3 Bean Escarole Soup with Garlic Oil & Homemade Croutons

Growing up my mom would make what my grandfather & father would call ’scroll & beans. For those not familiar with this language ‘scarole means escarole. If you’ve never had escarole I encourage you to try. It’s actually a lettuce but it tastes really good, almost sweet, when it’s cooked. I’ve always had it in chicken broth with canellini beans, grated cheese & crusty bread so when I found this recipe I channeled my youth & conjured up my take on this classic (to me) combination. I used three different kinds of beans because I didn’t have three cans of cannellini beans, so if you want to stick to one kind - go for it! You can skip the croutons & extra cheese if you like - but why would you want to do that? This is a quick & satisfying dinner especially while this weather continues to flirt with spring (it was 37 degrees yesterday & I think that’s pretty close to spring - today not so much.)

PS: For those observing Lent this will be a great meatless dish for your Friday dinner. Enjoy!

PPS: if you're gluten-free - skip my beloved croutons!

Easy Black Bean Soup

I've been eating this black bean soup since Saturday & I'm happily having it for lunch again, today. Granted I made enough to feed a small country but it was too easy not too & I'll confess when I cook with dried beans I always forget that those 1lb bags make A LOT.

As I just hinted at I used dried beans for this recipe, so while it is easy it is time consumptive as in the beans take about 2 hours to cook. If you have a free afternoon or some time on the weekend I recommend making this & then eating it for lunch for two weeks. You can also easily freeze it after it has cooled down.

One thing that I ask you to do to fully enjoy this soup is to top it with this cream sauce. The tanginess of the yogurt & acidity of the lime take this to another level. Do it!

PS: you can totally make this recipe gluten-free if you don't eat it with tortilla chips that have flour & you can make it vegan by using veggie stock & skipping the cream sauce.

PPS: if you don't wan to make 2lbs of beans cut the recipe in half!

Better Home Cooking Basics: #43 To Make a Quick Chili Use Canned Beans Instead of Dried Beans.

Last night I made this chili. We both got home late, so I started cooking late so we ate kind of late but the chili cooked pretty quickly - Chris pointed this out. He was right.  Usually chili is supposed to simmer for hours on end but I think that has to do with the doneness of the beans. The last thing you want in chili is undercooked beans so if you don’t have time use canned beans which take no time at all to incorporate & cook in you big pot of chili.  No one will know or care as they eat their second bowl.

Looking for a good turkey chili recipe? Try one of these: the best turkey chili ever or turkey & white bean chili .

Get more of my better home cooking basics here.

Farro with Tomatoes, Cannellini Beans & Pesto

How was our vacation already more than a month ago? Is it me or does life always seem a bit easier, a bit lighter when it’s spent at the beach? Maybe it’s because I don’t live at the beach so every time I am there life really is, just that, a vacation :)

I’ll come back from my tangent now. So last month Chris & I ate at a cute little spot in the Isle of Palms it also had my maiden name (Pesce) in the name so we had to try it. We walked into Coda del Pesce (which if you’re practicing your Italian means 'tail of the fish') on a Sunday night. When we asked to see the menu the server said they didn’t have one for Sunday nights. Yep, that’s right, Sunday nights were reserved to family styled meals of whatever the chef felt like cooking.  We thought it over for about 3 minutes & knew right then we needed to roll the dice on the 5 course meal we were promised. Isn’t one of the best parts of eating with your family just eating what’s there & not having to make any decisions? Well it is for me.

The smiley server said 5 courses but we definitely had more dishes than that on our table & each one was just as delicious as the last.  One of the first dishes we had was an antipasta dish that was a simple combination of fresh pesto & beans. I’m sure there was something else in there - maybe a potato but the beans & the pesto are what really stood out to us. Chris loved it. I loved it. Weeks after we’ve returned I’m still thinking & talking about it, maybe even drooling a little bit. Taking a nod from this great antipasta dish I made a simple supper with the same kind of cannellini beans & pesto but I added some tomatoes & farro. It’s a great weeknight meal or just a great one if you feel like going meatless.

PS: Happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Eileen! I love you!

Cuban-Style Shrimp in Enchilado Sauce

The cookbook, The Food of Latin America: Gran Cocina Latina by Marciel E. Presilla has become a fast favorite for me. Not only is it written by the chef of two of my favorite restaurants in Hoboken (Zafra & Cucharamama) but it’s about 5 inches thick with recipes & stories & just the know-how of a seasoned Latin chef.  Growing up we ate mostly Italian or American Italian dishes with other random cuisines that my mom experimented with - but in the 80s & 90s that really translated into stir-fry in the wok. Since then I feel like I’ve had the absolute privilege to try many different worldly cuisines & Cuban is easily at the top of the list.  So when I got my hands on this cookbook (thanks for the great Christmas gift Chris!) I had to cook from it immediately.

The first recipe that I tried was the Cuban-Style Shrimp inn Enchilado Sauce but I had to ad-lib a bit because I refused to go out into the polar vortex.  I have to say it is one of the most flavorful dishes I have ever made & even with my substitutions.

And then the absolute best part was that Chris helped me prep. (Most of the time I resume my position as “queen of the kitchen” & kick Chris out & do my thing.)  It’s so fun to cook with your loved ones because then you all have added something to the dish & that’s what i think makes it taste the best!


PS: Happy Birthday to my long time bestie, Kara! I love you lady! & happiest birthday to one of my NYC soulmates, Natalie! xx

Zucchini Pasta e Fagioli

I've always been a fan of pasta e fagioli (often butchered by Italian-Americans like myself as something that sounds like pasta fazool).  In plain English it's pasta with beans. My mom used to make it with tomatoes, garlic & those short cut noodles or tiny elbow macaroni.

When I have a fridge full of produce I try to use it so I don't lose it. We had some zucchini in the fridge which lead me to this new (to me) take on pasta e fagioli, I call it zucchini pasta e fagioli. I left the dried pasta in it's box & shaved my zucchini into wide noodles instead (similar to here) - making it gluten-free pasta my friends (& Auntie Pat).  It's a very rustic dish which is code for it's not super pretty but it tastes really good, so serve it just after sunset when the light is that cool blue color & you're too hungry to care about how it looks.

Cuban Shrimp

This past weekend was pretty low key. On Saturday night we dinned on some Cuban beans, yellow rice & shrimp.  Check out my recipe for shrimp that I came up with via a combo of recipes I found.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined (we leave our tails on but take them off completely if you like)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste)
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Make it:

1. In a large pan on top of the stove, heat the oil over medium-high heat, and sauté the onions for 3 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the shrimp & parsley, cover the pot, turn the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Add the shrimp, cover, and cook over low heat for 6-8 minutes until shrimp are just cooked through.
4. Turn off heat and set aside until ready to serve with hot rice & top with chopped parsley.