Italian Pasta & Bean Soup

I found this recipe for Italian Pasta & Bean Soup in a magazine I picked up the other day--I have since made it several times and have moved it to my "make frequently" list. It's easy & very flavorful. I made it tonight along with a salad and the whole family enjoyed it...next time I may add breadsticks--it's soo good! Hope you'll give it a try!

Italian Pasta & Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 ounces pancetta chopped

1 TBS olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes(try italian diced tomatoes!)

4 C chicken broth

1 C water

3/4 C grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving 

1 Sprig fresh rosmary (fresh is best!)

1 C ditalini

1 (16 oz) can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed

S&P to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat chopped pancetta and oil in large saucepan over med-high heat until fat renders & pancetta is browned, about 5 min. Add onion & cook until onion is softened, about 3 min. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, broth, water, Parmesan, and rosemary and bring to a boil.

2. Add pasta & beans to pot and cook until pasta is al dente*. Discard rosemary sprig. Season with S&P. Drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with more parmesan cheese.

Serve--goes great with Pepperidge Farm 4 Cheese Bread and a caesar salad

*I think it is almost easier to cook your pasta separately and then add it to the soup when ready. I keep finding that my cheese is sticking to the bottom of my pan b/c I am having to boil the soup mixture long enough for the pasta to get soft...

Crab Cakes

Again, something else I made this weekend from the Kojie cookbook (page 117). The lady that put that recipe in was a great cook (she was a sponsor when I was there) so any of the recipes by her are probably good!

Kevin doesn't even really like crabcakes, but we almost made ourselves sick eating them!

Enjoy!

----------------

1 egg
1/4 cup ranch dressing
2 (6 oz) cans LUMP WHITE crab meat (found by the tuna at the store)
about 20 Ritz crackers, crushed finely
1/3 cup each of shredded parmesan, romano, & asiago cheese (I cheated and used 1 cup of the the Italian blend cheese that had pamesan, asiago, and mozarella from the store)
2 green onions, chopped finely
1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Beat egg and dressing together in a large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Drain crabmeat and add to mixture. Mix well. Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Let stand 3 minutes. Using about 1-2 T of mixture, shape into cake (I used the Pampered Chef medium scoop and flattened them out). Place in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet (I used my Pampered Chef cookie sheet stone) Bake 5-7 minutes on each side or until cakes are golden brown and heated through.

** After eating them, I thought it might be good to just put the mixture in a pie plate and bake like that. Then use crackers to eat it like a dip. They also would be good to make very small/bitesize to serve with crackers.

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin

This is a recipe I tried tonight from the Kojie cookbook (page 126 if you have one) -- everyone ate it, it was super easy, so I guess that means it was a hit!

1 pork tenderloin
salt & pepper to taste
2 green apples
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups chicken broth

Rub pork tenderloing with S&P and put in crock pot (I used one of those crock pot liners to make it clean up easier). Slice green apples very thinly and lay over the pork tenderloin. Layer onions on top of apples. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar over all ingredients. Pour chicken broth on top of that. Cook on high 3-4 hrs or low for 6.

Enjoy!

Chicken & Green Chile Soup

This is a family favorite! I'm planning on making it this week - its perfect for a cold winter night. It sounds like it might be spicy, but its not at all (but I guess you could spice it up if you really wanted to!).

1 1/2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
2 cans chopped green chiles
1 can corn
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large sauce pan & add flour to make a paste. Cook for about two minutes. Heat milk, heavy cream & broth & add a little at a time (whisk as you go to make it as smooth as possible). When soup starts to boil, add chicken, green chiles, corn, salt & pepper. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!

Taco Pasta Salad

I saw this in a magazine over Christmas break and made it today...easy and the possible additions to it are infinite!

2-3 cups bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled.
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn (I used the white & yellow mixed)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup prepared salsa (I used a little more than this)
2 teaspoons taco seasoning mix (I used a little more like 3)

In large bowl combine pasta, black beans, corn, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and taco seasoning. Mix well, chill and serve with tortilla chips.

* Kevin likes all salads to have meat in them, so I grilled some chicken and added that to mine. But I think cooked ground beef would be good too.

* I had some grape tomatoes that I cut up in it as well...a good addition! Chopped green pepper would also be good (but I didn't have any).

* I also think it would be good served on a bed of romaine lettuce (Cheddars restaurant does a pasta & green salad that is one of my favorite things) and then tossed together.

Enjoy!

Betty Crocker's best recipes

I periodically get an email from Betty Crocker with recipe ideas.

They just sent one to me today that was their Best Recipes of 2009

I thought I might try some of these recipes and just wanted to share

the link!