Tomato Bread Soup

My husband just made this recipe for dinner this evening in an attempt to use up some stale baguette we had left over from last night. It was delicious and I want him to make it again! It's adapted from a meal we had in a restaurant several weeks ago.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 large can crushed tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
about 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 andouille sausage, cut into 1/3 inch coins
1/2 baguette cut into 1/2 inch slices
shredded parmesan cheese to garnish

Saute chopped onions in oil in a small dutch oven until translucent. Add garlic and saute about a minute. Add sausage and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add water and bring back to a boil. Add bread slices. Cover and simmer approximately 10 minutes. Add chopped basil and cook until basil is wilted. Add sugar, and salt & pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish generously with parmesan cheese.

Note: in the summertime, you can get fresh, ripe tomatoes in season, and I bet this recipe would be even better by using about 3 pounds of roasted tomatoes. Just halve the tomatoes, place in a roasting pan (with sides, so the juice doesn't drip!) brush with a little olive oil, and roast until skins start to peel off and tomatoes are very soft. Remove skins, and use an immersion blender to get the consistency you want. I think that little chunks of tomato would be lovely for this rustic soup, so don't overblend. You might need to add less water too.

A wine that is delicious with this soup is an Argentinian torrontes. This is a white grape varietal exclusive to Argentina and is sturdy enough to stand up to the spicy meat and acidic tomatoes in this recipe. It is slightly reminiscent of a viognier with some peach scents, so it is also nice with any spicy or garlicky foods and intense cheeses.

Shrimp Tomato Stew

I just made this up and it's delish!

1/2 white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
2 med. zucchini, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 pint button mushrooms, chopped
pinch saffron threads
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, more to taste
salt
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 cup hearty red wine, such as tempranillo
16 oz. frozen peeled & deveined shrimp
2 cups pasta, rice or noodles

Saute the onion and garlic in 2 or 3 tbsp olive oil. When translucent (about 5 minutes), add mushrooms. Cook down until completely soft. Add zucchini and bell pepper. Saute another 5 minutes. Add dry spices and stir thoroughly. Add wine, stir, and add tomatoes. Let simmer at least 15 minutes.

Prepare pasta (or whichever starch you prefer) according to package directions. While this is cooking, get out the shrimp and run warm water over to separate them and to remove excess ice/frost.

8 minutes prior to serving, toss the shrimp into the stew, and stir occasionally. Make sure all shrimp are soft and pink before serving! Finish with a drizzle more olive oil (about 2 tbsp) and stir to blend in.

Ladle stew over pasta, and sprinkle with parmesan shavings. Serve with more of the wine you cooked in the stew. Yum!

Best Vegetarian Chili Ever

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 each: red and yellow bell peppers, chopped
3/4 yellow onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 sm. can tomato paste
1 carton mushrooms, chopped
1/2 medium zucchini, diced
1/2 medium yellow squash, diced
10 baby carrots, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1-1/2 cups sweet corn
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper
2 cans beans (I like one each of black and kidney), drained
heaping tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, mashed to a paste, more if you like it very spicy
salt and black pepper
pinch sugar

Heat oil in a large stockpot. Saute garlic and onions until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook down. Add chopped tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, carrots and broccoli. Saute about 10 minutes, then season with Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Pour in one can of crushed tomatoes, and cook until hot. Then add the corn, tomato paste, and the other can of crushed tomatoes. Heat through, then add drained beans and chipotle paste. When everything is hot and bubbling, add cumin and chili powder. Finally, let simmer about 10 - 15 minutes to let flavors meld. Taste one more time and season again with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.

Serve with rice, tortilla chips, or a dollop of sour cream.

Wish This Were My Lasagna

This is based on a gorgeous lasagna that my friend made for me several weeks ago. She, at first, based it on my original recipe, but couldn't resist changing things to suit her palate. I think it is a superior lasagna to mine, and I only wish I had another one sitting in my fridge right now. I also wish I'd taken photos before it was devoured.

