Pumpkin & Sausage Lasagna – Recipe of the Week

Posted on by StargazerHollow

Pumpkin & Sausage Lasagna

Pumpkin Sauce (Make Ahead)

  • 2 C Pureed Pumpkin
  • 4 T Butter
  • 6 T Flour
  • 4 C Milk
  • 1 pinch Sea Salt
  • 1 T Pumpkin Pie Spice

Lasagna

  • 15 no-boil lasagna noodles
  • 2 lbs Ground Sweet Sausage
  • 3 C Swiss Chard
  • 3 C Kale
  • 4 medium cloves Garlic (minced)
  • 1 medium Yellow Onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 Duck Egg (or 2 chicken eggs)
  • 16 oz Ricotta
  • 8 oz Mozzarella
  • 4 oz Atwell’s Gold (or Parmesan)
  • 1 T fresh Parsley (finely chopped)
  • 1 T Italian Seasoning

Make ahead: Pumpkin Sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then mix in the flour. Stir about 2 minutes.
  2. Increase to medium high heat, and add milk while whisking quickly, approximately 1C at a time. Simmer 2-3 minutes once all milk has been added, whisking occasionally.
  3. Stir in the pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and sea salt. Simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Lasagna

  1. Set out your ingredients.
  2. Preheat oven to 375.
  3. In a large cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage, and brown.
  4. Add onion and garlic, and cook 3-4 minutes until aromatic.
  5. Add chard and kale, and cook until wilted.
  6. In a mixing bowl, mix ricotta, eggs, and Italian spice.
  7. To assemble the lasagna: Add 1 cup of pumpkin sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan. Cover with 4-5 lasagna noodles.
  8. Spread 1/2 the ricotta mixture over noodles. Add 1/2 of sausage mixture on top of the ricotta. Cover with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Pour 1 cup pumpkin sauce over the mozzarella.
  9. Add another layer of noodles, remaining ricotta, sausage mixture, and mozzarella. Top with last layer of noodles. Pour remaining pumpkin sauce over the top layer of noodles. Sprinkle with Atwells Gold cheese over top.
  10. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Top with parsley as garnish.

Summer Veggies Paella – Recipe of the week!

Posted on by Jay Mendelsohn

Summer Veggies Paella

  • 1 Zucchini (cut into ½” slices and quartered)
  • 1 small Eggplant (cut into ½” slices and quartered)
  • 1 Pint Green Beans (chopped into 1” segments)
  • 1 lb Heirloom Tomato (seeded and cut into thick wedges)
  • 1 ear of Corn (removed from cob)
  • 1 Bell Pepper (chopped)
  • ½ C Yellow Onion (diced)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 T Tomato Paste
  • 2 t Paprika
  • 1 pinch Saffron
  • 1 t Sea Salt
  • 1 lb Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 1 lb Mussels (rinsed and debearded)
  • 2 Chicken Thighs (boneless, roughly chopped)
  • 3 C Bomba rice
  • 2 C Bone Broth
  • 1 C White Wine
  • 1 1/2 C Water
  • 3 T Olive Oil
  • Zest + juice of 1 Lemon
  • Minced parsley for garnish
  1. Lay out ingredients.
  2. Heat 2T olive oil in a large frying pan (cast iron is ideal) at medium heat. Stir in garlic and onion, and sauté for 5 minutes.
  3. Add rice to pan and toss to coat and cook an additional 3 minutes.

  4. Slowly add water, wine, and bone broth while stirring. Add saffron, paprika, bell pepper, zucchini, beans, eggplant, and salt.

  5. Bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
  6. Add mussels and cook covered for approximately 5 minutes, until all have opened.

  7. While the rice is cooking, in a medium frying pan, heat 1T olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken, tomato paste, and lemon juice and zest. Cook for 5 minutes.

  8. Add shrimp and ensure both sides are cooked, approximately 5 minutes.
  9. Combine meats with rice mixture in large frying pan, and add sliced heirloom tomato and corn. Allow to simmer covered for 5 minutes.
  10. Serve, garnished with minced parsley.

Summer Scallops & Veggies Pizza — Recipe of the Week!

