Tortellini Minestrone

Okay, this is possibly my favorite soup of all time.

My beloved mom gave me the America's Test Kitchen cookbook Soups, Stews and Chilis for my birthday. There are still so many recipes I need to try out, but this one is so good that I just keep making it. It's perfect for lunches and lasts me about a week. It's so flavorful and, of course, you can always mix up the ingredients depending on what you have on hand. Andrew normally doesn't find soup to be filling enough for a meal, but he loves this one.

On ingredients: The cookbook says you should use fresh (not frozen or dried) tortellini and fresh (not canned) pesto. I broke both rules because I couldn't find either. I used dried tortellini and just cooked it separately and added it after the zucchini since it didn't really need to cook.

Tortellini Minestrone, serves 4 to 6

Chop 2 slices of bacon into small pieces. Cook it in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until rendered and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. (I've also skipped this step and cooked the carrots and onion in bacon grease, which is faster.)

Peel and cut 2 carrots and 1 medium onion. Stir them into the bacon and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, mince 3 garlic cloves. Stir in the garlic and 1 teaspoon dried oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (If you have fresh oregano, use 1 tablespoon minced oregano.)

Stir in 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in 2 1/2 cups V8 vegetable juice and a 15-ounce can of small white beans (drained and rinsed) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans have heated through, about 10 minutes.

Cut 1 zucchini into manageable pieces. Stir in 9 oz cooked tortellini and zucchini and continue to simmer until they are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Dollop individual portions with pesto and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

Spaghetti alla Neville

First of all, let me apologize for the long delay between posts. Starting my new job has been exhausting! I don't know what I'd do if Andrew didn't take some of his afternoons to clean the house, get groceries and do laundry. So I've been learning how to cook dinners that require minimal effort by the time I get home--often by working on tomorrow's meal after dinner. I am actually one of the few kids in my generation who didn't grow up with a Crockpot, but I am learning to love mine. I get everything ready in the morning or even the night before, and come home to a delicious-smelling dinner. It's delicious, it's good for me, and it's a perfect way to end my day.

Today's Crockpot recipe comes from our good friend Neville Fogarty, who's been featured on this blog before for writing crosswords and loving meatloaf. Now my general opinion on food is, "Why buy it if you can make it yourself for better?" But... this means that sometimes it is better to buy it. If something is too much trouble or you can't find a good recipe, just buy it. I used to believe that spaghetti sauce fit in this category. Sure, I could make my own if I wanted to, but it comes in a jar just as well. Since trying this recipe, I have found that, for the minimal amount of effort it takes, it is far better to make your own sauce. That being said, I think--again, for the effort and payoff--that sticking with canned tomatoes is just fine. Yes, fresh tomatoes are great, but I don't think it makes enough of a difference here.

This sauce is delicious; it's classic comfort food. It's so easy, I put it together before work when I was half-asleep. And it makes a lot; you could halve it, but I just froze most of the extra for later. I did adapt Neville's seasonings a bit--chopping my own garlic instead of using garlic salt to taste, throwing in basil leaves and some oregano, and leaving out the mushrooms. Sorry, Neville!

Spaghetti alla Neville
Brown 1-2 pounds ground round beef (or sirloin or turkey). Meanwhile, mix together 28 oz canned tomato sauce, 28 oz diced tomatoes, 1 small can sliced mushrooms and 1 small can tomato paste ("literally the small one at the grocery"). Chop 3 celery ribs--not to be confused with the much larger celery stalks--3 garlic cloves and 1 large white onion.

Drain the beef and mix everything together. Toss in several whole basil leaves (I just chop off a lot of my plant) and season with a little salt* and pepper and a few shakes of oregano. Keep tasting it to adjust the seasonings. Cook in your Crockpot on LOW for 8 hours. If you don't have a Crockpot, let it simmer on your stove for several hours.

* Check that your diced tomatoes don't have salt... if they do, don't add more!

"'Everybody is going to get to know each other in the pot. I'm serious about this stuff.'
- Kevin Malone"

- Neville Fogarty