Zuppa Toscana

Here's another recipe I received from my friend Sarah Jo of Double Wide Skillet, Single Wide Budget. This time a delicious soup recipe! I made this to serve along side the "Roasted Vegetable Pasta" I recently posted and thought the two went together beautifully.

While I've never had it, apparently this soup is supposed to be very similar to a soup that a well known Italian chain restaurant serves. Having 3 children and a limited budget, we don't go out to dinner much, so I can't vouch for how close this soup is or isn't to that one. Nevertheless... I adored this soup! So much so that I made it once for the whole family and then made it again so that I could eat it for lunch for several days. It's been almost a week since I finished up that last batch and believe it or not... I'm craving it *again*!

I hope you'll try this one and let me know if you go as crazy for it as I did! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 and 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
12 oz package thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 to 3- 26 oz cartons chicken cooking stock
6 large potatoes, cubed
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz bag baby fresh spinach

Method:
1. Cook the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Pour the chicken stock into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the spinach into the soup just before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings

*The recipe this soup was based on can be found here at allrecipes.com*



Kitchen Notes:
~ The second time I made the soup I added an additional 6 oz bag of baby spinach... because I love spinach and I thought it was excellent. When I added the extra spinach I wanted it a bit more "soupy", which is why I added more stock. If you make the recipe according to the recipe above, 2 cartons of chicken stock will be fine.

~The original recipe calls for only 4 slices of bacon... but we love bacon in this house so I used the whole package. Don't feel you need to be as gluttonous if you'd rather not. Even 4 slices of bacon would have been enough to flavor the soup, I simply wanted MORE!

~ The original recipe calls for heavy cream and the first time I made it that way and it was delicious... however, the second time I used fat free half and half and it was just as good! (Saved a few calories so I could have all that bacon and feel a little less guilt!)

~I like this soup with a spicy kick... so I used both hot Italian sausage AND the red pepper flakes. If you prefer, you could use hot sausage and omit the red pepper flakes.

~This soup freezes well!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

My friend Sarah Jo is an amazing cook! The other day we were chatting back and forth and I mentioned to her than I was feeling totally uninspired about what to make for dinner. So, she suggested a couple recipes for me to try. And they were wonderful! Of course, me being me, I couldn't just make the recipe as it was written... I had to change it up because that's just what I do.

You should also check out Sarah Jo's blog. She writes great posts and has reviewed hundreds of recipes on AllRecipes.com. She's a stay at mom of 2 adorable boys (3 if you count the big boy also known as her husband) who does a great job of keeping meals delicious, healthy AND affordable. That's something we could all use in these lean economic times. Because is she is such an excellent cook who knows her stuff, you know you can trust her reviews and feel confident that if she says something is good (or not so good) that it will be. I hope you'll go take a look at her blog and maybe leave a comment telling her I sent you.

You can find her blog here: "Double Wide Skillet, Single Wide Budget"

On to the recipe! I love this dish because it's simple and healthy and chock full of vegetables. I served it with a delicious soup (I'll be posting it soon) but it was substantial enough to stand on it's own for a light vegetarian meal. Or, you could even do what I did with the leftovers and add some chopped grilled chicken breast in to make it more filling. Shrimp would be tasty too. It's great served hot, but I found I really liked it room temperature as well. I can totally see this dish made with a variety of different vegetables... I think it would be great for using whatever Spring or Summer produce is plentiful at the time. Like I always say, use your imagination and your family's tastes as your guide and don't be afraid to try something new!



Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bowtie) pasta
Olive oil
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 large red onion
1 pound portobello mushrooms
2 red bell peppers
1 large zucchini
1 pound asparagus
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
1: Preheat oven to 450* F

2: Wash and chop all vegetables so that they are all about the same size. I like the size to be about 3/4 of an inch. Having the vegetables the same size is VERY important because everything will roast together.

3: Place all your vegetables together in a large bowl and coat with olive oil and chopped garlic. You want the pieces covered well with oil, but not dripping!

4: Spread your vegetable mixture out on baking sheets so that everything is in a single layer. The veg can be touching, just not piled on top of each other. Two standard baking sheets were sufficient for mine.

5: Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes. Check frequently. You're looking for your vegetables to be tender but not mushed and slightly browned. It might take as little as 15 minutes or as much as 25... checking is key.

6: While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the pasta according to package directions.

7: Toss the roasted vegetables with the pasta, including some of the olive oil from your baking sheets that is leftover from roasting... this makes up part of the dressing for the dish.

8: Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and toss gently again.

9: Serve immediately with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Serves 6

Kitchen Notes:
* I highly recommend covering your baking sheets with aluminum foil for ease in clean up.

* The recipe that my "Roasted Vegetable Pasta" is based on can be found here at AllRecipes.com

Orange Honey Mustard Glazed Corned Beef

Can you believe it's almost time for St.Patrick's day?! I am so glad it is though, because for me it's one of the first signs of Spring! And believe me, after all the snow we've had this Winter I am MORE than ready! :)

This is a little different way to prepare your corned beef and I think the glaze really makes it something special. I love to serve this with my "Smashed Potatoes with Spinach". Follow the link to see the recipe. You don't have to use spinach with these mashed 'taters either... as you'll see, you can use a variety of vegetables to dress them up. For St.Patrick's day cabbage (colcannon style) or peas (champ style) would be great!

How does your family celebrate St. Paddy's day?

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pound corned beef brisket
1 Tablespoon orange juice concentrate (thawed)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Method:
1: Preheat over to 350* F.

2: In a small bowl, combine the thawed orange juice concentrate, honey and Dijon mustard to make a glaze. Set aside.

3: In a Dutch oven, place corned beef and add the enclosed spice packet. Cover the meat completely with water. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer in the oven at 350* F for 2 1/2 hours.

4: Remove the brisket and transfer to a shallow baking or broiling pan.
Cover the brisket with the glaze and broil 2-3 minutes until it starts to caramelize. Remove from oven and let stand 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6-8

Kitchen Notes: Always slice corned beef thinly and across the grain. This makes for a much more tender piece for your guests. Leftovers are great made into hash for breakfast or used for reuben sandwiches! Yum!