dinner with martha :: again!

i admit it. i have a martha addiction. i can't help it. her recipes are so neat and tidy and her website is so colorful. i'm just drawn there. that's the truth.

so, martha has a few Tomato Soup recipes on her website. i chose the following one because, well, i had nearly all the ingredients on hand. less to buy at the market is always appealing to me as i have 2 kids to cart around and all the groceries.

i really liked the soup. i was afraid it'd lack flavor because it is such a simple recipe, but it didn't. it was yummy and didn't taste like pasta sauce, which is always a concern for me with tomato soup. the onions make it really flavorful without being over-the-top oniony.









TOMATO SOUP
ala martha

Ingredients

Makes 6 cups.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

24 ounces canned whole plum tomatoes

3 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until onions have softened, about 15 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes, onions, and garlic are soft, 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Working in batches, transfer soup to the jar of a blender and puree until smooth. Return to saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until soup is heated through. If soup seems too thick, stir in some extra stock to thin. Serve immediately.

asparagus :: the food of kings

hooray! spring is coming, people! (she says as it snows outside)

i don't know about you, but we New Englanders are pretty psyched to see the happy, sun-warm, weather coming on the horizon. but, then again, we're never happy. we'll be complaining about the heat soon enough.

right now, we're getting excited about Springtime produce and first on the list is a true harbinger of Spring--Asparagus! it took me a long time to learn to appreciate it. When I was a kid I thought it was just awful--right up there with cherry tomatoes--those red, squishy, slimy wanna-be grapes. but now that my tastes and I have matured, i'm all about this green, stalky friend. saute 'em, grill 'em, puree them in a soup and i'm there.

want a tiny bit of history? (it's actually interesting)

the word asparagus comes from Greek meaning, "sprout" or "shoot." it's a member of the Lily family. (who knew?) the cultivation of this stalky veg dates back more than 2,000 years in the eastern Mediterranean region. Greeks and Romans alike prized it not only for its texture and mature flavor, but also for its alleged medicinal properties. (it was believed to cure toothaches and bee stings). a friend told me recently that eating canned asparagus cured her of a urinary tract infection. so, there ya go. a multi-purpose vegetable. King Louis XIV of France dubbed it the "Food of Kings." he had special greenhouses built so that he could enjoy it year round.

that's devotion! I can respect that kind of food obsession. this is a vegetable that's so cool it's got it's own .org. seriously. go to www.asparagus.org to find out just about anything you would want to know.

here is my favorite spring/summer recipe. it's so easy, i sort of hesitate to call it a recipe. but it's wikkid yummy!

EASY GRILLED ASPARAGUS
serves 4

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

:: heat grill to medium-high. in a shallow bowl drizzle asparagus with olive oil.

:: grill asparagus until tender and browning slightly. turn it frequently for about 5 minutes. transfer to platter. sprinkle with salt to taste. serve warm or at room temperature.

:: i prefer to lay the asparagus right on the grill, but there is the risk of losing some through the grates. that's a risk I'm willing to take. you can also thread them onto skewers or put them in a disposable pan.

now that's good grilling!

weekend soup :: minestrone with pesto

usually about this time of year i get a bee in my bonnet for making soup. lots of soups. and more often than not, i make way too much. since hubby is a veggie-phobe, and my toddler can only eat so much in a sitting, it's up to me to pack it away. which usually means eating it everyday for a week and freezing some. i get carried away and tend to add whatever veggies i have on hand, then, add more water/stock to compensate. it's just what i do. my favorite thing to do with a veggie soup is to add a dollop of pesto as i'm serving it. it's just so good! especially if i have managed to freeze some pesto from the previous summer. then, it's not only delicious, it's so very easy.

as usual i got my young'n involved in the soup making. he goes to a waldorf school and they make soup at school every tuesday, so he's all expert at it. seriously, he cut all the zucchini, potatoes and half the carrots. he also snapped every bean. and the best part is we just hang out together while we cook. we talk. we sing. we tell stories. it's awesome. it's how cooking should be.

to go with our soup, we also made Martha's yummy corn biscuits. Here's a link to that recipe as well.



so, here's our recipe for super-yummy Minestrone Soup! warm up to a bowl, you won't be sorry.




INGREDIENTS:
1 can (15 oz.) white beans, rinsed well
salt, to taste
2 tbs. olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1/2 cup diced pancetta
3 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, diced
3/4 lb. tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced, or 1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
5 to 6 cups water or chicken broth, or as needed
4 small new potatoes, peeled, diced
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1/4 lb. green beans, trimmed and snapped to 1" lengths
1/4 lb. small shell pasta or orzo
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

TO MAKE THE SOUP: in a large soup pot warm the olive oil over med-high heat. add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. add the pancetta and cook, until tender, about 5 minutes more. add the carrots and celery and cook until for 2-3 minutes until slightly soft. add the tomatoes and enough water or stock to cover. bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the tomatoes break down, 10-12 minutes.

meanwhile, place half of the white beans in a food processor or blender with a little broth. puree until smooth.

add the potatoes, zucchini, green beans, white beans (including the puree), and pasta to the pot and simmer until the vegetables and pasta are cooked, about 15 minutes. stir occasionally. season with salt and pepper.

ladle into warmed bowls, add a dollop of pesto (if you desire) and serve immediately.