lasagna soup

There are some days where I honestly don’t have the power to do anything. I’m hosting my friendsgiving this upcoming weekend so I was cleaning out the backyard for a bonfire. Deep cleaning your own house is something that I don’t wish on my worst enemies. It’s exhausting, takes long hours, and just plain boring.

Sometimes I cook for myself, and it’s not the fanciest thing in the world but it’s delicious. It is exactly what I needed after all this cleaning I have been doing.

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium white onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of cut mushrooms
• 1/4 of red wine
• 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 15 oz can of Tomato sauce
• 2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of bouillon
• 2 T of Italian seasoning
• 1 T salt
• pepper to taste
• lasagna noodles, classic uncooked.

Directions

1. Start by browning your meat in a stock pot over medium-high heat. When brown add diced onion, garlic and mushrooms. Stirring continuously.
2. When veggies are softened, add in wine to deglaze pan. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes before added in the rest of the ingredients besides noodles.
3. When adding in the noodles, break into smaller pieces because they will be easier to eat later when doing so.
4. After adding in the noodles, put heat on lower and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
5. Double check your soup every 4 minutes to stir and to make sure there is enough water to cover the noodles.
6. When noodles are cooked throughly, turn off heat and serve!

Tips:

• If you want to change out the beef for pork sausage, it might taste even better.
• You can add more noodles to the dish, but if you do so add more water in allowing them to actually cook.
• Salt does cut the acidity of the tomatoes, if you would to use something besides salt, I would use sugar.
• TASTE ALONG THE WAY. A good cook always tries their food to make sure everything is going okay.
• Try topping with cheese and it will be the best dish you will ever try.

Its easy, and all done in one pot! This was stuff I literally found lying around my pantry. Fresh ingredients are always better, but it will always be delicious.

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The Best Tomato Soup

There comes a time when our whole families are sick. I got my sickness from my mom or my sister. One of the two. It doesn’t matter how careful you are, you still end up becoming a mouth breather for the time being. Medicine doesn’t seem to help and you just have to wait it out. This is why I turn to the best tomato soup I have ever made. It’s yummy by itself, or even better with grilled cheese. It’s a reminder of home and doesn’t take very long to make. I’m going to keep this short and sweet because I want to crawl back into bed.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons of Olive oil
• 28 oz can Tomato Sauce
• 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
• 1 Medium Onion (White is better)
• 1 Tablespoon of Garlic (Minced)
• 3 Tablespoons of Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of Vegetable (or any kind) Bouillon
• 2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 Tablespoon of Basil
• 1 Tablespoon of Oregano
• 1 teaspoon of parsley (optional)
• 16 oz of Heavy Whipping Cream

Fresher is better!

Recipe:

1. Add olive to a Stock Pan/ Dutch Oven over medium high heat
2. Once oil is heated, add onions and cook till translucent
3. Add garlic and seasonings. I picked mine fresh from my garden, and used a grinder to mince them into smaller pieces. Dried is still okay, it won’t be as delicious! Wait about 30 seconds till garlic is fragrant.
4. Add both cans of tomato sauce. Stir till combined.
5. Add sugar. Sugar will combat the acid from the tomatoes, and bouillon will add more salt flavor to the soup. (Add more or less of each one until you find what you like. Tasting is crucial here!)
6. When you find a balance you like, add the heavy whipping cream and stir until your Tomato soup is more of a orange color.
7. heat throughly and serve with crackers!

Tips*

• If you like your tomato soup chunky, switch the 15 oz can of tomato sauce with diced tomatoes.
• If you don’t like it chunky, add to a blender and run through a metal strainer back into the stock pot.
• Usually salt and pepper is a good thing to add to everything, but DON’T add more salt. The bouillon is salty and it will be too salty. I’ve done this before and it’s not good.
• If you use fresh tomatoes, add them with the onions so they will cook down a little and let go of their juices.

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Fabulous French Onion Soup

I have been completely knocked out with a head cold for the last few days. When I finally felt up to a cooking something other than ramen noodles, I was craving something comforting and easy on the throat. However, I wasn’t able to go to the store, so I had to work with the supplies I had in my pantry. This was my vegetarian’s favorite soup.

The secret to making great tasting french onion soup is caramelizing the onions and using really great stock. I had to use store bought stock, not ideal, but necessary because I felt so awful I wasn’t about to do it from scratch. I took two boxes of stock and reduced them by half .

Ingredients
5 onions, sliced thinly
1/2 stick butter
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 T flour
12 oz red wine or 1 bottle of wheat beer
2 qts beef stock
1 baguette, 1/2 inch slices
swiss or provolone cheese slices
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Slice onions and saute them in the butter.
2. Begin with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and the thyme while carmelizing the onions. It will take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours to carmelize them.  Begin on a medium high temperature for the first 30 minutes, stiring often.  Turn to low heat and continue to stir often until the onions turn a deep rich brown color.  (see picture below)
3. Add in the flour and cook for an additional 5 minutes to cook the raw taste out of the flour.
4. Add in the beer or wine and reduce by half at a simmer.
5. Add in the beef stock and reduce by half.  Simmer until the texture of the soup is silky.
6. Meanwhile, toast the baguette slices in the oven on broil.
7. Right before serving, add sliced cheese over the crostini and broil till the cheese is golden and bubbly.
8. To serve, ladle soup in cups or soup bowls, add two cheese crostini over them and enjoy