Minestrone Soup with Fregola

Schools out and I had my niece Ella over and she wanted to help out in the kitchen so I thought, why not make a soup? It involves a lot of chopping and slicing and a little sous chef is always welcome! I just used what I happened to have in my refrigerator which included some corn on the cob that I steamed in foil packets over the weekend. I took the kernels off the cobs and added it to the soup 10 minutes into the cooking, seeing as they were already cooked. But you can use fresh corn off the cob or frozen corn that is thawed, just add it along with the other vegetables.

Because I had the kids for lunch I added fregola (a small, Sardinian semolina pasta) to the minestrone. You can use orzo or any small pasta. Or you can make it totally pasta free, which I usually do but I have to say I totally LOVED it with the pastina! Reminds me of my childhood because my mother always added tubettini (small tubes) in the minestrone.

I also added a piece of parmesan rind to soup as it was cooking because it adds a lot of flavour and I always have some on hand in the refrigerator  I never throw them away! They are great to throw in soups. If you don't have any on hand, you can top the soup with grated parmesan when serving.

Minestrone Soup with Fregola

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup sliced pancetta or bacon
1 leek, white and light green part only, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
5-6 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
3 corn on the cobs, kernels removed or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
4 cups chicken broth + 2 cups if adding pasta
1 cup of fregola, orzo or any small pasta
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 piece of parmesan rind (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

In a Dutch oven, over medium/high heat, cook the pancetta or bacon in the olive oil until crispy. Add the leek and red onion and sauté until soft. Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, asparagus, corn and 4 cups of chicken broth if not adding pasta or 6 cups if adding pasta. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring up to a boil, add the fregola and the parmesan rind if using. Keep an eye on it, stirring frequently to make sure the fregola doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. It should take about 20 minutes for the pasta to cook. If not adding the pasta, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the torn basil leaves. Serve hot with grated parmesan cheese.

m xo

Roasted Tomato Soup

The thing is, we didn't grow up with tomato soup. We made soups with tomatoes, but not just tomato soup. It just looked and tasted like passata or tomato sauce to me. I used to think, how weird! Why not just add some orzo or tubetti pasta in there and complete the dish. It just didn't look like a meal.

And then as I got older and started trying roasted tomato soups, it tasted great and made sense to me, especially when served with grilled cheese sandwiches.Yum! Who doesn't like grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup! 

But I have to say, unless the tomatoes are roasted, the soup can still taste like tomato sauce to me, and that's why I always roast my tomatoes... Oooooh, I just thought of something as I'm typing away. Next time, I'm going to try grilling my tomatoes. What do think? Doesn't that sound good?

I used hot house tomatoes that I had sitting on my kitchen counter that I had to use. Tomatoes should never be stored in the refrigerator. It makes them mealy. I cut them in half and placed them cut side down on paper towels just to absorb some of the water that comes out, so when roasting them, they will have a more concentrated flavour. Place them on a baking tray, brush with a little olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper and put them in the oven. You can even do this ahead of time because once that is done, it only takes 20-30 minutes to make the soup.

I didn't serve my soup with grilled cheese but I did make little croutons with some leftover bread that I had. They added a little "something, something" to the soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup

3 pounds tomatoes, cored and cut in half

olive oil

thyme 

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper

1/3 cup basil leaves

3 tablespoons cream, optional

Preheat oven to 400F.

Spread the tomato halves on a baking tray. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place a couple of sprigs of thyme on each tomato half. Roast for 1 hour, until the tomatoes are caramelized.

In the meantime, in a pot over medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onions are soft. Add the chicken stock and the roasted tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Tear the basil leaves and add to the soup. Take off the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender. Stir in the cream if you are using. Serve with croutons or even better…a grilled cheese sandwich.

m xo

Sardinian Penicillin Soup

WOW!!!! I can't believe it took me this long to discover this! Sardinian toasted fregola! Ah-mazing!! I have been to Sardinia a few times but I don't remember having this. Although it is totally possible. There are so many things to eat there.

Fregola is a semolina pasta that is rolled into little balls and toasted. And it's the toasting that makes it out of this world. So much flavour or as my husband said of this soup that I made,  "exploding" with flavour. I really urge you to find in this your local Italian grocery store. I think I'm going to start experimenting with this and make a risotto style dish.

There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of  chicken soup when you are under the weather. Italian and Jewish moms have known this forever. Penicillin chicken noodle soup. That is the first my mother makes when she is not feeling well. Heck, it doesn't even matter if it's 100 degrees outside. As a kid I never appreciated it or believed it, for that matter, but as an adult I find myself doing the same thing. When I do make chicken soup from scratch, I always make sure to freeze some of the broth, for days like these that I need a little comfort food.

