Saturday, May 21, 2011

Weekend Cooking...Tuscan Soup



I am sure a lot of you may have gone out to dinner or been taken out to dinner on
Mother's Day. Others may have had a lovely dinner cooked for them at home to celebrate the day.
Well, the Niece was in charge of cooking for the occasion, so she asked her mom what she wanted...and the answer was grilled cheese! What can I say...who doesn't love melted cheese?
But these were not just everyday, ordinary grilled cheese.
These was a choice of three.
First, the regular, with American and Cheddar on a nice white bread.
Next was Swiss, with slices of sauteed apples and last...and surprisingly my favorite...was provolone and pesto on thin slices of a chewy sourdough. Excellent.
All were cooked on The Griddler, one of my favorite appliances of all time, and came out so nice and crispy.

But she did not stop there. No, she also made a soup, called Tuscan Soup.
Now, I must say, when I read this recipe, I was not that impressed. You may read this recipe and not be impressed. Not many ingredients, just salt and pepper for spices. Where was the flavor?
Well, let me tell you, I was wrong. It was very good! Very easy, pretty quick and very tasty.
Some of the potatoes break down a bit and help thicken the soup and it gets a lot of flavor from the spicy Italian sausage...and lots of pepper. In fact, next time that I make it, I think I will add a touch of red pepper flakes. Maybe some beans. Beans would be nice.

Or maybe I will leave well enough alone!

Tuscan Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6 links spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
  • 2-3 large potatoes, cubed
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 bag baby fresh spinach
  • 1/4 cup evaporated milk
  • salt to taste
  • ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Remove skin from sausage and crumble into frying pan. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. If you are trying to cut fat, remove meat from pan, and wipe out extra fat.
  2. Add the stock and potatoes. Simmer until potato is tender.
  3. Add spinach. Continue simmering until spinach is lightly cooked.
  4. Remove soup from heat, stir in evaporated milk, and season to taste. 




This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.


15 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fabulous meal to me!

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  2. Wow that sounds good. And yes that Griddler is one of my favorite gadgets in my kitchen also! It makes grilled cheese or panninis heavenly.

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  3. The soup doesn't do it for me as much as the grilled cheese! My favorite food! (I prefer mine with a vanilla milkshake, so as to maximize the cholesterol load.)

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  4. I got a panini press for Mothers Day and we've had great fun experimenting! My favorite Tuscan soup recipe uses white beans... delicious!

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  5. hey look! he internet works in Venice!
    I wonder if hey use Griddles in Italy...

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  6. hmmm... seem to be having 't' issues...lol

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  7. Quite often I find the simplest recipes (and meals) are the most delicious. I can't wait to try the soup. I will probably add beans too.

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  8. The soup sounds excellent! Doesn't need a lot, simple rustic soups are fantastic! I'd love a big bowl of it! Soup and Grilled cheese are such a perfect combination.

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  9. This sounds like a wonderful meal for today. It's raining and your soup would be perfect. I'd probably add beans as well and I have good cheese and bread for grilled cheese sandwiches.

    I'm not even hungry yet after my late breakfast but this is getting me excited for an early dinner.

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  10. I've never really eaten soup, but the last month or so I've been craving it. Weird, huh? I think it started when my son bought some Broccoli Cheese soup from Subway. YUM!!!

    Anyway, I love all the ingredients in this soup so will have to try it in the next few weeks. Thanks!!

    Here's my WC

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  11. What a lovely meal! I have a new Griddler Jr since it's just the two of us and we've really been enjoying it.

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  12. A little too warm this time of year for
    soup.. but I will save this for the fall.
    Sounds good to me.

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  13. This sounds like a tasty soup and perfect for adding your own preferences. Have printed the recipe and am looking forward to trying. Thanks.

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  14. I agree about the Griddler. Love mine. The soups sounds so good -- I'm happy we eat soup all year long.

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