Oh Right…Winter

We promise we’re not trying to be morbid bringing up the “w” word pre-maturely, and trust us, we are soaking up every perfect fall moment until the official change of seasons in December. So why bring it up in the first place? Preparation. Rachel and I have grown quite accustomed to our Farmer’s Market routine– we scope out Springbrook Farm’s stand at the Prudential and Hingham Markets, picking the very best of what’s in season. Other days, we take a ride to Lipinski Farm to visit their vegetable stand and walk along the corn fields, pumpkin patches and sea of mums. We were doing just this today when it hit us– farm stands close in the winter. Worse, before Thanksgiving. To continue to use local produce in our ravioli its time to start preparing by preserving what’s in season now. For the next several weeks, we’ll be buying pumpkins, corn, butternut and acorn squashes, garlic and more in bulk, flash steaming or roasting them, and freezing them for later use. This way, you can be sure that Nella will stick to our pledge of using only local farmer’s produce whenever possible. Now, look out the window, check the forecast, and revel in the fact that your heat isn’t needed just quite yet– theres plenty of fall left to enjoy!

Speaking of fall, our ravioli for tomorrow’s farmer’s market pretty much sums up the season as a whole: maple glazed, roasted butternut squash and cortland apples, currants soaked in apple cider, sauteed onions, garlic and thyme and a blend of ricotta, parmesan and pecorino romano. Lots going on here, but it all comes together to form the perfect bite of fall flavor in a whole wheat pasta dough. Due to the wet forecast tomorrow, were packing light. We’ll have a limited quantity of these ‘taste of fall ravioli’, white capellini, and our Nutella ravioli. Come early for our best selection! We also wanted to add a shout out for our loyal customers who time after time have braved the elements to visit us at the market– we sincerely appreciate your dedication and hope to see you tomorrow!