But please don't let the lack of homemade chicken broth deter you from making this. I would definitely still make this with a chicken bouillon cube. Maybe use a low sodium version because you will get a lot of salt from the pancetta. Oh, and I also had a little piece of parmesan rind on hand that I slipped in when I  dropped in the fregola in the broth... Did I tell you how good this soup was?!

Toasted Fregola Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pancetta, cubed
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cups or 1 quart of chicken broth or water if using a chicken bouillon cube
1 cup toasted fregola
Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the pancetta until crispy. Add the carrots, celery and onions and continue cooking a couple of minutes. Don't worry that the vegetables aren't soft because they will cook further with the broth. Pour in the broth or water and bring to a boil. Drop in the fregola. You can add a little water if it gets too thick. It's ready when the fregola is al dente. Serve with parmesan cheese.

m xo

Springtime Golden Split Pea Soup

I planned on making this split pea soup a few weeks ago, the beginning of spring. The recipe was in the March edition of Vitality magazine. I went out and bought the split peas but they just sat there, waiting for me to make them into soup. Better late than ever.

I liked the soup but I have to warn you, if you don't like sweet, this is not for you. The lime juice at the end is definitely needed, it cuts down on the sweetness a bit. Maybe next time I would eliminate the pear, I don't think it was needed, but you be the judge. I thought this was perfect for a cool, overcast day like yesterday.

Golden Split Pea Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large white onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 cup dried yellow split peas
2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potato
1 pear, peeled, cubed pear
3 inch cinnamon stick
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons chili powder
7 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
Juice of a lime
Chopped cilantro

In a large pot, sauté onion in olive oil until soft. Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger and cook another minute. Next add the split peas, sweet potatoes, pear, cinnamon stick, tomatoes, chili powder and water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about an hour till the split peas are tender.
Take off the stove, remove cinnamon stick and puree with a hand blender or food processor. Stir in the lime juice and chopped cilantro.

m xo

Chicken Pozole Soup

I didn't get my Mexican fix the last time I went to NYC, so I decided to make a Mexican influenced dish at home for tonights dinner.

Pozole (also called hominy) are kernels of corn that have ben soaked in lime water, hulled and boiled so they become puffy. You can find canned pozole in most grocery stores nowadays. Traditionally they are used in a soup with pork but I decided to make a lighter version using roasted chicken.

I made this recipe up as I went along and it was pretty good except maybe next time I would add a little chili powder and definitely a jalapeño, for a some heat. It needed some zing and we like it a little spicy. And you definitely need a little squeeze of lime juice before serving, it adds some brightness to the soup. This soup is perfect on a chilly day.

Chicken Pozole Soup

2 chicken thighs, roasted and shredded
4 Roma tomatoes
1 yellow onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, skin on
4 cups chicken stock
1 can pozole, or 1-1 1/2cups
salt and pepper, to taste
cilantro, chopped
lime wedges

In a cast iron skillet, over high heat, place the tomatoes, onion and garlic and cook until there is a nice charr on them. This will give the soup a nice smokey flavour. Transfer the vegetables (take the skin off the garlic) to a blender and pour in the chicken stock. Blend until smooth. Pour into a sauce pan and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. You might have to skim the top. Season with salt and pepper and add the cilantro and shredded chicken. Cook until the chicken is heated through. Serve in soup bowls and squeeze in some lime juice before serving.

m xo

Roasted Carrot Soup

Wow! My cold is still hanging around. Feel much better but there are still lingering symptoms. Anyway, a girl still has to eat and I've been really wanting to make a carrot soup especially with this polar vortex (huh!!)  that we have been experiencing.
I decided to roast the carrots because it gives the soup more depth and flavour. Plus the cumin adds a nice smokiness to the soup. This is pretty easy to put together and delicious! The addition of the pistachios and greek yogurt adds a little bit of protein…and it looks so pretty. That's totally up to you, it's just as good without it.
I made this with chicken stock but you could totally make it with vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.

 Roasted Carrot Soup 

2 lbs carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
1 red onion, quartered
1/2 tsp whole cumin
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbl olive oil

Olive oil
1 leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
5 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 orange
Greek yogurt, optional
Chopped pistachios, optional

Preheat oven to 450F. On a sheet tray combine the carrots, onion, cumin, salt and olive oil. Lay the carrots in a single layer and roast for 35 minutes.
In a pot sauté leeks in olive oil for 15 minutes then add the garlic. The leeks take a little longer to cook and if you add the garlic too soon, it could burn it. Add the coriander and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add the roasted carrots, stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Blitz the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Serve in soup bowls and dollop with Greek yogurt and a few pistachios.

 

Stay healthy!

m xo