Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts

26 September 2009

A different take on Zuppa Arcidossana

I made Mark Bittman's Zuppa Arcidossana last year and it was very good. Today, feeling a bit under the weather, I decided that I needed some soup again. The things I wanted in my soup were meat, starch and veggies. So... this afternoon, I took a chicken carcass out of my freezer, put it in the trusty le creset pot, added water, celery stalks, carrots, an onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, and some parsley stalks I had from earlier in the week. Simmered it for a couple hours.




My take on Zuppa Arcidossana

Ingredients
2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 pound sausage (I think it was Turkey but it came out of my freezer so who knows)
1 pound spinach, washed
2 cups of chicken stock (I also added a little bit of water)
1.5 cups cooked pasta (I used pasta that looked like the shells of snails - no idea what they are called)
salt and pepper
1/4 -1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

I then set about chopping up the onion, garlic, carrots and celery.  After this was almost done, I put the turkey sausage in to the big le creuset pot, browned it a little bit then added onions etc and cooked it on medium for about 5-10 min stirring occasionally.

During this time I heated some water in another pot for the pasta.  I boiled pasta and then drained.
I added spinach to the le creuset pot with the sausage and veggie mix, allowed it to wilt and then added chicken stock.
Once the pasta was done and drained, I added this to the soup mix.  I served the soup with some grated parmesan on top.  I would also recommend some chopped flat leaf parsley but forgot about it.

Exactly what the doctor ordered and now I go to bed.

The Marc Bittman original below:

Zuppa Arcidossana


2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 cup 1/2-inch-diced carrots
1 large onion, chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and black pepper
1 cup stale bread (use coarse, country-style bread), cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound spinach, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup ricotta salata, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (feta may be substituted)
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley, optional.
1. Put oil in a large pot or deep skillet and brown sausage over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When sausage is cooked through and leaving brown bits in pan, add carrots, onion and garlic, and continue to cook until vegetables begin to soften and brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Add bread to pan and stir for a minute or 2; add spinach and continue cooking just until it wilts, a couple of minutes.
3. Add about 2 cups water and stir to loosen any remaining brown bits from pan. This is more of a stew than a soup, but there should be some broth, so add another cup of water if necessary. When broth is consistency of thin gravy, ladle stew into serving bowls and top with cheese and some freshly chopped parsley if you have it. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings.

19 September 2009

Boneless Blade Roast of Pork, Tabouleh, and Sage and Asparagus Gnocci

So we started with the asparagus gnocci from Zabar.  Boil the gnocci, drain and then add to pan of butter and jullienned sage. Once added, I put in some leftover creme fraiche and seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper - DELICIOUS.

We then roasted a blade of pork - part of the shoulder which is quite fatty and tender.  I chopped a couple tablespoons of sage and rosemary, chopped garlic, added salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil, and rubbed in on the pork.  Roasted it starting at 425 degrees (farenheit), turning it down to 325 degrees and adding chicken stock (by the half cup full) every 15-20 min until meat thermometer reads 140ish.  Then drained pork juices to a small saucepan, added a bit of white wine, a sprig of thyme, celery top and boiled a bit.  Added a bit of corn starch to the sauce to thicken and poured it over the pork blade that had been sliced in 1/4 inch thick slices.




I served this with the Mark Bittman bulgar wheat tabouleh.

All in all, very nice.  The reason the pork was so good was that I bought it at my local farmer's market - Flying Pigs Farm.  Super tasty.

Wine to go with this was: Clape Cornas 2002, the Occhipinti, and the SP68 Nero D'Avola and Frappato.  Simply Divine!  For a review of what we drank, please see: http://winedisorder.com/comment/56/2290/