Month: December 2013

What Can Mama D Do With Butternut Squash?

Butternut Squash is delicious, nutritious, and versatile. It’s in its heyday in fall and winter, so the time for Butternut Squash adventures is now. I must confess, I’m fairly new to the winter squash scene. It’s only been in Mama D’s Kitchen for about 5 years (except for Spaghetti Squash which has been in the kitchen for decades). It’s time to make up for lost time.

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I’ve been using this oddly (?) shaped squash quite often and it always surprises me with its adaptability. It also has certain affinities with other foods. It stands up to all kinds of onions. From leeks to shallots and every type in between, squash takes them on and still keeps its identity.  Bacon seems to have been put on earth, for among other things to compliment squash. Something in the smokiness of the bacon goes well with the sweet earthiness of the squash. Besides that, “ Mama D do love her bacon”.

Many people are fond of the sweet notes of squash and expand on them. Personally, I like to keep the sugar sweetness in dessert and let the squash display its innate sweetness in the main part of the meal.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Mama D’s Butternut Squash & Apple Soup. This recipe was born in a cooking class I took several years ago. It’s gotten some Mama D lovin’ and has become what I like to call ” Autumn in a Bowl.”

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
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Autumn in bowl.
Servings
6
Servings
6
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Print Recipe
Autumn in bowl.
Servings
6
Servings
6
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon in large soup pot until crisp. Remove the bacon drain on paper towels. Pour all the drippings into a heat proof container. Return 2 tablespoons of the drippings to the soup pot and add the onion. Sweat for 3 or 4 minutes, until the onions begin to soften.
  2. Raise the heat to medium high and add the squash and apples. Cook, stirring occasionally until everything is slightly browned. Add the apple juice and stir to de-glaze the pan. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, add the sage and cook, covered 30 minutes or until the squash is soft. remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender.
  3. While soup is simmering, heat a tablespoon of the bacon drippings in a small fry pan. Add the shallots and cook until carmelized, 15 minutes or so. Set aside for garnishing the soup.
  4. Return the pot of soup to the stove and simmer over low heat for a few minutes. Add the cream and heat gently until everything is steamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick, add a little more stock or cider. If Soup is too thin, add 2-3 tablespoons of potato flakes. Heat until any additions come up to temperature.
  5. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each bowl with some of the bacon and shallots and sprinkle with the pepitas.
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Butternut Squash makes a wonderful side dish. Roasting seems to bring out the nutty flavor and provides enough of a reason to coat it ever so lightly in olive oil. While olive oil is the healthier alternative, I’ve come up with a recipe that uses bacon drippings as the lubricant (so to speak). It also repeats some of the same flavors found in the above soup. What can possibly be wrong with bacon, shallots and sage? Nothing, I say!!

 

Butternut Squash Smash with Bacon and Shallots
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A hearty side dish that can hold its own with meat or fowl.
Servings
6
Servings
6
Butternut Squash Smash with Bacon and Shallots
Print Recipe
A hearty side dish that can hold its own with meat or fowl.
Servings
6
Servings
6
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. While the oven heats, cook the bacon in a large skillet until brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Remove drippings from the pan and reserve 2 tablespoons. The rest can be discarded. Keep the skillet, as is, to use later.
  2. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay the thyme and sage on the baking sheet to make an aromatic bed for the squash. Lightly brush the cut edges of the squash with 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings and lay cut side down on top of the herbs. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the squash and bake for 15 minutes more or so.it should be quite soft.
  3. Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes or until it can be handled, Make sure to save the herbs. Scoop the squash from the skin and place in a large bowl. Throw the skin away. Mash the squash until "smooth-ish."
  4. Heat the remaining bacon drippings and the butter in the reserved skillet. When it is hot, add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until softened and just beginning to brown. Add the mashed squash and the warm half & half to the skillet. Stir to combine (if things seem too thick add a little more half & half).
  5. Crumble the herbs, (leave the stems out of it) and add to the pan. Stir all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon into the mixture. Heat gently until everything is hot and happy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the remaining bacon. Serve with pride.
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This is a wonderful accompaniment to pork, be it chops, tenderloin or roast. It also compliments any poultry dish you may be serving.

