, the rest is raging. Its great to be able to eat out of the yard. I'm hoping we have cabbage soon too, and we planted a lot. Cole slaw and kimchi will hopefully soon be in the fridge.
I decided that I needed to start making pasta to use and store up some of the goodies from the garden. I used a basic egg noodle recipe, which is 2 C flour and 3 eggs, which makes enough for about three good eaters (which my house is). Mix that and let sit, while you make filling. I bought a little thing of goat cheese and mixed that with ricotta and salt and pepper, then I have added chopped arugula and lemon, or arugula and garlic and green onions. This last time I put in garlic scapes (which is the flower shoot from the garlic, before it flowers) and green onion, chopped up really fine or put in the food processor with the cheese mix. I then took sections of the dough and rolled them out by hand as thin as I could (or you could use a pasta roller, which I now want desperately), and cut long strips with a pizza cutter, then cut those strips into equal sized squares.
put a table spoon or so of filling on one square, and take an equal sized square and put that on top. Then take a fork, and pinch down all around the sides so they stay together.
The scrap pieces you can cut into strips and put them in the freezer for egg noodles whenever you need them. To cook, drop them in water boiling water till they float to the top, which only takes a few minutes. You can freeze the rest for later when you don't feel like cooking. I like to just put butter and garlic and salt and pepper on mine, but they are also great with a pesto sauce or tomato. I really want to get some pancetta or prosciutto in butter or olive oil with some garlic and salt and pepper for a sauce, but I have not tried it yet. I am trying to find some creative ways to store up some some of this years harvest. I just put up some cilantro mole, which could be one of my favorite things on earth. Any suggestions?
