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06/24/2021 12:01 AMI don’t know about you, but I bought my CSA (community-supported agriculture) in December.
Remember December? Joe Biden had been elected in early November. We knew two COVID vaccines being tested, but we didn’t know if they would work. I had not been inside a restaurant in almost a year and I was 1) tired of my own food yet 2) couldn’t really afford much good take-out.
I also felt then, and still do, that restaurant food should be consumed in the restaurant where it had been cooked by chefs (or even just cooks) and served to us when it is meant to be tasted and savored.
For all those reasons and many more, I happily wrote a check for my CSA in December.
And I was glad to pay it early, since the concept is that the farmers can buy their seeds or plants with early money and live frugally through the hard winter months knowing that, once the seeds have turned into food we can buy, they can pay their own bills during the summer and fall.
My CSA began June 22 and each week I get to visit their farm stand and pick up $30 of beautiful, fresh vegetables and herbs and I will be one happy camper until late September.
I am enjoying what is grown locally but it will be a while before I get some of my favorites, which include tomatoes and peaches, and so it’s to the supermarket for those. I never thought about peaches and tomatoes together, but here is a recipe I can use right now. Feel free to add sliced chicken, steak, or shrimp atop the salad.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Peach and Tomato Pasta
From Fine Cooking, June/July 2021
Ingredients:
12 ounces spaghetti or linguine
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 pounds peaches (about 6), pitted and sliced or
coarsely chopped
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
(I would use regular green olives)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Chopped toasted almonds (optional)
Directions:
Cook the spaghetti according to package directions, reserving ¼ cup pasta water. Drain spaghetti, return to put and keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, cook the garlic in hot oil over medium-heat, 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook, uncovered, 2 minutes. Add peaches and cook until just soft, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in olives, basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, and the red crushed pepper and heat through.
Add peach mixture to the cooked spaghetti along with the reserved pasta water and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with almonds, if using.