I love visiting other food blog sites. One of my favorites is Proud Italian Cook.  Marie has lots of wonderful recipes. I took some inspiration from her Polenta and Squash dish and came up with Chicken and Squash Risotto. It started with Butternut Squash roasted with leeks and garlic.DIGITAL CAMERA

I made risotto using red onions, chicken stock and some leftover roast chicken. The squash and leek mixture joined in the fun.

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The result was a comfort food that satisfied the need for the creamy, slightly chewy and savory flavor that is risotto.

Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto
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This recipe uses a roasted squash, leek, and garlic mixture. You will have enough for this recipe and at least another of your choosing. This will also freeze well if you want to share your squash love at a later time.
Servings
4
Servings
4
Butternut Squash and Chicken Risotto
Print Recipe
This recipe uses a roasted squash, leek, and garlic mixture. You will have enough for this recipe and at least another of your choosing. This will also freeze well if you want to share your squash love at a later time.
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Combine the squash, leeks, garlic, and olive oil in a large bowl.Spread the mixture on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring half way though. The squash should be soft and lightly browned. Set aside.
  2. Heat a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the red onion and cook stirring occasionally until translucent. Add the rice, tossing to coat well. Cook the rice until it is becoming translucent about 7-10 minutes. Add the white wine to the pan and continue to cook until it has evaporated (this will also de-glaze the pan).
  3. Using a ladle, add approximately 1/2 cup of the hot stock to the pan. Cook and stir until the stock has been absorbed into the rice. Continue to add stock, stirring and cooking until each addition is absorbed. This is probably a good time to pour a glass of wine, it's going to take awhile. You are looking for rice with a creamy texture but grains with a little bite.
  4. Add the chicken and squash to the pan. Add more stock as needed to keep the creamy texture of the rice. Heat until everything is steaming. Add about half of the cheese and stir until it melts. Taste the dish and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve in shallow bowls. Pass the rest of the cheese at the table.
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So the answer to the question in the title is, “A lot”. These recipes just scratch the surface of Butternut Squash. There are lots of other squash varieties out there as well and without too much adjustment, they can be substituted in any of these recipes. If you haven’t cooked these odd-shaped, nutrient dense vegetables, give it a try. There’s plenty of squash love to go around.

Happy New Year, Mama D

Holiday Recipes Borrowed with Love by Mama D

012It took a village to create Mama D’s Twelve Days of Christmas Goodies. Besides my personal recipes, I shared links to some recipes that were created by wonderful chefs and cooks. I thought it would be nice to gather the recipes together in one post. I’ve also provided a link to each recipe. Just click on the goody name and you should be taken to the recipe. Now, without further ado, kudos to the following folks.

Jeff Mauro has a sandwich show on the Food Network. This recipe shows that he’s pretty creative with baking as well. Spumoni is an iconic Italian ice cream, often made to replicate the colors of the Italian flag. The pistachios and dried cherries give the essence of Spumoni flavors. The recipe yields 14 very large cookies, but I opted for a smaller size and wound up with 3-1/2 dozen.

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Italian Spumoni Cookies 

Everybody gets a little help from Betty once in a while. These Thumbprint Cookies start with a sugar cookie mix from Betty Crocker. Don’t cast dispersions at the use of a convenience product. They are quite good and do save a little time and perhaps a little money. I used raspberry jam, but any flavor would work. I made a small and a large version and used white and semi-sweet chocolate for the drizzle.

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Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Ina Garten is one of those celebrity chefs that you just have to love. Her recipes combine ease and elegance. This is her glazed nut recipe and it’s by far the best I’ve ever had. The rich combination of nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, and walnuts) is glazed with a maple and orange juice driven glaze that packs some heat with chipotle powder. I would re-name these Heroin Nuts because they are truly addictive.

