Other times, I just want someone to hand me a recipe, go to the store to get all the necessary ingredients, follow the directions and make a dish as the recipe's author has intended it to be.
This past weekend I decided to look through Domenica Marchetti's The Glorious Pasta of Italy book and choose a recipe.
Ok, I lie. I actually already had a recipe in mind: Minestra di Pasta e Piselli. It's a pasta soup with peas and pancetta. What's not to like?
The weather was slightly cooler and it kept on raining on and off: a perfect day for soup.
I changed a few measurements, so I'll just write the recipe/directions as I made the soup.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 thick slice of pancetta***
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup diced onion
5-6 sprigs thyme
ground black pepper
64 ounces chicken broth
1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta (or use any small pasta)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cups mixed cheeses: Asiago, Parmesan, Romano {next time I'll use Domenica's advice of only adding Parmesan, because my combination of cheeses did not melt quite well}
***Special thank you to Philly Homegrown for a lovely care package: I used pancetta from North South Canning Company & Meatery.
Directions
1. Heat butter and oil in a heavy soup pot: I used my 5.5 quart Le Creuset.
2. Add pancetta, onions and carrots and saute for 5 minutes.
3. Add thyme sprigs and black ground pepper and continue to saute for 5 more minutes.
4. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil. Add pasta and peas and cook till pasta is al dente.
5. Remove the soup from the heat. Take out thyme sprigs: all the leaves would have fallen into the soup by this point. Stir in the cheese.
6. Serve in warm soup bowls.
I garnished my soup with a bit of cheese. {Check out my new spoon: only $2!!}
The soup was incredibly flavorful, filling and almost buttery. It's a great one pot meal all in itself. Just keep in mind that it's not a great soup to freeze and that pasta will definitely expand as it sits in the hot liquid and when you put the soup in the refrigerator.
Also, the original recipe did not call for carrots, but I think they added a nice extra color and sweetness to the soup.
7 comments:
I love the addition of carrots! I made this and took it for lunch one week. It did get thicker throughout the week, but I still enjoyed it. The flavors are amazing!
I like it thick. I also like Friends With Bacon. Just sayin'.
What a beautiful soup! Looks delicious!
This looks so yummy. I love soups and am always looking for a different one to make. Now if I could just get my family to like them as much as I do.
Peas and carrots really taste well together. I make them a-lot so this soup will work really well for my family.
B/W the other day I made meatballs with your spicy turkey meatball recipe. It was a hit really.... Yum Yum
Oh this looks yummy,especially on rainy days. But my favorite bit has got to be the spoon! How pretty!
Gorgeous looking soup Olga and quite frankly... it is exactly what we need right now here as I think autumn started two months ago! Raining again today... :(
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