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Consider the springtime crostata. It is the perfect season, after all, for this rustic take on a tart. Made with a simple round of pastry dough folded up and around the filling of your choice, a crostata can capture and render delicious all manner of spring fruits, jams, vegetables, cheeses and even eggs. It is quick to assemble, easy to bake and can be made large for a crowd or small for individual servings.

On the savory front, top a tender pastry crust with a mixture of ricotta and crème fraiche, a goodly sprinkle of gruyere and tender asparagus. Or sauté pancetta, wild mushrooms and herbs, and combine with creamy fontina. Whole cherry tomatoes, pesto and parmigiano reggiano crostata is colorful and quick. Or try a cheese and prosciutto cotto crostata with rosemary for something a little more hearty.

And of course, dessert. A short pastry crust is lovely folded around top quality marmalade, and is a classic Italian favorite. Strawberries and rhubarb are naturals in crostata form – bubbly and tart-sweet, with plenty of crisp pastry for balance.
Try a fig and blue cheese crostata, being sure to use a creamy, mild blue. Or pile up the blueberries into your pastry dough with plenty of lemon zest and just a touch of sugar. Serve with honey ice cream on the side.

GreenLeaf has the building blocks for an array of crostatas – butter for your dough, fruits and vegetables, cheese and eggs, pancetta and fresh herbs. Imagine a colorful, springtime crostata on the menu, coupled with a simple salad and a great glass of wine, then call us for your order today!

A wonderfully soft, yeasted bread enriched with eggs and butter, brioche has enjoyed a place at the European table for 600 years plus. The word “brioche” first came into use in 1404, and is believed to derive from the verb “brier”, a form of the verb broyuer which meant to pound or break apart. This likely referred to the extended kneading of the dough. Some hold that Normandy is the birthplace of brioche, which is supported by the fact that Normandy has long been regarded for their superb butter. Earlier incarnations of brioche generally featured less egg and butter than do the modern versions, making the bread more akin to a light, simple white bread. Current day brioche is heavy with butter and egg, with an almost yellow crumb and burnished brown crust from a finishing egg wash before it is baked.

Brioche lends itself well to many iterations, from a basic viennoiserie to the basis for a decadent bread pudding. Consider brioche with dark chocolate, or even dark chocolate and dried cherries. Bake a savory brioche with Parmigiano and cracked black pepper. Use a brioche base for a rich custard tart topped with caramelized pears, and cube brioche for sweet or savory bread puddings. It makes wonderful French toast, and we like it toasted at tea time with mascarpone and marmalade. GreenLeaf is the place to find the cornerstone ingredients for a classic brioche: great eggs and great butter. Choose from organic, local, conventional, cage-free, brown or white, whole or shelled eggs, and from salted, unsalted, European-style, cultured or organic butters. Your brioche will sing – call us today for more information. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The savory pie has taken many forms over the ages. From the pasty to the pierogi, tart to turnover, we have endeavored to wrap delicious fillings inside some form of dough for centuries. The Oxford English Dictionary notes the first use of the word pie, as it relates to food, to the early 14th century. And what better time than winter to create a variety of warm, savory pies to fill the belly and satisfy the soul.

Start with the classic pot pie, believed to have begun as a cooking method more than as a recipe. A savory pie could be baked directly in an iron pot lined with a crust which wasn’t consumed – it was simply there to keep the taste of the metal pot away from the food. American chefs appropriated the pot pie cooking method in the late 18th century, and by the 1950s it was being mass-produced and sold in the aisle of frozen food. Beyond the classic chicken pot pie, consider a winter vegetable pot pie redolent with fennel, squash and perhaps a dash of Pernod in a rich cream-based sauce.

For a twist on the traditional, consider the samosa, a hand-held savory pastry believed to have originated in Central Asia prior to the 10th century. Whether baked or fried, they are most often made in a triangular shape, and the most common fillings include spiced potatoes, peas, lentils, onions and sometimes chicken or beef. Samosas are commonly enjoyed with a chutney or sauce for dipping, and the variations of fillings, pastry and sauce are virtually limitless.

