Late Summer Harvest Dinner Party Recipes

• Cut tomatoes in 1/4 inch slices and discard seeds. If using cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Sprinkle tomato slices with sea salt on both sides and let drain in a colander to remove excess moisture. Let set while making focaccia dough.
• Dissolve yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to foam. Stir in 1 teaspoon of sea salt, 2 teaspoons olive oil, whole wheat flour, and all-purpose flour until the dough comes together. Knead on a well floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Punch down dough and place on an oiled baking sheet, forming into an oval or circle. Use the tips of your fingers to make indentations all over the dough spaced about 1 inch apart. Drizzle the focaccia with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Space the tomatoes evenly across the surface of the focaccia, then sprinkle the basil leaves, pine nuts, and parmigiano-reggiano cheese over the top. Let rise for 10 minutes
• Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

• Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until well blended.
• Grease a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 375. Moisten your hands and shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch meatballs, carefully adding them to cookie sheet without overcrowding. Bake until meatballs are evenly browned, about 20-30 minutes.

• Remove the rack of lamb from the refrigerator and place in a baking dish. Season both sides of the lamb generously with salt and pepper.
• In a food processor, combine the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, garlic cloves and lemon zest and pulse until finely chopped. This can be done by hand by finely chopping the garlic and herbs, then stirring into the oil in a small bowl if you do not have a food processor.
• Rub the marinade over the seasoned lamb and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before roasting so that it will cook evenly. Reserve some of the marinade to drizzle on the vegetable.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Place the lamb with the fat side up on the baking sheet. Toss the vegetables in the remaining marinade and arrange around the lamb. Roast at 450 before rotating the baking sheet to ensure even cooking and roasting for another 10 minutes for medium-rare meat or 15 minutes for medium doneness. If using a digital meat thermometer, medium-rare will be between 130-140 degrees F and medium is between 140-145 degrees F. But the internal temperature will continue to rise about 5 degrees after the rack is removed from the oven, so if you are shooting for an end temp of 130, you will want to pull the lamb when it reaches 125 degrees F.
• Transfer the roasted rack of lamb to a cutting board and allow to rest for 10 minutes so the juices can redistribute before slicing into individual chops for serving. Use a sharp knife to slice between the bones, then serve immediately.

Soup

• Start by roasting the squash, onions and garlic. Cut the head of the garlic bulb off. Drizzle everything with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, pepper and the fresh herbs. Roast teh veggies at 400 for 24 minutes. Transfer the roasted veggies to a dutch oven. Keep the garlic on the baking pan and continue roasting for another 20 minutes.
• In the meantime make the cucumber garnish. Add all ingredients to a blender and mix. Transfer to a mason jar or airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
• When the garlic is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool. Once cooled remove the garlic from the stems and add to the veggies in the dutch oven. Add the chicken stock and Joi. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat and blend the mixture until smooth with an immersion blender. Add more stock if needed or more Joi for more creaminess.
• Serve with croutons and a drizzle of the cucumber dip. Enjoy!

• Peach Filling
• Slice each peach half into ¼ inch thick slices, or ¼ inch thick wedges.
• Place the peaches in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, vanilla, salt and cornstarch, and gently toss to mix in with the peaches.
• Egg Wash
• Make the egg wash while the galette is chilling in the fridge and the oven is preheating. Mix the egg yolk and milk together and set aside.
• Galette assembly
• Dust your work surface with flour and place the cold (but malleable) pie dough on top. Dust the top of the pie disc with a little flour as well. Roll out the pie disc until you have a rough round-shaped disc that’s about 12 inches in diameter. Then gently place this crust on a parchment paper.
• Starting from the middle, place the peach slices/wedges on top of the pie dough, leaving a 2 inch border from the edge of the pie crust.
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• Sprinkle the sugar over the peach slices/wedges.
• Cut any frayed edges of the pie crust. Then fold over the pie dough borders. Place the galette (along with the parchment paper) on a baking tray.
• Refrigerate the galette for about 15 – 20 minutes until it firms up. While the galette is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• When the oven is preheated, remove the galette from the fridge, and generously brush the top of the pie dough with the egg wash.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 – 40 minutes, until the crust is a golden brown. Remove the galette from the oven, and gently lift the galette from the parchment paper (be careful as the galette will be a little soft and delicate at this point), and place it on a baking rack to cool. This will help prevent the bottom from getting soggy.
• Serve the galette while warm, or at room temperature, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.