Tomato Soup

The first snow of the new year fell in Connecticut this past Saturday.  Stuck inside all day I decided to make my son's favorite and the quintessential American comfort food- tomato soup.
For years there have been debates if the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable?  It's the state vegetable of both New Jersey and Arkansas, but is considered the state fruit in Tennessee?!  According to the Oxford Dictionary and scientifically speaking the tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable.  The question had legal implications in the 1800's when the US had a tax on vegetables, but not on fruits.  Believe it or not, the US Supreme Court ruled (for tax reasons) that the tomato was a vegetable, because they are served with dinner and not for dessert.  To this day the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with the IRS. Kind of a funny looking fruit if you ask me.
Campbell's Soup came out in 1897 with a condensed version of tomato soup and it's been one of their top sellers and American favorites since.
It's easy, healthy and when paired with grilled cheese dinner, is made. My tomato soup is a combination of Ina Garten and Tyler Florence's tomato soup recipes.  I have made it several times tweaking it along the way.  The recipe I follow is below...Tried and True- enjoy!

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of 28 ounces whole plum tomatoes drained with juices set aside

6 gloves of garlic

1 1/2 cups of chopped onions

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 quart (box) of vegetable stock

3 bay leaves

4 tablespoons of butter 

1 cup of chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain the cans of tomatoes reserving their juices

Chop onions and smash garlic cloves

Place tomatoes, onion and garlic on a cookie sheet

Pour olive oil over all of it and sprinkle with salt and pepper

Put in a 400 degree oven and roast for 30 minutes or until caramelized

In meantime put tomato juices and broth in stock pot and boil with bay leaves

Add caramelized tomatoes, onions and garlic mix into pot

Add butter to the pot

Boil and reduce heat and simmer

Remove the bay leaves and use an immersion hand blender to puree soup until smooth

Sprinkle chopped basil in soup and season with salt and pepper as necessary

Serve immediately, put in fridge for a few days or freeze for a few months!!  I promise it won't last long though...it's that good!

Caesar On the Light Side

I found Jamie Oliver's twist on the traditional Caesar salad in Food and Wine Magazine.  Perfect for post holiday dieting season. It's delicious and works! Jamie uses Greek yogurt as a healthy alternative to heavy cream and sour cream.  I used anchovy paste instead of mashing anchovy fillets.  I also didn't use all of the Parmigiana- Reggiano cheese to cut down on even more calories.  Use freshly grated cheese it makes all the difference and the taste goes further so you can use less.  I used half the dressing on one full head of romaine lettuce and saved the other half for tomorrow night's salad.  Tried and true- this will become a favorite!!

Recipe: Caesar on the Light Side

INGREDIENTS

1. 1/3 cup low-fat or nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2. 2 anchovy fillets, mashed
3. 1 garlic clove, minced
4. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5. 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
6. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
7. 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
8. Salt and freshly ground pepper
9. 1 large head of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

1. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt with the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the oil and half of the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a large bowl, toss the romaine with half the dressing and the remaining cheese. Serve, passing the remaining dressing at the table.

NOTES First Course to Main Course: Oliver turns this into a more substantial salad with broiled, flaked salmon or grilled chicken breast.

Buon Anno! Homemade Pasta with Bolognese Sauce for the New Year

Who doesn't love pasta?  I have wanted to tackle homemade pasta for years.  My friend Heather was kind enough to gift me the pasta KitchenAid attachment a few years ago, but I was too intimidated to use it ha! Last weekend I was fortunate enough to learn first hand from Chef Carla Callini in a private lesson with my friend Sam!  She learned from her Italian grandmother and I'd bet she could do it in her sleep.  All her recipes are in her head, so I followed her closely with a pen and pad in hand.  It seemed so easy working with Carla, but when I got home and tried to make some pasta with my kids I put too much water in the mix and it was a disaster.  I kept trying until I finally got it right this past Sunday. I don't think I will ever buy boxed pasta again.Thank you Carla- molto apprezzato!  
What's better to put on fresh pasta than Bolognese sauce? It was a perfect dish to make Sunday while watching the Giants win and advance in the playoffs.
I spent years trying different bolognese sauces. They were all good, but nothing I would blog about.  One day at work my friend Kevin Kelly raved that his sister-in-law Jeanette's sauce was the best.  I got the recipe from her and it's by far the best bolognese recipe I've come across. I have been making it for years!  

Carla's Pasta recipe:
1 cup of flour (King Arthur's 00 flour- looked in many grocery stores including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and haven't found it, but did find it online @ amazon.com)
3/4 cup of semolina flour (Whole Foods brand is Bob's Red Mill)
Water (add spoonfuls of water until the dough came together)
1 beaten egg 
1/2 teaspoon of salt


In the KitchenAid with the dough hook attached put both flours and the egg and mix.  When the dough starts to form add water as necessary until the dough forms a ball.  Then remove, knead it (on lightly floured surface) until it's as Carla would say "smooth as a baby's butt" and satiny and elastic.  Let dough rest for a few mins with a damp towel in a draft free space.
Attach the pasta roller to the KitchenAid and roll dough into a log and cut off one inch pieces. Pinch the top of the inch piece and push through the roller on the "1" setting then repeat on "2", "3", "4" and lastly on "5". You should now have what looks like a lasagna sheet. Either hang the sheet on a pasta drying rack or put back on the floured surface. Continue the same process with the rest of the dough until you've rolled it all out into sheets. Change the KitchenAid attachment to the fettuccine cutter.  Slide the pasta sheets into the cutter and hold them as they come back out as fettuccine.  Put back on drying rack to rest while you finish with the rest of the pasta sheets.  Once you are done you are ready to boil.  Fresh pasta boils very quickly so just a few minutes and it's ready for the sauce.

Jeanette Kelly's Bolognese Sauce:
5 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons each of minced onion, carrot and celery
3/4 pound meatloaf mix (ground chuck, ground veal and ground pork)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of whole milk
1 cup of dry white wine
1 28- ounce can of diced tomatoes with their juices
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for the table)
I also add chopped fresh basil and 3 cloves or minced garlic


1. Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot and celery and saute until softened, but not browned then add the minced garlic (about 6 minutes).  Add the ground meat and 1/2 teaspoon of salt; crumble the meat into tiny pieces with the edge of a wooden spoon. Cook, continuing to crumble the meat just until it loses its raw color but not yet browned (3 minutes).


2. Add the milk and bring to a simmer; continue to simmer until the milk evaporates and only clear fat remains (10-15 minutes).  Add the wine and bring to simmer; continue to simmer until the wine evaporates (10-15 mins).  Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to low so that the sauce continues to simmer just barely, with an occasional bubble or two at the surface, until the liquid has evaporated (3 hours).  Add chopped basil and adjust the seasonings with extra salt to taste.  Keep the sauce warm.  The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days or frozen for several months.  Warm over low heat before serving.


3. Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pot.  Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta.  Cook until al dente, drain the pasta leaving some water dripping from noodles.  Toss the sauce and remaining 2 tablespoons butter.  Serve immediately. 


** NOTE I have always doubled this recipe so I can freeze some.