Posted on by Jay Mendelsohn

Summer Scallops & Veggies Pizza

  • 1 premade pizza dough
  • Cornmeal

For the Sauce:

  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 2 T flour
  • ¾ C buttermilk
  • ¼ t sea salt
  • ⅛ t black pepper
  • 1 garlic clove (grated)
  • ¼ C Atwells Gold cheese (grated)

For the toppings:

  • 8 oz burrata cheese
  • 1 medium zucchini (in ¼” slices)
  • 1 ear of corn (removed from cob)
  • 4 oz scallops (quartered)
  • ¼ t basil (minced)
  1. Lay out ingredients

  2. Preheat oven to 500°

  3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour until smooth. Continue to whisk while roux sets up, approximately 2 minutes.
  4. Reduce saucepan to low heat, and slowly add buttermilk, stirring until smooth with each addition.
  5. Once all buttermilk has been added, add garlic, sea salt, and black pepper. Allow to bubble for 1 minute while whisking.
  6. Remove the pan from heat, and add cheese.
  7. Dust counter service with cornmeal, and roll out pizza dough into a 12” circle. Roll up the corners to create the edges of the crust.
  8. Distribute sauce evenly on the crust. Feel free to improvise on the total amount of sauce used, to your tastes.
  9. Add zucchini, corn, scallops, and basil, evenly distributed on the pizza.
  10. Bake the pizza (ideally on a pizza stone) for 6 minutes.
  11. Remove pizza from the oven, and add burrata. Burrata can be shredded up and evenly distributed, left as a ball in the middle, or a mix of those!
  12. Cook for 2-3 additional minutes, until scallops are completely white and cooked through.
  13. Serve pizza with additional grated Atwell’s Gold Cheese, sea salt, and minced basil to taste.

Big News for the Hingham Farmers Market!

Posted on by Meghan Buckley

Note: This is our Stargazer Hollow blog; for official news from HFM please always check the official Hingham Farmers Market website here.

Starting this Saturday, August 15, the long-awaited return of a more typical walk-up Hingham Farmers Market will be back!

The market takes place every Saturday in the Station Street Lot at 95 Station Street, Hingham, MA from 9AM to 1PM rain or shine.  See this article in the Hingham Anchor for more information on the overall market plan.

Social Distancing Precautions

Safety is of the utmost concern! Foot traffic will be one-way and capacity will be monitored to ensure appropriate distancing is possible.  Masks are required, and vendors will be wearing masks and gloves.

Please keep in mind:

  • To ensure that produce is not touched, we will have our produce display set back from the front of our tent
    • I will be happy to show you the tomatoes and let you pick your favorite by pointing!
  • We will continue selling as many items as possible by the “each” or by the “bag” instead of weighing out items
  • Touchless card payments are preferred
    • We take Square, and have both a card “tap” and a card “swipe” reader which will be regularly wiped down

 

Pre-Orders Are Still Available

We, as well as most other vendors, are continuing to support pre-orders which can be picked up directly at our booth — we will have your order pre-bagged and labeled and set safely aside for you.

Our pre-orders will be restocked every Sunday for the following week, and our pre-order site is: https://stargazerhollow.square.site/ 

At current time of printing, all vendor pre-order information can be found on the HFM site here.

 

SNAP is Available, with Matching Funds

With the return of the walk-up market comes the return of SNAP tokens! There will be a tent for SNAP up ahead of the entrance, which will allow exchange of SNAP funds for tokens which can be redeemed to vendors for food items.  

Please see this article in the Hingham Anchor for more info.

 

National Lasagna Day – Recipe Inside!

Posted on by Jay Mendelsohn

Today is National Lasagna Day, from the list of fun silly “holidays”!

Any excuse to make a lasagna, I’d say!

Lasagna with Eggplant and Zucchini Noodles

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
  • 2 medium zucchini (sliced 1/8″ thick)
  • 1 medium eggplant (sliced 1/8″ thick)
  • 1 medium onion (chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 16 oz ricotta cheese
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese (shredded)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch herbes de provence

  1. Gather ingredients

  2. Brown meat in a medium frying pan, and set aside.
  3. Add olive oil to the pan and saute garlic and onions about 5 minutes.
  4. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes and basil. Simmer on low for 45 minutes, uncovered.
  5. Meanwhile, slice zucchini and eggplant into 1/8″ thick slices, lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes, then blot with a paper towel.
  6. Preheat oven to 375°.
  7. In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and egg. Stir well.
  8. In a 9×13 casserole dish, spread 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Spread 1 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture, then top with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese and repeat the process, alternating between zucchini and eggplant, until all your ingredients are used up. The last layer top with remaining zucchini and sauce.
  9. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
  10. Uncover the foil, add the remaining mozzarella cheese and a pinch of herbes de provence, and bake 30 minutes
  11. Let stand about 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

Free Online Demo: Refrigerator Pickles! August 2, 2PM.

Posted on by Meghan Buckley

 

Hello, friends! Please join us virtually for an online demo of the refrigerator pickling method on Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 2PM EST.

