My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
It is cold, damp and cold here in the Northern Illinois area. Yes, I said cold twice and I mean it. Brrrrrrrr. But March is right around the corner so my braised dishes will be coming to an end soon, making way for brighter and lighter …
My local grocery store occasionally carries a fantastic selection of fresh mushrooms and, as luck would have it, they had a bunch of them the other day. I picked up some shitake, oyster and enoki mushrooms, thinking I’d make some soup with the first two …
Cold outside? This is rustic, hearty and delicious. And as far as soups go, this is a very easy one to make. It’s called Zuppa Toscana or Tuscan Soup and it involves kale – a nutritional powerhouse.
I learned this recipe many moons ago and, though I’ve made a couple of changes to it over the years, it still remains a go-to soup for me when the weather turns cold.
In a large pan or dutch oven, brown the sausage over medium heat. Once browned, drain excess fat. Add olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to browned sausage and, over medium heat, cook for 3 minutes.
Add stock, potatoes, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Add kale, cover and simmer for 10 minutes more.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with freshly grated Parmesan before serving.
Now here are some ways to customize this:
As you can see by my photo, I like mine chunky and full of stuff, so if you want more stock, add a little less potato and kale.
Oh, and be sure to have a crusty loaf of bread to serve with this – you’ll want to sop up every last drop.
Stay warm!
I love soup and making udon noodle soup at home is a great way to highlight a lot of beautiful veggies in one dish. I threw this one together the other night with what I had on hand and when I served it for dinner, …
Winter has definitely arrived here in Northern Illinois. It’s cold and daylight is in short supply so of course, I find myself making more soups, stews, and braises. On New Years Day I roasted a semi-boneless leg of lamb with garlic and herbs that we …
I grew up on this dish and it’s still a favorite of mine on a cold winter night. There are probably hundreds of variations on this and my own recipe often changes depending on what I have on hand. The basics to this dish are ground beef, tomatoes, and pasta and, though it may be different from the goulash recipes you’re used to, give this one a try! And don’t hesitate to customize this and make it your own – it’s a very flexible recipe. It just so happens that this time around, I had a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground sweet Italian sausage, so I used them both. That’s about 1/2 pound more meat than I usually add but what the heck. The recipe that follows is how I made the goulash pictured.
In a large pan brown the beef and sausage over medium heat. Drain off fat. Back on the heat, add olive oil, onions and garlic and stir until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Add both cans of tomatoes, along with 1 can of water. Add beans, red pepper flakes and black pepper (to taste – I like a lot ) and stir. Heat to a gentle boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cook your macaroni and drain.
When sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, remove from heat, stir in noodles and serve.
We always have a bowl of this fresh from the stove but, like a lot of tomato sauce dishes, the goulash tastes best after it sits in the fridge overnight. I add the can of water for a little more tomato broth but you can certainly omit it if you prefer your goulash on the thicker side.
Stay warm and pray for an early spring!
The second the weather starts to cool off, I kick into comfort food mode. I love making braised dishes and soups in the fall and winter, don’t you? Beef brisket with root veggies in a tomato and red wine sauce is a perfect recipe to …