Recovery Ribollita

noreply@blogger.com (Parisa) — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:57:00 +0000

I love soup. I love soup in the same deep and committed way I hope to one day love another person (more on that in my next therapy session). Soup can be a snack, a light or hearty meal, and when the situation arises, the perfect antidote to the "Blehs". This was the case I found myself in recently, trapped in a few days of nausea from pain killers I was taking post-knee surgery. At some point, I hope to include some Wegrzyn (my Nana's) and Tabriz (my Mom's) soup recipe secrets, because it really is my go-to meal of choice, but today, I'll share a simple vegetarian Ribollita recipe from SOUP (edited by Debra Mayhew) that is simple, tasty, and quick to make.

Ribollita can best be described as Minestrone with the noodles replaced by beans. After looking at the ingredients list, I almost took a pass. Everything looked fine until I hit Fennel in the ingredients. Fennel... that is codeword for anise, which is codeword for black licorice... Ewww!

I decided to pursue anyways. I was too tired to hunt for another recipe that met my ambiguous requirements for what I'd decided would make me feel better (nothing too spicy, not too heavy and creamy, etc.) and was optimistic the other ingredients would mask any hints of black licorice. If not, I still had some ice cream left and a bowl of that, though definitely less nutritious, would certainly be as satisfying.

Final verdict? Delicious! After all was cooked and tasted, I do credit the fennel for the distinguishing flavor in an otherwise hearty vegetable soup, and not at all a bad distinguishing flavor, but a spicy, fresh (almost medicinal), and sweet flavor just faintly resembling black licorice. After some further investigation, it turns out that fennel seed is the real culprit of the licorice flavor and though commonly confused, it's actually not the same as anise seed. I've learned my lesson, opened my mind, and will not be so quick to judge recipes calling for fennel bulb in the future.

Ingredients

Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
4 garlic gloves, crushed
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
2 large zucchini, finely sliced
14 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons pesto*
3 3/4 cups vegetable stock
14 oz can haricot, borlotti, or cannelloni beans
salt and pepper, to taste

Serving

1 lb spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
crusty white bread
parmesan cheese shavings

* Though you can use store bought pesto, I strongly suggest making your own. I love the smell of fresh basil and pesto is not only simple to make (recipe), but much better tasting than anything you'll find in a grocery store jar.

Directions
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and fennel and fry slowly for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini slices and fry for 2 minutes longer.

Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock, beans, and pesto and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 25 to 35 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving
Fry the spinach in the oil for 2 minutes or until it wilts. Serve the soup over the spinach and bread (how it's traditionally served) and sprinkle parmesan on top.

Super Simple Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Parisa) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:34:00 +0000

My first ice cream maker just arrived in the mail and I was so desperately and recklessly excited to use it, I went out to buy ingredients for a dark chocolate gelato before actually reading the instructions, neglecting to realize you need to freeze the mixing bowl for 15 hours prior to use. Never one to practice patience and rationale in such times of desperation, I needed a back up plan. I'd already decided I was making ice cream that day, and when I make up my mind to do something, there are few things that can stop me; manufacturer prep time certainly isn't one of them. So, I found a recipe (from one of my favorite food blogs) that didn't require an ice cream maker, went back out to get some chocolate hazelnut spread and evaporated milk, and stirred my way to my first ever homemade ice cream!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups (13 oz, 369 g, 342 ml) Chocolate hazelnut spread
1 1/2 cups and 1 Tablespoon (14 1/2 oz, 410 g, 380 ml) Evaporated milk

You can use any brand of chocolate hazelnut spread that you prefer. I try to find an organic version with less sugar than Nutella because it's healthier, but that works fine too. I found the original recipe to be a little sweet, so I cut down the amount of chocolate spread by about 10% from the original portions (and I have no problem finding other tasty uses for the spread).

Directions
Combine the chocolate hazelnut spread and evaporated milk in a mixing bowl and stir until you have a consistent mixture. Chill for 2 hours. Follow the directions for your ice cream machine, or if you don't have an ice cream machine, put the mixture in a freezer safe bowl and stir again after 2 hours. Work those biceps! Continue to freeze and stir until you're happy with the consistency (two times is probably enough).

Serving
I served this with a biscuit and some sliced bananas, partly because I like banana and Nutella crepes and mostly because I felt guilty at how easy this was to make and needed some way to expel more effort. I'm sure it tastes perfect by itself. I bet it would also go well with some sour cherries or chopped hazelnuts.

Parisa's Recipes

Recovery Ribollita

Super Simple Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream