Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana is one of the soup offerings at the Olive Garden chain restaurants and it's my favorite! It's a creamy soup with Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale. I rarely eat at the Olive Garden but once in a while I would crave a bowl of Zuppa Toscana.

I searched online for the recipe and apparently there are quite a few people out there who also love this soup. The recipe I used is adapted from Tuscan Recipes website. The site states that someone who used to work at the Olive Garden gave them the original recipe and it's been adapted to serve 6-8 people. I couldn't resist...I had to try it and I'm glad I did! It's very close to the original. If you're a fan of Zuppa Toscana, the next time you crave it, try this recipe and enjoy a hearty bowl in the comfort of your home.

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1 lb. hot Italian sausage (ground)
1/2 t. crushed red peppers (more if you like spicy)
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C. bacon, diced
4 red potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
10 C. water
5 bouillon cubes
1 C. heavy cream
4 Kale leaves, chopped

Cooking instruction:

1. Saute sausage and crushed red pepper. Drain fat and set aside.

2. Saute bacon until crispy, set aside. In the same pot, saute onions and garlic on medium heat until soft, about 10-15 minutes.

3. Add in water, bouillon cubes, and bring to a boil.

4. Drop in potatoes and cook until soft, about 20-30 minutes.

5. Add heavy cream and stir. Then add kale leaves, sausages, and bring to a boil.

6. Serve hot and top with the crispy bacon pieces and more crushed red pepper, if desired.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Crab and Corn Soup

It's November and I can't believe we're still having daytime highs in the 80s! But with the cooler nights, I was craving something warm and comforting. Crab and corn soup is definitely one of the comfort foods I grew up eating -- it's like the 'chicken noodle soup' in my family. The best part is that it's so fast and easy to make!

Makes 10-12 servings

Ingredients

1 lb. crab meat
4 C. chicken broth
4 C. water
3 cans cream of corn

3 cans whole kernel corn
1 medium brown onion (chopped)
1 bunch green onions (sliced)
3 T. sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 T. corn starch


Cooking instruction:

1. Add all ingredients, except the corn starch, into a large stock pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

2. In a small bowl, dissolve corn starch in 1/2 C. water then stir into the pot to thicken the
soup.

3. Serve hot.


Note:
If you're allergic to crab, you can substitute the crab meat with chicken. Just boil the chicken, shred, and chop into small pieces. Then lightly beat 2 eggs and add to the soup after Step #2.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Black Fungus Meatball Soup (Bakso Jamur Kuping)

This meatball soup has a nice, crunchy texture and consists of ground pork (or chicken), fish paste, shrimp, diced carrots, glass noodles, and black fungus. Black fungus is also known as cloud ear, wood ear, or mouse ear because its shape resembles an ear...of course! :)

Makes 40-50 meatballs

1 lb. ground pork (or chicken)
1 lb. fish paste
1/2 C. chopped shrimp
1 carrot (finely diced)
2.5 oz. package dried black mushrooms
1 bunch dry glass noodles

2 eggs
2 T. corn starch
1 t. minced garlic
1 T. fried shallots
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste

Soup Broth

12 C. water
1 t. minced garlic
2 diced shallots
2 T. margarine (Blueband or Wijsman)
1 chicken bouillon cube
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste
4 large carrots (cut diagonally)

Cooking instruction:
1. Soak the dried black fungus in warm water for about 10-15 minutes to reconstitute them into their fresh form. Drain and squeeze as much water as possible out of the mushrooms. Cut into thin strips.

2. Immerse the dry glass noodles in hot water for a few minutes then cut them into
2" strands.

3. In a large bowl, mix ground pork, fish paste, diced carrots, mushrooms, glass noodles, eggs, corn starch, garlic, and fried shallots. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Take a spoonful of meatball mixture, roll it into a ball, and drop it into the boiling water. This gives a nice base flavor to the soup broth.
Continue until you use up all of them. When the meatballs float to the top of the pot, it's a sign they're done.

5. In a small pan, melt margarine then add garlic, shallots, and chicken bouillon. Sautee for a couple of minutes then add the mixture to the the soup broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Add carrots.

6. Let the soup come to a boil for about 10 minutes until carrots are cooked.
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