Hottest Day of the Weekend, It's Time for Minestrone

 

So while the rest of the nation is apple picking, and raking up fall leaves, here in San Diego we are experiencing record heat.  Fortunately, for now, no fires are burning in our area.  

I still have no idea what day it is, and I spend days trying to decide what I'm going to cook, and there are days when I don't cook and we simply order in or grab something from the freezer.  Yesterday I felt like having a bowl of comfort, even though it was 90 degrees here at the coast.  I've been using Insta-Cart to get most of our groceries, and Gelson's markets have had stellar produce, so I put in my order and 2 hours later I have the veg I needed to make some soup.  

I kind of picture this soup being made by Tony Soprano, or one of the guys from Goodfellas, or the God Father movies when they are holed up somewhere for a while.  This soup and a pot of sauce with meatballs. 

 During hot weather like this, my slow cooker is a God-send.  I use it for soups, braises, and as a low and slow oven.  At high, a slow cooker should be at 300 degrees, so you can slow bake foil-wrapped potatoes, or make lasagna.  

In Italy, minestrone really is a vegetable soup, that may have a few leftover beef or pork bones thrown in for flavor, but they hardly ever use stock to enrich the broth, rather they will use Parmigiano rinds, fruity olive oil to begin the soup, and fresh veg to flavor the soup.  I threw all that out the window yesterday, I started with sweet Italian sausage, added wine, and tomatoes, and both beef and chicken broth because I wanted a really hearty soup.  So, here goes.

Quarantine Minestrone

Serves 6 to 8

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, either bulk or removed from casings

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped

3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon dried sage (I've also used chopped rosemary in this)

1/2 cup dry red wine

One 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

3 cups beef broth

3 medium zucchini, diced

2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups chopped spinach (I've subbed kale, or Swiss chard in here if it's looking good)

One 14.5-ounce can either small white beans, or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped Parmigiano Reggiano rinds

1/2 pound small pasta, such as pennette, orzo or small shells, cooked al dente

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil for garnish

1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano for garnish

In a Dutch oven, cook the sausage, until it is no longer pink, and break up any large pieces.
Add the onion, celery, carrots, and sage, and saute until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  

Add the wine and tomatoes, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes to concentrate the flavor.  

Add the broths, zucchini, beans, spinach, beans, and rinds.  Bring to a boil, and simmer for 3 hours.  

Add the pasta, season with salt and pepper.  Serve drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkle with cheese if desired.   
The soup keeps refrigerated for up to 4 days or freezes beautifully for up to 4 months.  
Slow-Cooker Savvy:  Saute the sausage and mirepoix.  Add the tomatoes and wine, then transfer to your slow cooker insert, add the broths, veg, and rinds, cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.  

A few notes on this soup:  

• If you want to make it vegetarian, leave out the sausage, and use vegetable broth
• I've made this using cauliflower as one of the veg (about 2 cups of florets), it's really a soup that is from the garden so whatever you have will be fine in it.  
• Sub in Kale or Swiss chard for the spinach.  
• Always cook the pasta (if you are using it) before it goes into the soup, otherwise, it will absorb all the broth.  I've also used cheese tortellini in this soup and it's delicious.  

As the day winds down, I pray you are all well and safe.  Wear your mask, and keep social distancing.  Ciao for now.  

More Soup, Day 13, Quaratine Kitchen

Day 13 and I've got the slow cooker out.  It's a good day to make some soup, possibly for dinner, and then enough to freeze, or give to friends.  We still haven't decided if this is a take-out night.
I had grilled polish sausage for lunch the other day and had leftovers so they are the basis of the soup, along with a mirepoix, a bit of chicken broth, some thyme, and salt and pepper.  You can change this up and use lentils, split peas, or black-eyed peas.  I've made this soup without any meat, or I've made it with bacon, when there hasn't been any sausage to add.  This entire vat of soup can be made for under $5 and will give you at least 8 cups of soup.  Pair that with bread and salad, and you've got a great meal for your family.

Diced polish sausage, onion, celery, carrot, split peas and thyme; ready for broth

Split Pea Soup

Serves 8

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 to 3 cups diced polish sausage, kielbasa or bratwurst

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

3 medium carrots, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 pound (16 ounces) dried split peas

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil, saute the sausage until it begins to color.  Add the onion, celery, carrots, and thyme, and saute until the onion is softened.
Rinse the split peas, and pick over for stones.  Add to the vegetable mixture, and stir in the broth.  

Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, adding more broth if needed.
Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.
Slow-Cooker Savvy: Saute all the ingredients, transfer to the slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients, and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.

We had the soup with some cornbread; the rest will go in the freezer, and we'll enjoy it another day. 
Stay safe and stay well.  

