Barefoot Bloggers: Pappa was a Rolling Stone Al Pomidoro

A thousand pardons. I am a few days late in getting this posted in the month of December, but it is done and thusly sent out into cyberspace. I plead guilty but insane and beg for your understanding and forgiveness.

From Back to Basics: This “is a classic Italian tomato soup that’s thickened with leftover bread”. As usual, I made some modifications to this recipe, based on the ingredients I had on hand. I didn’t have any ciabatta bread or leftover bread of any ilk for that matter, so I used good old Publix whole wheat, cubed up into pieces. Fennel? No gots. Scallions look sort of the same, but different taste and much smaller, but what the hay. Plum tomatoes? Also no gots, but I did have canned diced tomatoes and a whole, fresh tomato. I cubed that up and into the pot it went. Homemade stock? (snicker) Red wine? YES!!! We have wine. I like to cook with wine and sometimes I even put it in the food.* Fresh basil? Alas, my beautiful basil plants are gone for the winter. Dried basil it is. Other than that, I had everything needed.

This was pretty easy to make. I cubed up some more of the wheat bread to make the croutons and I sprinkled parmesan cheese in and on the soup. Messy Boy liked it, I liked it and DH hasn’t tried it yet - he just got home from work. (Update: he likes it.) The Little One and No Thank You Boy turned their noses up at it, but No Thank You Boy did like the croutons.

Many thanks to Natalie of Burned Bits for selecting this recipe. If you yourself would like to make this Pappa Al Pomidoro, you can find the recipe on the Food Network site here or in Ina Garten’s new book, Back to Basics on page 68. To join the BB community or to see what all the others did with this, please visit the the Barefoot Bloggers site.

(*props to WC Fields)

This is one serving, based on the 6 serving size noted.
Go to http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php to analyze YOUR recipes.
The 1/2 cup olive oil is what puts it over the top in the fat category...

Barefoot Bloggers: Mexican Chicken Soup

This Mexican Chicken Soup was another fast and easy recipe from the fabulous Ina G! It took no time at all to make and the ingredients come together effortlessly to make a warm and comforting meal. We’ll be savoring this soup all week long, in between turkey leftovers. In fact, if this wasn’t due today, Thanksgiving Day, I would have made it using leftover turkey instead, but there’s no reason YOU can’t do it! :) What a fine way to finish off the T-day bird.

Many thanks to Judy from Judy’s Gross Eats for choosing this recipe. If you yourself would like to see exactly how easy, simple and tasty this Mexican Chicken Soup is, you can find the recipe on the Food Network site here, or in Ina Garten's book, Barefoot Contessa at Home, page 34. To join the BB community or to see what all the others did with this, please visit the the Barefoot Bloggers site.

When the stars make you drool ...

justa like Pasta Fazoool, that's A-moraaaaay. We love Dean Martin. (Have you seen the Armstrong flooring magazine ads? Makes you look twice. What a great campaign!)

We also love "Pasta Fazool" (aka Pasta e Fagioli). This is a great quick and dirty recipe - my favorite kind. I get a big bang for almost no effort in 15-20 minutes and leftovers to boot. The kids don't like the "fazool" (beans) part, so we leave that out and for tonight I threw in ready made frozen meatballs for a little protein and to make it a little heartier, of course counting out the total number of meatballs so each kid gets his appointed share of the loot at serving time. Kroger makes a frozen version of mirepoix (carrot, onion and celery) that's pre-chopped. When I have a few mintues more and none of the "Mommmmm, I'm hungry" (this from The Messy Eater), I use mild Eye-talian sausage. I have a great herb garden so I always have fresh rosemary and thyme that I send the boys out to pick.
Adapted from Rachel Ray's first cookbook, 30 Minute Meals.

"Pasta Fazool"

4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) EVOO
3 small carrot, peeled and chopped *
2 ribs celery, chopped *
1 medium onion, chopped *
*I use a whole bag of frozen mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery) noted above for the previous 3 ingredients if I'm totally rushed. Just rinse under warm water to slightly defrost before adding to pan)
2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left whole
Several (4 to 6-inch) sprigs thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact
3 cans (15 oz each) chicken broth
Coarse salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups uncooked ditalini noodles
Crumbled mild Italian sausage, removed from casing and browned (or frozen pre-cooked meatballs in a pinch!)
Grated Parmigiano or Romano, for the table
Crusty bread, for mopping

Preparation
Heat garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add herb stems and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Lower heat, cover pot and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, in another pan, brown sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through. Add broth to the veggie pot, raise heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the ditalini and sausage (or meatballs - still frozen is ok). Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are al dente.
Serve immediately with a generous amount of cheese and crusty bread for bowl mopping.

Feeds up to 4 (although with my junior crew, there are usually some leftovers for me the next day.)