Easy Tomato Soup

Tomato soup with grilled cheese.  Is there anything better?  Anyone?  I didn't think so.

This homemade tomato soup was delicious, easy, satisfying, quick.  I just sort of threw it together and it was inspired.  Minimal effort, minimal ingredients, minimal cost.  Lots of love, lots of tomatoes, lots of left overs.  Yes. 

(by the way the grilled cheese you see above is a recipe I got from A Cozy Kitchen for comte and pepper grilled cheese. it was da bomb.)

Ingredients:

2 T oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 small carrots, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cans (28 oz) whole plum tomatoes with their juices, chopped
1 can (15 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes, with juice
1 T tomato paste
1 T brown sugar
1 T fresh thyme
1 T dried basil (or use fresh if you have it!)
3 cups chicken stock
1 T. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Love.

Instructions:

Saute onion and carrots in oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft.  Add garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, fresh thyme, dried basil, chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer over low heat 30 to 40 minutes.

Eat with crusty bread or grilled cheese.  Enjoy!

Kale and White Bean Soup with Kielbasa

Sausage in soup sounds weird... but yum!  This soup is so good!  It is in our new list of favorites.  I dig it.  A lot.  I used a chicken/pork Kielbasa for this and it was super tasty.  Delicious.  Satisfying.  It is even better after sitting a day or two.

Here's the ingredients you need:

2 T olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
5-6 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 lb of Kielbasa (or other sausage)
1 cup or more of potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
4-5 peeled whole plum tomatoes, cut up
5 cups chicken stock
2 cans cannellini beans
water
chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occassionally.

While the onion and celery are cooking, stir fry the Kielbasa in a separate pan until browned on all sides.

Add sliced carrots to the onion and celery, and then the cooked Kielbasa.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the cutup potatoes and cook a few minutes, stirring to combine.

Add the kale and cook, turning until it cooks down some.

Add cut up tomatoes and their juices, and then chicken stock, and water if needed to cover, as well as fresh rosemary.

Bring to a boil, and then cover, turning down to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes to an hour.   Add cannellini beans, turn up heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Minestrone

I made this really good Minestrone on Sunday!  It has a ton of fresh veggies and made enough for several dinners and lunches for the week.   As we head into the colder seasons, I plan to make a "one-pot" dish every weekend that we can enjoy on cold weekday nights without having to slave in a cold kitchen after work!

This recipe takes time.  Leave about 5 hours for the entire process.

Ingredients (serves 10-12):

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 lb. bacon or pancetta, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3-4 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large potato, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1-1/2 cups green beans, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium green cabbage, shredded
6 cups of chopped kale, thick stems and ribs removed
35 oz. whole peeled Italian tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
5 cups beef stock
5 cups water
2 Tbs. dried oregano
1 T. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1-14.5 oz. can of white kidney beans, drained
1/2 lb. pasta

Here is what you do:

Pour 1/3 cup olive oil into a large stock pot or dutch oven

Heat olive oil over medium heat, add bacon, and cook until starting to crisp (about 5 minutes).

Add onion and cook until pale gold in color, about 10 minutes

Add carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occassionally

Add chopped potatoes, zucchini, fennel, and green beans.  Cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring occassionally.

Add kale and cabbage.  It will not seem like they can fit in the pot - just stir and let them cook down and it should work out (i ended up leaving out about a cup of each because space was tight!)

When the kale and cabbage are limp and cooked down, add the cut up tomatoes with their juices

Then add the stock and water (I added 5 cups of stock and 3 of water to start, because there wasn't room for it all.  As it cooked down some I added more water)

Add dried basil and oregano and salt and pepper to taste. 

Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.   15 minutes before serving add beans and pasta.  Turn up heat and cook until pasta is cooked.

Serve with warm crusty french bread.

Enjoy!!