Farfalla Soup Pasta

 One of my Mom's favorite dishes was a hybrid of chicken broth and farfalle or butterfly pasta in sauce. This fusion dish was and still is perfect for the cold days ahead. It's an easy mix that's sure to please. Just serve with garlic bread for a hearty week day or weekend meal.

It starts with two containers of veggie broth for a vegan spin on the recipe. I used Acme's Signature brand but you could use chicken or beef broth too.

This is cooked for twenty minutes and then the farfalle is added.

Farfalle is a tricky pasta to cook. The middle takes longer than the ends because they're pinched together. You have to be patient with it. It does take about twenty minutes to cook properly no matter what liquid you cook it in.

                        It's then adding the Ragu sauce and mushrooms to make it heartier

I think a smaller can of just roasted tomatoes would work better. This gave me a whole pot of pasta soup.

It was then cooking it for another few minutes until the farfalle were tender on the ends and al dente in the middle.

                                 Of course you have to have garlic bread with it . Salads work too with this

The end result was more like a tomato soup with pasta. I think it will taste even better reheated with some Melt plant butter added. It was good with the garlic bread, very tomato-y , thanks to Ragu's intense flavor.

This pasta soup is the best chill chaser you can make. It;s a tasty blend of traditonal farfalle and broth. Try it for a tasty way to combat the cold.

Summer Veggies With an Italian Twist

It's still summer .You can have still enjoy the harvests of the garden.There are still eggplants and tomatoes to cook into tasty sauces. Take advantage of the last blush of the season with tasty dishes.

Melissa Clark did so, writing about it in yesterday's New York Times Food section(despite the fact that it was the restaurant issue, there were some recipes). Her A Good Appetite column features a sauce rich in ripe eggplant and heirlooms tomatoes. Even a sauce made of just the last is a treat.
What is interesting is how she prepares them. Instead of dicing or cubing she grates the tomatoes on a standard box grate. This is an excellent way of getting the pulp and not the skin. The grater holes puree the flesh but stop at the skins, creating a nice pure mash.Ms. Clark then simmers it down with a a bit of olive oil, garlic  and chile.If it's cooked down a bit it becomes sofrito. It can be the base of any soup,stews and rice dishes. I can see it raw as a brushcetta - and the best part is that the tomatoes won't have to be blanched to remove the skins.The tomatoes used are the large heirloom ones but if need be , beefsteak, or better yet Roma tomatoes can stand in.

The second veggie, eggplant can be cooked while the tomatoes are being pureed. The kind used is the giant globe kind, those deep purple beauties that are gracing late summer gardens and farmer's markets right now.It was cubed , oiled and roasted in a 450 degrees Farenheit oven for 30 to 40 minute. Roasted with it are one or two frying or Italian banana peppers. The pasta she uses is campanelle or farfalle., the butterfly shaped ones. You could also use rigatoni or even bucatini if you'd like. Another fun spin is that Ms. Clark grates the garlic with a microplane to mince them (although you could you could just mince the cloves the old fashioned way- with a sharp knife).Capers are added for saltiness while  herbs are mixed in for brightness. Butter, not usually used in any tomato based sauce ,is  added - although it is optional.It does lend a nice richness to the sauce. The sauce  and eggplant are then mixed together with the pasta. Parmesan cheese is then sprinkled over it along with extra herbs and a drizzle of more olive oil.

It still is summer. Take advantage of its' harvests with a delicious sauce of  eggplants married to tomatoes.The flavor is ripe with garden flavors, a perfect taste of late summer.

An Easy Summer Sauce

We are in the middle of tomato season. This versatile fruit that masquerades as a veggie can be made into everything from a sandwich to a bowl of salsa. However it is best made into a tasty pasta sauce. The garden taste comes through, tangy and sweet, perfect for any pasta when made this way.

David Tanis believes this and wrote about it in his column  City Kitchen  in today's New York Times Food section.. One of the best aspects of homemade sauce is that you can make it and use it months from now. There will be that ripe taste in the middle of a cold winter. Even if you don't; have them in your backyard you still can get beauties at your local grocery store and get them cheap. According to Mr Tanis, this is another reason to make sauce. He suggests looking for ugly, cracked and large ones that are slightly bruised. These are cheaper due to these imperfections yet still  have a sweet, dense blood red flesh, perfect for sauce. Another suggestion is using plum tomatoes if you like their taste(slightly sweeter than the beefsteaks).The one standard he demands is that they be sun ripened. (remember home growers can also use the less than perfect ones from their gardens too instead of tossing them onto the mulch pile)

Prepping them  for sauce is easy. This is not the kind of recipe where home chefs don't; blanch and peel the tomatoes. What it does require is the surprising hand held grater, a gadget not necessarily associated with sauce making., Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters and then squeeze out the seeds if you don't like a few in your sauce. Now place the cut side against the grater's large holes and gently rub until there's only tomato skin  left. Now add a pinch of sea salt, two tablespoons of olive oil along with a sprig of basil and a halved garlic clove. You can add tomato paste to thicken it for a more traditional textured sauce. Cook it in a low wide saucepan over a high heat. Once it starts to boil the lower the heat and let it simmer.It can be kept in the fridge for five days afterward or just frozen for later use down the line. . Mr Tanis recommends serving it with farfalle or penne, textured pasta that will hold the sauce but I can also see  it with bucatini,the thick tubular spaghetti.Serve with a sprinkle of pecorino or Romano  for the best summer dish  of the season.

Take advantage of tomato season and make this easy and delicious sauce. It's a great way of enjoying the harvest right now. Freeze some for later to have the taste of sun ripened tomatoes on a cold winter's night.
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