Birds and Soup

Although it has taken its time this year, Autumn is finally really here in Arkansas. (Do I say that every year? It is possible - I grew up in the north, and fall is supposed to come around the middle or end of September, so my reference points are always a little off for living in the south.) I finished raking the backyard last week, and just about the same time I did the last several years (at least according to my Facebook posts for those days). The front still needs it, but now it is raining, so I get a reprieve. Cooler weather seems to be sticking around, and it is raining regularly after months of drought.

Other signs of autumn:
* The state tournament for my combo tennis team was this weekend (we won!!), so now starts the inevitable lull, with only a stray singles match or lesson from time to time, until the regular season starts up again in the spring. I suppose it is good for me, but it can make me antsy, not playing several times a week.
* Project FeederWatch began over the weekend, so Malcolm and I are once again watching our bird feeders with heightened interest, as we count our avian visitors. I am excited this year, because Malcolm can really, truly participate now. Last season, he watched with me, and could pick out birds, but this season, he knows what he is doing, and he is excited too. We started our count today, and I had forgotten the thrill of spotting a new bird for our weekly list, even if it is just a white throated sparrow or chickadee.
* Soup. Maybe it has been soup season for a while now where you live, but here, we are just getting to the point where I feel a need to make a pot of soup at least once a week. I have a lot of soup recipes, and I try to make different ones, but of course we have favorites. Last night we made Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard, Sausage, and Tubettini. It is an Italian recipe that my dad passed along years ago, and I am not sure which cookbook he got it out of, and even though there are many similar recipes out there on the internet, I think it is worth passing along. Just in case you too need soup.

Minestra di Lenticchie con Salsiccie e Tubettini
Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard, Sausage, and Tubettini

Ingredients:
1/2 lb (250g) brown lentils, rinsed
10 cups (2.5 liters) light meat broth (I use 8 cups beef broth and two cups water)
1 celery rib with leaves
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
1 onion, finely chopped
10 oz (300 g) sweet Italian sausages with fennel seeds, casings removed, crumbled (The sausage at our grocery store didn't have fennel, so I just added a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the sausage while it was cooking)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried marjoram (oregano is an acceptable substitute)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup (125 g) tubettini or other small pasta
1/2 lb (250g) Swiss chard leaves, chopped (I include the stems too, if they aren't too tough)

1) Place the lentils in a large pan or soup pot with the broth and water, celery, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the lentils are nearly tender, about 20 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, in a skillet, combine the olive oil, garlic and onion. Saute over medium-low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage (and fennel) and saute for 10 minutes until golden.

3) Dissolve the tomato paste in a little of the lentil broth. Add to the sausage and onions and stir well. Add marjoram and tomatoes and stir.

4) Stir the sausage and onion mixture, the tubettini and Swiss chard into the lentils. Simmer until the chard is tender and the pasta is al dente, about 7 minutes (or a bit longer, depending on the pasta you pick. Go by the package). Discard the celery and bay leaf, and serve.

This is really good with a fresh loaf of crusty bread and a green salad.

I'm back, and I bring soup

Yup, it has been a while since I last blogged anything. Life has gotten in the way, and to be honest, Facebook has made me tired and wary of so much sharing of personal details. But I miss blogging, and this soup has inspired me - it is a soup that everyone in the house loves, and something that good has to be shared.

My dad always brings recipes when he comes to visit; we look forward to not having to cook while he is here, and he looks forward to sharing favorites with a new audience. During his visit in March, he made this one for us, and it was a big hit. It is a broccoli, bean, and pasta soup from an Italian cookbook that he bought in Florence, Italy called Cucina Rustica by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman (it looks like it is/was available here in the United States as well, if you are inspired to find it yourself). On first glance, it doesn't appear to be magical - just broccoli, beans, and pasta - but there is just something about the way the ingredients come together. Malcolm is not a picky eater by any means, especially compared to other toddlers, but he tends not to eat soup in its fully assembled state; he will eat beans, and vegetables, and pasta, and meat - just not all in one spoonful. This soup? He slurps up and asks for seconds. So do I, and I don't mind that the recipe yields so much soup that I end up eating it for days afterwards. 

I didn't remember to get a picture while it was fresh, so this is a little less soup-like than it is when first cooked, but I think you could add more broth when you reheat it, if that bothers you. I like just as it is.

Without further ado, here it is:

Minestra della Fattoria (Broccoli, Bean and Pasta Soup) from Cucina Rustica by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman. Serves 6-8. Takes about an hour.

1 red onion, peeled and chopped

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I confess to using canola some times)

6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 sprig fresh oregano (I used 1 teaspoon dried)

2 springs fresh thyme (I used 1 teaspoon dried)

1 bunch broccoli, chopped very fine (I use one of the bundled bunches from the grocery store that have three crowns, and use some of the stems too if they look OK)

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, undrained, or three cups cooked dried white beans with their cooking liquid

6 cups chicken stock

4 ounces dried pasta, such as elbows, broken spaghetti, or tiny shells (this time I used a mix of elbow macaroni and ditalini)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon of salt this time - the amount may vary, depending on how salty the beans and broth are)

Parmesan cheese for grating at the table

Saute the onion in the olive oil in a soup pot until it is soft. Add the garlic and saute until it turns opaque and releases its aroma, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the herbs and the broccoli, and cook over moderate heat until the broccoli is quite soft. Add the beans with all their liquid and the chicken stock. Cook at least 15 minutes, or until the soup thickens. Add the pasta and cook it in the soup until al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately and pass Parmesan cheese to grate into the soup.

Soup and bread

There isn't much that can top homemade soup and bread for a good Sunday dinner. I know, roast and potatoes or something is traditional, but we don't tend to hold with such traditions (heck, we don't usually even have turkey for Thanksgiving). We just had Polish barley soup and fresh French bread. It was superb. Hearty, filling, healthy. The soup recipe came from our favorite cookbook: Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. We first heard of this book through my cousin Chris, and since then have been using it a couple of times a month. The soups are mostly vegetarian, usually pretty easy, and always tasty. So yummy.

The bread was just a standard French loaf from my Tassajara book, and it turned out really well. Ahh (sigh of contentment).