MINESTRA - Italian Greens and Beans Soup

Talk about an old fashion Italian soup, well this one is it!  It's hearty, a "sticks to your ribs" kind of soup, a few easy ingredients, some fresh and some canned, and it doesn't take long to make, about half hour. It's a good one if you have to make it when you come home from work.  I had everything on hand but the escarole so I got that the day before I was going to make my soup. Escarole is from the chicory family and has a bit of a bitter taste unless it's cooked.  I also like it in a salad mixed with other greens and  vegetables.  Check it out in your grocery store, if you can't find it or just don't like it you can substitute spinach or arugula. This could also be made vegan/vegetarian by switching out the chicken stock for vegetable stock and omitting the pancetta. ENJOY!

Recipe below.

Simple ingredients for a delicious soup.

Saute onion, garlic and pancetta in olive oil.

Chop up the escarole.

Add to the pan, let it cook down.

Add the cannellini beans

Let it all come together so it tastes really great!

Getting piping hot.

All done and topped with parmesan cheese.  What better way to eat an Italian soup but topping it with cheese!

MINESTRA- Italian Greens and Beans Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

5 cloves of minced garlic, could also use jarred minced garlic

1/2 cup pancetta, chopped

1 large head escarole, cleaned, washed and chopped

2- 14-15 oz cans cannellini beans, do not drain

32 oz. container of chicken stock, I used unsalted

Dash of nutmeg, more if you like, I used fresh ground

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh grated Parmesan or Locatelli cheese

Loaf of crusty warm Italian bread

Directions

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute the onion, garlic and pancetta stirring while cooking, until the onions are transparent and pancetta is cooked, be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the chopped escarole and cook it down until it is wilted.  Add the beans, stock, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Cook for 10-15 minutes.  Serve piping hot with grated cheese on top and warm crusty bread.

 

Lovin' The Pasta with Beans

We have been doing a lot of vegan cooking in the kitchen so far this year, I'm liking it.  It's easy, trying different food combo's is fun, and it doesn't hurt the body to eat a little more healthy.  Now I must confess, I am not eating everything totally vegan, but the majority of  my meals and desserts are, since I have a full-on vegan living here, and he is very strict with his food.  I think his way of eating is a little over the top, but he's young, not old like me.  When you're older got to watch them bones!

 There is a lot of truth to the vegan way, he has lost a tremendous amount of weight, which I could stand to loose.  But, after all these years of eating a certain way, it's hard to give up things you like (real Pecorino-Romano cheese for one! love that stuff).  So I try everyday to cut the bad things out, and use vegan ingredients/substitutes instead, to make the dishes I like.

On the menu for Sunday night's dinner, pasta and beans, good healthy stuff.  Instead of meatballs, I used beans, and although I am not a fan of whole wheat pasta, my son had that, I made my favorite pasta,  linguine (it was protein linguine), and it was fabulous!

Recipe below.

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A few of my ingredients.

 Getting the sauce going in the pan.....

 I love using fresh herbs.....

 Everything is combined and simmering in the pan.

 Towards the end of cooking, add the spinach and the beans, easy!

 And what you have here is a delicious, heart healthy meal, enjoy!
 I HAD to have the cheese....what's pasta without cheese?

 Pasta and Beans

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more if you like heat

3/4 cup red wine

2 bay leaves

8 basil leaves, sliced chiffonade style

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

15 oz can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups fresh spinach, stems removed

1 pound linguine or other pasta

Directions

In a large pan over medium high heat, heat the olive oil.  Saute the minced garlic until fragrant, but do not brown it.  Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, crushed red pepper, red wine, bay leaves, basil and parsley.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and let cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken, if it's too thick add a little bit water.

One half hour before serving, add the spinach and the beans and let cook until spinach is wilted. Start a pot of salted water for the pasta. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce before serving.  Top pasta and sauce with grated cheese, serve with crusty Italian bread. Makes 4 servings.

NOTE: If you do not like chunky tomatoes in your sauce, use an immersion blender, after adding them to the pan, to chop them up a little, or put the tomatoes in a blender before adding to the sauce. Using the immersion blender also makes the sauce smoother, creamier and gives it a silky texture.

