Soup's On!

Several of my fellow mommy bloggers frequently post recipes on their blogs, so I figured I should follow suit since cooking is one of my favorite things to do. Since Allen and I were both feeling a little under the weather, soup seemed like a good idea and I decided to try four new soup recipes over the course of the week. I made:

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary (Giada De Laurentiis recipe)
Minestrone With Chicken Meatballs (Williams-Sonoma recipe)
Chicken, Hominy, and Cilantro Chili (Williams-Sonoma recipe)
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (Flying Biscuit recipe)

I really enjoyed the Tomato Soup and Butternut Squash Soup, so I'll post those recipes for your cooking pleasure.

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced (1)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup creme fraiche (2)
Zest of one lemon

In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

Puree the soup in a blender in batches (3), being careful to remove and discard the bay leaf. Return the soup to a soup pot and keep warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper. (4)

In a medium bowl fold in the lemon zest and the remaining teaspoon of rosemary to 2/3 cup creme fraiche. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and dollop each bowl with the lemon rosemary creme fraiche. Serve immediately.

Sally's Recipe Notes:

1. Definitely use fresh rosemary for this recipe. I typically substitute dried herbs in recipes for a multitude of reasons, but we actually have a rosemary bush growing on our deck. It is the one potted plant that I've kept alive for any significant amount of time. And when I say "I," I mean Allen....he's the one who remembers to water it. Anyhow, I think the fresh rosemary really makes the soup and it wouldn't have been the same using dried rosemary.
2. I substituted sour cream for the creme fraiche. Who the heck buys creme fraiche anyway? And this is coming from somebody who will drive to four different grocery stores looking for obscure ingredients for a recipe.
3. Whenever you make a soup that tells you to puree the soup in batches in a blender, do yourself a favor: Drive to the nearest Walmart and purchase an inexpensive immersion blender. They are the bomb-diggity. And they are great for making milkshakes.
4. I didn't think the soup needed any additional salt or pepper.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium butternut squashes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (2)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream (3)

Garnish: Spiced Pumpkin Seeds (4)

Peel, halve, and seed squashes. Cut into 2-inch cubes.

Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan, add onion, and cook until translucent. Add the squash, spices, thyme, and garlic to the onions and cover with the stock and cream. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook until squash is falling apart. (5)

Puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor (6). Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot, garnishing individual bowls with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds.

Sally's Recipe Notes:

1. The 1/4 tsp. cayenne definitely adds a bit of heat to this soup. I'd tone it down if you're making it for kids or somebody who doesn't dig spicy stuff.
2. I subbed dried thyme. A good rule of thumb is to use about half of the amount if you're subbing dried for fresh, so I used 1 tsp dried thyme (leaves, not rubbed). A quick sidenote: I'm starting to think that thyme is a highly underrated spice. Maybe it has gotten a bad rap because nobody knows if they are pronouncing it correctly. Chew on that.
3. Don't be afraid of the heavy cream. Yeah, yeah, we're all watching our waistlines, but each bowl of soup only contains a couple of tablespoons. I'm sure you could substitute fat free half and half if you really wanted to. But fat free half and half is, by its very definition, an oxymoron. And I don't know about you, but I don't want any oxymorons in my soup. Thyme, yes. Oxymorons, no.
4. I'll post the recipe for the Spiced Pumpkin Seeds below because these things are super-tasty and quite versatile. But as a garnish for the soup, they could be omitted. The soup is plenty flavorful by itself and the pumpkin seeds immediately sink to the bottom of the bowl, so they didn't provide any visual appeal anyway.
5. This took about 30-40 minutes. But I think my squash chunks were smaller than the 2" the recipe suggests.
   
6. 2 words: immersion blender. Seriously.

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds (1)

• 1 cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds (2)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (3)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until seeds are well coated with spices. Turn seeds onto a small sheet pan and cook in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool.

Sally's Recipe Notes:

1. These things are a great and slightly addictive. You can use them in a pesto and I will eventually get around to posting that recipe. They're also great on salads and pasta or just for snacking.
2. These are also known as pepitas. Whole Foods carries raw pumpkin seeds in their bulk section. Most grocery stores probably only carry pumpkin seeds that are already roasted and salted, but don't use those.
   
3. Again, the cayenne provides a good kick. Tone it down a notch if you need to.