Sunday Supper: Pasta e Fagioli with sausage

Sunday suppers when I was growing up were always special. Roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, dad always made his famous whipped smooth mashed potatoes that were like velvet. Sometimes it was ham or a big pot of simmering pasta sauce. Regardless, it was a day when no matter what was going on, we came together for a hot hearty meal as a family and the house smelled of comfort all day. I love the idea of Sunday Suppers, but it does not mean it has to be a roast with all fixings. It's about bringing the family together, enjoying comfort food. This Sunday I decided to tackle my version of pasta e fagioli.

Traditional pasta e fagioli is a vegetarian Italian soup meaning "pasta and beans." I had some Italian sausage on hand so I adapted it into the soup which did in fact make it heartier and it was a great simple, healthy and comforting Sunday supper served with garlic toast. This is one of those everything but the Kitchen sink soups where really you could use whatever beans and veggies you have on hand. For this recipe I started with a bulb of fennel, some carrots and an onion.

Chop up 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup fennel, 1 small onion

In a large pot sautée the veggies with about a pound of Italian sausage casings removed.

 

Add a generous tablespoon of VE Marinara sauce mix, typically used to season pasta sauce but has a wonderful Italian aroma that is perfect for this soup. 2 cloves fresh crushed garlic. Another generous tablespoon of VE Tomato Parmesan Cheeseball mix and some freshly ground VE Herb and Garlic Sea Salt.

Add 4 cups prepared VE chicken boullion, 1 (28 oz) can of diced or crushed tomatoes and 1 can (18 oz) of rinsed canellini or navy beans. Bring to a boil.

Stir in 1 cup of small pasta, traditionally dialini is used but I had some elbow macaroni on hand and used that. Lower the heat and simmer until al dente.

Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan, a drizzle of evo ( extra virgin olive oil) and some bread on the side for mopping up all that goodness. Hubby went up for thirds and the kids loved it too! Celebrate some old traditions or create some new ones, with Sunday Supper!

 

Rainy Day Mushroom Cheddar Soup

 

It was a cloudy rainy cool September day. It seems like just yesterday it was summer and we were sunning ouselves at the cottage. Just like that, mother nature turned a switch. The air smelled of fall comforts and and family. We were all a little restless being cooped up, so as an activity I recruited little J and R to help make dinner. I always think of soup as a perfect fall dish, so here's my mushroom soup recipe.

 

We started with 2 cups of mushrooms.

Lovingly cleaned with a dry cloth by little J. Did you know that you aren't supposed to wash mushrooms with water?

Little hands got busy chopping up the mushrooms, R with a butter knife.

In the meantime I got busy sautéing one small onion in 2 tbsp of butter till onions were soft. Adding 2 tbsp of Roasted Garlic by ES, 1 tsp of herb and garlic sea salt and 1/2 tsp of fresh Ground pepper.

I added the mushrooms and continued to sautée for 3-5 mins.

Add 2 tbsp of flour and cook for about 5 mins.

Then stir in 2 cups of prepared chicken stock and 2 cups of milk.

Simmer on low-med for about 20 minutes.

Back at the kids corner...Ruby was eating all the cheese I asked her to grate.

J was there slowly but surely chopping some parsley for garnish.

I made some herb and garlic croutons for the soup, chopping up 2 slices of bread. Toss the bread chunks in a drizzle and a half of olive oil, and a teaspoon of Herb and Garlic Dip Mix. Mix with your hands to coat the bread pieces with the oil and herb and garlic. Toast in the oven on 350 for 8-10 mins.

 

At the end of cooking, stir in 1 cup of cheddar cheese just to melt. Give it a taste, add some more salt if you please. Then it's ready! Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and a few croutons and enjoy! This soup was so delicious, even picky pants R ate some of it.

Till next time lovelies!

 

Roasted Maple Bacon Squash

As the weather gets cooler and fall approaches we think comfort food. For me, roasted butternut squash is the epitome of comfort. I love it cause it's warm and earthy and sweet and savory and I find it filling enough so I can eat it as a main entree. My main squeeze, A, is a carnivore so when daddy's away the vegetarian will play. Thursday nights A works late so we usually have a meatless meal. Excited to experiment with my new Maple Bacon Sea Salt, I figured that the butternut squash I had on hand would be the perfect companion.

Start by cutting your squash in half lengthwise, with a pretty sharp knife and scoop out all the seeds. Lay cut side up in a shallow baking pan with a bit of water on the bottom so your skins don't burn.

Put a tbsp of butter, a tbsp of brown sugar and a nice sprinkling of the Maple Bacon Sea Salt in the center.

Roast squash at 400 degrees for about an 1 hr to 1 hr 15 min. Squash should be very tender and tops are browned.

Scoop out the squash

Mash up all that buttery brown sugar maple bacon goodness. Season with a touch more maple bacon to finish.

Serve with a fresh salad and dressing made with Epicures Balsamic Vinaigrette Seasoning. Yum! Or, if your dining with a carnivore like my hubby, serve them a nice piece of roasted chicken with it.


Visit www.tammychase2.myepicure.com to order some Maple Bacon Sea Salt.  You can check out my facebook page for more ideas and promotions www.facebook.com/tammysepicurepage

Taco Tuesday

First day back to school, back to business as usual. Now that I've started a new career as a full-time mom and part-time consultant for Epicure Selections I made the decision to blog about my epicure adventures in the kitchen. My hope is this blog will inspire you to get creative in the kitchen with these easy, healthy meal ideas. The best thing is there are no rules, have fun! The products are so versatile you can't go wrong. Use what you've got on hand and substitute with what you've got! Don't have a lime on hand? Use lemon. Don't have enough tomatoes to make a salsa? Add some other fresh veggies or beans like I did in my chunky black bean salsa!

So here's a little secret, if you want your kids to eat, you have to sell it. Make them think they are in on a really special secret. Tacos used to be just tacos. Then I called it "Taco Tuesday" and they were sold! Now they get excited. Sounds strange but trust me. Make it soup and salad Saturdays and they suddenly think they are in on something really cool!

I change up my recipe for tacos all the time. Using what I've got. We got some fresh local ground turkey on the weekend so that's where my taco recipe began. Turkey is leaner and healthier choice for that reason.

Brown a lb of ground beef or turkey with About 2 tbsp of Pueblo Bean Dip Mix. You can also use Taco seasoning but I love the pueblo bean on all my mexican food. If your new to epicure one of the best things about the products is they are LOW in sodium compared to the leading Mexican seasoning.

Next I made up some Chunky Bean Salsa Starting with a cup of black beans, 1 tomato, 1/2 lemon squeezed in and 2 tsp of Epicure Selections Poco Picante Salsa Mix.

I had a red onion I had to use up so I added 1/4 cup of that at the last minute and a bit of chopped cucumber for freshness and color.

And voila fresh bean salsa! Now, my kids are used to spicy foods so this works for us but be forewarned poco picante is hot but delicious.

 

Assemble with fresh shredded cheese, sour cream and soft or hard taco shells. There you have it, quick easy and healthy.

 

Happy Taco Tuesday!