Tomato Tortelinni Soup

This soup is my adaptation from one of my favorite restaurants in college, sadly it is no longer open.  Chaucer's in Gainesville, Fl.  They would roast whole turkeys every day and make the best sandwiches on croissants. My favorite soup that they would serve was a creamy tomato basil with tortellini, this is my version.

          I found these adorable mini cheese ravioli at Trader Joe's.  They work great in the soup!  Yum!This soup comes together so quickly.  Literally, about 10 ingredients that I usually have on hand ready to go in about 30-45 minutes.  I do like to make it the day before, however, I find the flavors really blend and improve.  You can go ahead and cook the mini tortellini or ravioli, just store them separately from the soup and mix in the next day when you reheat.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Small onion, about 1- 1 1/2 C chopped

2 T Olive oil

32 oz. Chicken stock

2, 28 oz. San Marzano cans whole tomatoes

1 Clove garlic, smashed and peeled

1/2 tsp Dried basil

1 T plus 1 1/2tsp. Penzeys Italian sausage seasoning

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

5 large fresh basil leaves

1 1/2 C Heavy cream

Salt & Pepper 

1 T Sugar

1 bag 12-16oz dried mini tortellini or ravioli

Fresh Basil & Parmesan cheese, ricotta for garnish

PREPARATION:

In a large stock pot, heat over medium heat and add oil.  Add onion and saute until nicely caramelized, about 3-5 minutes.  Add spices, stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and de-glaze the pan. Add the canned tomatoes, allow to simmer about 5 minutes. 

While simmering, in a separate small pot heat salted water and boil mini tortellini or ravioli, cook according to package directions.  Slightly under cook and reserve some of the cooking liquid.

Add the fresh basil leaves to the soup pot and puree.  Use a hand blender to puree or transfer to an upright blender and puree until smooth.  If using an upright blender, use caution and allow for pressure of hot contents when blending.  I couldn't live without my hand blender, get one, you will love it.

Once blended, add cream and adjust any seasonings, add sugar if needed.  (Sometimes I add sugar to balance the acid, but sometimes it is not necessary) Taste and use your best judgment.  Add cooked pasta.

Garnish as desired and enjoy.

Homemade Pasta Lasagna

One of our favorite places for authentic brick oven pizza makes a wonderful single serving of lasagna that Beep and I always order along side our metro Regina Margarita. I decide to attempt this lighter version of the layered dish at home. The recipe has four basic components: bolognese, pasta, cheese, and sauce. It turned out great! I made a full pan. The homemade pasta, makes all the difference. I completed each step over a period of days, so it wasn't an overwhelming amount of preparation. I started with the meat filling two days ahead, mixed, rolled and cooked the pasta one day in advance then mixed the cheese filling, assembled the morning of the third day, then relied on my completely competent sister-in-law and husband to finish the cooking.

 

INGREDIENTS:

MEAT FILLING:
A slightly shorter version of my traditional bolognese, which can be found on this blog.
2 T. olive oil
1-2 carrots, minced
1-2 celery ribs, minced
1/2 small yellow onion, minced
1-2 garlic cloves minced or crushed
1/2 Pound Veal, ground
1/2 Pound Beef, ground
1/2 cup tomato puree or sauce
1/4 cup cream
2 tsp. Italian seasoning, I use Penzey's
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pinch of Sugar, opptional

HOMEMADE PASTA SHEETS:
See blog recipe, roll to seven setting and cut into strips to fit your baking dish. Boil until Al dente and store in refrigerator until ready to assemble. If you mix the entire pasta recipe you will have enough to do more than one lasagna or cut extra pasta to cook as regular noodles. I rolled my sheets first and once I knew I had enough for 3 layers to fit my baking dish, I rolled and cut the remaining pasta into angel hair for the kids.

CHEESE FILLING:
8 oz. Whole milk Ricotta cheese
1/4 C cream
1 Large whole egg
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
a few grates of fresh nutmeg

SAUCE:
I use Alessi smooth jarred sauce, it is one of the best!

Freshly grated Parmesan for the top.

PREPARATION:

Prepare your meat filling a day or two in advance. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, saute the veggies in olive oil until translucent and slightly caramelized. Season with Italian seasoning. Add both meats to the pan and cook until completely browned. The final product you want is a meat sauce that melts together, break up the meat as it cooks, so all of the veggies and meat become incorporated. Stir in tomato sauce, allow to cook 2 minutes. Pour in cream and simmer until almost all the liquid is absorbed, mixing and pressing down on the contents of the pan to "marry" all the ingredients of the sauce. Taste and add additional seasonings or tomato sauce and sugar if needed. Cool, refrigerate airtight until ready to assemble.

See pasta blog entry to prepare the pasta. Can be prepared and boiled the day before.

Final Assembly, should occur the day you plan to cook the dish. Coat baking dish with non-stick spray, place a layer of pasta sheets to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Next, spread all of the meat filling over the pasta to create an even layer. Top with a second layer of pasta sheets. In a large bowl, mix together ingredients for the cheese layer and spread it over the second pasta layer. Top with a third layer of pasta.

