Lots of before & after Photos : Italian feast...Green Minestrone, Sicilian style roasted vegetables with citrus and red onion salad; Tuscan baked butternut squash with gnocchi;; Eggplant Parmesan; Fennel bread; Farmhouse orange cake

L-R White Mexican squash, Field carrots, Celery, Beets

L-R Butternut squash, Bonito yams, baby white potatoes, eggplant, red onions, brown onions, garlic

Top to bottom Pluots, plum tomatoes, baby sweet peppers, red & white fleshed grapefruit

Base for 1 gallon tomato sauce

The gallon of tomato sauce before cooking

Los Angeles is heading for a big heatwave ( on Thursday it is going to be 105F, today it was 94f in the shade with high humidity) so I am going to be up at 5am for  the next few days baking bread and vegetables for delivery on Monday, A national holiday in USA..Labor Day.
The menu my client's have chosen is a wonderful Italian inspired feast

A hearty green minestrone with mushroom tortellini, celery, garlic, squash, carrots, garlic, peas (it is called green as it does not contain tomatoes)


The entrees are:
Sicilian style roasted vegetables...tomatoes, pluots, squash, red onion, beets and potatoes with a red onion and grapefruit salad (usually it is orange and red onion, but the grapefruit lately have been wonderful, juicy and sweet).

A Tuscan inspired baked butternut squash in a tomato-pecan sauce, with  thyme and rosemary and gnocchi

Eggplant Parmesan..baked eggplant in a rich tomato and cheese sauce

The 2 sides are
 Mixed greens with balsamic vinegar and garlic

Baked Mexican white squash with rosemary and celery


The dessert is a wonderful Italian farmhouse style orange cake(orange zest in the cake and soaked in orange juice when baked)  and the bread a wholewheat sourdough with fennel seed.

The first photographs are of the market produce air drying 


Below are the photographs of today's Prep began cooking at 5am..roasting butternut squash and baking orange cakes

Orange zest and then juice for the cakes

Baked eggplants, white squash and butternut squash

Butternut squash before roasting

The base for the tomato-pecan sauce for the roasted butternut squash, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, sweet peppers, squash, pecans

Previous 3 the orange cake being soaked in more fresh orange juice and wild flower honey, traditionally this contains cocoa, but I wanted one that is all fresh citrus fruit

The roasted butternut squash is added to the pecan-tomato base and slowly simmered before packing

Previous 5 the grapefruit and red onion salad..the citrus breaks down the onions and naturally pickles them, also added a tsp olive oil to each pot..will sit overnight before delivery

Previous 2 the "Green Minestrone" no tomato, cook the pasta separately, then drain and add the pasta water to the soup as well as hot vegetable stock, the starch in pasta water will help thicken soup and pasta will not break up when added to soup at end of cooking.This soup is finished with fresh basil leaves

I am waiting for my bread to rise and I will post more photos tomorrow just before delivery..stopping cooking now as it is quite hot in LA right now, 11.48am. & 84F in the shade.