Winter Vegetable Minestrone with Rosemary-Pecan Pesto
November 21, 2013
Aunt Suzy says . . .
The Wall Street Journal ran this article a few weeks ago on Minestrone, including 3 delicious-looking recipes. I love making Minestrone and the message and recipes here expanded my thinking as to what this soup is all about. I love the quote “But minestrone is, ultimately, a hyper-personal and hyper-seasonal chameleon of a dish, tailored to the current harvest and the cravings of the maker. This soup embodies better than any other the enviable Italian virtue known as sprezzatura: an artful effortlessness.” When Randy and I were talking Sunday morning about what we’d like for dinner, he said he had bought the ingredients for this soup. I had planned to make roasted salmon, potatoes and broccoli, but given I had a cold, the Minestrone sounded way more appealing. Plus I didn’t have to cook – what’s not to like?! We both had seconds of this! Like many “ugly duckling” soups and stews that we’ve posted before (like this, this this and this), don’t let the bland look turn you away – this is one delicious soup, made even better by the unusual pesto.
Guest chef Randy Tatum says . . .
This recipe looked like an interesting use of seasonal ingredients, including celery root which I don’t cook with enough. I thought the soup could use even more winter vegetables, so I added rutabaga. I found this easy to make, even if it takes a little chopping. It’s one of those dishes that can really be flexible in terms of ingredients and quantities. Unlike Suzy, who always has flavorful homemade chicken stock in the freezer, I take a rather relaxed approach to creating a stock for my soups. It’s called Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base and is a more than acceptable substitute. I often use their “No-Chicken Base”, which tastes just as good but is vegetarian. The pesto is indeed unusual and I agree that it really adds to the finished product.
The Winter Vegetable Minestrone
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium celery root, peeled and cubed
1 large parsnip, peeled and cubed
1 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed
4-5 (or more) cups chicken stock (or Better Than Bouillon per their instructions to equal 4-5 cups)
2 bay leaves
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
1½ cups yellow split peas
4 (or more) cups shredded cabbage
1 small apple, peeled and cubed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the yellow split peas in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once oil is warm, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook till fragrant. Stir in celery root, parsnip and rutabaga, cooking until fragrant, another 5 minutes. Add the stock, bay leaves, beans, split peas, cabbage and apple. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot and simmer gently until celery root, parsnips and rutabaga soften, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
The Pesto, Pasta and Final Assembly
8 ounces whole wheat pasta, small shapes (we used fusilli/spirals)
1 cup leafy greens – spinach, kale or chard (we used spinach), coarsely chopped
½ cup toasted pecans, chopped (we used roasted/salted)
¼ cup fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup olive oil
Cook the pasta to al dente according to instructions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, make the pesto. In a food processor, purée the greens, pecans, rosemary, whole garlic cloves, oil and a pinch of salt until mixture is reduced almost to a paste. Turn into a serving dish.
To serve, place desired amount of pasta into a soup bowl. Ladle as much soup as you want onto the pasta. Place a dollop of the pesto onto the soup and stir to blend. Enjoy!
Kale and Potato Soup with Roasted Tomatoes
September 30, 2012
Aunt Suzy says . . .
The calendar says soup, but the weather says salad. Nonetheless, the kale is so fabulous at the farmer’s markets that I decided to make a kale-based soup today. We went for a walk today in the Big Woods State Park south of Minneapolis, and I thought it would be great to come home to an already prepared meal. If it were actually cold out, I would pair this with a hearty sour rye or multi-grain bread, but baguette seemed perfect given the warm weather. A light red Cotes-du-Rhone is a nice match for the flavors in this soup.
Makes 8-10 servings, depending on appetites
2-3 tablespoons EV olive oil
1 carrot, small dice (about 3/4 cup)
1-2 celery ribs, small dice (about 1/2 cup)
1 onion, small dice
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary, or 2 teaspoons dried
4-5 garlic cloves, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
2-3 chicken chorizo sausages, like Amylu brand, optional
1 1/2 cups diced roasted tomatoes, homemade or small can fire-roasted
1 cup dry white wine
10 cups liquid, chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
5 leafy sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, 1-inch chunks (about 5 cups)
15 packed cups kale, in 2-inch pieces (roughly one bunch)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a soup pot of at least 6 quarts capacity over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil and heat to shimmering. Add the carrots, celery, onion and rosemary to the pot. Turn down the heat to medium and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo and saute for another 4-5 minutes until the vegetables are soft and starting to brown a little.
Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Next add the wine and simmer for a few minutes to burn off the alcohol. Add the liquid of your choice (I used chicken stock) and the thyme sprigs; stir to blend. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs, taking care that the leaves remain in the soup.
Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. If you like a thicker soup, you can simmer for up to an hour to break down the potatoes. We like a brothier soup and “just done” potatoes, hence the shorter cooking time.
Add the kale and simmer for 15 minutes more, making sure not to overcook the kale. Taste and then add salt and pepper. I did not put in additional S&P since the oven roasted tomatoes had plenty as well as the homemade chicken stock. We added a tiny amount of each at the table.
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS: Either fully cooked Andouille or Chorizo sausages, pork or chicken, would be great in this dish. If you do not add the sausages, I recommend 2 teaspoons smoked paprika added with the tomatoes. I used “regular” green kale, but Lacinato would be excellent also. I did not peel the potatoes out of personal preference. If you want to thicken the soup a little, I recommend peeled russet potatoes over the Yukons.
And it was a beautiful day for a walk!
Pasta with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts
October 27, 2011
Aunt Suzy says . . . .
I saw this recipe in Food & Wine this month and since it has fall vegetables paired with some of my favorite aromatics and ingredients, I thought I’d give it a try. I thought it sounded good, but was delighted by how delicious it was – it way outstripped my expectations! Of course, I made adaptations – I can’t help but tinker! I thought this would be too difficult to eat with bucatini, so instead used a my favorite small pasta shape, fusilli bucati. I think other small pasta shapes would be excellent, or you might want to try the bucatini of the original recipe. (Actually, I think this would make a great side vegetable dish without the pasta.) You might be inclined to skip the toasted breadcrumbs, but I would advise against this. They added both flavor and texture and, to me, really made the dish. A bonus is that this took only about 30 minutes start to finish! We served this with roasted salmon and an Italian Orvieto white wine. I will definitely make this again!
Ingredients
3/4 pound cauliflower florets, cut in 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
3/4 pound brussels sprouts, halved or quartered if large (about 3 cups)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
2-3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
Directions
In a small skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bread crumbs and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
While the pasta is cooking, heat 1/4 cup of the oil on medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Add the cauliflower and brussels sprouts and season with salt and black pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly charred and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the oil to the skillet along with the onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, rosemary and thyme; cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Cover and cook over low heat until the cauliflower and sprouts are tender, about 3 more minutes. Keep warm.
Add the pasta and reserved cooking water to the vegetables and cook over moderate heat, tossing, until the water is nearly absorbed. Remove from the heat and stir in the 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Serve the pasta in wide bowls, passing the bread crumbs and additional cheese at the table. (Alternatively, you can skip stirring the cheese into the pasta and add it instead to individual servings along with the bread crumbs.)
Two Pear Tarts and a Contest
March 14, 2011
Margaux says…
So I entered another Food52 contest, and I think I submitted the wrong entry. The problem is, I waited until the last minute to start testing my recipes, and so it came down to crunch time (second tart was still baking at 8:30 pm on the night the contest entry was due), and I went on blind faith that the one in the oven was the better choice. While it was delicious, I now think that I entered the wrong one…the first one I made was even better.
My main reluctance to enter the first tart I made (Pear-Citrus-Rosemary Tart) was that it wasn’t as original as the second one. It was inspired by a sweet pizza recipe that Aunt Suzy gave to me several years ago, and I didn’t change that much other than using a tart crust rather than sweet pizza dough, and using butter rather than olive oil. The second tart I made was based on this cake recipe, and obviously, since it came from a cake recipe, I changed quite a bit.
The pear-citrus-rosemary tart is very sweet and buttery, and has tons of flavor. The ginger-pear tart is a french classic with a twist. They are actually quite different, and I recommend trying both. But if you have to pick just one, do the pear-citrus-rosemary. Of course! It has butter! 🙂
Pear-Citrus-Rosemary Tart
adapted from Italian Country Table by Lynn Rosetto Kasper
1 recipe sweet tart dough (pate sucree)
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
3-4 medium-large Bosc pears
fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
grated orange peel from one orange
2 tsp rosemary
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch black pepper
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake tart pastry according to directions, then brush egg yolk onto the baked shell with a pastry brush and bake an additional 2-3 minutes, until the yolk is set and shiny. Drop the temperature on the oven to 350 degrees. Set shell aside.
