Soup!

One of my favorite soups to make on a rainy day is Julia Child's Soup a la Victorine.  However, Julia's version has a lot of extra steps that I tend to cut down, and my result is a really yummy, easy, and relatively quick soup.  Once again, everything I needed was in the house already.  Except for the eggplant.  But there was frozen Wild Boar sausage from D'Artagnan, one of my favorites!  Normally, I use regular Italian sausage, which is just as good, but if there's wild boar around, I'll use that instead.  Or, for a lighter meal, I skip it all together.  I had to run out to Walgreens anyway to pick up my cold medicine, so I went to Whole Foods too.  And, I'm glad I did because I found what might be one of the last bags of white chocolate covered, peppermint encrusted, pretzel chips of the season!!

Once again, I digress.... but see how pretty?  Anyway, I came home and started on the soup.  The great thing about this, is that it makes a big pot, enough for 6 people, and since I'm cooking for only 3, we have leftovers to freeze for a day that I don't feel like cooking.  However, there is NO p-touch in this house.  Can you believe it?  My mother has yet to discover the wonders of labeling everything in sight.  I feel that might change once she reads this.  Or maybe I'll buy one for her.  For now, a piece of masking tape with "soup" written on it will have to do for marking the jars that are about to go in the freezer.



½ lb. Italian sausage
2 cups combination of sliced leeks and onions, or onions only, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced or mashed
olive oil 
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon sage
4 jars Borlotti Italian beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups chicken stock
A firm, shiny, 1 lb. eggplant (about 8 inches long and about 3 ½ inches at widest diameter 
1 can San Marzano tomatoes, chopped
salt
pepper

• Brown the sausage in a bit of olive oil in a soup pot.  When mostly cooked, remove from pot and slice into rounds.  Brown those a bit.  Remove them to a plate.

browning sausage - yum!

• If there is a lot of fat from your sausage, drain some of it.  If there is not a lot, add some oil to the pan.  Sprinkle the leeks and onions with salt and cook slowly until tender and translucent.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add the beans, herbs, and stock to cover.  Bring to the simmer, partially cover the pan, and cook slowly for 1/2 hour or until the beans are tender. (Stir frequently).  Sometimes, I will use dried cranberry beans and cook the soup in my pressure cooker.  Both ways are equally delicious, and it just depends on what I I have on hand. 

simmering it all together

• Sauté the sausage in a separate pan, slice, and reserve.
• Peel the eggplant and cut into ½ inch dice.  Sauté in some olive oil pan till lightly brown.
• Purée the soup in a food mill, and add the sausage, eggplant, and tomatoes and some of their juice to the pan.
• Simmer 10-15 minutes
• Serve with a drizzle of good finishing oil.

Pasta e Fagioli

Another cold, rainy day; another soup! Tonight, I had a craving for one of my favorites, Pasta e Fagioli (pasta and beans). Thick, hearty, satisfying, this soup is easily a meal by itself. There are many different regional versions in Italy - here is mine.

Pasta e Fagioli

1 onion
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
olive oil
4 slices bacon
2 sprigs of fresh sage
4 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz. can San Marzano whole tomatoes
6-8 cups chicken stock
salt to taste
Pasta (one handful per person). I like to use campanelle, but any short pasta will work - use your favorite!

• Heat about 2 tbsp. olive oil in a heavy soup pan
• Finely chop onions, celery and carrot and saute in oil for about 5-7 minutes, till onions are translucent. Add whole slices of bacon and cook on medium for 2-3 minutes.
• Crush tomatoes in their juice with your hands (or you can chop with a knife).
• Add beans, tomatoes with juice, and stock to pot. Season with salt and simmer slowly for about an hour.
• Remove the bacon and sage and discard. Take about 1/2 of the beans and pass through a food mill, then return to soup. If you don't have a food mill, you can use a food processor, but a food mill will remove the tough skins of the beans.
• If you are serving all of the soup, add pasta to the soup and cook till done (you may need to add some water) If you are serving only one or two people, cook the pasta separately, then add to individual bowls of soup. Drizle bowls of soup with a bit of good quality olive oil and serve.

If you haven't added all of the pasta, this soup freezes very well. If you add the pasta, you will want to serve it right away since the pasta will continue cooking and get mushy if you leave it in the soup too long.

Serves 6-8