Squash Blossom Risotto

What to do with all those zucchini? Stop them before they have a chance to become zucchini by enjoying the edible blossoms. I have had just about enough zucchini. And the blossoms were at risk anyway since there was a frost advisory last week. You hear about stuffed, fried squash blossoms but I already did that a few weeks ago. The bright orange adds wonderful color and a mild flavor to this risotto. I’m putting tomatoes in everything these days…they’re almost as bad as the zucchini were in August!

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a meal
Prep Time: 5 min, Cooking Time: 25 min

3 to 3½ c vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp butter
½ small sweet onion
1 garlic clove
¼ c white wine OR 2 tbsp water & 2 tbsp white vinegar
1¾ to 2 c sushi rice

6-8 squash blossoms, plus a few for garnish
1 c cherry tomatoes

¼ c freshly gated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp butter
dash of nutmeg
salt & pepper

Caramelized Carrot and Ginger Soup

It finally started raining here in Portland, so that means it’s time for more soup! Homemade soup is wonderfully tasty and so easy to make I’ll never go back to buying the high sodium canned variety. Roasting the soup ingredients adds time to the process but the flavor is worth the extra effort. The baguette in the photo is homemade as well, but it’s a really basic recipe and the bread machine did most of the work – maybe I’ll post it another day.

Serves 2
Active Time: 20 min, Total Time: 1 hour
Oven Temp: 425°F

1 lb carrots
½ medium onion
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
4 garlic cloves
1-in fresh ginger
½ tsp ground cumin
3 c vegetable or chicken broth

2 tbsp sour cream
fresh parsley for garnish

The Soup Nazi’s Mulligatawny

The famous soup from the famous Seinfeld episode. While I have never had the original to compare, this version is delicious and well worth the long simmer. It’s all about the long, slow reduction of the soup, so don’t think you can shave any cooking time off. The idea is the potatoes start to fall apart to thicken the soup and the nuts soften. The full recipe claims to serve 4 to 6, but I halved the liquid here (out of necessity since I don’t have a large enough pot) and still got 4 decent bowls of soup out of it – maybe it could have reduced further, but I was happy with the consistency.

Serves 2 to 4
Active Time: 15 min, Total Time: 4 to 4.5 hours
Adapted from Top Secret Recipes® Unlocked

2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
8 c water
3 c chicken or vegetable broth
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
1 c peeled and diced eggplant
½ c frozen corn
⅓ c diced roasted red pepper
¼ c canned tomato sauce
½ c mixed nuts
¼ c chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
1½ tbsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
dash of ground nutmeg

In a large pot (4 qt) over medium heat, melt butter and sauté carrots, celery, and onion for 3 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  Stir often as the soup thickens.  The soup should reduce and thicken and nuts should be soft.  Serve hot.

Homemade Veggie Pizza

I hear there are some good pizza places in Portland, but I have yet to try them. Why go out for pizza when it’s so easy to make at home and so much healthier? If I don’t have leftover homemade sauce on hand, I just use store bought and try not to look at the sodium content. So gather your favorite toppings and let’s make pizza! [Note: any meat toppings should be fully cooked before assembling pizza]

Serves 4 (1 lb dough, 14-inch pizza)
Prep Time: 10 min, Rising Time: 1½ hour, Cooking Time: 20 min

For the Pizza Dough:
Adapted from the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet

⅔ c lukewarm water
½ tsp honey or sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 c all-purpose flour*
¾ c semolina flour*
6 tbsp whole wheat flour*
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten**
1¼ tsp bread machine yeast

For the Toppings:

1 c homemade pasta sauce
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
½ tomato
½ small red onion
½ orange bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
oregano
red pepper flakes

Homemade Pasta and Sauce

It’s so easy to simply buy dried pasta and a jar of sauce – I’m hardly ever without these pantry staples.  However, the flavor and reward of making it yourself are worth the effort every once in a while.  There will be plenty of sauce left over to spruce up your next round of dried pasta.  Add herbs or spices to the pasta dough for even more flavor.  Make a big batch and freeze the pasta dough for later.  Beware of refrigerating unused dough longer than a day or two.  It turns an odd greenish color (maybe from the egg?) although it seems perfectly fine to eat despite the funky color.

Serves 4 runners, maybe 6 non-runners (1 lb pasta)
Prep Time: 1 hour, Cooking Time: 2 min for pasta, 30 min for sauce

For the Homemade Pasta:
Adapted from The Little Guides Pasta

1 c all-purpose flour
1 c semolina flour (or more all-purpose flour)
½ tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
⅓ c water
1 tsp olive oil
⅓ c flour for sprinkling

For the Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
6 garlic cloves
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
14 oz can diced tomatoes
¼ c water
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried savory
1 tsp ground black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)
salt to taste
grated parmesan cheese

Grilled Asparagus Risotto

For some reason, making this delicious creamy dish is daunting to many people.  It takes too long.  Arborio rice is expensive.  It’s hard to get the right consistency.  Be not afraid.  Once you get the hang of it, risotto will become your new favorite 30 minute meal.  With a simple base, the possibilities are endless, although I do tend to limit myself to one or two accent ingredients since the risotto is so tasty on its own.  Prosciutto or butternut squash risotto, anyone?  What better way to carbo-load!

Sushi rice is my recently discovered secret (well, America’s Test Kitchen discovered it): it’s much cheaper and results in an even creamier risotto than Arborio rice.  Vary the amount of rice and stock depending on how hungry you are or how many other ingredients you are adding.  Go easy on the nutmeg – a little bit goes a long way.

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Fennel and Leeks

I love butternut squash in just about anything, but especially in soup because its flavors are the main event.  There are many variations on this classic fall soup (I am sure I will end up posting others), but this is one I came across at the Williams-Sanoma Thanksgiving Technique Class.  I was skeptical at first, because I am not usually a fan of fennel.  The licorice flavor cooks out, giving way to the surprise nutty flavor of the fried leeks – in other words, don’t skip the garnish!