Minestrone Soup

Minestrone used to be my favorite soup as a kid. There is something festive about its bright colors and varying textures. With harvest in full swing, we have an abundance of colorful vegetables kicking around. This soup is filled with the full spectrum. I like to throw in a red onion to complement the orange and green shades in the palette. Adding the vegetables in stages allows each to cook to its own ideal texture and it also allows the flavors to layer.

Orzo gives the soup a little heft and makes it more substantial than a typical vegetable soup. Kidney beans fill out the protein side of things, making this Minestrone an excellent choice for an simple and satisfying vegetarian meal, if using vegetable stock.

Minestrone Soup – serves 6 – 8

2 T olive oil
1 leek, cleaned cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 heart of celery
5 small onions (cipolline or boilers), or 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
1 T tomato paste
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into spoon-sized pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into spoon-sized pieces
2 medium tomatoes, diced
3 T chopped fresh oregano
1 15.5 ounce can kidney beans
1 C dried orzo
4 C vegetable or chicken stock

In a stockpot over medium heat, saute onions and leeks in oil. Add carrots, parsnips and tomato paste. Lower heat and allow to condense for 5 minutes. Add the celery, toss to coat with the tomato paste and cook another 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, toss and cover. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep the bottom from browning, 10 minutes

Add stock, beans and orzo. bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 10  minutes until the pasta is cooked. Season to taste.

Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Lentil Kale “Shepherd’s Pie”

Shepherd’s pie is traditionally made with ground or minced lamb. So which protein source are we herding here? Lentils. They tend to wander off, as you know. This is a great option for a vegetarian meal that doesn’t include cheese. Lentils are supremely nutritious, offering a good deal of iron, fiber, protein and folate. A member of the cruciferous family, kale is practically perfect with high levels of vitamins A, K and C.

And yet, somehow despite all of its nutritional splendor, with its comforting mashed potatoes and shallot-y goodness, this dish turns out to be moist, fluffy and flavorful.

Lentil Kale “Shepherd’s Pie” – serves 4 – 6

1 shallot, diced
1 1/4 C dried brown lentils
1 t dried thyme
4 3/4 C vegetable stock
1 bunch kale (about 15 leaves) chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 T butter
2 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 C milk
salt to taste

Start off by boiling the potatoes in water in a large stockpot for 10- 15 minutes until fork tender. Drain. Either mash or whip the potatoes using a stand mixer. Gently stir in one tablespoon of butter and the milk until just combined. Salt to taste and set aside.

Check the lentils for little stones and remove any if you find them. I like to do this by pouring them out onto a dinner plate so that they’re one level of lentils deep so that you can see any impostors. If checking this way, you’ll probably need to work in batches.

Saute the shallot in one tablespoon of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until translucent. Add 4 cups of the stock and lentils. Cover. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer for another 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and concentrated.

Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium-high in a frying pan. Add the kale, lower the heat to medium and saute 5 minutes. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of stock and cover. Lower heat to medium low and continue to cook until completely wilted, 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spread half of the mashed potatoes in the bottom of an 8 inch baking dish or pie plate. Arrange the kale over the potatoes. Evenly distribute the lentils over the kale. Top with mashed potatoes.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

White Bean Chorizo Bake

We are quite literally snowed in today. So, I made my good ol’ snowed in standby of White Bean Chorizo Bake.

I like to keep local fresh (not smoked) chorizo on hand in the freezer because, as strange as it sounds, it’s pretty versatile. The spice goes well with most sweet vegetables and adds zip to mellow things like white beans or potatoes. The idea for this dish is similar to cassoulet – in that it consists of white beans and sausage – except there is no duck, goose, lamb shoulder, salt pork or wine. It’s more dressed down than that. The pajama pant of the cassoulet world. The indoor shoe.

In fact, forget what I said. It’s nowhere near as complex and interesting as cassoulet. It’s more of a knock-off Manolo Blahnik of the cassoulet world. But really. Who wants a whole farmyard in a pot? Just throwing that out there.

I will say though that White Bean Chorizo Bake is packed with protein and flavor. The Great Northern beans pick up what the chorizo puts down and the bacon takes no guff about it not being salt pork. It’s happy just as it is. Serve with a crusty French bread and a fresh green salad and you’re having a fine time.

White Bean Chorizo Bake – serves 4- 6

3 C cooked Great Northern beans, or 2 – 15 ounce cans
1/2 lb bacon, cut into small 2 inch strips
1/2 lb chorizo, about 4 links
4 garlic cloves
2 C chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a cast iron or enamel dutch oven saute the bacon on medium-low heat to melt down the fat, about 20 minutes. Watch to be sure it doesn’t burn.

While the bacon cooks, crush the garlic with the side of a knife and loosely chop.

Slice the chorizo in half crosswise and then in half lengthwise.

Remove the bacon from the pan and drain the fat (this can be reserved in a canning jar and used for other recipes.)