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Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Here’s another recipe that proves that Christmas Goodies don’t have to be cookies. Chex mix gets it’s Southern on, ya’ll.  The traditional mix is combined with pecans and bacon. They’re roasted in a glaze of brown sugar and bourbon. This starts with packaged Chex Mix. I prefer to remove the rye toast rounds because I don’t like how they taste sweetened, but they can be left in and the result is still great.

 

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Kentucky Bourbon Bacon Chex Mix

“No Bake Treats” are often time savers. The Food Network put together a mini cookbook of 50  treats that don’t require an oven. This is a variation on two of the toffee bars that were included in the booklet. The base is tea biscuits, the toffee is, well toffee, and the semi-sweet chocolate and pecans are the icing on the toffee. This is a recipe that can be riffed on almost infinitely. I did one with Club Crackers as the base, the toffee and coarse sea salt. If you’re a fan of that salty sweet thing, give it a try. 

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 Pecan and Chocolate Toffee

Bacon is something Mama D really loves. This recipe provides a healthy(?) dose of bacon love. Crisp bacon and carmelized onions are simmered in an orange juice and maple syrup bath. If you love Bacon Jam you’ll like this lighter cousin. I’ve tried it on a turkey sandwich and it was delicious, but it would also be wonderful on your Christmas morning pancakes.The recipe came from the Cooking Club of America Magazine. It’s a magazine that features great recipes and lots of useful information on cooking techniques.

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Maple Bacon Marmalade

 As I sit here on this early Christmas afternoon, the joy of the season and the promise of the future dance through my head. The holidays take me back to my childhood with recipes I made with my mother. The present brings new traditions with Christmas morning at my Son’s home. The future, I know, will be filled with more adventures as I cook with love and continue to write my next chapter.                

Merry Christmas, Mama D

 

From Mama D’s Kitchen with Love

I‘ve always been the spirit of Christmas Love in my family. One of the ways I share my holiday love is through baking. Until this year, baking happened almost exclusively in December, but as my cooking adventures grew, so did the baking. Which means that this year, December’s baking is on steroids.

I decided to share some of my favorite Christmas Goody recipes on Face Book. I called it Mama D’s Twelve Days of Christmas Goodies. The recipes are a mix of originals that I’ve created or have been inspired to create and recipes I’ve “borrowed” from other people/places/websites. I wanted to share these recipes with my blog followers who might not follow me on F.B. The following are my original and “inspired by” recipes. Hope there’s something that tickles you fancy.

This tasty salt is wonderful on any kind of beef. It can also be used in place of regular salt in any recipe to give it that earthy flavor.

Porcini and Rosemary Salt
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This is a perfect seasoning for steak, but it is wonderful on eggs, in soups, or anywhere you want a subtle mushroom flavor. This is a lovely Hostess gift, but save some for yourself.
Porcini and Rosemary Salt
Print Recipe
This is a perfect seasoning for steak, but it is wonderful on eggs, in soups, or anywhere you want a subtle mushroom flavor. This is a lovely Hostess gift, but save some for yourself.
Ingredients
Servings: Cups
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients in the bowl of a processor. Pulse until everything is ground. This will take a bit of time. The porcini will not completely grind so the end product will have small bits of mushroom, which makes it even more delicious. Store in airtight containers.
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These are my favorite biscotti. They are tender yet crisp. You don’t need coffee or wine for dunking, but they are awesome dunked.

