Thursday, November 13, 2008

Cool-weather Soups

I always love to have soups during this time of year. It makes me feel warm and toasty, add salad and a bread, and I am in heaven!

Last night, I made a butternut squash soup. I roasted the squash with a little olive oil, s&p at 400 for about 45 minutes, until it was tender. Then, sauteed a little onion and garlic, added the squash pulp and some chicken stock, nutmeg and sage. Brought the soup to a boil and let it simmer. Then, pureed in the blender until smooth. Drizzled a little molasses on top before serving. It is good, but I would be more than welcome to trying other butternut squash soup recipes, as well as other soup recipes in general. 

I will come back shortly and post a few of our favorites.

4 comments:

  1. Black Bean Soup

    Servings: 8
    Prep time: 20 min
    Cooking time: 30 min

    Ingredients
    Cooking spray
    1 med onion, finely chopped
    4 med garlic cloves, minced
    45 oz canned black beans, undrained (3 15 oz cans) – though I drain at least one to reduce sodium
    ½ tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
    1 tsp ground cumin
    14 ½ oz fat-free chicken or veg broth
    10 o canned Rotel Tomatoes with green chilies
    11 oz canned yellow corn, drained

    Coat bottom of a large stockpot with cooking spray and add onion and garlic, stirring frequently cook until onions are soft, but not brown (about 5 min). Place one can of beans in blender with onion mixture, red pepper flakes and cumin. Cover, blend until smooth and return to stockpot. Place second can of beans and broth in blender and puree until smooth. Add to stockpot. Stir third can (whole) beans, tomatoes and corn into stockpot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer 20-25 minutes.

    I like to top it with snipped cilantro.

    Yields 1 ½ cups of soup per serving.
    Can be made ahead and reheated or heated in a crockpot as well. Can be frozen.
    *My kids love it!

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  2. And here's one of my favorites of Kate's recipes:

    Italian Peasant Soup
    2 pound(s) Wild Harvest Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
    1 onion, chopped
    3 carrots, chopped
    3 quart(s) chicken broth
    2 14 1/2 oz. can(s) diced tomatoes
    2 14 1/2 oz. can(s) small white beans, drained and rinsed
    1 tablespoon(s) basil, dried
    2 cup(s) penne pasta
    salt and pepper, to taste
    2 cup(s) chicken, cooked, diced, optional
    spinach, fresh, coarsely chopped, as garnish
    Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded, as garnish

    Sauté sausage and onion until sausage is cooked through. Drain.

    Boil water for pasta and prepare according to package directions.

    While sausage is sautéing and pasta is cooking, combine broth, carrots, tomatoes, beans, basil, salt, and pepper.

    Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer 15 minutes to 1 hour. Once sausage and onion are done, add to broth. (Can be prepared to this point and reheated for serving at a later time.)

    Place cooked pasta (if reheating soup, make sure you reheat pasta too, or at least bring to room temperature) and chopped spinach in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle soup over to wilt spinach.

    Top with grated cheese.

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  3. Here is a favorite soup of mine
    Sausage Tortellini Soup

    1/2 lb bulk turkey Italian Sausage
    1/2 cup chopped onion
    1 cup sliced carrots
    1 (28 oz) can tomato Puree
    1 (14oz) chicken broth
    2 cups water
    1 tsp Dried basil leaves
    ! (9oz) pkg cheese filled tortellini
    3 cups Broccoli

    In a dutch oven, combine sauage and onion; cook over med heat about 10 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink.
    Add carrots and broccoli, cook and stir about 1 minute.
    Add tomato Puree, broth, water and basil. Bring to a boil. Add tortellini; return to a boil. Add broccoli (if frozen). Cook 6 to 8 minutes or until tortellini are tender.

    Substitutions: In place of the sausage, try cubed leftover chicken or turkey. Add the cooked poultry to the soup with the tortellini.

    For a less tomato taste I use tomato sauce instead of the puree.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here's another Sausage Tortellini Soup that my friend Lisa makes and has become a standard in our house...

    4 cans beef broth
    7 cups water
    2 lbs sausage (I use about 2 lbs sweet Italian sausage and 2-3 hot Italian sausages)
    ½ head cabbage, shredded (optional)
    1 small green pepper, chopped
    1 medium zucchini, sliced
    1 small red onion, chopped
    1 medium tomato, diced
    fresh basil
    salt & pepper to taste
    Tortellini

    Pre-boil sausage for a few minutes until partly cooked; slice sausage into bite-sized pieces.

    Combine all ingredients except for tortellini in large saucepan. Bring to slow boil – reduce heat and simmer until veggies tender (about 30 minutes).

    Add tortellini, simmer until tortellini are cooked. Serve with parmesan cheese.

    ReplyDelete