It is a cold day which is all the evidence I need to whip up a tasty soup. A girl’s gotta keep warm.
Soup is my favorite because I always have some sort of ingredients for it. This is intentional.
When I go to the store I stock up on beans, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, vegetable stock, fresh Parmesan, fresh veggies and greens… I’m always prepared to get the kitchen all steamy with a good soup.
Soup is also my favorite because it reheats well and gets better with time. <– best part.
I tend to go for the chicken broth based soup with chunks of tomatoes and lots of veggies. The Viper Pilot doesn’t love tomaters the way I do {he prefers meat ‘n potato soups} so the canned diced tomatoes work great because they’re easy for him to pick out.
When I made minestrone soup I added Parmesan rind to the pot and loved the results. It gives the soup depth and infuses a slight cheese flavor throughout. I think the Italians really have this soup thing figured out. 🙂
Pasta E Fagioli
adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil + extra for drizzling
- 3 oz pancetta (or bacon) chopped fine
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 (28 oz) can diced tomaotes
- 1 Parmesan cheese rind
- 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed
- 3-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2-1/2 cups water
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup orzo
- 3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (or 3 tsp parsley flakes)
- Parmesan cheese, grated (to serve)
Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add Parmesan rind and beans and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, 10 minutes.
Alison Donlon says
Looks AWESOME Em! I'll share this one on my real estate page today!