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Jewish Penicillin (Sort Of)
I’ve been under the weather all week, so haven’t had the energy to cook. Howard is convinced I have the H1N1 flu, but I say it’s just a cold. The symptoms listed on the CDC site are too vague to be convincing. I did stay home from work for two days. For those who know me, that gives you an idea of how sick I’m feel.
I really felt like I needed some homemade chicken soup tonight. My usual stand-in when I don’t feel well is to order wonton soup from a local Chinese restaurant. I didn’t even feel like I could go pick that up.
We picked up our CSA share last weekend, and the perishable vegetables really need to get cooked. Howard has made some delicious salads to take for lunch during the week, so the lettuce is gone, and we’ve made good progress on the radishes, carrots, and turnips.
The pound of spinach told me what to do. This spinach tortellini soup has been a favorite in our house for years. It is restorative and filling without being heavy. I found some duck stock in the freezer and asked Howard to pick up fresh tortellini at Russo’s. The hardest part was cleaning the spinach, so over all, this soup is really easy to throw together.
Spinach Tortellini Soup
(Serves 6)
1 lb spinach, washed, stemmed, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbsp butter
2 carrots, peeled and diced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 scallions, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
6 cups chicken stock (I used duck stock, but most people won’t have it, and I won’t next time)
1/2 lb fresh tortellini (your favorite flavor)
Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Saute the carrots, scallions, and garlic until the carrots start to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the broth. Cover. Bring to a boil. Add tortellini, and simmer until cooked (about 8-12 minutes). Stir in the spinach, and cook, uncovered, until the spinach wilts.
The leftovers will not look as nice as when it’s first made. The spinach will discolor, and the tortellini will swell up. But it will still taste good.
Soup, Mm-Mm Good
It’s funny that when I was growing up, my mother cooked a lot. However, except for chicken soup, I don’t remember her making soup from scratch. Soup came from a can. (Campbell’s, mm-mm good)
I haven’t eaten canned soup since college. I always make soup from scratch (though I admit to often using those tetrabrick containers of stock as an ingredient). Soup is so easy to make and tastes so much better than the processed stuff. You also know exactly what went into your bowl of soup (and stomach). We cook for two at my house, but big batches freeze well for easy take-it-work lunches. That works well for us.
We continue to enjoy our vegetables from the CSA. I made another soup, Kale and Sausage Soup. I used the lovely kale (and an onion) from the CSA and a packet of sweet Italian sausage from the freezer. The sausage was from the Codman Farm Meat CSA which we belonged to in the spring. According to Howard, I was a little too heavy-handed with the red pepper flakes, but I thought it was tasty just the way it came out. We also made salad from CSA vegetables to go with the soup — lettuce, peppers, and carrots. Mm-mm, good.
Kale and Sausage Soup
(Serves 8-10)
- 1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (if it comes in casings, just cut them off)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 or 4 garlic cloves, minced (I put them through the Microplane)
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces
- 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
- 10 cups beef broth
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes (or less, to taste)
- Salt to taste
Over medium heat, cook the sausage and chopped onion until fat renders and the onion starts to get soft, about 15 minutes. Break up the meat with a spoon as it cooks. Add garlic, and cook over low heat, covered, about 10 minutes. Drain off and discard any extra fat.
Add lentils, kale, tomatoes, broth, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour. Add salt, if needed, to taste.
A Plateful of Happiness 