Tomato Bisque

I was at my brother Darien's house a few weeks ago and he had made Tomato Bisque. I'm not really a fan of Tomato Soup/Bisque - or should I say I wasn't a fan, until I tasted his (and then photographed it because it looked so nice). And actually, it's not his recipe - he got it from a friend who brought his family this soup after Darien was in an accident and had to rehabilitate for many, many weeks. He was so happy to have this soup because he could only eat soft or liquid foods (boring) and he loved it! By the way, God is good and Darien is doing much better! Anyway, I loved the soup too, so I thought I'd share. Here you go.

Darien's Tomato Bisque

2 - 15oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 medium onion sliced thinly
1 tsp butter
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tbls brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 whole cloves
2 tsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 pint light cream
1 cup milk
2 tbls chopped chives
croutons

• Saute the onion in the butter for 1 minute
• Chop the tomatoes and add to the onions
• Add the Bay leaf, sugar, cloves, basil, salt and pepper
• Simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Remove the bay leaf and cloves. **very important, if you leave the cloves in, it won't be good. : )
• Puree the tomato mixture in food processor or blender
• Add the cream and the milk
• Heat through but don't boil.
  

Makes six servings. I'd top this with the croutons and serve as an appetizer to any dish. Or serve it with good bread and a spinach or arugula salad.

Enjoy!

Sicilian Style Chicken Pastina Soup

My mom used to make Chicken Soup for us a lot growing up. Although she was the Sicilian side to our Jewish/Italian mix, she had a flare - and a passion - for cooking all kinds of ethnic foods. I think she tried to accomodate my Jewish Dad's desire for some old-fashioned Hebrew cooking, which probably includes the stereotypical Chicken Soup (for the soul, and for when you're sick, of course). Anyway, my brother and I were at the Sunnyvale Farmer's Market this morning, and although he's a way better cook than me - and makes a lot more dishes - he shared (confessed) that he had never made Chicken Soup. I told him to go check out my blog, because I happened to make it a couple days ago, but just hadn't posted it yet. By the way, this version has a more Italian spin than other recipies you may find. For example, it has parmesan cheese, escarole and pasta...Well here it is. Please let me know how you like it!

Sicilian Style Pastina Soup

4-5 chicken breast (bone-in)
1/2 lb pastina (or any small type of pasta). You can also substitute with rice.
2 big carrots
3-4 sticks of celery
1 cup of fresh escarole (cleaned and cut up in large pieces). You can actually add any green veggie you like if you can't find escarole, e.g., cabbage, mustard, swiss chard, etc
1/4 c (or more) or fresh, chopped parsley
1 large onion (or 2 medium)
about 3 whole, peeled tomatoes (preferable imported, italian)
1/4 c or more of freshly ground parmesan cheese (it's OK if it's not freshly ground - it's just so much better in my opinion)
1 tbls dried basil
1 tsp oregano
kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
*optional, 1 lemon

• In large pot, boil chicken in 2 quarts of water. Make sure to skim the foam that rises to the top of the broth. I usually add salt and an extra onion to flavor the broth. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour so that the chicken can easily be removed from the bone.
• In separate pot, prepare pastina (according to package directions), drain, and set aside with a little butter tossed in it so that it doesn't stick together.
• Remove the chicken from the broth and let cool. Now you can tear the meat off the bone so that it's chunky.
• Bring the broth back to boil and add carrots. After about five minutes add the remaining veggies and spices and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Mash or cut up the tomatoes. If you don't want to do this, you can always used about 1/2 c of crushed tomatoes. I just prefer the whole tomatoes so that the tomatoes aren't as blended. As a matter of fact, my favorite kind of tomatoes for the soup are the canned, Italian Cherry, but I don't find them everywhere.
• Now it's ready to eat. It's important how you serve it, so you may want to pay attention to the next step.
• Per serving bowl: Place about 1/2 c of pasta on bottom of soup dish. Then spoon out the chicken, veggies etc so that it's not such a random pick. You want to make sure that there's the right amount of veggies, chicken, etc.
• Now add the broth and top with grated cheese, parley and ground pepper. *If you want, you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime too (before the cheese) for a special little twist on the flavor.

Serving Suggestion: Serve piping hot with some very good artisan bread (or French or Italian of course). It's great just on it's own on a cold night or when you're feeling under the weather. It'll definitely make you feel better!

Swiss Chard Medley and Italian Sausage

Food can be so beautiful. In fact the other day I was just throwing together a quickie meal and I had to stop and snap a photo to share the beauty of such an incredibly simple dish. Previously I've shared a similar dish (Mustard Greens and Italian Sausage) but this one was extra pretty and delicious I wanted to share it as well. If you try it with other greens, let me know. I've used Kale, spinich (with spinich you just toss in at the end because it needs so little cooking time). I've also mixed leafy greens like collard, mustard, kale and even cabbage.

