Lentil Soup With Sausage

This stew-soup is perfect for using canned tomatoes, frozen spinach, and stored onion, garlic, and carrots. I am not fussy about lentil type or even sausage type (we have used chicken sausage, kielbasa, even hot dogs!), but the tomatoes and the spinach are key here - accept no lesser substitutes. It is easy enough I can cook it and clean all the dishes in the kitchen at the same time (woohoo!). Also, nothing feel better on cold winter nights that a bowl of something solid like this.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1/2 lb. of hearty sausage, sliced
  
• 1 or 2 large onions, chopped
  
• 3 carrots, chopped
  
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 4 cups water + broth cube
  
• 1 cup lentils
  
• 1 quart of tomato juice
  
• 1 package of frozen, thawed spinach (about 1 lb)
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
  

Steps

1. Saute onion and carrots, adding up to 1 Tablespoon of olive oil if necessary to prevent sticking.
   
2. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring
   
3. Add the garlic and cook 1 to 2 more minutes.
   
4. Add the water, broth cube, lentils, and tomato juice and bring to a boil.
   
5. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
6. Add spinach, cumin, paprika, and salt, if desired.
   
7. Simmer, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
8. Optional: Some like a smoother consistency - take some soup and run it through the blender and then add it back.

Serve hot with a great bread, warmed butter, and a salad!

Winter Squash

This is half of one of our Blue Hubbard squashes - harvested in October, held in the basement and finally whacked in half when I had no more Waltham Butternut squashes.

What do you do with all that squash (~ 12 lbs of pureed squash in 1 lb freezer bags)?

1. Spicy Pecan Pumpkin Muffins from FoodieFarmGirl
2. Two Ingredient Pumpkin Yellow Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
3. Pumpkin or Squash Bread from Simply Recipes
4. A host of squash recipes at 101 Cookbooks
5. Spicy Pumpkin Soup from Simply Recipes

Rustic Potato Loaves

Found this in the Julia Child cookbook, "Baking with Julia" that Dorie Greenspan edited together. This works great on stretching flour and if the potatoes are yours, all the better. The loaves end up with a crust to die for and a moist, stretchy (not gummy) interior.

A real find from a cookbook with some seriously complex recipes - this one is no more complex than a simple sandwich loaf - even easier if you save potatoes from an earlier meal!

• 3 potatoes, cooked, mashed, cooled (with skins!!!)
  
• 2 tsps salt
  
• 1/2 cup reserved potato water, warm
  
• 2 1/4 tsps active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
  
• 2 Tbps olive oil
  
• 4 3/4 cups flour (I use unbleached King Arthur)

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm potato water for 5 mins.
2. Then mix in the potato, salt and olive oil. (In the mixer, I use the mixing attachment here)
3. Gradually add in flour and knead (in the mixer, I use the dough hook here). It will look crumbly, but keep going, it comes together somehow. In the mixer this takes me about5 minutes.
4. Keep kneading for another 3-5 minutes - 5-7 minutes in the mixer. Tthe dough very sticky but don't add more than 1/2 cup of extra flour.
5. Knead the dough until smooth.
6. Place it in a covered bowl and proof for 30 mins. It will have risen noticeably, although it may not have doubled.
7. Pre-heat the oven 375 F and insert a baking stone or tile.
8. Cut the dough in half and work with just one half at a time.
9. Flatten and start rolling from one end until almost to the other end. Gently pull that end and dust its far edge with flour. Moisten and fold over to seal the edge.
10. Shape the new loaf into a football (American!).
11. Repeat with the other dough.
12. Places the loaves on a lightly floured sheet, seam side down, cover and proof for 30 minutes more.
13. When you are ready to bake the loaves, throw three ice cubes onto the oven and shut the door immediately.
14. Transfer the doughs onto the baking stone, seam side up.
15. Before you last shut the door, throw two more ice cubes in.
16. Bake the bread until the crust very brown, 45 - 50 mins, you should hear the hollow sound when you tape the loaves' bottom (or 200 F on an instant read thermometer).
17. Rest them 20 mins before slicing.

I don't have any pics of this, but someone Dutch does - here is her Flickr set of it, step-by-step.

Ribollita (reboiled soup from heaven)

Serves 10-12, makes about a gallon

Ribollita means "reboiled" in Italian, so this is essentially a peasant soup that uses yesterday's leftover bread and adds in whatever is nearby and handy. Like "refrigerator chili", you add what you have. This version works with the ingredients we have handy in the pantry and are in season in store right now.

It ends up being very healthy because it is basically almost no-fat - except for the olive oil you saute with and the cheese and sausage. Other than that it is spoonful after spoonful of awesome broth, kale, and beans. With some bits of carrot and sausage hidden here and there.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans cannellini beans
  
• 8 cups of vegetable stock/broth
  
• 4 onions, chopped
  
• 3 carrots, chopped
  
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
  
• 1 leek, chopped
  
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped (double if you're sick)
  
• 1 bundle of "crinkly" kale, sliced into 1" wide chunks
  
• 1 quart of tomato puree
• 2 good-sized sprigs of fresh rosemary
  
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
  
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red hot pepper
  
• 4 links of sausage, sliced
• 2 or 3 cups of stale bread (cut into cubes, I like to add something wheat-y like our focaccia)

Making The Soup:

1. Saute the onion, carrot, leeks (optional, it is really great, but our grocery doesn't always have it) and celery in some olive oil for 8 minutes.
   
2. Add the chopped garlic and saute for a 2 minutes.
3. Add kale and saute for 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Add the thyme, rosemary and hot pepper flakes.
5. Cover with 2 quarts of vegetable stock and add the tomatoes.
6. If you have a piece of dried up parmesan cheese in the fridge, now is the time to add it.
7. Add some sliced sausage - we like chicken sausage with bell peppers..
8. Simmer, simmer, simmer on medium-low for about 40 minutes.
9. Add the beans and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
10. Add stale bread in the last five minutes.
    
11. Serve with grated parmesan.