Find your hearty winter vegetables, your herbs and spices, your butter and cream, all at GreenLeaf, and add a hearty savory pie to your menu today!

The earliest references to potato pie, the precursor to today’s sweet potato pie, can be found in English cookbooks from the 18th century. Many of these recipes don’t necessarily include a crust, but the spirit of the beloved recipe is very much the same. The pies generally feature eggs, sugar, warm spices, cream and sometimes liquor. What is difficult to determine is if these early recipes used standard potatoes, or the sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes were introduced Europe in the 16th century, to West Africa in the late 17th or early 18th century, and subsequently to the American South. Thus the inception of the sweet potato pie as a cornerstone of Southern cuisine. While it is more commonly enjoyed year round in the South, sweet potato pie makes an excellent alternative to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.
There are two common sweet potato varieties, the lighter of which is less suited to pies. It has a courser texture after cooking and tends to be less sweet. The darker sweet potato variety, with its deep orange flesh (often incorrectly referred to as a yam), may be roasted, steamed or even boiled to yield a rich, creamy and moist mash. Combine this with cream or coconut milk, fresh eggs and spices – the result will be a deceptively light and delicately textured pie. GreenLeaf stocks a variety of sweet potatoes, butter, cream, coconut milk, eggs and spices to create the perfect pie this season. Happy Thanksgiving!

The tradition of salting, curing and smoking meats for preservation has deep roots in culinary annals. While no recorded history appears to exist on the origins of pancetta, there are shipping records from as early as the 15th century that note the purchase of cured meats for long voyages. These likely included a version of Pancetta. Originally hailing from Italy (and possibly Spain), pancetta is a cured meat in the classic tradition. Like bacon, it is made with pork belly; however, it is not smoked. It is cured in salt and spices, then dried and used to impart flavor and fat to recipes. One will most likely find rolled, or arrotolata, pancetta in the U.S. – the muscle and fat create a spiral, and this is generally sliced very thinly across the face for use. Slab, or stesa, pancetta is more common in Italy – this way the pancetta may be easily chopped or diced for cooking.

Pancetta is an excellent alternative to bacon, in any recipe where the meaty flavor of bacon is desired, without the smokiness. An almost indispensable ingredient in the kitchen, pancetta adds a lovely succulence to your favorite fall vegetables, for example. Roast it with potatoes, Brussels sprouts, squash or radicchio. Add it to virtually any pasta dish for extra flavor. Wrap it around buttery scallops, or drape it over whole trout before grilling. Mince it into stuffings, or fry it crisp and sprinkle over soups.

GreenLeaf stocks Boccalone Pancetta – made by hand with sustainably raised, heritage-breed pork, seasoned with rosemary and spices, then rolled and tied. Add this delicious, versatile ingredient to your menu today!

According to food historians, the beginnings of what we know as “cake” today likely originated in Europe in the mid-17th century. At the time, a combination of more reliable cooking methods and the availability of key ingredients (like sugar), made the round, layered and frosted cakes we enjoy now more feasible. One of our favorite versions, carrot cake, was preceded by carrot puddings in the Arab world in the 10th century, and steamed or baked carrot “pies” in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was noted by author Molly O’Neil that George Washington was served a carrot tea cake in the late 18th century, but then carrot cake fell out of fashion in the U.S. for some time before reappearing in the American baking lexicon in the early 20th century. And the beloved cream cheese frosting? That didn’t seem to catch on until the 60’s, when it first started appearing alongside carrot cake recipes.

What distinguishes carrot cake most, perhaps, is its lovely, moist texture resplendent with spice and carrot. Some recipes call for pineapple, citrus juice, nuts and even chocolate for added flavor. One can augment the classic cream cheese frosting with orange or lemon zest, or go extra-rich with a mascarpone and cream cheese frosting, for less sweetness and a more refined finish.