Pasta, Risotto and You: Foraging for Fall

by Nancy Caivano

Foraging for Fall

As summer begins to fade from our minds, we look to the beginning of autumn for the beginning of the "busy season". It's almost as if September were the beginning of the year instead of January. School starts, workdays return to normal patterns and regular work weeks. We begin making Christmas lists (well some people do!) and planning for the holiday filled months to come.

Foraging for Fall September can be a strange month. At times it's full of warm breezes and long Indian summer days, when you have to push the kids out the door to school. But the very next day may be marked by early frost and frantic scrambling to unearth the winter sweaters and jackets. It is largely a transitional month (for those of us who live with seasons), where we slowly begin preparing for the winter months ahead.

The foods we eat are not exempt from this transition. After a summer filled with barbecues, salads and ice cream, we begin to yearn for roasts, soups, cobblers and crisps. The bright, colorful summer bounty of vegetables gives way to the duller colored (but no less delicious) root vegetables, fungi and squashes. The cool, crisp evenings (especially here in NY) beg for long walks and evenings spent in the porch swing with a cup of hot apple cider in hand.

This month's recipes reflect the changing of seasons. I have two wonderful dishes to begin your autumn transformation. First, we have Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms, a salute to autumn's vast assortment of mushrooms. Luscious pasta strands are combined with assorted mushrooms, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, herbs and Romano cheese to make a first course, lunch or main course dish. The other recipe I have for you this month is Risotto with Clams, Scallops and Green Beans. Fresh shellfish, crisp green beans, tomatoes, crushed red pepper flakes and herbs all bound in a creamy, rich risotto.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes, and that you celebrate the beginning of autumn. Heat up some apple cider, stir it with a cinnamon stick and breathe in the beautiful scent of leaves changing.

Nancy Caivano