Spinach, Artichoke & Tortellini Soup

It’s October, and if you don’t have a pot of soup simmering on the top of the stove, or cooking and away in the crockpot, I want to know why! It’s soup season, everybody, the heartier, the better. I spotted this recipe on Jenna’s Painted Apron blog, and knew I had to try it. I tweaked the recipe a bit, simplified the cooking process, and it is a winner! It is velvety smooth, rich and delicious, with the taste of your favorite dip along with cheese tortellini. This is a wonderful combination of ingredients to comfort you all winter long.

Spinach, Artichoke & Tortellini Soup

Adapted from thepaintedapron.com

 2 T. butter

1 large yellow onion

Salt and pepper to taste

2 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

4 c. vegetable broth or chicken broth

1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained & coarsely chopped

1 9-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1½ c. grated Italian blend cheese

½ c. finely grated Parmesan

9 oz. frozen cheese tortellini

Few gratings fresh nutmeg

 Melt butter in a 6-qt. slow cooker set to high. Chop onion and add to slow cooker; season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 hours, after which the onions will be caramelized.

Stir in minced garlic, broth, artichoke hearts, and chopped spinach. Cook for an hour.

 Stir in cream cheese and cook another hour.

 Stir in Italian blend cheese, Parmesan, tortellini, and nutmeg; cook for 30 minutes.

Stir and serve with additional grated Parmesan.

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Polish Egg Salad

I mentioned last week that I was interested in making peach cobbler cheesecake from the new Golden Girls Cheesecake and Cocktails Cookbook. Despite the fact that the store did not have any peaches, I still bought the cream cheese. What can I say? I am a slave to my list. So that started me looking for recipes that used cream cheese that I had not tried before, and I came across this at allrecipes.com. Now, if you are Polish, and consider this blasphemy, swearing that the Poles would never have egg salad with cream cheese in it, don’t shoot the messenger! I just tried this, liked this, and wanted to pass it along. The flavor is mild, but it intensifies over night in the fridge. I really liked it and the creamy texture. It makes a great topping on bagels making it perfect for breakfast, as well as a wonderful sandwich filling. It can also be mounded onto crackers to use as a snack. I thought it perfect as is, but if you’d like a little more zip, add a little cayenne, Sriracha, or spicy mustard to the mix.

Polish Egg Salad

 1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 T. butter, softened, or more to taste

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mash with a fork. If mixture is too thick, add more softened butter. Mix in eggs and onion. Season with salt and pepper; serve with parsley.

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Pasta with Peas and Pesto

On Sunday I reviewed Gabby Dalkin’s new book, What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy. Today I’m going to share one of the recipes from the book that is perfect for Meatless Mondays, or any other day of the week. It is super simple to put together, light, and refreshingly good.

Pasta with Peas and Pesto

4 four cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 c. finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to finish
1/3 c.  extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons, one juiced and one thinly sliced
¼ t. crushed red pepper
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen peas, completely thawed
1 lb. pasta (your choice)
Basil Pesto
Fresh basil, for garnish

In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, pecorino, oil, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, salt, and plenty of black pepper. Add the thawed peas and stir to combine. Taste and adjust with salt and black pepper as needed. Use the back of a fork to roughly mash half of the peas so they are a little chunkier, and leave the other half whole.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and toss the pasta with the smashed peas and a few large spoonfuls of pesto. Top with the basil, lemon slices, and more salt and black pepper before serving.

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Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy from Abrams Books as a participant in their Abrams Dinner Party Program for 2022-2023.

 

What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy, Reviewed

Gaby Dalkin is one of my favorite cookbook authors, and that is high praise indeed. A good many of my favorite cookbook authors are legendary women who have been honing their craft for decades. Gaby, in comparison, is just a girl. But she is my kind of girl. She recently gave birth to a darling daughter, Poppy, and that proved to be a big awakening for her (as it does all of us who have been there). She knew that she still wanted to have healthy, filling, and nourishing food, but didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen in order to do so. She started to rethink her ideas about food, focusing on ingredients that can “…pop on their own without necessarily needing a lot of hand-holding, and dishes that shine in their simplicity…”

I think What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy is her best cookbook yet. After my initial page-through, I can honestly say that there was not one recipe in this book that I didn’t want to try; there was not one recipe that isn’t perfectly doable for cooks of all levels of experience.

The subtitle of this book is “Recipes for Zero Stress Deliciousness.” If that isn’t appealing, I don’t know what is. The book has special sections for recipes to start the day, quick dinners, salads (and other things to eat in bowls), sides, a large section of sauces and dressings, desserts, as well as menus, recipes, tips, and ideas to help you plan and prepare an Italian Dinner Party, Al Pastor Dinner Party, and a Spring Roll Party. There is also a section of acknowledgments in the back and, bless you Gaby, an index!

I tried the Pasta with Pesto and Peas, and loved it! It was a wonderfully tasty meatless meal, light and delicious, while simultaneously being nutritious. It was also beautiful.As I have come to expect in all of Gabby‘s cookbooks, there are beautiful, mouthwatering color photos of every recipe contained within (this book should get five stars based upon that criteria alone) photos of parties, and engaging pictures of Gaby and family. As usual, each recipe is preceded by helpful, but brief, commentary. This volume, like all of her others feels like home.

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 Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy from Abrams Books as a participant in their Abrams Dinner Party Program for 2022-2023.

