Sections

Neighborhoods

Features

Follow Us

NHI Newsletter

Some Favorite Sites

Government/ Community Links

Farmers Market Find Leads To Ultimate Lasgna

by Gwyneth K. Shaw | Jul 14, 2011 11:06 am

(13) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Food, Gone Dishin', Downtown, Chef Of The Week

The rainbow Swiss chard was grown nearby. Master chef Denise Appel found it at a farmers market by the Green—and by the next night had it stemmed, cooked, squeezed of water, chopped fine, and added to a distinctive lasagna served at a restaurant two blocks away.

The Swiss chard’s journey was part of a summer tradition at Zinc, the restaurant where Appel is the chef: a weekly ritual that starts at farmers markets and ends up with dishes made from local natural ingredients and offered as part of a weekly Wednesday-Sunday “market menu.”

We followed Appel on that journey as she prepared the market menu lasagna, a far cry from your typical pan of baked, layered pasta, sauce and cheese. For starters, it’s not cooked once it’s assembled. Another twist is that the tomato sauce is a garnish, not an integral component. The finished dish is more like a terrine, but with that unmistakable pasta chewiness. (Click on the play arrow to watch Appel prepare it.)

Appel spends lots of time at three of New Haven’s open-air CitySeed farmers markets: in Wooster Square on Saturday, in Westville’s Edgewood Park on Sunday and downtown on Wednesdays.

Many of the fruits and vegetables Appel uses for her recipes come from Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain. The farm grows a lot of heirloom and specialty produce, she said, they wash it well and—most important—they deliver to the restaurant. They also offer meat and dairy products.

In the case of last week’s lasagna, Appel picked up the flavorful chard at the Wednesday market in front of City Hall. It came from Shelton’s Stone Gardens Farm.

She assembled all the ingredients the next day at Zinc, on Chapel Street (click here for the recipe).

Appel started with a plastic wrap-lined pan, since the lasagna would ultimately be inverted for serving. She put down a layer of cooked lasagna noodles, lightly oiled to keep them from sticking together. She used full and half-sheets, although she said traditional store-bought lasagna noodles would work just as well.

The first vegetable layer included the chard, which she drained thoroughly to avoid making a mushy dish. Water is the enemy of a dish like this, she noted, since it both impedes the texture and dilutes the flavor of the vegetables, cheese and herbs. That’s why she doesn’t use tomatoes in the dish; instead, Appel cooked up a smoked tomato sauce to accompany a square of lasagna.

Appel added sliced cooked zucchini, then squirted a generous amount of Liuzzi’s Fino ricotta cheese on top. She laid another sheet of pasta on that, pushing down slightly to spread the cheese and push the air out of the vegetables below.

Then she overlapped edges of the pasta, pressing on the seams with her fingers to seal them. She said all of this work would help the lasagna stay together and let the flavors meld.

“It’s like laying tile,” she said.

Next came duxelles, a minced mixture of local shiitake mushrooms, with some thyme and other flavorings. She had sliced and cooked the mushrooms, then chopped them finely in a food processor; the mix was spreadable, although not completely smooth. Sliced grilled eggplant went with the mushrooms, topped with more cheese and pasta.

A last layer of veggies included more chard and some sliced green peppers, which Appel roasted over a gas flame, and then a final layer of pasta.

She reflected on the key to a good veggie lasagna: get that water out, and think about how you want the flavors to blend. Everything should be complementary.

“I’d stay away from radishes, and any cabbages,” she said.

When she finished with the layering, Appel trimmed the edges of the pasta and swaddled the top of the dish with the overhanging plastic wrap. It then went into the refrigerator, weighted with a cutting board, overnight. When it was time to serve, she planned to invert the pan, cut the lasagna into squares and heat each serving gently in the oven over a ladleful of smoked tomato sauce.

The dish (pictured) was finished with cheese and some micro greens. It was delicious. It is now gone from the restaurant’s menu—to be replaced by the next dishes inspired by whatever Appel finds at the farmers markets. (Zinc’s website alerts customers to current dishes on the market menu.)

The market menu offers three courses for $29, with a cheese course and specialty cocktail as add-ons. A recent week featured spring garlic and rainbow carrot soup, the lasagna and a yogurt gelato with roasted rhubarb.

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo Even if you don’t cook at a restaurant, even if you don’t cook dishes completely from scratch, shopping at farmers markets can enliven home cooking this time of year, advised Appel (pictured). You can find veggies at the height of their flavor and reduce your carbon footprint, since a lot of supermarket produce is shipped from faraway states or countries.

