Tomato Tortellini Soup

I hate leftovers. Which wouldn’t be a problem if I could somehow train myself to cook a meal that could feed less than 6 people.

6 very hungry people.

This is an easy way to use leftover pasta dishes, especially tortellini or ravioli. But it works with any chunky type of noodle dish.

In a large pot over medium heat, I add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 cup of diced onions and 1 cup of diced carrots. I lightly saute the veggies until just softened, add in 1 can of diced tomatoes, then add in 1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth. I generally grab and toss in the regular Italian spices: garlic, basil, oregano and thyme.  I then walk away until the whole mess comes to a boil, which is usually just long enough to figure out exactly how much trouble Jack has caused in the 5 minutes I was distracted, but not long enough to clean it up.

Once the soup is boiling, I add in the leftover pasta (at least 2 cups), complete with sauce/cheese/fixings included. This will generally knock the soup temperature down far enough that you should have a solid 5 minutes until it comes back to a boil, which should will be enough time to reheat the pasta through.

Lastly, I add in about 2 cups (aka two handfuls) of fresh spinach. 1 minute or so at high heat is enough to wilt the spinach and POOF dinner is served.

I top the soup with a little shredded Parmesan cheese and eat until I’m ready to burst.

• 2-3 cups of leftover pasta
• 1 quart of broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups of fresh spinach
• OR 1 package frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup diced carrots
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• thyme
• oregano
• basil

Add olive oil to large pot at medium heat. Add in onions and carrots, saute lightly. Add diced tomatoes and 1 quart broth. Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Add leftover pasta and bring back to a boil. Add fresh spinach and cook to wilted. Serve hot, topped with Parmesan cheese and crusty buttered bread.

Feelin’ Blue Gnocchi and Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

This is one of the easier meals I’ve made in my life. And it tastes so good, my mother swore she’ll babysit Jack whenever I want until the end of time, as long as I make this whenever she wants.

I start with simple store-bought gnocchi. It’s shelf-stable, and I usually buy a package whenever I’m stocking up on staple-type foods. They are simple to cook: simply drop into a pot of salted boiling water, and scoop out as they rise to the top.

For this meal, I start heating the pot of water for the gnocchi and grab out my other ingredients. Gorgonzola cheese, heavy cream and salt and pepper. In a saucepan over medium heat, I pour in about 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream, stirring as it slowly heats up. Once the cream is warm, I add in about 1/2 cup of gorgonzola cheese. (I like the strong taste of blue cheese, so feel free to adjust this amount to your liking) You still need to stir, both to incorporate the cheese and keep the cream from burning to the bottom. The sauce will quickly start to thicken.

By now, the pasta water should be boiling, simply drop in the gnocchi, and wait for it to pop to the top.  Use a slotted spoon to move the cooked gnocchi to a bowl, and spoon the creamy sauce on top. If you like, add chopped walnuts for a crunchy texture and extra special taste.

This meal whips together in just minutes, and will impress everyone from kids to the in-laws. Enjoy!

• 1 package Gnocchi
• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• crushed walnuts (Optional)

Cook Gnocchi in salted boiling water according to package directions.

Heat heavy cream over medium heat, stirring slowly but steadily. Once cream is warm but not boiling, add in crumbled cheese. Stir to incorporate cheese, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer until thick, about 2 minutes.

Pour sauce over cooked gnocchi, and garnish with walnuts and cheese crumbles and serve immediately.

 

Fill me up, Buttercup.

For the first time in a while, I stared at an overflowing pantry and thought “How many of these cans can I use at once, and still make something tasty?”. Turns out the answer was 3.

I hummed and hawed, and paced and perused cookbooks, but ended up deciding to make Corn Chowder. Never mind that I’d never had it before, let alone made it. It looked good.

In a large pre-heated dutch oven over medium heat, I crisped 10 pieces of prosciutto (Feel free to use bacon, but carefully remove most the fat before proceeding). I let the proschiutto cool and and then used my cool ninja skills to rough chop them into half-inch pieces.

While the prosciutto was cooling, I dumped two can of corn into the blender, added 3 cups of chicken broth, and pulsed until the corn was partially broken up. If you happen to have cans of creamed corn, go ahead an skip this step.

Back in the dutch oven, I used the prosciutto (or bacon) fat to saute the minced onion and prosciutto pieces for about 3 minutes, added in the garlic, salt and herbs, and cook for one more minute. Using 1/2 a cup of chicken broth, I slowly poured it into the hot pot to deglaze the pan, removing all the brown bits from the bottom. Then added in the blended corn and diced potatoes. I brought the whole thing to a boil, turned it to a slow simmer, covered it and let it cook until the potatoes were cooked through, about 30-40 minutes.

Once the potatoes were cooked, I removed the cover added the last can of whole corn, and 1 cup of cream. I brought the chowder back to a boil, and let it boil lightly for about 5 minutes. This give the chowder time to thicken, but you need to stir it often to be sure the chowder doesn’t begin to burn to the bottom of the pan.

Serve with crusty french bread and top with prosciutto crumbles for a comforting, but filling winter meal!

**I also have a confession. For the first time ever, I’m going to post someone elses photo. Why? Because by the time I had the light to shoot the dish, it was already eaten. BUT it looked exactly like this. Still the photo is not mine.**

Creamy Corn Chowder

• 3 cans of whole kernel sweet corn OR
• 2 cans creamed corn, 1 can whole kernel sweet corn

• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 10 slices prosciutto or bacon, cooked and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 5 medium red potatoes, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 tbsp tarragon (or oregano)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp of thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

If using only whole kernel corn, start by lightly pulsing 2 cans of corn with 3 cups of chicken broth.

Pre-heat large dutch oven to medium, crisp prosciutto or bacon slices. Cool and chop to 1/2 inch. Using fat from the proschuitto, saute onion, proscuitto pieces for about 3 minutes, or until onions have began to soften. Add in garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs, cooking for another minute. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and add in potatoes and creamed corn. (If using canned cream corn in place of blended corn, add in 1-1/2 cup of chicken broth to thin chowder).

Bring to boil, cover, and turn heat to low. Allow to simmer gently until potatoes are cooked, about 30-40 minutes. Once potatoes are cooked through, remove cover and add last can of corn, and heavy cream. Bring to boil and boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.

Serve hot.