Anise Almond Biscotti
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My favorite biscotti recipe! Hope you'll love it, too.
Servings
8 dozen
Servings
8 dozen
Anise Almond Biscotti
Print Recipe
My favorite biscotti recipe! Hope you'll love it, too.
Servings
8 dozen
Servings
8 dozen
Ingredients
Servings: dozen
Instructions
  1. Beat butter and sugar until well incorporated using an electric mixer. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flavorings and the anise seeds and mix until well combined. Add the almonds and mix until combined. This is easier than adding the almonds after the flour.
  2. Whisk flour baking powder and salt together to aerate and blend. Slowly mix flour mixture into the wet mixture. You will have to add the last flour and mix by hand. Gather dough together and turn onto a lightly floured board, pat into a flat round.
  3. Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Pat and roll each piece into a log 12 - 14 inches long. Flatten the log to 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches wide. At this point they are ready to bake. If you want you to bake them later, wrap each log in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let logs come to room temperature before you bake them.
  4. When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place no more than 2 logs on each greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time for 15 - 20 minutes.Remove from oven let cool several minutes until easily handled. Carefully move each log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise into 3/4 inch slices.
  5. Lay cut side down back on the baking sheet. Return to oven and bake 15 - 20 minutes more, turning the cookies after after 8 - 10 minutes to toast other side.
  6. Place the cookies on a rack to cool. Store airtight. These will keep for about a week. They can be frozen for a month or so.
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All the good things in Fruitcake in 3 bites or less.

Fruitcake Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips
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Fruitcake in a cookie with the added yumminess of chocolate chips. These cookies are chewy with fruit and nuts in every bite, oh, and did I mention the chocolate?.
Servings
6 Dozen
Servings
6 Dozen
Fruitcake Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips
Print Recipe
Fruitcake in a cookie with the added yumminess of chocolate chips. These cookies are chewy with fruit and nuts in every bite, oh, and did I mention the chocolate?.
Servings
6 Dozen
Servings
6 Dozen
Ingredients
Servings: Dozen
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour, soda, salt, and spices together in a medium bowl.
  2. Beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs and extracts and continue to beat until well combined. Mix in the flour. Add the cherries, nuts, and candied fruit. Continue to mix until all the frui, nuts, and chocolate are evenly dstributed.
  3. Use a small cookie scoop to arrange dough on parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are just beginning to brown, approximately 12 minutes. Let set on baking sheets for 1 minute before removing to racks to cool.
  4. Store airtight for up to 1 week.
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These chocolate mint cookies look a little like “slush balls”.

Chocolate Mint Snowballs
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Minty, chocolatey, crackle top cookies.
Servings
3 Dozen
Servings
3 Dozen
Chocolate Mint Snowballs
Print Recipe
Minty, chocolatey, crackle top cookies.
Servings
3 Dozen
Servings
3 Dozen
Ingredients
Servings: Dozen
Instructions
  1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. in a small bowl. Melt one cup of the mint chips over hot water, stirring occasionally.
  2. Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add the melted chips and vanilla. Stir to combine. beat in the eggs then beat in the flour. Stir in the rest of the mint chips. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in plastic , and chill until very firm.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll thickly in confectioners sugar. Place approximately 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet.
  4. Bake 10 - 12 minutes until the tops appear cracked. Let sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move to wire racks to cool completely. Store airtight up to one week.
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These are possibly the original Toll House Cookie. This is the recipe my mother used.

Toll House Cookies
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Servings
6 Dozen
Servings
6 Dozen
Toll House Cookies
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Servings
6 Dozen
Servings
6 Dozen
Ingredients
Servings: Dozen
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine well.
  2. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add to egg and sugar mixture and mix. Add the flour and stir until well combined.Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips until evenly combined.
  3. Using a small cookie scoop, place dough on parchment lined baking sheets. about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store airtight for up to 1 week.
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This is a moist and not too sweet quick bread. Use any apple that you like.

Apple Cranberry Bread
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This loaf is moist and delicious. If you use mini loaf pans you'll get six or so.
Servings
1 Loaf
Servings
1 Loaf
Apple Cranberry Bread
Print Recipe
This loaf is moist and delicious. If you use mini loaf pans you'll get six or so.
Servings
1 Loaf
Servings
1 Loaf
Ingredients
Servings: Loaf
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one 9X5 or six Mini Loaf Pans with cooking spray. Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder & soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  2. Put the sugar, oil, sour cream, and eggs in a medium bowl. Mix at high speed of mixer for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  3. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.. Stir in apples. Drain the cranberries and add them to the batter stirring them in gently.
  4. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake approximately 60 minutes for large pan or approximately 30 minutes for minis. A toothpick should come out clean but moist. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
  5. Store in plastic zip lock bags in refrierator for up to 5 days. The loaves can be frozen in freezer bags for up to one month.
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There are six recipes that I “borrowed” and I’ll be sharing them in my next post.

