The last day of summer.

Photograph by Matt Hocking

Growing up in New England, summer ended with the return to school. I remember trading in shorts for corduroy pants and long sleeves. Somehow, the first day I returned to school there were already leaves to crunch underfoot and bowls of McIntosh apples set out for a snack between soccer and dinner. It signaled the abrupt end to days spent freely outdoors pursuing a schedule limited only by your imagination. It was when reading again became homework.

As an adult summer’s end isn’t marked by your car pulling away from a cabin or cottage - kids in the back and luggage strapped to the top. You don’t count down the last seconds by watching the ocean or a serene lake shrink out of sight in your rear view mirror. The grand finale doesn’t occur when you put away the sprinklers you ran through barefoot as often as they were used to water the garden.

No, summer’s end comes with one final harvest, served in a bowl. It’s the last of the eggplant, basil, and zucchini, the straggling tomatoes and tough green beans, cooked in a single pot to coax out one last taste of the season’s produce, bold and fresh. They take many forms from Mom’s caponata and my Aunt Ali’s soupe au pistou to rich ratatouille and hearty minestrone.

These dishes, then, aren’t a tearful goodbye. They are a hug. Just like the one you get from your Mom on the first day of school. It says, “don’t worry, summer will return soon enough.”

Minestrone Pasta

Serves 6-8

This is a late-summer harvest tossed with a hearty plateful of pasta topped with lots of grated parmesan cheese. Vinegar and basil keep end-of-season produce tasting fresh and bright. One taste and you’ll be making this a lot earlier next year.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs olive oil

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 large zucchini quartered and thinly sliced

• 1/2 pound lacinato kale, cut in thin strips

• 3 large tomatoes, diced

• 1 small eggplant cut in 1/2” dice

• 1/2 pound pasta, like macaroni

• 1 tbs red wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup chopped basil

• 2 tbs chives

• Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Fill a 6-8 quart pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Season with 2-3 tbs salt.

• Warm 2 tbs olive oil in a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and bay leaves. Cook 1 minute longer until fragrant.

• Add zucchini and cook additional 5 minutes. Add kale, tomatoes and eggplant. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes longer.

• Meanwhile, right after adding zucchini to the skillet, add your pasta to the salted water and cook until until nearly al dente, still a little too firm in the middle. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water.

• Add pasta and reserved water to vegetables. Toss and cook until water has evaporated.

• Stir through oil, vinegar and basil.

• Season to taste with salt, pepper, Parmesan and additional oil and vinegar.

TIP: Lacinato kale has long narrow leaves with unruffled edges. It is mild tasting and less bitter than most other kale, and my favorite for this recipe. I substitute other kales freely when Lacinato is not available.