Soups

Can you post your favorites!

Re: Soups

Pasta e Fagioli

4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped onion
3 ounces pancetta, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
5 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup elbow macaroni
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Wrap the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and secure closed with kitchen twine. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, pancetta, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, beans, and sachet of herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the sachet. Puree 1 cup of the bean mixture in a blender until smooth*. Before putting the puree back into the soup, add the macaroni and boil with the lid on until it is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Return the puree to the remaining soup in the saucepan and stir well. Season the soup with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Re: Soups

french onion

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 thick slices French or Italian bread
8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese slices, room temperature
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese, room temperature
4 pinches paprika



DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy.
Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread.
Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler.
Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one.
Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately!

Message edited 9/22/2008 2:01:33 PM.

Re: Soups

Sher's roasted tomato soup

8 tomatoes on the vine cut in wedges
4T dried oregano
5 garlic cloves-crushed
1/4 cup olive oil

one giant spanish onion diced
olive oil
28 oz can plain diced tomatoes (with liquid)
3/4 liter of chicken broth
cayenne (about 1T-but to taste)
1t turmeric
salt to taste (it will take a lot)
1 cup light cream

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a pyrex baking dish and bake 45 min at 375.

Sautee onion in olive oil on low heat until fond forms at bottom of pan. add diced tomatoes and liquid, and cayenne / turmeric. Simmer about 20 min. Transfer to blender and puree (add broth as necessary). Return to pot. Puree the roasted tomato mixture in blender and add to pot. Rinse blender with remaining broth and add to pot. Add salt and cream and let simmer about 5 min and serve.


if you want to be decadent, you can add a bit of shredded mozarella to each bowl before adding the soup

Re: Soups

I would love a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup if anyone has

Re: Soups

thanks!

Re: Soups

Re: Soups

I love this one. The weather is almost cold enough to enjoy it. Serve with garlic bread.

Tortellini Spinach Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 to 6 cups broth, vegetable (or chicken)
1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed through your fingers or coarsely chopped
1 (9-ounce) package fresh tortellini or 4 servings dried tortellini
Coarse grained salt and cracked black pepper
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, very loosely packed

In a 3-quart soup pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes, turn heat up to high, and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions. When tortellini is almost done, add spinach and taste, adjusting seasonings with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of Parmesan

Re: Soups

Re: Soups

I make tons of homemade stock and freeze it - vegetable, beef and chicken. It's the base of most of my soups. I feel like if I have a good, rich stock - I can add anything for a great soup.

Here's my recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup:

Add 1 quarted onion, 2 garlic cloves, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, about a half tablespoon of fresh Rosemary, a pinch of Bell's Poultry seasoning, 2 broken stalks celery and 3 broken carrots to a pot with 3 quarts of chicken stock and 1 whole chicken. Cover and heat over medium flame until chicken is cooked through - about 45-1 hour. remove chicken to plate and strain broth to remove veggie chunks. Add fresh veggies to broth - 2 slced carrots, 1 stalk chopped celery, a cup or 2 of potatoes cut into small pieces, 1 chopped onion - and set over medium low heat. When chicken is cool enough to handle - debone and put meat back in stock with veggies. Chop 2 chicken cutlets into bite sized pieces and add to pot. Add pepper and chicken boullion paste to taste. Cook about 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Meanwhile cook noodles seperately. When noodles are done add a half cup of noodles to a bowl and put a serviing of soup on top of it. I don't add the noodles to the soup because then they soak up all the good chicken broth! You can use rice instead of noodles.

Message edited 9/25/2008 8:49:53 AM.

Re: Soups

Cream of Pumpkin Soup With Cinnamon Croutons

3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 slices whole wheat bread
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2(14 oz) cans chicken broth
1(15oz) can pumpkin puree
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread butter mixture evenly over one side of each slice of bread. Place bread, buttered side up, on a baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until bread is crisp and topping is bubbly. Cut each slice into 8 small triangles or squares.

Saute onion in butter in a medium saucepan until tender. Add 1 can chicken broth; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Transfer broth mixture into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.

Return mixture to saucepan. Add remaining can of broth, pumpkin, salt, cinnamon, ginger and pepper; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cream and heat through. Don not boil. Ladle into individual soup bowls. Top with cinnamon croutons.

Re: Soups

Minestrone Soup:

I love all Minestrone's but this is from Giada DeLaurentis website:


Ingredients
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
2 cups cooked ditalini pasta
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Basil sprigs, garnish, optional
Directions
In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add ditalini, zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top. Garnish with basil, if desired.

Re: Soups

Italian Wedding Soup

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 pound extra-lean ground beef
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
* 5 3/4 cups chicken broth
* 2 cups thinly sliced escarole
* 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
* 1/3 cup finely chopped carrot



DIRECTIONS

1. In medium bowl, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil and onion powder; shape into 3/4 inch balls.
2. In large saucepan, heat broth to boiling; stir in escarole, orzo pasta, chopped carrot and meatballs. Return to boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook at slow boil for 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Message edited 9/28/2008 9:54:18 PM.

Re: Soups

YUMMY....
I LOVE Soup!!!!

Re: Soups

I make Mini-ChickenBall soup often. It is a favorite in my family (DH loves it and my sister makes it for her family now too)

Start with a large bot, and do two swirls of EVOO or Canola oil on the bottom of the pain. Put heat on med-high.

Cut up one large sweet onion. Put into the oil. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt & pepper to taste. Add 2-3 bay leaves also at this time. I love the taste the bay leaves give so I add them early on.

While that begins to cook, make mini-chicken balls up. In a bowl, combine about 1.25lbs. of ground chicken (you can also use ground turkey), one egg, a palmfull of breadcrumbs, some parsley and the ground chicken. Form into small 1inch round meatballs.

Use the wooden spoon to make a "well" in the middle of the pot, moving the onions to the sides.

Arrange the mini-chickenballs in the middle of the well, so that they can begin to brown.

While they are browning, cut up 5 stalks of celery, 3 carrots (or use baby carrots), mushrooms, zucchini, or whatever other vegs you want.

Turn the chicken balls to brown on the other side.

Add the other cut up veggies to the pot, and add about 6-8 cups of chicken stock, depending on the size of the pot you are using.

Allow everything to cook for about 30 minutes on med-low heat. Stir occasionally.

About 30 minutes before serving I add some rice or some pasta. I like small pastas like orzo or pastina, but rice is my favorite.

The recipe really makes a lot and I love it the next day for leftovers! DH LOVES taking it to work!! It's so good for this time of year!

Re: Soups

Taco Soup

I found this recipe on allrecipes, and have made it so many times, that I have tweaked it to have a little bit more of a taco taste, this is a hit in our house and we serve it with either warmed tortillas or tortilla chips the flour ones. My DH likes to eat the left over as nachos and scoop it up with the chips and extra cheese. I also usually double the recipe and freeze some for a quick dinner or lunch. Enjoy

1 lb ground beef cooked with 1 package taco seasoning, and 1/2 of a chopped onion drain like usual.

1 can corn (do not drain)
1 can black beans (do not drain)
1 can red kidney beans (do not drain)
1 29 ounce can diced tomatoes with liquid
46 ounces tomato juice like V8
1 package taco seasoning (so in total you will use 2 for this recipe)

After cooking and draining beef, add all other ingredients, and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. Garnish with sour cream, and or cheese.

Message edited 9/30/2008 12:22:01 AM.

Re: Soups