I hope your holidays are joyous and full of love….Mama D

More Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), More Love

There’s been a natural progression in my posts lately. The Vegetable Stock led to Minestrone and now the Minestrone has resulted in the need to revisit Garbanzo Beans. I made a large batch of beans and I was bound and determined to use them all. Mama D owed it to herself to be frugal and creative. So the fiber rich adventure continues.DIGITAL CAMERA

The article from Fine Cooking Magazine featured a number of recipes. The pasta recipe inspired me to come up with my own pasta and chickpeas dish.

I love bacon. I love it on its own and in the company of other ingredients. Lately my favorite is thick cut pepper bacon. I’ve been using it in many savory recipes. There are all kinds of dishes that benefit from this peppery pork product and pasta is a great canvas.Pepper bacon

 

The magazine article used the liquid that the garbanzos were cooked in and I had saved my cooking water, so I used it too. A word about the cooking water. It was gelatinous and a lovely amber color. Quite different from the slightly slimy water in the canned variety. So this liquid would be the base of my pasta sauce. Onions and garlic had to join in the fun along with some red pepper flakes and spinach. Penne pasta seemed like the perfect partner with its ridges to hold what was sure to be a tasty sauce and a size that was geometrically complimentary  to the chickpeas. So, here’s Mama D’s newest pasta creation.

Penne with Chickpeas, Spinach, and Bacon
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This dish has lots of flavor for not much money.
Servings
2
Servings
2
Penne with Chickpeas, Spinach, and Bacon
Print Recipe
This dish has lots of flavor for not much money.
Servings
2
Servings
2
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan, Add the bacon and cook until it is lightly browned. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings, then add the onion, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until onions begin to soften and the garlic is fragrant. Add the chickpeas and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to pick up some color,about 5 minutes Add the spinach and cook until it wilts 3 minutes or so.
  2. Add the chickpea cooking water and raise the heat to medium high. Simmer for 5 -7 minutes. The sauce should thicken and reduce slightly. Bring the heat back down to medium and add half of the Romano cheese and stir until it melts.
  3. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat it with the sauce. If it seems a little dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Check the seasonings and add salt and pepper to taste. Top each serving with the grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
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I had more chickpeas left and wanting to waste not, there was one more recipe to try, Hummus. Hummus is so versatile. We all know it as a party appetizer, but it is also great as a sandwich spread instead of mayonaise or as my friend Dave suggested, on your morning bagel. The basic recipe uses chickpeas, tahini which is sesame paste, and olive oil. There is usually lemon and garlic in the mix as well. Herbs, spices and any other additions that tickle the cooks fancy are welcome to the party.  For this go around, I opted for Cumin, Smoked Paprika, and Chipotle Tabasco Sauce.DIGITAL CAMERA

Smoky Hummus Dip
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Smoky Hummus Dip
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Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Place the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, water, tahini, and olive oil in the bowl of the processor. Pulse until everything is combined, then process steadily until the hummus is as smooth as you like.
  2. Add the measured amounts of cumin, smoked paprika, and chipotle sauce. Process long enough for the spices to be incorporated. Taste and add salt and pepper to your taste. Process again. Taste and add more of the seasonings to you preference.
  3. Chill for at least several hours. Serve with home baked salted tortilla or pita chips. It is also good with fresh vegetables.
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The garbanzo beans, having provided several delicious meals, are gone. They will not be forgotten. They will grace the stove in Mama D’s Kitchen, again soon. They really are a pot of golden love.