This is the link to the online event registration page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/refrigerator-pickling-demo-by-meghan-from-stargazer-hollow-farm-tickets-113926408956

Storm Damage :(

Posted on by Meghan Buckley

Last night there was a powerful and sudden storm that centered on our neighboring town of Westwood.

Our farm had significant flooding, best noted by the 8″ piles of woodchips stacking up in some areas of our garden, having been washed out from between our raised rows.  

The most damaged crops that we can tell so far are the corn, sunflowers, lilies, and snap peas — not surprising, as these are all plants that you would expect to be damaged by heavy winds, but sad nonetheless.

We can’t yet tell what the impact to some of our other plants, like our tomatoes and cucumbers, will be.  They were displaced and sitting in standing water and the rain continues on today.  Potatoes seem to also have some damage that we’ll need to dive into to determine.

Nature is such a powerful force in farming. 

Just a few days ago, we were sharing with customers that we were having a hard time with some of our crops due to lack of rain, and our part of Massachusetts was officially in a moderate drought, as has recently happened year after year.  Then, with a single night of heavy rains, we have flooding so severe that local stores are still closed this morning trying to mop up, and our local hospital evacuated patients. 

As the rain lightens up today, we’ll be out to evaluate and salvage things.  

Thank you all for your support and well wishes, and I will communicate any changes to this week’s pre-orders if need be — so far, the main things that we have for sale all seem fine, it was mostly later-season crops that have severe damage.

Snap Pea & Radish Salad with Burrata – Recipe of the Week!

Posted on by Jay Mendelsohn

Snap Pea & Radish Salad with Burrata

  • 2 French Breakfast Radishes (thinly sliced)
  • 1 pint Snap Peas (halved)
  • 2 C Spring Mix (roughly chopped)
  • ¼ C Mint (fresh leaves, chopped)
  • 1 T Scallions (finely chopped (about ½ scallion))
  • 8 oz Burrata cheese
  • 3 T Olive Oil
  • 1 T Lime Juice
  • 1 pinch Flaky Sea Salt

  1. Gather your ingredients

  2. Let burrata come to room temperature
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine radishes, peas, spring mix, mint, and scallions.
  4. Add olive oil and lime juice to bowl, and toss to coat.
  5. Tear burrata to expose center, and set out on plates. Sprinkle flaky salt on top.
  6. Top burrata with salad.

In mine, I split some of the pea pods open to add to the texture variation!

National Pollinator Week June 22-28, 2020

Posted on by Meghan Buckley

Happy National Pollinator Week! 

National Pollinator Week is an official federal recognition of the importance of pollinators to our ecosystem, sparked particularly by colony collapse of honeybees.  It became an official week in 2007 with unanimous approval by the US Senate.

Some things that you can do to help your local pollinators:

  • Avoid spraying pesticides on your lawn unless necessary – and if so, hire a professional who is knowledgeable about protections for pollinators.
  • Plant clover and native wildflowers in your yard.
    • Clover makes an excellent lawn, if you would like to lessen your lawn maintenance at the same time! It is soft underfoot, green, and grows much slower and tops out much shorter than grass.
  • If you find a swarm of bees, don’t panic! Contact your local beekeepers association, and they will send someone out to get them for you.
  • Contact your legislators to ask them to back H.763 – An Act to protect Massachusetts pollinators!

Remember: No bees, no food!

Snap Pea Panzanella with Grilling Cheese – Recipe of the Week!

Posted on by Jay Mendelsohn

Snap Pea Panzanella with Grilling Cheese

A delicious summer salad with crispy grilling cheese.

  • 2 C Sugar Snap Peas (trimmed)
  • 2 C Spring Mix salad greens (roughly chopped)
  • 2 Scallions (finely chopped)
  • 1 T Mint (finely chopped)
  • ¼ t Garlic (minced)
  • ½ C Olive Oil
  • 1 T White Wine
  • 2 slices Sourdough bread (cut into ½” cubes)
  • 4 oz Grilling Cheese (thickly sliced)
  • 1 pinch Salt

  1. Set out ingredients.

  2. Preheat the oven to 350°.

  3. Toss sourdough with 2T olive oil and salt until coated.
  4. Arrange sourdough on a baking tray and cook approximately 10 minutes, until toasted.
  5. Whisk together wine, 2T olive oil, garlic, and mint in a small bowl. Set aside as dressing.
  6. In a serving bowl, combine snap peas, spring mix, scallions, and toasted sourdough.
  7. In a frying pan, heat remaining 2T of olive oil over medium high heat. Cook grilling cheese approximately 2 minutes per side, until golden.
  8. Allow cheese to slightly cool, combine with salad, add dressing, and serve.

Grilling Cheese comes from Narragansett Creamery. If unavailable, substitute Haloumi.