Letizia's In Logan Square Farmers' Market

A recent stroll through the first Logan Square Farmers' Market of the year was filled with exciting new sights: pasta from Letizia's Fiore, charcuterie from Publican Quality Meats, and cured links from Madison's Underground Meats, to name a few.

A game plan for a simple Sunday-night feast quickly took shape.

At Letizia's stall, pick from a spread of the restaurant's pasta, frozen in generous two-person servings ($8 to $10). Four to six varieties are available each week, including roasted-eggplant-filled ravioli, carrot gnocchi and tonnarelli alla chittara–thick, chewy spaghetti that calls out for a meaty tomato-based ragù or a verdant pesto.

Potato gnocchi alle erbe is packed with organic herbs–mint, oregano, basil and parsley. At the restaurant, it's served with a braised pork-and-lamb sauce. Our solution? Pick up packs of Toulouse or lamb sausages (2 links for $5) from the Publican Quality Meats stand. Break the sausage from the casing and caramelize in a hot pan before stirring into tomato sauce.

That sauce can be procured from Radical Root Farm ($9 for 16 ounces), which simmers its organic tomatoes with basil and garlic.

Or get to the market early to snag one of the precious few pints of the year's first fresh tomatoes, and make your own.

Logan Square Farmers' Market runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.