More soup!

More cold days = more soup!  Have I mentioned before that I love soup?  Yes?  Well, I'll say it again.  I love soup!  So comforting, and so quick and easy to make.  This is a recipe that I found online, and for once I barely changed a thing.  It came out great!  It is from Sarah Moulton, who I sometimes like, sometimes not, but this one was good.  And, I got my dad to eat kale.  He generally doesn't like a lot of green stuff, and if it's on a plate as a side, he'll eat some and leave the rest.  In the soup, he doesn't really have a choice! 

Spanish Style White Bean, Kale, and Chorizo Soup


1/2 pound dried white beans, such as Great Northern, rinsed and picked over
8 1/2 cups chicken stock, (preferably homemade)
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt
saffron threads
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 Spanish chorizo sausages, about 3/4 pound, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 small bunch kale, about 3/4 pound, tough stems removed, washed well, and coarsely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Sherry vinegar, to taste (I used about a tablespoon)


**She does not mention soaking the beans, which I found odd.  I cooked them in a pressure cooker, so I didn't have to soak, but I imagine that if you didn't, you would need to soak for 8 hours**  Place the beans in a large pot or soup kettle. Pour in 8 cups of the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Cook, partially covered, stirring often and adjusting the heat to keep it at a slow steady simmer, until the beans are tender, about 2 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Soak the saffron in the remaining 1/2 cup chicken (hot) stock.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Add the onion; reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the red pepper and the paprika. Cook for 2 minutes longer, then transfer the contents of the skillet to the bean pot. Stir in the saffron with the soaking liquid, the chorizo, and the kale. Bring back to a simmer and cook just until the kale is wilted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the vinegar, and serve hot in warmed soup bowls.

Potato and Rice Soup

As the cold continues, I'm in the mood for more soup. Also in the mood for something super easy after the 6 hour cassoulet! This is a soup that my grandmother used to make in Italy. My mom gave me the recipe years and years ago, while I was still in college. She claims that she never used tomato paste, and that there's parsley in it, but that's not what I have written down. Anyway, this fast, simple, but delicious soup is also very filling, and can be completely vegetarian, even vegan if you want!

Potato and Rice Soup

Olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 potatoes, diced
6 cups stock
6 tablespoons rice

Garlic cooking

Potatoes added

simmering away

• Heat olive oil.  Add garlic and cook till just fragrant, taking care not to burn it.  Add potatoes and tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add stock and cook at a high simmer for 20 minutes.  Add rice and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Smash about half of the potatoes and rice with a fork or a potato masher.  Serve with some grated parmigiano reggiano.

Almost Meatless Monday

I love making soup! There are infinite possibilities, and winter brings us so much great squash and root veggies that you can get really creative. Monday night I went on a squash kick. One winter, and one summer squash. Who knows where they're growing zucchini right now, but even though they're a summer squash, they seem to be available almost year round. I made these with prosciutto in the filling, but you can just as easily make them vegetarian by substituting something like mushrooms or some other veggie. This recipe is originally from my mom, although I've changed it up a little bit. 

As for the soup, this is a version of the squash soup that I make every year for Thanksgiving. One of my friends has said that this soup may be the answer to world peace! Normally I use one butternut and one acorn squash, but I only used butternut this time. Really, any sort of hard squash would work here, and each will give you a slightly different end result. I think the fresh herbs really make a difference, so make sure to use them! You can switch out the chicken stock for veggie, and omit the cream if you're dairy sensitive. The hardest part of this is peeling and chopping the squash. A sharp knife is your best bet, but they are slippery, so proceed with caution! A good vegetable peeler can also work well. You can also change this a bit by roasting the squash first to make it easier to deal with, and that would give you still another wonderful version. I saved the seeds and roasted them up with some olive oil and salt to use as a garnish, and also as a snack - super yummy! 

Winter Squash Soup


1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
5-6 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups 1-inch pieces peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 cups 1-inch pieces peeled acorn squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh sage
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons sugar

cutting the skin off the squash

all cubed up and ready

• Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, all squash and herbs; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.

• Working in batches, puree soup in blender (or use an immersion blender). Return soup to same pot. Stir in cream and sugar; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Rewarm over medium heat before serving.)

Stuffed Zucchini

Zucchini (one per person)
Bread crumbs - about 1/2 cup for 3 people - adjust as you make for more
Milk
1 egg, beaten
Prosciutto, cooked ham, or other deli meat, small dice
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add zucchini (whole) and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
• Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a spoon or a mellonballer, scoop out the flesh, being careful not to cut through the skin. Chop up the removed flesh, drain in a kitchen towel or in a sieve, and place in a bowl.
• Add bread crumbs, egg, prosciutto, and cheese and mix well.  Add enough milk to moisten and bring everything together. If it gets too runny, add more breadcrumbs.
• Line a baking sheet with foil, place hollowed out zucchini on it, and fill each one with the filling mixture. Top with a bit more cheese, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

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.

Back again!!

So much has happened since I last posted here.  One big change is my new job - I'm now working for Veritable Vegetable, the nation's oldest Organic Produce Distributor.  As you can imagine, this has given me access to all sorts of wonderful produce.  I'm organizing my life in many ways, and one of those is to try again to post regularly on here and make this into something....  so here we go.

One thing that I was thrilled to find at work were these - fresh Cranberry Beans.  I've often used the dried or canned variety, but had never even seen them fresh like this.  So I recently brought a bunch home and made a soup.

Cranberry Beans in their pods

I sat down with this bowl full of beans, and an empty bowl, and the Food Network on TV.  Much like shelling peas, you just snap one end and expose the pretty beans inside:

After an episode of Anne Burrell, here's what I ended up with - about 4 cups of shelled beans.

Shelled beans

Unfortunately, after cooking they loose their unique coloring, but the creamy texture more than makes up for this.  So then it was time to start the soup.  With no real recipe to go by, here's what I did:

Mirepoix

All of my soups start with a mirepoix (2 parts chopped onion, 1 part chopped celery, 1 part chopped carrots) and a large, heavy soup pot.  My favorite is a 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset that I got for my birthday one year.  Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the pot, add the mirepoix, a little bit of salt, and cook until soft, about 8-10 minutes.  Then I added the shelled beans, about 1/2 can of chopped San Marzano tomatoes (I had some leftover from the previous night's dinner) and about 4 cups of chicken stock, and a sprig of sage.  Oh, and I tossed in some parmesan cheese rinds that I had in the fridge.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer.  No salt at this time because it can make the skins of the beans tough.  I cooked the soup for a couple of hours, occasionally adding more water if the level got too low.  Once the beans were super tender and all the flavors had time to really come together, I decided to add some Rainbow Chard that I had in the fridge.  After washing, I cut out the stalks and chopped them up - added to the soup and cooked for about 10 minutes.  Then I chopped up the leaves and added them and cooked for 5 more minutes.  Then season the whole thing with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls, and drizzle with some good quality olive oil. Here's the finished product.  This made enough for dinner that night, dinner for me and Creg the next night, and another night, and one more serving in the freezer (how much is that total? 6?)  Of course, we accompanied the soup with grilled cheese sandwiches, which I did not photograph.

Cranberry Bean Soup

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