A Good Day for Soup

Wednesday is market day in Spello; unfortunately, since Spello is a very small town, the market here is more flea market than produce market.  There are only 2 produce sellers, the rest sell clothing, shoes, and plants.
My guy talks non-stop to the buyers, and is a lovely man.  Happy to sell you his wares, and also adding what he thinks you'll need for your meal.  Since I was gifted with a few zucchini and an onion from a friend, I wanted to make a minestrone.  That necessitated a few more ingredients from the frutivendolo.  As I was making my purchases he asked if I wanted the black celery from Trevi a nearby town that has a DOP (denomination of protected origin) designation for its special celery---it is aromatic and delicious, so of course I chose it, after that he was putting extra carrots and parsley and onions into my bags.  The celery isn't actually black, they cover the root end, and the chlorophyll goes to the leaves, which turn a very dark green. There is an annual festival in Trevi celebrating the sedano nero.

Escarole

Romanesco

Here pepperoni is the vegetable, not the meat on a pizza

Eggplant

Zucchini

Golden delicious apples from the north

Gala apples from the north

Really new potatoes

Garlic

Beautiful flowers

Minestrone

Serves an army
Let me just say that you can sub in your favorite vegetables here, I usually use escarole, but the heads he had were as big as my head, and I didn't need that much, so I picked up some spinach instead.  Pancetta is also optional, perfectly acceptable to leave it out.  Minestrone means without stock but I used chicken for this one.  You can use water if you prefer, the fresher the vegetables the better your soup will be. 

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
one 1/4-inch piece pancetta finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (today I'm using the DOP cippolini from Cannara)
3 medium carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery with leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth or water
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup diced zucchini
1/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup small lentils
salt and pepper

Lining up the ingredients

1. In a Dutch oven heat the oil, and saute the pancetta until it is almost crisp.  Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and season with salt and pepper.  Saute for 5 minutes until the onion is softened.  
2. Add the broth, spinach beans, zucchini, barley and lentils and simmer, partially covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the barley and lentils are softened.  
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.  

Bubbling on the stove top

After our lunch, we took our afternoon stroll and ended up in the piazza and had a gelato to celebrate having such a healthy lunch. 

Ciao for now.

It Never Rains in California

This was the view from our kitchen this morning.  We here in San Diego are in for 6 straight days of rain.  After years of drought, I think we will have our water problems solved for the moment, although there will be problems with this much rain in a short period of time.
And, as usual here at Casa Phillips, it's time to make some soup.  Soup is one of those delicious foods that soothes your insides when your outside is cold and wet.  Today it's minestrone.  Minestrone is different in every part of Italy--literally it means 'without stock' and many cooks in Italy make theirs with water instead of broth, adding rinds from Parmigiano Reggiano and lots of herbs to the pot.

Mine began with sweet Italian sausage in my Cuisinart Multi-Cooker.  If you have a slow cooker, this is a great way to make soup, just set it and forget it.  In the Multi-Cooker, you can saute everything then turn it to slow cooker and you're done.  If you decide to use another protein, chicken, or pancetta will work here.  Or you can make this vegetarian by using olive oil to saute and then vegetable broth for the liquid.

Brown the sausage and remove any excess fat

Next in is the battuto; onion, celery, carrot and some tomato

Saute everything until the onion begins to soften

I add stock, and this is my go to when I don't have homemade, it's a concentrate so you can add as much as you like with water

Parmigiano Reggiano rinds (cut into cubes) zucchini, and some leftover green beans go in

1/2 a head of escarole, cleaned, and then cut into 1/2-inch ribbons---this is about 4 cups

Four hours on high

Minestrone

Serves 6 to 8

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped, including the leaves

1 tablespoon dried sage leaves (or rosemary or thyme)

1/2 cup canned chopped tomatoes

8 cups broth or water

3 medium zucchini, cut into dice

Rind of Parmigiano Reggiano cut into small pieces

1 cup green beans, ends snipped, and cut into 1-inch pieces

One 14.5-ounce can small white beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups chopped greens (I used escarole, but chard, or kale, or spinach works here)

salt and pepper

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano for garnish

In a Dutch oven, cook the sausage until it is no longer pink.  remove any excess fat from the pan, add the onion, carrot, celery and sage leaves, saute for 5 to 6 minutes until the onion is softened.  Add the tomatoes, and saute another 2 minutes.  (If you are using a slow cooker, saute everything, add it to the slow cooker, then proceed)

Add the broth, zucchini, rind, beans, and greens, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low in the slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper and serve garnished with additional grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  

Cook's Note:  If you want to add pasta, cook it first before adding it to the pot since it will absorb some of the liquid.  

Cook's Note 2:  Instead of canned beans you can add lentils or split peas (about 1 cup) not only do they add bulk, but they also thicken the soup.

Soup is a great way to use up leftovers, too.  That leftover rotisserie chicken would be perfect in this soup, or any leftover vegetables from other dinners can be tossed in.
Ciao for Now.