Two Dog Farm’s Dry-Farmed Early Girls are back!  There is no better way to savor their sweetness than to generously drizzle the tomatoes with the best extra virgin olive oil you can get, a splash of balsamic, a sprinkle of Maldon salt, and some fresh mozarella or even better, a scoop of burrata.  Top with some fresh basil.

Chef’s tip: Burrata comes from Puglia and it’s pretty hard to find even in food-obsessed San Francisco.  A local brand called Gioia (I believe it’s made right here in the East Bay) is pretty good. Burrata is essentially cheese curds wrapped with sheets of mozarella. It’s highly perishable, so use it the same day you by it. Frankly, it’s really not that hard!

Tags: Californian, Heirlooms, Maldon, Sea salt, Vegetarian.

Fava beans are so delicious and so good for you. It has a higher percentage of protein than a lot of other beans. It’s meaty woodsy flavor works very well with slow roasted garlic.

Chef’s tip: Do invest in the time in using fresh beans.  While it may take you a a 20 more minutes to shell, blanch and peel them, it’s like a whole different bean from those muddy brown dried or canned ones.

Ingredients

1 baguette, sliced 3/8-inch at a diagonal
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 lbs fava in the pod (yields about 2 cups)
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3 basil leaves, chiffonade
A wedge of pecorino
1 lemon
Lemon oil – “O” Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

To make the crostini:
1.    Slice baguette into 3/8 inch thick pieces. Place bread slices on a sheet pan, brush one side with olive oil.
2.    Bake in a 375F oven for 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Immediately rub with a piece of garlic.
To pod and peel the fava beans:
3.    Break off the top of the pod, and then slide your thumb along the pod’s vein to split the pod into two. DO this over a colander to catch the falling bean.
4.    Now you will see a very white bean. You still need to peel this thick membrane. To do so, bring a pot of salted water to boil, blanch the beans (30 secs) and plunge them into a bowl of ice water. Drain. Pick up a bean, and make a small tear at the top of the bean – where it used to connect to the shell. Then gently squeeze /pop out the bright green fava bean. Set aside – refrain from munching on them.
To make the garlic confit and spread:
5.    Put the olive oil and whole garlic in a small pot and bring to a simmer. lower heat and gently roast the garlic for 20 minutes until the garlic is soft and tender.
6.    Place the fava bean, the garlic confit (oil and all) into a large bowl and gently mash with a fork. For a rustic texture, leave some chunks behind. Add basil and salt and pepper.
Assembling the crostini:
7.    Spread a tablespoon of the fava bean mash on the crostini. Using a microplane rasp, zest some lemon zest on top of the mash. Using a vegetable peeler, gently shave a thin slice of pecorino and place on top of the crostini. Finish with the lemon oil and a twist of black pepper.

Serves: 6

Tags: Californian, crostini, finger foods, Vegetarian.

The stinging nettle is one of the tastiest veggies around. It has a robust aroma that is woody and mushroomy. Nettle has one of the highest protein content amongst green vegetables. Nettle is also one of those recherche items sure to impress your friends.

Nettle is a weed really, and you can find them in the fields if you just look. Don’t go picking them as its sting is quite painful. You need to protect your hands with a pair of rubber gloves when handling nettle. Hence, you will gladly pay for the $6/lb at the Ferry Building.

I grow my own nettle in my little urban “potager” on my balcony 271 ft above ground level (thanks Google Earth!). I took the washing liquid from a bunch of nettles I got from Star Route Farm and poured it onto a big pot of soil. Kept the soil moist and lo and behold, a few weeks later, tiny nettles began sprouting and they just grew and grew! Here’s a picture of my nettle “crop”. If you are planting nettles in the garden, do remember it’s pernicious and has a pretty potent sting, so you don’t want your dogs or toddler running into it!

Chef’s tip: Even tho its sting may intimidate you at first, just use a pair of tongs to handle it. Store-bought nettles are pretty sandy.  Rinse them in lots of water, shaking them with the tongs.  Nettle loses its sting when cooked even 1 minute in boiling water; its flavor is well worth the trouble!

Filling:
1 lb ricotta
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup finely grated parmesan

32 pieces wonton skin squares
Some rice flour for dusting

Pesto:
1 lb nettle
2 tablespoons butter/ EVOO
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
Parmesan wedge for grating

To make the ravioli filling (Omit if using store bought cheese ravioli like the picture in this post!)
1.    Mix together ricotta, lemon zest, salt and parmesan for the filling.
2.    To fold the ravioli, lay out wonton skin squares, 4 at a time. Brush edges with a water (just slightly damp). Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square and fold over to make a triangle shape, pressing edges to seal. Take the two corners along the long edge of the triangle and bring together to have both bottom sides meet (as if the raviolo is clapping with the back of its palms; the raviolo will look twisted) and press the tips to fuse together. Place finished raviolo on a baking tray dusted with rice flour. Repeat and set aside until pesto is done.
To make the nettle pesto:
3.    Rinse and wash nettles using rubber gloves and a pair of tongs. Drain and spin-dry with a salad spinner. Remove any large stems (they make great compost as they give out lots of nitrogen, no seeds nor flowers, though).
4.    Melt butter in a medium saucepot over medium high heat and add sliced garlic; sauté until golden brown. Add nettles, cover immediately to capture the aroma and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add cream and salt, let the liquid reduce to half; about 1 minute. Taste. (Make sure nettles are cooked before you taste them; they loose their stinging qualities once cooked.)  Finish with some black pepper.
5.    Using a handheld blender, puree nettle until smooth. Keep warmed.
Cooking the ravioli:
6.    To cook the ravioli, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Drop half the ravioli gently into the water, wait until all float to the top. Remove and drain. Repeat.
7.    Spoon the nettle pesto over the cooked ravioli. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve with some grated parmesan.

Tags: Californian, Greens, Pasta, pesto, Ricotta, Vegetarian.