Zuppa di Maria

Zuppa Mia

I remember as a child, when my mother made soup, I would ask “who’s sick”… We always complained about soup and my dad would tell us that one day we would appreciate soup. He’s right, zuppa soupa is one of my favorites. Whenever papa visits, I always make soup, one of our many food bonds.
If you were following me this week, I had soup every night using basic ingredients and then adding a little of this and a little of that. Tonight, after a brisk walk and before tackling a few things in the office, I dropped by Russo’s and bought a fresh mozzarella and fresh pasta (armoniche rigatoni). It’s a short cylindrical pasta and ridged. ps – I love this pasta with a rich sauce or pesto – the sauce nestles in the ridges for the perfect bite!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup of fresh pasta (armoniche rigatoni)
2 cups of chicken soup (I used the leftovers from Monday)
a nice chunk of mozzarella, approx. 2 tablespoons cubed and well, I ate the rest standing!
grated parmigiano cheese
Bring a small pot of water to boil, add some salt to water and cook the pasta for three minutes.
Strain the pasta (it’s almost al dente) but you are cooking for a few more minutes in the soup and the pasta will be perfect. Add the pasta in the pot and add the chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil (3-4 minutes), and now it’s ready to serve.
Add the mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of parmigiano.
It’s also good with shaved pieces of parmigiano (for another time – I ran out of parmigiano). Here’s another meal in less than 15 minutes. Again, one pot!
Buon Appetito!

Escarole Soup Part II

chicken soup

What a day……..rainy days and Mondays always call for soup… I just had an espresso and now thinking about lunch (it’s part of my DNA). Since my two interns were coming into the office today, I thought it would be nice to have a nice bowl of soup for lunch.

I thought I would recycle last night’s escarole soup. OK..let’s get creative…….In my freezer, I had a package of chicken breasts (bone in). In my refrigerator, I made eye contact with left over baby carrots from last week’s party. The only vegetable in my refrigerator and ps, I was not motivated to run to the market in the rain…..

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (bone in)
3 cups of baby carrots
4 cloves whole garlic
Sea salt, black pepper (to taste)

Fill medium pot with cold water, medium heat. Add all ingredients: chicken breasts, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Cover enough water to the ingredients. Cook for two hours.

Let me oven roast some crostini with parmigiano and curred black olives:

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
6-8 sliced Italian bread
Extra virgin olive oil (drizzle over the bread)
Parmigiano grated cheese (1 cup)
Curred black olives (1/2 cup) (optional)
Red chili flakes (optional)
Pheasant Style Bread
Set oven at 400 degrees.

In a pan, lay the Italian bread and drizzle with olive oil, grated parmiagano cheese and curred black olives. Bake in the oven for approx. 10 minutes, until the bread has a nice golden crust.

In a soup terrine, add chicken breasts (cubed), left over escarole soup and fresh chicken broth.

For plating, add two pieces of the crostini in each dish before adding the fragrant soup! It was delicious!

Escarole Soup with Spaghetti

escarole potCooked everything in one pot!

dinner is servedDinner is served!

Today I was busy reviewing final details before my book goes to the printer. A little stressed and at 6pm. tonight, I took a quick break for dinner. No planning, just a few ingredients calling my name…..An example of how I prepare meals:
I opened the refrigerator and saw a bag of escarole that I forgot about calling my name. “Maria, I don’t have much time”. In my vegetable drawer, two red banana peppers (left over from last week). In my pantry, I saw a little spaghetti left over from a previous package (3 oz ).
Let me make a quick soup……

Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 bag of escarole (5 cups)
2 cloves of garlic (sliced)
Drizzle of olive oil (3 tbsp)
2 red banana peppers (sliced, remove seeds)
1 cube of vegetable boullion
3 cups of boiling water
3 oz of spaghetti (cut it in small pieces)
Sea salt, black pepper (to taste)
red chili peppers (optional)
Grated Parmigiano cheese (optional)
In a medium pot, heat medium, drizzle a little olive oil. Saute the garlic and red banana peppers for two minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt, black pepper and red chili flakes (optional).
Add escarole, ½ cup of water and top with lid for three minutes, stir occassionally.
Add three cups of hot water to the same pot
Add 1 vegetable boullion cube
Add the cut up spaghetti, stir occasionally. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (approx. 8-10 minutes).
Serve immediately and top with parmigiano cheese.
It was delicious! Also, cooking everything in one pot was easy clean up! I now have leftovers that I can have during the week or freeze for another time.
Back to work!