Zuppa Toscana
  • 12 small spicy sausage links (I use Chorizo)
  • 2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1/4” slices
  • 3/4 cup onions, diced
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 cups kale leaves (spinach works too), cut in half, then sliced
  • 2 tablespoons chicken base
  • 1 qt. water
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:  Grill sausages until cooked, then dice. Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1-minute. Add chicken base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

White Bean and Lamb Soup
  • 1/2 pound dried great Northern beans, sorted and rinsed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • lamb meat (shanks or small leg of lamb)
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, with liquid
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 pound baby spinach leaves
  • 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1. Soak the dried beans in water overnight. After soaking, drain off remaining water, and rinse.

2. In a large stockpot, cook the onion in oil over low heat until just beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium, and add lamb; cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in carrots and celery, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, and season with parsley, thyme, oregano, and with freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Add beans and broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for 1/1/2 hours, or until beans are tender.

3. Rinse spinach, and then place in a saucepan. Place over medium heat, and cook until wilted. This will only take a short time, and you will not need to add more liquid to the pan.

4. Top each serving of soup with wilted spinach and crumbled feta cheese.

Split Pea Soup with Kielbasa

  • 1 pound kielbasa, sliced thin or into small chunks
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 rib of celery, diced
  • 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound split peas, picked over
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • Fresh ground pepper to taste

In a heavy kettle brown the kielbasa over moderate heat, stirring, transfer it with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. In the fat remaining in the kettle cook the onion, the celery, and the garlic over moderately low heat, stirring, until the celery is softened, add the split peas, the broth, the water, the thyme, and the bay leaf, and simmer the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/4 hours, Stir in the carrots and simmer the soup, covered for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Discard the bay leaf, season the soup with salt and pepper.

Cream of Tomato and Basil Soup
  • 2 oz Butter
  • 1 ea Diced Red Onions
  • 2 cup(s) Dry White Wine
  • 3 cup(s) Canned Diced Tomatoes
  • 2 cup(s) Heavy Cream
  • 1 oz Chopped Fresh Basil
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Black Pepper (to taste)
In a heavy 2 quart sauce pan melt butter and saute red onions until tender, 5 minutes.  Add white wine and reduce by 3/4.  Add tomatoes and heavy cream and bring to a simmer and reduce by 1/2.  Puree soup in a food processor.  Stir in chopped basil, salt and pepper.  Garnish with chopped fresh basil and tomatoes.

 

Sausage and Tomato Quiche
  • 1 baked pie crust
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 3 sweet Italian sausages, crumbled and cooked
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1 large tomato, halved crosswise, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
Preheat oven to 425°F. Place pie crust on cookie sheet. Place cheese and sausage in pie crust. Beat together yolks, egg, salt and red pepper flakes. Mix in cream. Pour into pie crust. Place tomato in circular pattern on top of quiche. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve warm.

 

 Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini
  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 cups beef broth
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
  • 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
  • 1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
  • 8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings. Sauté onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

Spinach, Lamb and Orzo Soup
  • 6 chicken bouillon cubes
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 pounds lamb shanks
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 1 rounded tablespoon minced garlic
  • 3/4 cup (about 5 ounces) orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
  • 1 pound fresh spinach, chopped
  • Coarse ground black pepper
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 6 chicken bouillon cubes
6 chicken bouillon cubes
Bring water and chicken broth to boil in heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven over high heat. Add lamb shanks, carrot, chopped onion, celery and bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lamb is tender, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer lamb to plate and cool slightly. Remove meat from bone and chunk.
Add lamb meat and orzo. Cook soup over medium heat until orzo is tender but still firm to bite, about 20 minutes. Add spinach to soup and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring soup to simmer before serving.) Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with a heaping spoon of grated parmesan and croutons if desired.

 

Spinach, Red Pepper and Feta Quiche
  • 1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon cold vegetable shortening
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ice water plus additional if necessary
  • 1/3 cup sliced red bell pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves, trimmed and washed thoroughly (about 5 ounces)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream or milk
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a bowl with a pastry blender or in a small food processor blend together flour, butter, shortening, and a pinch salt until mixture resembles meal. Add water and toss until incorporated, adding additional water if necessary to form a dough. Pat dough onto bottom and one half inch up sides of a 7 1/2-inch tart pan with removable fluted rim or a 9-inch pie plate and bake shell in bottom third of oven until set and pale golden, about 7 minutes.
While shell is baking, in a large skillet sauté bell pepper in oil over moderately high heat, stirring, 1 minute. Add spinach and sauté, stirring, until wilted and tender, about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and season spinach mixture with salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk together eggs and cream.