Saratoga Farmers' Market

Mangiamo

Spirit of Sharing Fills Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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By Elizabeth Horgan

Euro Delicacies, photo by Pattie Garrett

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is a great opportunity to meet up with others as you shop for the week. If you spend enough time at the market, you will start to see the sense of community that vendors share with each other as well as their customers. When shopping for ingredients to fill her ravioli, Mangiamo’s Rose Contadino stops by Halls Pond Farm, the produce vendor five steps from her stall. Meanwhile, Armin and Zinta Hrelja of Euro Delicacies use apples from Saratoga Apple for their apple strudel.

The vendors not only support each other but also the community. At the end of the Wednesday and Saturday markets, Squashville Farm’s Himanee Gupta-Carlson goes around to vendors to collect donations for the Franklin Community Center’s food pantry. Gupta-Carlson also coordinates a garden for the pantry. Meanwhile, Jim Gupta-Carlson facilitates the market’s compost collection program.

Owl Wood Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

The market is a strong advocate of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, which distributes $4 coupons for produce to lower-income seniors and others, as well as the Fresh Connect program that provides SNAP recipients an additional $2 for every $5 of EBT tokens purchased at the market.

The market also connects with the community in other ways. Through a partnership with the Bicycle Benefits program, market-goers can purchase a $5 sticker and take advantage of discounts at local businesses. This is part of an effort to encourage the use of bicycles as a source of transportation through the incentive of discounts at local businesses if you show your sticker and that you biked to their location. At the market, participants in the Bicycle Benefits program receive a $2 token to purchase produce or other items.

Chris Toole and Alexandra Morgan are conveners of the Friends of the Market volunteer program, whose members assist market-goers with the transport of purchases from the market to cars, offer vendors the chance to take short breaks, and support the market in other ways. They are eager to welcome new volunteers, and those who are interested can stop by the market shed or e-mail volunteers@saratogafarmersmarket.org. Volunteering at the market has shown them what farmers go through to get their produce from the farms into people’s homes.

Pasta Made Fresh and Cut On the Spot

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson, photos by Pattie Garrett

 

Rose Contadino, owner of Mangiamo, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

As the Saratoga Farmers’ Market opening bell rings, Rose Contadino begins making pasta. Regulars and newcomers gather around the pasta board to watch the process – the sprinkling of semolina flour, the rolling of the dough into strips, and the dough’s final trip through the pasta cutter into ribbons.

“It’s like a show,” says Contadino, with a laugh. “People love it.”

Contadino owns Mangiamo, one of the market’s three new Italian prepared food vendors. While the other two – Giovanni Fresco and La Dolce Vita — make dishes to be eaten on the spot, Mangiamo offers fettuccine and pappardelle for home cooking.

Contadino arrives at the market with her dough, prepared in a commercial kitchen. As she prepares the pasta fresh, she lets it dry under a protective mesh. She offers half-pound and one-pound portions. Market goers take the pasta home, set up their pots of boiling water, and can get the noodles cooked in three to five minutes. Contadino also offers ravioli, prepared with a seasonal vegetable as filling.

“I have always made my pasta fresh and when I moved to Saratoga, I wanted to get into the food business,” Contadino says. “Nobody seemed to be offering pasta made fresh like this.”

Contadino’s parents were immigrants from the Calabria region of Italy. She was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the fourth of five daughters. Every Sunday, after church, the children, their parents, and grandparents would gather around the pasta board and make noodles.

“We did it all by hand,” says Contadino. “We also grew our own food, and every summer, canned tomatoes for our sauce.”

Her business pays homage to her roots. Her pasta cutter belonged to her grandmother, and her father hand-crafted her pasta board.

The tradition of making pasta at home resonates for many around Saratoga, where about 17 percent of the population has Italian ancestry. One sign of this might be the group that gathers at the market on Wednesdays and Saturdays as Contadino cuts her pasta.

Some regulars arrive with recipes. Others send e-mails with special requests. And still, others share stories about their own experiences.

Contadino listens and enjoys it all.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and check out the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.

Ravioli in Olive Oil

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Recipe courtesy of My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Serves: 2

 

Ingredients

All Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • 1 package of homemade ravioli (about 10)
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  • ½ Tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
  • Optional: ½ Tablespoon of Peperonciono sott’olio from Dancing Ewe Farm

 

Instructions

  1. Bring water to a boil. Add ravioli stirring so it doesn’t stick, and water returns to a boil. Cook pasta until it is tender about 4 to 5 minutes. Test the pasta after 3 minutes if you prefer it al dente. Drain and reserve 2 Tablespoons of the pasta water to create a sauce.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until light brown. Do not burn the garlic. Add the reserved pasta water. Gently mix in the ravioli. Sprinkle in the parsley and basil. If using Peperonciono, top the dish after plating.

 

Notes: Peperonciono sott’olio can be purchased from the Dancing Ewe Farm or add ½ Tablespoon of red pepper flakes when you add the garlic. Top with favorite Pecorino (made from sheep’s milk) cheese, e.g. Pecorino Riserva.