Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

I have been a slacker here, and have a back load of recipes to post, but I am starting with tonights dinner, Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini, because it's a soup and with spring on the horizon, the days for warm soups and comfort food will be over and replaced with delicious grilled meats and fresh garden salads!

What You Need:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

The Steps:
1. In a 5 quart Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.





Saute onions and garlic in drippings.


Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.


Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes.


Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving. And if you can make these Garlic Croutons to serve on top, as I did tonight! YUM!

First cube a baguette


Next, melt butter in pan and saute the garlic for about a minute. Then add the bread to coat.


Then spread on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven (350 degrees) for 15 minutes! I sprinkled mine with some freshly grated parmigiana reggiano cheese.


The Verdict: This soup is fantastic! I served it with my garlic croutons and some more freshly grated cheese. Mmmm. So comforting! It was a hit with the boys too!

The first time I made this exactly as the recipe stated. This time I made some changes. I used chicken sausage, omitted the zucchini (the Doc isn't much of a fan in general and I just didn't think it went well in the soup). I also used a 32oz can of San Marzano whole tomatoes with the liquid because I forgot to get the 8oz can of sauce. It made the sauce thinner but still delicious!

Eggplant Parmesean

As you saw in the previous post, I started growing my own basil (OK, I meant the boys). I had so much I thought I would try making my own pesto. I googled it and found this recipe from Tyler Florence. It was from his show How to Boil Water and the episode was called Veggie Delight. Often times I will click on the link to see what else was made during that shows episode. That is when I saw his recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. Eggplant has always been one of the veggies that scared me. I was never a fan of the texture or taste but, I never ate peppers or onions before and now I don't mind them in my food, so I decided to give Eggplant a second chance.

Eggplant Parmesan

What You Need:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons capers, drained
2 (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano), crushed by hand
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, hand torn
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups dried bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 pounds medium eggplants, trimmed and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Romano
2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese

The Steps:
First make the sauce: Put a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the olives, red pepper flakes, and capers, and let that cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Toss in the tomatoes with their juices and bring to a low simmer. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.


Combine the bread crumbs, garlic powder, and oregano in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper and mix well. Crack 3 of the eggs into another shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper and beat with a fork to mix. Put the flour in another shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the eggplant, flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs on a work surface near the stove.


Heat about 1/4-inch olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, dredge several eggplant slices first in the flour, then dip them in the egg, and finally coat them in the bread crumbs. Put as many eggplant in the skillet as will fit comfortably in a single layer and cook until tender and well browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Cook all of the eggplant slices this way, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed.


Stir together the ricotta and 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano cheese. Stir in the basil and remaining 2 eggs, and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To assemble the dish, first get yourself set up with a large, buttered baking dish. Have ready the eggplant, the ricotta mixture, the tomato sauce, the shredded mozzarella cheese and the remaining 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano. To start, spoon some of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Now add a layer of eggplant. Spread with half of the ricotta mixture.


Spoon another layer of tomato sauce over and sprinkle with about one-third of the mozzarella. Repeat with a layer of eggplant, the rest of the ricotta, tomato sauce, and another third of the mozzarella. Finish with the rest of the eggplant, the rest of the tomato sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle with the 3/4 cup Parmigiano.

Put the dish in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, until golden and bubbling. Let stand for about 20 minutes before cutting.

The Verdict:
I actually thought it was pretty good, the Doc, not so much. He wasn't a fan of eggplant before either, but this didn't change his mind. David tried it, but I am not sure he loved it, however, Shaun couldn't get enough. I am wondering if he just liked the cheesey goodness surrounding the fried eggplant.



For this dish, I made my own bread crumbs by throwing some slices of stale whole wheat bread into my food processor (OMG, I love that thing!). In my mind, using whole wheat bread to make the crumbs made "healthier". Ha! I also did use lower fat mozzarella cheese, however I did use full fat ricotta. I don't see why you would need to use the full fat, though I definitely would NOT use fat free because I do notice a difference.


I got some feedback from some friends, who are experts on the dish, and I was advised for next time to cut it in circles and skin it. I also didn't cut it as thin as I would have liked. I think this is definitely worth trying out again, because the boys seemed to like it enough and I would like to see how different it turns out making those adjustments. I'll just have to make some chicken for the Doc! I would also need to make sure I gave myself more time to prepare so we're not eating dinner at 7:30 again. This dish is more of a weekend dinner, as opposed to a weeknight dinner.

Pasta Carbonara

It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of the Pioneer Woman. I have her cook book and swear by her website for recipes. Back a few months ago I tried out this recipe for Pasta Carbonara. It's from her friend Pastor Ryan, a contributor to her blog. We liked it but my execution needed some work so I wanted to try it out again and wouldn't you know, second time is a charm!

Ingredients:
1 pound Bacon Or Pancetta
1 pound Linguine Pasta
1 whole Large Onion
8 cloves (to 12 Cloves) Garlic
1 cup White Wine (or Substitute Another Cup Of Stock)
1 cup Chicken Stock
4 whole Eggs
1-½ cup Parmesan Cheese
1 bunch Parsley
½ sticks Butter
1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Black Pepper

The How To:
First, slice up 1 pound of bacon into pieces about one inch wide. Once they’re sliced, just toss your bacon pieces into a stainless steel pan. Cook until browned and crisp.


While the bacon’s cooking, set a pot of salted water (I use about 2 tablespoon of salt for a gallon of water) on the stove for our pasta. When it comes to a boil add your linguine and cook until al dente, tender-firm.

Next, chop your onion. When the bacon is cooked, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it onto a plate. Reserve the bacon grease! We still need that stuff. Throw the diced onions into the bacon grease. Give the onions a quick stir and let them cook down over a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.


