Recipes

• 1 cup black seedless grapes. de-stemmed (cut in half if very large)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. orange zest
• 2 tbsp. fresh orange juice

• 1 butternut squash, with long "neck," cut into strings
• salt & pepper
• 4 tbsp. butter, in 2 oz. pads
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup fresh ricotta
• 2 tbsp. chopped pistachios

1. Season the grapes with fennel seeds, cinnamon, sugar and orange. Toss very well and set aside.
2. Peel the squash and then slice it very, very thin. Then slice each slice into thin strings, to resemble spaghetti unless you have already made the “strings” with the spiral slicer. Set this aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add squash strings, season lightly with salt and pepper, and toss for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook the squash as it will fall apart.
4. Almost at the same time, get the grapes going. Heat half of the butter in a different pan. When it starts to sizzle, add the grapes and let cook for a couple of minutes. The grapes will start to wilt a little and at this point, add the red wine and bring the sauce to a boil.
5. Remove grapes from sauce and put back on stove, bring to a boil again and add the rest of the butter, shaking the pan back and forth until it’s all melted. If, after adding the butter to the sauce it starts to “break” and separate, add 1 teaspoon of water and shake it until it looks smooth and “all together.”
6. Divide some of the sauce on the bottom of four bowls or plates (it looks great on a white plate). Place bundles of squash on top, reserved grapes and remaining sauce. Garnish with ricotta and pistachios.

A “turning slicer” will make this dish a lot easier to prepare. You can purchase one at www.famousfood.com. There is another gadget called a julienne peeler that looks like a potato peeler with teeth. It is readily available and cheaper. It won’t give you spaghetti-like strands but you will get thin pieces. It might be worthwhile to purchase one of these kitchen tools; otherwise you’ll need to cut the squash by hand. Might be a big pain in the butt! Use the top part of the butternut squash. It has no seeds and its shape makes it easy to form the “spaghetti”. Have four pasta bowls ready on the side of the stove. This is a very quick and easy dish to make. It is very colorful, very nice, and very good.