SOUPS

This is my fourth recipe page. It has two new recipes, both soups. First is Beefy Minestrone, which is a tasty combination of my Nona's minestrone and my Mom's Hamburger Soup.

The second is "Not-your-ordinary pea soup"....I try to find ways to get my fussy eater to eat veggies...so I sneak them in at every opportunity!

1 lb 80% lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

5 cups water

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

2 cans beef broth

1 can vegetable broth

1 16 oz can kidney beans

5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 TBS Italian seasoning, more or less...

3 ribs celery, sliced I guess

1 small or 1/2 large head of cabbage

carrots, 1 or 2 cups depending on how much you like carrots. I don't remember how many I put in LOL

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1 cup of small pasta...I DO remember I used small shells...

1 cup fresh or frozen green beans

5 grinds or so of black pepper

3 shakes or so of season salt

3 approximately beef boullion cubes (Don't you love my Italian style "a liitle of this, some of that" recipes?

1 tsp dried parsley (I should grow some fresh so I would know what the fresh equivalent is, huh?)

Brown beef. When it has lost about half it's redness, add onions and garlic, stirring occaisionally. After about 5 minutes, add water, tomatoes, broths, celery, carrots, seasoning, boullion cubes. Simmer about an hour, stirring occaisionally. Add remaining ingredients. Cook till tender, about 20 minutes.

1 MEATY ham bone

1 lb split peas

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced (optional...I put them in this time cuz I had a craving. No, I'm not pregnant LOL)

2 ribs celery, sliced

2 small potatoes, cubed

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 14.5 oz can chicken broth

1 14.5 oz can vegetable broth

32 oz of water

1/2 tsp each rosemary, thyme and season salt

6 grinds pepper

1 large bay leaf

1 TBS vegetable oil

I think one of reasons this came out as well as it did was the preparation. I never found this method in a cook book. Anyway, here it is...

Sift thru the peas to make sure you hve no foreign matter lurking. I have yet to find any mixed in with my peas, but I KNOW the first time I neglect this step, someone will break a tooth on a stone....

Rinse peas and add broth and water into a big pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and let sit for an hour.

Heat oil in LARGE skillet. Cut off some fatty meat from the bone and saute for a few minutes. Add onion, carrots, mushrooms and celery. Saute about 7 or 8 minutes. Add garlic, saute about 5 minutes more.

When peas are done "sitting", add sauteed veggies, ham bone and seasoning. Simmer, stirring ocaisionally ( I'm trying to find as many ways possible to spell that dam word...) about 2 hours. Add taters. Simmer till peas and taters are tender (1/2 an hour?) If soup gets too thick add a little water. Fish out bone, cut meat off, add back into soup. Stir and enjoy! I like mine with saltines....

I HAD to add this! I was perusing Marcella Hazan's cookbook and looked up where she was from...turns out, she's from a town that is about 20 miles north of where my Nono was born! (Rimini) No wonder she has a recipe for passatellis! (although ours has black pepper and lemon rind in it) Then I looked at her recipe for minestrone...very close to mine...sans the meat, of course.................