The essential difference between hers and mine is fresh, farmers' market tomatoes picked at the height of ripeness at the end of the season. I generally use canned or even (gasp!) a jar of spaghetti sauce, mixed with a few fresh, pureed tomatoes. However, she used 4 pounds of the reddest, ripest, most burstingly perfect tomatoes I have seen in a very long time. The tomatoes didn't even come from NJ -- they were grown in northern California! Additionally, what also may have contributed to the intense flavor was the fact that she chopped these tomatoes very slowly while chatting outside, inadvertently allowing the tomatoes to warm somewhat in the sun. I think that she and the tomatoes were out sunning on the deck for about 45 minutes in total, but I have no scientific proof that this additional sunshine changes the recipe any. I believe, however, that chopping while having a leisurely chat at least improves the cooking process.

3 boxes no-boil lasagne noodles
28 oz. ricotta
2 eggs
1 c. parmesan cheese
handful fresh italian parsley, chopped fine
4 cups shredded mozzarella

for sauce:

1/2 small onion, minced.

2 cloves garlic, pushed thru press

4 pounds fresh, very ripe tomatoes.

5 leaves or so fresh basil.

1 sprig fresh oregano

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

For the sauce:

First, cut tomatoes into 8ths, set aside. Saute the onion in olive oil over low heat, season with a sprinkle of salt, wait a few minutes, and add garlic. Saute until onions are translucent and a tad brown. Add tomato paste and cook till brown and thick- 5 minutes.

Pour in a bit of the juice from tomatoes and scrape up the sides. Sprinkle with more salt and add a grinding of pepper. Add tomatoes and let simmer, stirring, for about 5 minutes.

Get out the stick blender (or put half of the sauce in a blender then put back) and give it a few rounds; taste for salt and pepper. Cook another five minutes. Chop up the basil, it's best to do it right before and tear apart the thyme. Add to sauce; cook 5 more minutes. Finally, add two or three tablespoons of really good olive oil and stir well.

Meanwhile, mix together ricotta, eggs, parsley, parmesan, salt and pepper.

The single most important thing to do when making lasagne is this: first spray your lasagne pan with spray oil (preferably olive oil). Then spoon down a layer of tomato sauce, and to make it even better, follow that by a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. This ensures that the noodles don't stick to the bottom of the pan (and then burn).

Layer the pan this way:
sauce
noodles (do not let noodles overlap - break them to fit)
ricotta mixture
sauce
noodles
ricotta mixture
etc.

Finally, top with more parmesan and a thick layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake covered for about 45 minutes, at 350. Remove cover and continue baking another 15 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbling.

Easy Ratatouille

This dish is so simple to make and requires so few ingredients that it hardly bears the need to write the recipe down. However, there are a couple of reasons why it's helpful to have a guide, and the main one is that cooking eggplant can be a pain in the ass unless you do it right. I suggest par-baking to eliminate cooking time and also to cut down on the grease. Also, traditional recipes call for green bell pepper, but I think that this has too sharp a flavor, and prefer to use red, orange or yellow pepper for a bit more sweetness.

2 small to medium eggplants
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 to a whole red bell pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, pushed thru press
1 medium zucchini
14 oz. (1/2 large can) crushed tomato
olive oil
pinch of rosemary
large handful of fresh basil, shredded


Preheat oven to 375. Slice the eggplant into thin disks. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil, and arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake on middle rack about 20-25 minutes, turning once midway through, until disks are tender and the oil has been absorbed.

While eggplant is baking, slice zucchini into thin coins, then quarter. Dice bell pepper, and halve the grape tomatoes. Mince the shallot and open canned tomato.

In a large, deep saute pan, saute shallot and garlic in about 1 tbsp olive oil until shallot is soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add another tbsp olive oil, then the zucchini, bell pepper and tomatoes. Cook about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. By now the eggplant should be done, so take it out of the oven, let cool a couple of minutes, and then cut up the disks into at least quarters, to make smallish, bite-size pieces.

Add eggplant to mixture and saute for about 2 minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes and rosemary. Stir frequently while cooking another 10 minutes. (This is the time to open the wine and pour the first glasses. I recommend a pinot noir, or even a muscly rose, if it's summertime.)

One minute before serving, stir in the shredded basil. You might want to reserve a tiny bit to throw on top when you plate the meal.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes and roasted fennel. You can use the same cookie sheet for the fennel as you used for the eggplant, and use a little spray oil to keep it from burning. Roast about 15 minutes, and sprinkle a large spoonful over the mashed potatoes, but not on the ratatouille. The fennel and potato work beautifully together, especially if you mash the potatoes with heavy cream and a respectable amount of butter!