Peel and slice the pears into 1/8″ slices into a medium bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, orange peel, cinnamon, rosemary and pepper. Sprinkle in the butter, and cut with a pastry-cutter until crumbly like a streusel.
Layer the pears in the tart shell, overlapping them in a pretty pattern (if you’d like). Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the pears. Bake 40-50 minutes, until pears are soft when pierced with a fork and top is golden brown. Place tart on a cooling rack and cool completely. Remove outer ring carefully, then slide a completely flat and thin spatula or knife between pan bottom and tart, and slide onto a completely flat serving plate. Serve the day it is made.
Fresh Ginger-Pear Tart
1 recipe sweet tart dough (pate sucree)
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
3-4 medium-large Bosc pears
1-2″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (about 2 tbsp)
juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake tart pastry according to directions, then brush egg yolk onto the baked shell with a pastry brush and bake an additional 2-3 minutes, until the yolk is set and shiny. Drop the temperature on the oven to 350 degrees. Set shell aside.
Peel and slice the pears into 1/8″ slices into a medium bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and ginger. Layer pears into the baked tart shell, overlapping into a pretty pattern. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until pears are soft when pierced with a fork and top is slightly browned. Place tart on a cooling rack and cool completely. Remove outer ring carefully, then slide a completely flat and thin spatula or knife between pan bottom and tart, and slide onto a completely flat serving plate. Serve the day it is made.
Catalan Chickpea & Chorizo Stew with Spinach
February 2, 2011
Aunt Suzy says . . .
The cold weather continues to drive us to make warming soups and stews. This flavorful stew is easy to make – even when cooking the beans from dried vs. opening cans. The basis for this stew is sofrito, a savory tomato base used in many Spanish dishes. It’s also at the foundation of a lot of Caribbean cooking, but it means something very different there. It makes me think I need to make a great Puerto Rican chicken dish I learned years ago using sofrito . . . but I digress! This is a beautiful-to-look-at dish as well as tasty. The original recipe was from a Food & Wine article on Familia Torres, a Catalan wine maker. Today we served this stew with their Sangre de Toro wine, one of my favorite inexpensive reds – delish! We loved the Arugula-Mint Salad from Sunday’s dinner so much that we’re having it again. It’s the perfect, refreshing foil for a rich stew.
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked and drained
1/4 cup EV olive oil
1 onion, small dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, reserving 1 cup of the juice
3 soft Spanish chorizo sausages, split lengthwise then sliced in 1/4-inch half moons
1/2 pound baby spinach, tough stems removed
Prepare the chickpeas: Place soaked beans in a pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer till done, about 2 hours. Drain the chickpeas, reserving 2 cups of the cooking water. Set aside both the cooked beans and the water. This can be done a day or two ahead of making the stew.
Prepare the stew: Place the olive oil in a Dutch oven and heat to medium high. Add the onion, rosemary and the bay leaf and saute, stirring constantly until soft. Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the drained tomatoes, bring to a sizzle and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes. Add the 3 cups total liquid (1 cup tomato juice and 2 cups bean cooking liquid), the cooked beans and the chorizo. Stir to blend, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. This can also be done a day or two ahead. The final step is to add the spinach, in 3 batches, stirring after each to blend. Simmer for about 10 minutes to wilt the spinach, but be careful that it doesn’t disintegrate from overcooking.
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS AND AMOUNTS: The dried chickpeas added up to 5 1/2 cups cooked. If you want to use canned chickpeas, you will need 3-4 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed. If using canned, I recommend using 2 cups chicken stock in place of the bean cooking liquid. Make sure you are using (soft vs. dried) Spanish-style chorizo vs. Mexican. Spanish is fully cooked and Mexican is fresh. I used Chicken Chorizo from Trader Joe’s. The original recipe called for a pound of spinach, but I think this is a lot – use your judgment!
Sweet & Savory Kitchens 