theme: Italian

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Italian Wedding Soup

 

The BEST Italian Wedding Soup! Filled with homemade browned meatballs, fresh veggies and tiny bits of pasta. Total comfort food any day of the year!

Servings: 6
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 8 oz lean ground beef
  • 8 oz ground pork
  • 1/2 cup fresh hearty white bread crumbs*
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan
  • 1 large egg
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

Soup

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/4 cups 1/4-inch diced carrots
  • 1 1/4 cups diced yellow onion
  • 3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
  • 5 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup dry acini de pepe or orzo pasta**
  • 6 oz fresh spinach , chopped
  • Finely shredded parmesan , for serving

Instructions

For the meatballs:
  1. Add beef and pork to a large mixing bowl. Add in bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, parmesan, egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Gently toss and break up mixture with hands to evenly coat and distribute. Shape mixture into very small meatballs, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch and transfer to a large plate.
  2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook until browned, turning occasionally (to brown on 2 or 3 sides), about 4 minutes total. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels while leaving oil in skillet. Repeat process with remaining meatballs (note that meatballs won’t be cooked through at this point, they’ll continue to cook through in the soup).\
For the soup:
  1. While meatballs are browning, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and celery and saute until veggies have softened about 6 – 8 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Pour in chicken broth, season soup with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil. Add in pasta and meatballs, reduce heat to light boil (about medium or medium-low). Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until pasta is tender and meatballs have cooked through, about 10 minutes, while adding in spinach during the last minute of cooking. Serve warm, sprinkle each serving with parmesan cheese.
*I recommend using bread such as a La Brea french loaf. Just grind up a slice in a food processor to find crumbs. Save the remaining bread for serving (slathered with butter of course) or freeze for another later use.
**If you like a more brothier soup you can reduce pasta to 3/4 cup. Note that as the soup sits the pasta will absorb more broth so you can add more broth to thin the soup as desired.
  1. Recipe source: inspired by Ina Garten’s and Giada’s recipes
Nutrition Facts
Italian Wedding Soup
Amount Per Serving
Calories 396Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 85mg28%
Sodium 362mg16%
Potassium 911mg26%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 29g58%
Vitamin A 7490IU150%
Vitamin C 16.6mg20%
Calcium 190mg19%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Disclaimer
COURSE: SOUP
CUISINE: ITALIAN
KEYWORD: ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP
Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Chicken Murphy

Recipe By:                Pam Spagnola (Loren’s mom’s friend)
Serving Size:            9
Prep Time :               1:30
Ingredients
  • 3         jars  sweet peppers in vinegar
  • 3         pounds  chicken cutlets
  •            salt, pepper, garlic — to taste
  • 30      baby  potatoes
Directions
  1. Roast small white potatoes (sprayed with Pam Olive Oil Spray) about 1 hour in 350 covered dish.
  2. While potatoes are roasting, cut chicken into large chunks.
  3. Season with salt, pepper and garlic.
  4. Sauté in skillet until chicken turns white.
  5. Put in medium-large pot with oil from frying pan and juice from the vinegar peppers.
  6. Simmer for a total of about one hour, adding peppers about 1/2 way through.
  7. Add roasted potatoes about 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

 

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Classic Smooth and Silky Béchamel (White Sauce)

DANIEL GRITZER

Classic Smooth and Silky B\u00e9chamel (White Sauce) Recipe

Béchamel is one of the mother sauces in classic French cooking, and one of the most important sauces to learn for all sorts of dishes, French and otherwise. It’s a key ingredient in soufflé, a classic Bolognese lasagna, and even old-school mac and cheese. And it’s incredibly easy to make. Here’s how.

Why It Works

  • Cooking the flour and butter together first helps remove the flour’s raw flavor, and prevents lumps from forming later.
  • A ratio of 1 1/2 tablespoons each of flour and butter per cup of milk makes a thickened yet still pourable sauce, great for all sorts of recipes.
  • YIELD:Makes about 1 cup
  • ACTIVE TIME:5 minutes
  • TOTAL TIME:5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 ounce; 20g) (see note)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (12g) all-purpose flour (see note)
  • 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (optional)

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat (do not allow it to brown). Add flour and whisk to form a paste. Continue to cook, stirring, until raw flour scent is gone, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add milk in a thin, steady stream, or in increments of a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking thoroughly and getting into all corners of the pan to maintain a homogeneous texture. Sauce will initially become very thick, then get very thin once all the milk is added.
  2. Heat, stirring, until sauce comes to a simmer and begins to thicken slightly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 3 minutes.
  3. Season with salt and pepper. Add nutmeg to taste, if using. If any lumps form, simply whisk thoroughly to remove them and smooth out sauce, or use a hand blender or countertop blender if lumps are particularly large or tough. Use sauce right away, or press a piece of plastic wrap over surface of sauce to prevent a skin from forming and keep warm until ready to use. Sauce can be cooled and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat very gently on the stovetop or in a microwave to use.