Broccoli Pesto

We are on the cusp of October, and what that means is that  it’s time to harvest all of the tender herbs in your garden. For me, that means basil, and basil means pesto. Pesto is one of those things that I could eat with a spoon. I love the bite of the garlic, the freshness and fragrance of the basil, and the pungency of the Parmesan cheese. Recently I have discovered a lot of new recipes for pesto, and I plan to try them all. This one, for broccoli pesto was something that I couldn’t even imagine. The combination of broccoli and basil doesn’t immediately spring to mind, but it really works. Broccoli is such a wonderful antioxidant, and this is a deliciously easy way to get it into your diet. Whether you like broccoli or not, you’ll never know it’s here.

Sources: Pasta Bowl, Black Floral Flatware

Broccoli Pesto

From loveandlemons.com

 1 heaping cup very small broccoli floret pieces

½ c. fresh basil

⅓ c. extra-virgin olive oil

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. lemon zest

2 garlic cloves

½ t. sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 Bring a medium pot of water to boil and place a bowl of ice water nearby. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for 30 seconds, and then use a slotted spoon to scoop it into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry.

Place the broccoli into a food processor with the basil, olive oil, cheese, lemon juice and zest, garlic, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Pulse until combined.

If desired, toss the pesto with the cooked pasta. Serve with pine nuts, red pepper flakes, and additional cheese. Season to taste and serve.

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Cinnamon Swirl Apple Fritter Bread

When the local supermarket was advertising fresh local peaches, I knew this would be the weekend to make peach cobbler cheesecake, a recipe that I spotted in the new Golden Girls Cheesecake and Cocktails Cookbook. Unfortunately, when I got to the store, there wasn’t a peach in sight. Still, I was in the mood for baked goods. Remembering a recipe that I had seen on the Food Network website, I grabbed a couple of Granny Smith apples and headed home. This is delicious! I tweaked it a good bit in order to add to the depth of flavor. It worked. Your home is going to smell like apple pie is baking when this is in the oven. Stock up on apples, you’re going to want to make this again and again.

Cinnamon Swirl Apple Fritter Bread

Inspired by Food Network

 1/3 c. light brown sugar

2 t. ground cinnamon

Few gratings fresh nutmeg

2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped

2/3 c. sugar plus 2 tablespoons

½ c. (1 stick) butter, softened

2 large eggs, room temperature

1½ t. vanilla extract

1½ c. flour

1¾ t. baking powder

1-1/8 t. apple pie spice, divided

1 t. kosher salt

½ c. milk plus 1 to 3 tablespoons

1 c. powdered sugar, sifted

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan Baker’s Joy; set aside.

 Mix brown sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl; set aside.

 Toss apples with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and remaining teaspoon cinnamon in another bowl; set aside.

 Beat butter and remaining 2/3 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time; add vanilla extract.

 Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon apple pie spice together in another bowl, then add to creamed butter mixture and beat until blended. Mix 1/2 cup milk into batter until smooth.

 Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the chopped apple mixture. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of apple layer.

 Pour the remaining batter over apple layer and top with remaining chopped apples, then the remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using a knife.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let loaf rest in pan for 20 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

 To make glaze:  Mix powdered sugar with 1/8 teaspoon apple pie spice and remaining 1 to 3 tablespoons milk, thinned to desired consistency. Drizzle bread with glaze.

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Bavarian Meatballs

I was rummaging around in my mother’s recipe box as I have often mentioned doing, and came across a recipe that I had not noticed before. It had been written on one of those pieces of stationery that fold into an envelope, and are then stamped and mailed. For this reason I know that her friend Shirley Fick sent it to her on the 21st of April 1979, at a cost of 13¢. Because my mother was such a good cook on her own, when she asked for a recipe from someone that meant that she really enjoyed it, so I thought I should try this for myself.

Including sauerkraut in a meatball was new to my experience, but it worked. Surprisingly, it did not do a whole lot to alter the taste, something I found a tiny bit disappointing. I enjoyed mine a couple of times in a variety of ways: first, as you see here on top of egg noodles, second, on top of mashed potatoes, thirdly, on top of mashed potatoes and topped with sauerkraut. I even had leftovers as a meatball sandwich slathered with stone ground mustard and topped with thinly sliced red onion. Clearly this recipe is versatile and I can tell you that I enjoyed them all of these ways.

 Because I always tend to think that I know better than everyone else, I altered this recipe just a tiny bit to give it more flavor. These are easy to make, and something that I think the entire family would enjoy, however you plan to serve them. I do find that they make quite a striking presentation in these beautiful black au gratin dishes.

 Bavarian Meatballs

For meatballs:

½ c. beef stock

1 t. caraway seeds

2 lb. ground chuck

1 lg. egg

1 c. drained, chopped sauerkraut

1 T. dried minced onions

¼ t. lemon pepper seasoning

1/8 t. dry mustard

½ t. salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

3 T. flour

2 T. olive oil

For sauce:

2/3 c. sour cream

2 T. whole milk

½ t. caraway seeds

Pour beef stock over 1 teaspoon caraway seeds and let stand for five minutes. Combine ground chuck, sauerkraut, onions, lemon pepper seasoning, dry mustard, egg, salt, pepper, and stock/caraway seed mixture. Mix well and shape into 18 balls. Roll balls in flour; set aside.

Heat oil over medium/high heat in the bottom of a 12-inch skillet. Add meatballs and brown on all sides. Reduce heat to medium/low and cook slowly for 30 minutes until cooked through. (Meatballs may have to be done in batches.)

Combine sour cream, milk, caraway seeds, and salt in a medium saucepan and heat until hot. Remove meatballs to platter (or individual au gratin dishes) and top with sour cream.

Garnish with chopped parsley and a few gratings of lemon pepper seasoning.

Makes six servings.

 

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