Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all!
I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day! Our Souper Tuesday group celebrated Valentine's Day with a steaming bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, aptly named for it's "married" flavors. Coupled (no pun intended) with some crusty Italian bread, a great green salad (thanks, Melissa!), and delicious dark chocolate dessert, it was a sweet, sweet evening.
We'd be remiss if we didn't send special happy birthday wishes to Miss Helen. She celebrated 21+ on Valentine's day. Happy Birthday! She and Arlene went out on the town (Nash-Vegas?) so we'll just have to celebrate with her next week.
Sage gives this soup a distinctive flavor. I love the little meatballs and the mix of spinach and cheese. Like Arlene always says, you can't go wrong with cheese! It was really easy to make. I made the meatballs ahead of time and the hardest part seemed to be getting them small enough. They should be about an inch in diameter. Mine kept getting bigger and bigger so I ended up taking a pinch away from most and re-rolling. Other than that, this is a very quick, easy and delicious dish. Enjoy!
Italian Wedding Soup
1 TBS olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 parmesan cheese rind, plus one TBS grated parmesan, plus more for topping
1/2 lbs ground pork
3 Tbs seasoned bread crumbs
3/4 cup orzo
8 oz baby spinach
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soften, about 4 minutes. Add half the garlic and 1 tsp each of Worcestershire sauce and sage - cook about a minute. Add the chicken broth, 2 cups of water and the parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 7 minutes.
Make the meatballs: mix the port, breadcrumbs, 1 tsp grated cheese, remaining garlic, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp sage in a bowl. Form into 1 inch balls.
Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Stir in the orzo and cook for 5 minutes. Add the meatballs and cook until firm and float to the top - about 4 more minutes. Stir in the spinach stir just until wilted. Ladle soup into bowls and top with additional parmesan.
You will need to add some broth if you reheat for another meal.
Please let me know how you like this soup. Rate it on a scale of 1-5 (5=fabulous). See you next week!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Apres Souper Bowl
Although most of us on "Glenlivet" Court are sad to see football season end, many of us are already gearing up for the Final Four! Go Cats! In the meantime we are all focused on our expanding group. Taylor is going to be a big sister and we are excited that we'll soon know if she'll be welcoming a baby brother or sister. Speaking of expanding, her mom is doing fine!
This week I prepared one of my go-to soups, Minestrone. This recipe feeds a big group so I rarely have to double or triple the recipe. I have fixed the soup several times and it always comes out a winner. It freezes really well, so even if you don't have a big family or a neighborhood to feed, make it as written and freeze some for another meal. When reheating, you may need to add a little water or more broth to thin the soup.
I honestly wish I knew where this recipe came from, but if I had to guess, probably Southern Living magazine. (Love that magazine and the Annual Recipe Cookbooks!) Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off - this soup is definitely worth it!
Vegetable Minestrone
3 large carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (12 oz) package of frozen cut string beans cut
3 TBS olive oil
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained [ I didn't even know this existed until I made this soup!]
2 (32 oz) containers of beef broth
1 (15.8 oz) can of great northern beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can of dark red kidney beans, drained
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups of uncooked ditalini pasta
1 (6 oz) package of baby spinach
2 1/2 TBS jarred pesto
Freshly grated Parmeasan cheese
Preparation tip: I always cut my vegetables up ahead of time. It is the most time-consuming part of the preparation and makes the cooking process much easier!
Saute the first 6 ingredients in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes of until crisp tender. Add both cans of tomatoes and the next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Add pasta to soup. Cook 10 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in spinach and cook for about a minute or until the spinach wilts. Stir in pesto and serve. Top each serving with Parmesean cheese.
I served this with some crispy garlic Italian bread. Barbara made another fabulous salad - this one with coated walnuts and mandarin oranges. Alrene out did herself with a delicious dark chocolate cake - infused with cherry-flavored liquor, of course! BTW, the dark chocolate went perfectly with the cold bottle of Arrington Vineyards Raspberry wine I had chillling! PS, Arrington Vineyard ships, too!
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did. If you try it, please tell us how many "spoons" (0-5, 5 is best) it was.
Although most of us on "Glenlivet" Court are sad to see football season end, many of us are already gearing up for the Final Four! Go Cats! In the meantime we are all focused on our expanding group. Taylor is going to be a big sister and we are excited that we'll soon know if she'll be welcoming a baby brother or sister. Speaking of expanding, her mom is doing fine!
This week I prepared one of my go-to soups, Minestrone. This recipe feeds a big group so I rarely have to double or triple the recipe. I have fixed the soup several times and it always comes out a winner. It freezes really well, so even if you don't have a big family or a neighborhood to feed, make it as written and freeze some for another meal. When reheating, you may need to add a little water or more broth to thin the soup.