In the meantime, thinly slice the garlic. After the onions have cooked for a couple of minutes, throw in the garlic. Adding it after the onions have cooked a little will prevent the garlic from burning. After the onion and garlic have cooked for another couple of minutes, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Discard the grease.

Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little. As soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in the white wine (or chicken stock). Whisk until pan is thoroughly deglazed and all of the brown bits have come off of the bottom of the pan. Add 1 cup of chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

Crack four eggs into a large bowl. Add most of the Parmesan cheese, and rough chop the parsley, adding it into the eggs as well. Leave a little Parmesan and parsley out for a garnish.


Mix well with a fork.


Drain the water from your pasta. Be sure the pasta is very hot. Add the pasta to the egg mixture and then add the bacon/onion mixture. Finally throw a ½ stick (1/4 cup) of butter in there. Mix it all together well. Pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.


The Verdict:
Like I said above, the second time is a charm. I worked out the kinks the first time I made it and all I can say is YUM! It was good the first time but this time it was DELICIOUS! According to the Doc this one is a winner, which is pretty much the best compliment I could get from him! I would highly recommend this dish.

I served it with a salad and some crusty Italian bread. I also didn't have linguine on hand so I used bucatini instead. The key is to under cook the pasta just slightly before al dente!



For better pictures and a step by step process, click on the hyperlink above!

Sausage and Kale Soup

This is a great soup for those cool nights that will be creeping upon us shortly. It's also super fast and super healthy!

This makes about 6 servings

Ingredients:
* 2 links chicken sausage
*2 links HOT Italian sausage
*1 sweet onion, diced
*4 tsp bacon pieces (the real bacon bits)
*2 tbsp minced garlic
*6c water
*2 tbsp Chicken better than Bouillon (or enough cubes for the amount of water)
*1 1/2c mini potatoes cut in half (I get these gumball sized potatoes at Trader Joes, if you can't find them use 2 medium potatoes cubed)
*1/4 bunch of kale, chopped to bit size
*3/4c heavy cream

The Making:
In a large pasta pot, or dutch oven heat about 1 tbsp olive oil. Squeeze the sausage out of the casing and sautes until crumbled and cooked through. Remove and reserve in a separate bowl.

Add a bit more oil and saute onion, garlic and bacon pieces till onions are tender.

Add water and bouillon making sure to scrape all the good bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil.

Add potatoes and sausage and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Reduce heat to a simmer and add kale.

When kale is wilted, add the cream.

Tips and Talk:
Phil thought this was really great, and Miles liked it too! With the kale and the sausage and the potatoes this is such a well rounded meal, I only served it with some garlic toast. You can use all chicken sausage and just add red pepper flakes instead of the Italian sausage to make it even healthier, or if you like it really spicy add some more red pepper flakes.

Pasta e Fagioli

Every once in a while on my Mommy board there will be "What's For Dinner" thread. This was something one of the mom's made and I asked her for the recipe. I am so glad I did because it was awesome!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
3 ounces pancetta or bacon, chopped fine
1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1 medium rib celery , chopped fine (about 2/3 cup)
4 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 heaping tablespoon)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 anchovy fillets , minced to paste (about 1 teaspoon)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 piece Parmesan cheese rind , about 5 inches by 2 inches
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans , drained and rinsed
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
8 ounces small pasta (ditalini, tubetini, conchigliette) [I use tubetini]
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)

The How To:
This soup does not hold well because the pasta absorbs the liquid, becomes mushy, and leaves the soup dry. The soup can, however, be made in two stages. Once the beans are simmered with the tomatoes, before the broth and water are added, the mixture can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days. When ready to complete the soup, discard the Parmesan rind (otherwise it will become stringy), add the liquid, bring the soup to a boil, and proceed with the recipe.

1. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes. Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add onion and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and anchovies; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add cheese rind and beans; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, 10 minutes.
Add chicken broth, 2 1/2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt; increase heat to high and bring to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 10 minutes (refer to package instructions to better estimate pasta cooking time).

2. Discard cheese rind. Off heat, stir in 3 tablespoons parsley; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into individual bowls; drizzle each serving with olive oil and sprinkle with a portion of remaining parsley. Serve immediately, with grated Parmesan.

The Verdict:
The flavor of this dish was amazing! I have never been a big fan of Pasta e Fagioli but the Doc is so I made this with him in mind and ended up loving it myself! Next time I think I am going to make the pasta separate and add it to the bowl then serve the broth on top. It makes a ton and as it states in the directions the pasta ends up soaking up all the liquid. That way you can save the leftovers without the pasta getting all mushy.

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

This is the famous dish that you will find pictured in the blog title. It is a Giada De Laurentiis dish and has become a favorite of ours.

Ingredients:
1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
8 ounces bocconcini mozzarella (cherry sized), halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

The How to:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and gently stir to combine.

Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure), form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs.

In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer.


Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.


Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat orecchiette, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Add the meatball mixture, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of the basil. Gently toss to combine. Garnish with the chopped basil.

The Verdict:
This dish is always a crowd pleaser! I like to make this when I know I have a big group of people to cook for because it's so easy and relatively inexpensive to prepare. The flavor of the meatballs and the fresh basil and mozzarella make this dish! The best part (thanks to the broth like sauce) is that you don't get that heavy feeling you sometimes do when you eat hearty Italian food like alfredo or lasagna!

A deviation from the original recipe is that I add cut up broccoli florets. Just toss the broccoli to the boiling pasta water when there there is 5 minutes left on the timer. I also make my meatballs slightly bigger than a melon baller size, so you would want to adjust the cooking time in the browning process.