"S" is for Soup!!!

Over the two weeks I also made two types of soups...one delicous and one that was eh' just okay.  I'll post it anyways bc I'm sure someone out there would like it.  It wasn't a bad soup it's just that me and my family are pretty particular when it comes to tomato soup...basically we like this one- and that's about it:

I have tried all different types of store bought versons, made a few myself, like last summer when we had so many tomatoes from our garden I didn't know what to do with them!!  And yup, that soup was not anywhere close to being as tastey as this boxed version.  Last week I saw this recipe Creamy Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup  and figured, "what the heck, let's try it....maybe this will be one that works for our family!"  What is the definition of insanity again?  Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?  or something like that?  Well yeah, this one didn't work for us either, but maybe it will work for you.

Creamy Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup 

Ingredients for the soup:
1 quart chicken stock
1 can of crushed Italian tomatoes
1 cup light cream
1 can cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
6-8 large basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1 bulb roasted garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
sea salt, black pepper to taste

Directions:
Place all soup ingredients except cream into a large pot over medium-high heat until it boils.
Once it boils, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about 15-20 min, stirring every few min to prevent burning of tomatoes.
Add cream, then use a submersion hand blender to blend ingredients into a creamy texture.
Let come to a simmer again, being careful not to boil cream.  Just reheat all ingredients together, about another 5 minutes, while whisking cream into soup.

We had this soup along with the pesto, roasted red pepper, spinach panini noted below so luckily our dinner was not a total bust!

Source: Food Buzz 

 

 

Pasta e Fagioli

 

The second of the two soups was quite the opposite of the first- for me anyways.  This is one of my all time favorite soups in the world...and I am a soup lover...this recipe was delicious and filling and nutritious, and warm!! everything you could ever ask for in a soup! 

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 carrots, in medium dice
1/2 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 (14.5 oz) cans or 1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2Tbs Sugar
1 Parmesan rind, plus additional freshly grated Parmesan for serving
1 cup whole grain shells, or other small pasta
1 (15.5 oz) can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained **I used two cans***
I cup coarsely chopped fresh baby spinach, stems removed

Directions

In a good sized heavy pot, such as a Dutch Oven or casserole, heat oil over medium. Add celery, carrots, onion and garlic. Season with oregano, a few pinches of salt and several grinds of pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes, broth, sugar and Parmesan rind. Increase heat to high and simmer rapidly until liquid thickens slightly, 5 minutes. Stir in pasta and cook, partially covered, until pasta is just shy of al dente (for my pasta, this took about 10 minutes).  ***note- I cooked my pasta separately, and added with the beans below**Add beans and continue to cook for a few minutes, until they are warmed through and pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in chopped spinach. Serve topped with grated parmesan. 

 Enjoy!

Andrea