Super Duper Soup!

Wow, it got chilly fast, we are only into the second week of September and already have a taste of it.  My youngest son is already yelling to put the heat on, NO WAY! I will not do that until it is absolutely necessary.  To warm him up I made a pot of Tuscan Bean Soup today.   Is there any other way to warm up, I mean except for alcohol and a bon fire, and who doesn't like those two things together in the cooler months.  He is old enough to drink, but thankfully doesn't do much of that since he is vegan and a health nut, so soup is on the menu for him tonight.

I got busy in the kitchen, already had the pantry stocked up for soup season, so I didn't have to run to the store for anything.  That is always good in my book, because once I leave the house and have to come back and do things, I can't get motivated.  This soup is pretty easy and fast to make, the recipe is below.

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To view pictures in a larger format just click on them.

All of my ingredients and sauteing the veggies.

 Vegetable stock and herbs in, then drain and rinse the beans.  It's really starting to look quite tasty!

I used this spinach, it's already washed, I just tore the stems off I don't like seeing them when I eat it.

 Toss the spinach in the pot last and let it cook down.

 How good does that look? Because it smells fantastic......

warms the belly and it's soooo good! 

Tuscan Bean Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 large onion, medium dice

4 carrots, medium dice

3 stalks celery with leaves, medium dice

1/2 medium green zucchini, cubed

1/2 medium yellow zucchini, cubed

2 bulbs of fennel, core removed, cut into thirds and sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

3 sprigs fresh thyme, mince or just throw in sprigs, be sure to remove before serving

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 - 32 oz containers Vegetable Stock

3 - 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, do not drain

2 1/2 cups fresh spinach, stems removed (wash thoroughly if not pre-washed)

Fresh grated Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese

Directions

Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, on medium-high heat, in a large soup pot or Dutch Oven.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini and fennel.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for about a minute.  Stir in the stock, beans and tomatoes, bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and add the spinach.  Cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with grated cheese on top and crusty bread to sop up all the broth. Makes 10-12 servings.

NOTE:  If you want to thicken the soup, use an immersion blender for just a few seconds, as you do not want to puree the whole pot of soup!  You can also use a regular blender, wash with hot water first, be careful as the glass could shatter from the heat of the soup.  Take out about 1 1/2 cups of soup and blend in the blender, pour back into the soup.

Totally Tasty Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

My mother always made the best homemade vegetable beef soup.  Everyone would stop by the house for some to take home, when they knew she had made it.  My mom would have huge pots of soup cooking on the stove, enough to go around, and then some.  I have made it many, many  times over the years, you could never improve hers, just make it different.  I made mine the vegetarian way today, that's right, no beef and all vegetables.  All you need is a big soup pot, a cutting board and a sharp knife, to make this hearty soup for dinner on those cold Fall and Winter nights.  This is how I made it, recipe below.

I started with a base of crushed tomatoes, and vegetable broth, you could also use vegetable stock.

 I got everything going in the huge soup pot that I have.  Doesn't that look good!

 Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 ribs of celery with leaves, sliced

1 turnip, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of  black pepper
6 cups of water
3 medium - large potatoes, cubed, leave skins on

1 - 32 oz. box of vegetable broth or stock

1 - 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 - 15.5 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed

1 /2 small head of green cabbage, chopped

6 stalks of fresh kale, chopped

1/2 green zucchini, cubed

1/2 yellow zucchini, cubed

1 - 14.5 oz. can of yellow beans, use fresh if you can find them

1 - 32 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

5 - 6 sprigs of thyme, pull thyme off the sprigs

8 basil leaves, sliced

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion, celery, turnip, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add the water, potatoes, broth, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beans, cabbage, kale, zucchini, yellow beans, mixed vegetables, parsley, thyme and basil.

Lower the heat to medium-low, leave uncovered.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 - 3  hours.  Serve piping hot with a loaf of fresh Italian bread or a Baguette.  Will keep for 4 - 5 days in the refrigerator.  Also can be frozen, thaw before reheating.  If soup thickens add a little water.