Stuffed Vegetable Rolls

In the heat of summer we are always looking for refreshing meals that can be made ahead of time.  By doing most of the work ahead of time we are able to enjoy our evenings and not heat up the kitchen right before dinner.  Make-ahead meals are also great for dinner parties and potlucks any time of year.  This meal was inspired by our trip to the farmer's market where we found local eggplant and zucchini, though peppers would work great as well.  The filling (we used goats cheese, basil, and lemon) can also be adapted to your liking with different combinations of cheeses and seasonings.  These easy to prepare and amazingly delicious rolls will soon become a go-to main dish or appetizer all summer long.

Green Pea Soup

Cold soups are a wonderful way to enjoy the tastes of summer while cooling down after a hot day.  Because this can be made in advance, it is an easy meal to put together on a weekday night and have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.  If peas are in season this is an excellent use for them, but if not, then frozen peas work just as well.  We actually find that frozen peas are one of the few frozen vegetables that retain their taste and taste fresh once defrosted.  For that reason, we went with frozen peas here but the option is yours.  As for the cinnamon used here, while it may seem like an unusual ingredient for a savory soup, it adds a unique and delicious rounded flavor to this dish.

Fried Squash Blossoms

Nothing says summer like squash blossoms.  Cooking squash blossoms can seem daunting, as they are typically a gourmet restaurant fare, but when they caught our eye at the farmers market we decided to give them a try.  These blossoms grow on the ends of zucchini and are plucked once the zucchini have developed.  Because they are so fragile and delicate they are sometimes difficult to find.  However, if you look around your local farmers markets or talk to the farmers you are sure to find some this time of year.  Once purchased they are best eaten day of and as a delicious appetizer.  This is a very easy recipe that you can play around with the fillings to suit your likes and we've found our favorite to be stuffed with goat cheese or ricotta.  

Farming in Italy

A view of our Italian farm's vineyards.

After our days in Cinque Terre we traveled to our Italian farm located an hour outside Turin in Northwestern Italy.  The farm mainly produces grapes and honey, but also has a small garden and fruit trees.  They sell their grapes to their local cooperative, a group of 350 farmers, which then produces, bottles, and distributes wine.  This farm is only one of two organic growers so the cooperative produces a small amount of organic wine and a large amount of conventionally produced wine.  The region is well known for Barolo and Muscato, both of which the cooperative makes.  One afternoon our host took us on a tour of the cooperative and we got to sample some of their wines as well as learn about the wine making process.

Dolcetto grapes from the vineyard.

Members of cooperative can purchase bulk wine cheaper than gasoline.
These pumps are used to transfer wine from storage into large jugs that members bring.

At the farm we had the chance to learn about the honey making process, something we had never experienced before.  The farm produces four types of honey, each of which are taken from the hives at different points of the year.  The flavor of each honey changes depending on which current flower is in bloom.  They make many fruit and honey preserves to sell at the market as well as sauces and canned vegetables for themselves to eat during the winter months.

Checking the progress of the bees to determine if the harvest was ready to collect. 

Irma, one of the dogs on the farm.

Thanks to the delicious cooking of our hosts, we were able to sample a variety of dishes native to the region.  One night we had pizza with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and olives and another night pasta cooked perfectly al dente with zucchini and parmesan cheese.  Our last nigh there we had an amazing meal of fried squash blossoms (which we had picked early that day), a simple yet incredibly tasteful lasagna and a delicious tiramisu for dessert.  It was great to see how simple these dishes were to make, but by combining fresh ingredients in just the right was they were so flavorful and well-balanced.  This is definitely a method of cooking that we try to follow by always letting the ingredients speak for themselves.

Pizza with olives.

Tiramisu.

Fried squash blossoms.

After our week at the farm we spent two days in Interlaken, Switzerland before returning home.  Overall we had a wonderful trip and so many fun food adventures.  Our experiences will no doubt influence our cooking in the future as well as our respect for organic food and our desire to have a garden later in life.  We hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels and we will soon return to posting new recipes.

A view of dusk from our Italian farm.

Us in the vineyard.