Mama D’s Minestrone Adventure

MInestrone, every cook seems to have a recipe. Mama D has one, too. In fact over the years she’s made various kinds of Minestrone. I must confess this one is new. My old go-to recipe was kind of boring so I decided to reinvent it. I also wanted to find out a little more about where it came from and see what other people put in their soup. Inspiration is a good thing, after all.

Minestrone has lots of different versions. Even Italians can’t agree (no surprise there). Every recipe I looked at had a slightly different ingredient list. Some featured meat, others didn’t. Vegetables varied from a few onions and tomatoes to an entire produce market. The only constant seems to be that it is a vegetable soup with beans. Historically, it is considered “cucina povera” food of the poor because the ingredients are accessible to all and usually change seasonally. Anyway you cook it it’s cheap.

DIGITAL CAMERAThere are two inspirations for this recipe. One is the vegetable DIGITAL CAMERAstock that I recently made. The other is an article from “Fine Cooking” magazine about dried garbanzo beans. Pot O’ Gold by Melissa Pellegrino. These have become the basis for the soup I’m sharing today.

DIGITAL CAMERAI would call this recipe a Winter Minestrone. It is winter (snow on the ground and single digit temperatures). I steadfastly like to use what I have in the house so the ingredients are quite basic. The soup starts with a medley of vegetables with onion being in the majority. Carrots and garlic round out the aromatics. These are sweated in some olive oil along with a little potato. Canned tomatoes are added for color and flavor. I went with a modest amount of tomatoes, but feel free to use the big can.

I used a combination of vegetable stock and garbanzo cooking water (this adds a little more DIGITAL CAMERAbean flavor and also thickens things a bit), and added a small Parmesan rind because I had one. I added lots of garbanzo beans There really is a difference with garbanzos home cooked, They are creamier and oh, so flavorful.  I would probably go with fresh green beans in this, but I couldn’t find any that looked like they would actually taste like green beans so I opted for frozen cut green beans that I thawed. That rounded out the main ingredients.

I like most of my soups a little on the thick side. To create a little more body in many of my soups, including this one, I add potato flakes. I’m using them as an ingredient so I won’t call them by their real name, Instant Mashed Potatoes. I know what you’re thinking, and no, I don’t use them in their traditional way. They incorporate almost instantly, and because they are used in small quantities they don’t impart much flavor. Give it a try…you’ll be surprised.

DIGITAL CAMERAPesto is green goodness. It adds that slap you in the face flavor DIGITAL CAMERAand takes whatever you put it in to another level. I always have this in my freezer for just his kind of occasion. It is a wonderful addition to the soup. I like my pesto subtle so I make it with roasted garlic. I freeze it in 1/4 cup portions. it sounds like a small amount, but it goes a long way. If you choose to add more, I won’t be offended. i won’t even mind if you leave it out. That goes for anything in this recipe. I will probably make this soup differently the next time depending on my mood and my pantry. That’s the beauty of cooking…what rules there are, can usually be broken or at least bent a little.

Mama D's Minestrone
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Mama D's take on an Italian classic..
Servings
6
Servings
6
Mama D's Minestrone
Print Recipe
Mama D's take on an Italian classic..
Servings
6
Servings
6
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots, and potatoes. Cook 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook stirring often until the garlic becomes fragrant, 2 minutes or so.
  2. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine everything. Cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes stirring often. Add the garbanzo water, vegetable stock, and cheese rind. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered 30 minutes.
  3. Add the garbanzo beans and the herbs. Cook for 5 minutes or so. if you like a thicker soup add the instant potato flakes and stir to combine. Cook for 3 minutes or until you notice things beginning to thicken. Add the green beans and heat for another 5 minutes.
  4. Lower the heat and add the pesto. Sir to combine. Taste at this point and add salt and pepper to your preference. Continue to heat until everything is beautifully steamy.
  5. Divide the cooked pasta into 6 soup bowls. Ladle the soup on top of the pasta. Top with the Parmesan shavings and garnish with more pesto if desired.
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Winter has only just begun. There’s plenty of time for a hearty bowl of Minestrone.           Enjoy – Mama D