Place the sausage cut side down in the pan and allow to brown slightly on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the beans, garlic, chicken stock and bacon to the pot. Stir to combine.

Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 1 – 1.5 hours. Serve hot.

Ingredient Origins: Great Northern Beans – Michigan; Bacon – Maine; Chorizo – Maine; Garlic – California; Chicken Stock – Oregon

Sausage and Kale Soup

It’s been a relatively warm autumn here and our neighbor’s garden is still producing kale. She had kindly brought some by a few months ago and I made this lovely soup out of some Italian sausage we had in the freezer and some rice and lentils we had on hand. I wasn’t expecting much, but the soup turned out to have that rare combination of being hearty and light at the same time.

Our neighbor mentioned the other day that the kale is still going strong, and so she invited us over to grab some more before the first frost. It’s a good thing too, because it snowed the following day. I decided this time to perfect the recipe and use some of my homemade stock and some fresh sausage from a local farm. The result is a rich and flavorful soup that’s not too heavy. I know this one was a winner because my husband had seconds.

Sausage and Kale Soup – serves 6 – 8

1/2 C long grain white converted rice
1/2 C dry red lentils
1 C water
6 Italian sausages
1 bunch (15-20 leaves) of kale, spines removed and chopped into 1 -2 inch squares
8 C vegetable or chicken stock
Salt to taste

Remove sausage from the casings and form pieces about 1 inch in size. Brown in a skillet over medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Drain fat and set aside.

In a large stockpot combine vegetable stock, kale and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly simmer rice and lentils in water, covered for 10 minutes until not quite cooked through.

Combine all ingredients in the large stockpot with the kale. Season to taste.

Simmer for an additional 5 – 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Ingredient origins: Organic kale – neighbor’s garden, Converted rice – Texas, Organic lentils – California, Italian sausage – Maine, vegetable stock – my own kitchen from water and vegetables trimmings of mostly local organic veggies.

Roasted Pumpkin and White Bean Soup with Cornbread

This dish is inspired by the Three Sisters, a term referring to the farming practice of companion planting, which was employed by the Native Americans of the Northeastern United States to grow maize, beans and squash. The three plants were grown in a mound in order to allow for optimal nutrient distribution to the plants and soil – the bean plant produces nitrogen in the soil which the corn needs to grow. The practice also provides an ideal physical structure – the bean vines climb the corn stalk and the large squash leaves provide ground cover which keeps the soil moist and the weeds at bay, so everyone wins.

Roasting the pumpkin before adding it to the soup adds a richness of flavor as the juices condense. For cornbread, I like using corn flour in place of corn meal for a smoother crumb. When I taught colonial cooking, we used a cast iron dutch oven to bake cornbread over an open flame as colonial settlers would have done. The result is a more moist and dense texture than cornbread baked uncovered.

Roasted Pumpkin and White Bean Soup – makes 6-8 servings

1 C dry Great Northern beans
1 t +1 t dried rosemary
1 t salt
1 sugar pumpkin, seeded and roasted (instructions below)
1 T butter, melted
1/2 C red onion, chopped
2 C vegetable or chicken stock
Salt to taste

Start out by soaking the beans overnight.

Drain the water and refill the pot halfway with fresh water. Add the rosemary and salt to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, cut pumpkin in half. Remove the guts, reserving the seeds to make Roasted Pumpkin Seeds on another day. Brush with butter and place in a deep covered casserole dish or dutch oven. Cover and roast at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove pumpkin from casserole and place cut side up on a baking sheet. Brush again with butter, increase heat to 450 and roast uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. This is to bring out the sweetness. Be careful not to let the pumpkin dry out.

Remove the pumpkin from the oven and brush again with butter to prevent too much water from escaping as it cools. Allow to cool enough to handle without burning your delicate little hands. Scoop the flesh from the pumpkin halves and discard the skin.

Drain the beans. It’s okay if some of the rosemary escapes with the water, it was intended to flavor the beans as they simmered.

Melt the butter in the stockpot. Add the additional teaspoon of dried rosemary and onion. Allow to soften. Add the pumpkin and chicken stock and bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Puree the pumpkin mixture in the blender until smooth. Combine with the beans, season to taste and serve with the cornbread.

New England Honey Cornbread – makes about 8 pieces

1 C flour
1 C corn flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 T butter, softened almost melted
1/3 C sour cream
1 egg
1/4 C honey
3/4 C milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together until well blended. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until blended. Pour into a greased cast iron dutch oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, until a toothpick interted into the center comes out clean.

Ingredient origins: Beans – Georgia, Hormone-free Butter – Maine, Sustainably grown red onion – New Hampshire, Organic chicken stock – Oregon, Rosemary – unknown, Salt – unknown, Flour – Vermont, Corn flour – Oregon, Sour cream – Vermont, Honey – Massachusetts, Organic milk – Vermont