Swiss Chard Medley and Italian Sausage

2-3 bunches of swiss chard
about 6 Italian sausage (the good stuff, like from a specialty shop or Whole Foods)
a few tablespoons of olive oil
about 1/2 c of Pecorino Parmesan cheese (or any parmesan cheese)
1-2 lemons
*optional - a couple tbls crushed fresh garlic

• Chop the greens, rinse thorougly and set aside.
• Brown Italian Sausage in a large fry pan on medium high. Keep turning the sausage so that they have a nice, brownish color. Don't worry that they are not cooking all the way through because they will cook some more in the next few steps.
• With the pan still hot and the sausage browned, just dump the greens on top of the sausage. They will probably fill up the pan, but just start pushing them down and around. They will start to reduce immediately. If you want to add garlic (for me, there's never a question) do it after the sausage is browned and before you add the greens. Just toss the garlic in for about 30 seconds before the greens are added.
• Now pour about a cup (start with a 1/2 cup) of water into the pan (it should sizzle as it starts to pick up all the flavors at the bottom of the pan).
• Now cover the pan and reduce the heat. Cook for about 20 minutes until the sausages are cooked thorougly and the greens have softened and picked up the flavors and juices in the pan. If you want to make sure the greens are cooked only slightly, just cook the sausage longer before you add the greens.
• While everything's still steeping hot, sprinkle lemon and the parmesan cheese over the top.

Serving suggestion: I like to serve this in a very shallow soup/pasta dish. I cut the sausage in big chunks so that they are just scattered through the greens. It's just so rich and delicious that the dish doesn't really need anything but a nice, fresh baguette. Oh, and a glass of wine...

I Love Lydia Pesto Pasta

I know, I'm always talking about how the simplest foods are the most fabulous. The dish I'm about to share will prove that theory beyond a shadow of a doubt. You will not believe how delicious this dish is. I was fortunate enough to see Lydia ( http://www.lidiasitaly.com/) raving about - and preparing - this dish after she visited friends in Italy. But I have to say that it's very similar to dishes that my Mom's sisters used to make regularly as I was growing up as a kid. A quick pesto pasta was our Mac and cheese - if you know what I mean. Anyway, it's amazing that this is a sauce that you don't have to cook as it is a fresh pesto. I am literally eating this as I'm writing because I couldn't wait to share it. It's unbelievable with it's fresh, nutty, garlicky and rich flavor! Thanks Lydia!

I Love Lydia Pesto Pasta
1lb of spaghetti
a large handful of roasted, unsalted almonds
4 ripe chopped roma tomatoes (or really nice cherry tomatoes)
about a dozen fresh basil leaves
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
6 cloves of fresh garlic
kosher salt to taste
a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes

• In food processor, add garlic, about 8 leaves of fresh basil, the almonds - and give it a whirl in the processor.
• Now add the tomatoes, a few tbls. of olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt to taste, and a few more basil leaves.
• Process until the sauce is blended but not liquidy. It should look mildly chunky and a golden tan color with a hint of pink from the tomatoe (see my photo). Add more olive oil if the consistency doesn't seem moist enough.
• In large bowl, add cooked spaghetti and toss with about a cup of the pesto, adding olive oil for flavor and texture.
• I added enough pesto so that it was really clinging to the pasta so that it had a nice coating and had color.
• Once it's tossed with the right amount of pesto, sprinkle the cheese on the top and garnish with some basil.

Serving Suggestion: Well, this pasta was so great that it wa amazing just on it's own. But it would be really nice with an endive salad and a glass of wine. Or if you're feeling adventurous, try Lydia's suggestion to serve it with some fried calamari.

Let me know what you think!!

Garlic Spaghetti

When I was a little girl I couldn't wait to visit my Grandma's house because there was a lot of love - and a ton of great food (of course mostly Italian). I recall running to the "pantry" and finding homemade Sicilian, cracked olives, homemade Biscotti, etc. And if I didn't see something I wanted, it was nothing for one of my Aunts to just cook something up on the fly. One of my favorite requests was fresh pasta tossed in a little garlic and olive oil. Crazy simple, but I loved it! What a nice change from my Mom's spaghetti loaded up with heavy red sauce! Although tomato sauce is great, I always prefer this anytime. Here you go...

Garlic Spaghetti

1 lb spaghetti (preferably Bucatini - the hollow pasta)
1-2 tbls freshly crushed garlic
1/4 c olive oil
1 c grated pecorino parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly chopped curley parsley
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

• Boil water, add a splash of olive oil. Add pasta and cook until el dente.
• Drain the pasta, reserving about 1-2 cups of the water.
• Heat olive oil in large fry pan - just add enough olive oil to coat the pan (3-4 tbls)
• When heated, add the garlic, toss with wooden spoon for about 30 seconds. Don't let it brown.
• Now add the pasta and the parsley and toss for a couple minutes.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Now the pasta may start sticking to the bottom of the pan. It's time to add the water that you reserved from cooking the pasta.
• Toss some more and add 1/2 the parmesan cheese
• Toss a bit and you're ready to just dump in nice, large pasta dish.
• Sprinkle more cheese and parley on the top and that's all it takes!

Serving Suggestion: A nice, summer salad with garlic bread and a glass of wine is all you need. Of course if you've prepared Salmon or Halibut, that would be a perfect and romantic meal.