Tomato and Tortellini Soup

What You'll Need:

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
4 cups chick stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
24 ounce can diced tomatoes
15 ounce can of tomato sauce
20 ounces three cheese tortellinis
1/2 shredded parmesan cheese

What to do:

In large sauce pan, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic and fresh diced rosemary. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce oregano, basil, salt, pepper, stock and heavy cream to pot. Simmer for 20 min and taste. Add more seasonings as desired. Optional: for a smoother finish you can ladle half the pot mixture into blender and blend till smooth then return to pot with remaining mixture. Place tortellini in pot under tender and cooked thoroughly.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garish with parmesan cheese and diced fresh basil.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup



My husband and I have been obsessed with Thai food after we traveled there a few years ago. This dish is one of my weekday go-to-meals as it can be made under twenty minutes but doesn't lack any flavor.

What you'll need:

2-3 chicken thighs, deboned and cubed

1 bell pepper any color, cut into this long strips

1 carrot cut into thin long strips ( I used a mandolin for this)

1 egg plant cubed

1 Jar Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste

1 can coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

olive oil

Rice noodles

Cilantro

Optional if you have in your kitchen:

Thai chili

Coconut sugar

Fish Oil



Directions:

Cook rice noodles based on package instructions. This normally consists of boiling water-removing pot from heat and submerging noodles in water. Make sure you keep an eye on them and don't over cook.

Next, take a wok, or any large frying pan will do, and drizzle a little olive oil in pan on medium heat. Empty red curry paste jar into pan and stir. Let this slightly caramelize for about a minute.

 Add 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of water to pan and stir to low boil. Add diced chicken and simmer until cooked (approximately 7-10 min). Add eggplants to pan, let cook for 2 min minute. Add carrots to pan, let cook for a minute. Add bell pepper to pan, cook for a minute.

From here you are going to add can of coconut milk and stir. If you have fish oil, add a dash at this point. Add Thai chili peppers for additional heat to your liking. If you want to sweeten the soup, add a pinch of coconut sugar.

To serve, add a decent serving of noodles to bowl and spoon soup and veggies over noodles. Top with a pinch of cilantro.

Here are a few pictures of our Thailand adventure.

Bon Appetit

Potato Cheese Soup

My husband has a really bad cold, sick in bed the last two days. When he is sick, he love potato cheese soup, very comforting. This is a family recipe that has never been written down, so I am going to try my best to outline it here for you. This, like most of my recipes, are all estimations so play with it to make it uniquely yours.

Take 6 russet potatoes, peel and wash. You want to roughly cube them and add to empty pot. Once all potatoes have been added to the pot, fill with water JUST TILL potatoes are covered. You will not be draining the water so don't overfill. Put the pot of potatoes on the stove on medium low to slowly boil.

While potatoes are cooking, take about 6 strips of bacon and cube. Add to pan to cook till lightly browned. While bacon is cooking, take 1 whole onion, I prefer yellow, and roughly dice. Once bacon is lightly browned, add diced onion to the bacon pan and cook. Cook down till onion is translucent while not letting the bacon burn. Once cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

Once the pot of potatoes are slightly fluffy and potatoes are cooked through, turn down heat to simmer. 

In a separate pot, melt about 3 tablespoons of butter. Once butter is fully melted, add approximately 2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in to fully incorporate. This part will be estimations and you may need more or less butter to flour. You will be creating a rue or roux; this is a base used to thicken up soups, sauces, or gravies. You can use this cooking technique to get a blond, medium or dark roux base which is created by how long you let your roux cook. For this soup, you just want a blond roux that will be slightly bubbly which is how you know its ready. Consult picture below.

From here, you will add 2 cups of milk to your roux whisking until fully incorporated.

Let simmer slowly, keep stirring as to not let your milk boil. Keep heat on low to medium. After mixture thickens up, about 10 minutes, add 2 to 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese. This is an approximation and based on your taste how much cheese you want to add. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the cheese into sauce till fully incorporated. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. From here, take you cheese sauce and pour into your pot of potatoes and water.

 Mix together and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes. Add pan on onions and bacon to pot of soup.

Let simmer for another 5 minutes at least. Again, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some warm bread and you have a nice comfort meal for a sick day or a cold night.

Bon Appetit!