The peak of the summer harvest is still a few weeks off. Appel she suggested loading up on the early-season bounty of lettuces and other greens, from chard to kale to bok choy. Even non-adventurous eaters should go for interesting choices, like radishes and kohlrabi, she said.

“The produce is just so good and so local,” Appel said. “The flavor is so nice.”

Share this story with others.

Share |

Post a Comment

Comments

posted by: robn on July 14, 2011  12:39pm

This headline might be true if it weren’t for the fact that mine is the Ultimate Lasagne.

posted by: robn on July 14, 2011  12:53pm

Seriously though…Denise is awesome!

posted by: Beansie's Mom on July 14, 2011  2:08pm

Sound delicious.

But not as good as the Squash Blossoms that Mrs. P is making.  Now that’s a long standing Fair Haven tradition.  Hope they have more at today’s Fair Haven Farmer’s Market by the River.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 15, 2011  7:12am

Zinc has been doing this for several years and it’s a great idea.

When Cuba was cut off by the Soviet Union it had to scramble for ways to feed itself because without oil all the factory farms couldn’t operate. The country turned to small scale farming (replacing tractors with oxen; what’s old became new again), even in urban areas. The city of Havana managed to feed itself; it still does.

I can’t see any reason why New Haven or any other town/city can’t do the same thing. It would create local jobs and businesses.

Just a thought.

posted by: robn on July 15, 2011  12:08pm

SH,

Ignoring food exports, the US has 20 acres of farmland per person (India has 2.4acres/person).
The size of New Haven is 6,860square miles (4.4M acres) and the population is about 130,000 people. So if you devoted 20 acres of farmland per person, you would need 2.6M acres or approximately 60% of the surface area of the city to feed everybody.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 15, 2011  2:07pm

@robn

If India has 2.4 acres farmland/person why do we need 20? Anyway, don’t be so literal. I know we’re not Havana and we won’t grow all our own food. But local food for local consumption is still a good idea, no?

posted by: robn on July 15, 2011  2:55pm

SH,

I’m not editorializing. You asked a question and I answered it. But I did the math incorrectly. Here it is again.
The US has 20 acres of farmland per person.
The size of New Haven is 20.3 square miles (13,000 acres) and the population is about 130,000 people. So if you devoted 20 acres of farmland per person, you would need 2.6M acres or approximately 200 New Havens or approximately 75% of the surface of the State of CT. If we consumed as much as people in India we would need 1/8 of previously mentioned….so the land mass of New Haven would be insufficient to feed its population.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 15, 2011  4:14pm

If India uses 2.4 acres/person why do we use 20? That was the question. I suspect its because we’re much more mechanized so we waste land. Anyway I wish the healthy store people good luck.

posted by: robn on July 15, 2011  5:01pm

SH,

Good question. I’m not sure because I think US ag imports are roughly equal to exports but some of that may be non-food. Maybe a better metric is consumption. Found this…

http://tinyurl.com/y54x3zg
and this
http://tinyurl.com/yehjsbd

Its not surprising to me that we consume 3X as much food (by weight) as India, but I’m surprised to see us consuming about the same amount as many other nations. Unfortunately a lot of it is junk.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 16, 2011  7:41am

robn,
First, I’m a fan of Ezra Klein. Second, Interesting graphs. We eat as much as Spain, yet I’ve never read about how fat the Spanish are.

In any event we (our country) eats and drinks a heck of a lot of junk ( I’m no saint).

posted by: robn on July 17, 2011  9:13am

SH,

I’d love to see Ezra’s graph translated into calories rather than weight. I bet id would change dramatically.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 17, 2011  11:16am

Calories, activity, preparations, and on and on. Diet and biology are very complex. But from living in Europe for five years in the 1980’s I can say from personal observation that we eat more than they do and that nobody over there, at least that I saw, counts calories or grams of this or that. Except that the French are very particular that food be fresh and well prepared. A good chef is a rock star over there.

But to tie this back to the article, Zinc is a good restaurant with a short but focused menu.

posted by: robn on July 18, 2011  9:25am

Denise is a rock star!
;>

get ANDI

Events Calendar

loading…

SeeClickFix »

no right on red traffic sign to turn right on to to Brewery ST.
May 24, 2012 9:04 pm
Address: Intersection Of Brewery St And Sargent Drive New Haven, CT
Rating: 1

There is a no turn on red sigh=n. for the right hand turn on to...

more »
Burnt out or shorting bulb
May 24, 2012 7:33 pm
Address: 158 Porter St. New Haven, CT
Rating: 2

Street lamp doesn't come on at night.

Flyerboard

Sponsors

N.H.I. Site Design & Development

smartpill design