I honestly wish I knew where this recipe came from, but if I had to guess, probably Southern Living magazine. (Love that magazine and the Annual Recipe Cookbooks!) Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off - this soup is definitely worth it!
Vegetable Minestrone
3 large carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (12 oz) package of frozen cut string beans cut
3 TBS olive oil
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained [ I didn't even know this existed until I made this soup!]
2 (32 oz) containers of beef broth
1 (15.8 oz) can of great northern beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can of dark red kidney beans, drained
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups of uncooked ditalini pasta
1 (6 oz) package of baby spinach
2 1/2 TBS jarred pesto
Freshly grated Parmeasan cheese
Preparation tip: I always cut my vegetables up ahead of time. It is the most time-consuming part of the preparation and makes the cooking process much easier!
Saute the first 6 ingredients in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 7 minutes of until crisp tender. Add both cans of tomatoes and the next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Add pasta to soup. Cook 10 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in spinach and cook for about a minute or until the spinach wilts. Stir in pesto and serve. Top each serving with Parmesean cheese.
I served this with some crispy garlic Italian bread. Barbara made another fabulous salad - this one with coated walnuts and mandarin oranges. Alrene out did herself with a delicious dark chocolate cake - infused with cherry-flavored liquor, of course! BTW, the dark chocolate went perfectly with the cold bottle of Arrington Vineyards Raspberry wine I had chillling! PS, Arrington Vineyard ships, too!
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did. If you try it, please tell us how many "spoons" (0-5, 5 is best) it was.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Getting Ready for the "Souper" Bowl
What fun we had tasting chili last night! I don't know about your family, but we have had chili on Super Bowl Sunday for at least 20 years. I think the first time I noticed it had become a tradition was when we lived in NY. We'd get together with our good friends to watch the BIG GAME. The boys wore their jerseys and created a score board made out of some crudely cut plywood.
Rob (our son and a charter member of Souper Tuesday) kept the score. It really didn't matter who won, we had a great time - and the chili was hot!
There are plenty of variations of chili readily available. Rob sent me some recipes from Men's Health magazine and my own subscription to food network magazine featured this fine dish on the cover the Jan/Feb issue. Let's just say, that you can't go wrong with some simple ingredients and a little chili powder!
Big Game Chili (an original recipe)
2 lbs ground beef (turkey works well too)
1/2 lb of ground sweet Italian sausage (love the flavor the pork brings to the dish)
2 lg cans of whole Italian tomatoes
1 lg can of Hunts tomato sauce
3 medium onions - chopped (2 for the chili and save 1 for topping)
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
3-4 cups of celery - chopped
5-6 TBS chili powder (to taste)
2 TBS Worstershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 lg cans of kidney beans
1 lg can pork and beans (remove bacon), my friend, Lynn, uses black beans - so feel free to experiment.
In a large soup pot, brown meat,onions and garlic. Drain. Add tomatoes, celery and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer at least 2 hours. Stir in beans and cook for an additional 45 minutes on low.
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped onions.
I served this with a delicious tossed salad that Barbara made (awesome salad-maker) and a mix of three kinds of tortilla chips. Crusty bread works well, too!
We're all ready for the big game on Sunday, so may the best team win! Go Giants!!
What fun we had tasting chili last night! I don't know about your family, but we have had chili on Super Bowl Sunday for at least 20 years. I think the first time I noticed it had become a tradition was when we lived in NY. We'd get together with our good friends to watch the BIG GAME. The boys wore their jerseys and created a score board made out of some crudely cut plywood.
Rob (our son and a charter member of Souper Tuesday) kept the score. It really didn't matter who won, we had a great time - and the chili was hot!
There are plenty of variations of chili readily available. Rob sent me some recipes from Men's Health magazine and my own subscription to food network magazine featured this fine dish on the cover the Jan/Feb issue. Let's just say, that you can't go wrong with some simple ingredients and a little chili powder!
Big Game Chili (an original recipe)
2 lbs ground beef (turkey works well too)
1/2 lb of ground sweet Italian sausage (love the flavor the pork brings to the dish)
2 lg cans of whole Italian tomatoes
1 lg can of Hunts tomato sauce
3 medium onions - chopped (2 for the chili and save 1 for topping)
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
3-4 cups of celery - chopped
5-6 TBS chili powder (to taste)
2 TBS Worstershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 lg cans of kidney beans
1 lg can pork and beans (remove bacon), my friend, Lynn, uses black beans - so feel free to experiment.
In a large soup pot, brown meat,onions and garlic. Drain. Add tomatoes, celery and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer at least 2 hours. Stir in beans and cook for an additional 45 minutes on low.
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped onions.
I served this with a delicious tossed salad that Barbara made (awesome salad-maker) and a mix of three kinds of tortilla chips. Crusty bread works well, too!
We're all ready for the big game on Sunday, so may the best team win! Go Giants!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)