At this stage, I covered with foil and placed the baking dish in the refrigerator. We had a volleyball tournament and I knew it would be a long day. If you are going directly into the oven at this stage, preheat to 350 degrees and pour jarred sauce over the top of the lasagna, cover with foil and bake 30-45 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil for the final 10 minutes of baking and sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.
Allow to rest 5 minutes, cut and serve.

If you are baking later in the day, hold off on the sauce. Refrigerate until ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature while the oven is preheating. Top with jarred sauce, recover with foil and bake as instructed above.

Pappardelle with Bolognese

Beep was barely home 12 hours from our trip to Colorado when he had to leave for New Orleans, so I promised to make some homemade pasta when he returned home on Friday. I decided to do a different cut on the pasta as well as our regular thin spaghetti(the kids would want the thin) because I knew the pappardelle would hold up to the bolognese sauce better. I have learned my lesson and always cook something that will hold when Beep is on his way home, thank goodness I did last night. It was stormy in Dallas and he was delayed until 10, needless to say we had a very late dinner. Completely worth the wait!! I think that the sauce is better after it sits though, so it was perfect! I loved cutting the pasta into the wide pappardelle, it is quick and cooked beautifully.


INGREDIENTS:
3 Carrots, peeled
3 Celery stalks
1/2 Large yellow onion
4 Cloves garlic, peeled
1# Ground beef
1# Ground veal
1/2 # Ground pork, very lean
2 T Olive oil
1 T Butter
1/2 C 1% Milk & 1/2 C Cream, or 1 C Whole milk, I didn't have whole milk, so I use what I have.
1/2 C Red wine, plus a splash more
1/2 C Beef broth
1 C Crushed tomatoes
1 T Tomato paste, optional
1 T Sugar, optional, I use it to balance the tomatoes if they are to bitter
Salt & Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Roughly chop the carrot, celery and onion and place in the food processor. Pulse a few times until the veggies are finely chopped. In a deep skillet, saute the veggies in 2 T Olive oil. Take your time and cook these long and over medium heat so you get really good caramelization. If the pan becomes too dry, add a tablespoon or so of butter. Cook about 20-30 minutes. Add ground meats and cook until brown, about 5-8 minutes. Add the milk and stir occasionally until the milk is completely absorbed, about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan over medium high heat with red wine and beef stock. I add a good amount of wine and stock because I like my sauce to be a little wet, some people prefer a bolognese sauce to be on the dry side. Do what you like.
Add the tomatoes, along with the paste if desired and season with salt, pepper and sugar if needed. Allow sauce to cool, store in the refrigerator until ready to re-heat. I prefer making the sauce ahead even the day before, the flavor develops as the sauce sits. This is perfect for guests, you will have nothing to do but bring your sauce to temperature, which will allow you to enjoy their company as you prepare the rest of the meal.

Fresh Pasta

So, my mothers day present from Beep was pasta attachments for my KitchenAid. Camille had gone shopping with Beep prior to mothers day and purchased some Tory Burch sandals, which I have yet to return, her heart was in the right place. The pasta attachments have already gone to good use. I am not sure what that says about my style, but I know I will get more out of making fresh pasta for the family than wearing those shoes. I sort of over did it on the first batch, I made one and a half times the recipe listed in the KitchenAid booklet and it has lasted all weekend. I am including the recipe from the book as well as a Duck Egg version that Carole an I have been making. My friend Carole gets duck eggs at our local farmers market, I haven't noticed a dramatic difference in taste, but the color of the duck egg pasta is a vibrant yellow. Fresh pasta is terrific, tender and light. I remember as a child my great grandmother coming over on Saturdays to make fresh noodles, she was German, we called them noodles, not pasta. It is a tradition we have slowly retreated from in this day of instant gratification. The older my children become, the more I realize the importance of putting a little more time and a little bit more of myself into the everyday things I do for my family. Creating something with your hands and heart that gives the people you love so much happiness is a feeling with which nothing can compare. I highly recommend it! There are so many variations, types of flour, look up your own recipe, try an old family favorite, just do it, find your favorite, make it a tradition for your family.
INGREDIENTS:
4 Large eggs
1 T Water
3 1/2 C Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt

Prep:
Place eggs, water, flour, and salt in mixing bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater, trun to speed 2 and mix 30 seconds. Change to dough hook and turn to speed 2 and knead 2 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1-2 minutes. Let the dough rest covered by a bowl for 20 minutes. Divide dough into 4 pieces before processing with Pasta sheet roller. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until desired doneness. I mixed the pasta by hand in a bowl, making a well with the dry ingredients and pulling the wet ingredients in with a fork. When recreating the recipe one and a half times I did need to add an extra egg and a little bit more water to reach the desired consistency. Allowing the dough to rest under a bowl makes all the difference, don't skimp on time.

DUCK EGG PASTA
This recipe from Bravo TV, Top Chef Masters, Season 1
2 cups all purpose flour
4 duck egg yolks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Knead everything together till smooth and elastic. Allow to rest 1/2 hour, make fettuccine in the usual fashion. Cook pasta till al dente. Then while still hot toss with sauce and plate.