Kale & Sausage Soup with Potatoes & White Beans

I was watching Top Chef last night where Kevin smoked some kale and that was it. I needed to make some kale soup today. The weather literally changed as I was making this beautiful pot of soup so when I finished, it was chilly enough to enjoy it!

So here's my take on this classic soup. Kale, potatoes, cannellini beans, tomatoes, & even some sausage & a bit of bacon in it, which obviously can be omitted for those who are vegetarian. Its quite hearty while still being relatively healthy (if you don't count the meat)

Here are the ingredients for this dish:



You start by cooking your bacon. I chop mine into smaller pieces then remove them with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel once they are nice & crispy.



Next you can brown your sausage in the bacon drippings. Yes, this might add a bit more fat, but don't ever forget that fat = flavor. :) While the sausage is cooking chop your onions, celery, carrot, garlic, potatoes & kale.



Look at how beautiful this kale is!



Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside. Now in the remaining oil in the pan you can sautee your onions, celery & carrot together for a few minutes then add your garlic. Season with salt & pepper.

Once those are slightly soft add 4 cups of broth (either chicken or vegetable) and your potatoes. Let this cook for about 5 minutes.



Now add your chopped tomatoes, can of cannellini beans (rinsed & drained) and kale.



Cook now for another 5 minutes or so, then add back in your sausage. Once that is heated through taste the soup for seasoning. I added a pretty nice sized pinch of red chili flakes to mine...not to add too much heat, but just to boost the flavors of everything up.



Top with some bacon bits and voila!




I can't wait to go have a second bowl now for dinner. Served with some crusty bread and I'm all set! Enjoy!

cheers!
xo diane
thepantrychallenge@gmail.com

Quickie Recipe 5 - Oven Roasted Tomatoes

This is a quickie recipe that I love to make when I want a quick side dish, a topping for some crusty bread or to put on top of pasta for a delicious meal. They take a bit of time to bake, but that leaves you time for a nice glass of wine...

Here are the basic ingredients used for this recipe:


Start by cutting the tomatoes in half and scoop out just the seeds. Lay out onto a foil lined baking sheet. (I made mine in the toaster oven, so my pan is very small.)



Finely chop a few cloves of garlic and sprinkle on top of the tomato halves.



Season with salt & pepper and drizzle with olive oil.



Now bake at 350ºF for about 30 - 40 minutes until the flesh gets soft and reduces in size. The flavors will concentrate and the tomatoes come out sweet and juicy.



Once they are ready, remove from oven and garnish with a chiffonade of fresh basil.



I put them on top of some capellini noodles & drizzled a bit more olive oil on top. Enjoy!



I hope you enjoy this dish. Let me know if you make it and what you think!

cheers!
xo diane
contact: thepantrychallenge@gmail.com

AMOA La Dolce Vita Food & Wine Festival

This is not like my usual posts but I just had to share the event that I attended last night. The 20th annual La Dolce Vita Food & Wine festival put on by the Austin Museum of Art. I was recently contacted by my friend Justin from the Austin Museum of Art to create commemorative wine charm sets for this event, and in return I received complimentary entrance into the event.

The event was set up so beautifully, the driveway of Laguna Gloria was lined with about 70 booths of both food & wine so to say that the offerings were plentiful would be an understatement. It seemed like almost every type of cuisine was represented, with Italian being the main focus.


From Primizie Osteria: A bite of rigatoni with a meatball and marinara garnished with a cherry tomato & fresh basil leaf. So succulent and super tasty.



They also had the most beautiful array of local roasted vegetables too.



From Moonshine Grill: A "corn dog" shrimp - which might sound crazy, but it was more like crazy good! A tender shrimp wrapped in corn dog batter & fried, then garnished with a sweet honey mustard.



From Bess Bistro: We had a lovely lamb lollipop with a rosemary glaze over truffle scented polenta. I was too busy eating that one to take a photo...sorry.

Onward to Canolli Joe's where they had grilled filet mignon over gorgonzola mashed potatoes. The meat was cooked to perfection and the potatoes were absolute heaven!



At this point the sun was going down a bit and the people were getting a little tight, so taking photos became a little more difficult. But for certain items I just had to get a snap.

From NoRTH Modern Italian: Braised beef short ribs over creamy white corn polenta.

From Taj Palace: Curried chick peas with a potato cake. Super flavorful!



From The Carillon: Hamachi crudo with roast hazelnuts, celery & currants. This was hands down my favorite bite of the evening. Clear, clean & fresh flavors met with a perfect balance of textures. Simply amazing. I met Chef Josh Knotts Watkins and am now a huge fan.



Wine kept flowing and the crowds got much bigger...it seemed as if everyone was in some sort of food-induced euphoria. Or it could have been the wine. Thanks to Twin Liquors for that!

My favorite dessert of the evening were the profiteroles from Andiamo Ristorante. A beautiful puff pastry filled with custard then enveloped in luscious chocolate. It was truly a melt-in-your-mouth experience. It was the only place that I went back for seconds. :) Sorry my pic is a bit blurry since it was so dark outside.



After walking around devouring all of these goodies we went to take a look at the wine glasses that were up for auction along with my wine charms. Marlayna had noticed that my name was on the poster listing the artists. Nice...



Here is one of the sets up for auction by artist Jane Schweppe:



and what was left of my wine charms... :)



DJ Manny was spinning for the rest of the evening as people were in search of the last bites. Texas Coffee Traders were busy serving hot chocolate, espresso & capuccinos while they offered rock candy stir sticks & glow bracelets. It was a lovely end to a most wonderful evening. My only regret is to not to have attended in previous years.

cheers!
xo diane

Spicy Carrot Soup

I'm down to the nitty gritty in my fridge which means I am getting really creative. Although, the best thing to do when you think you have absolutely nothing to eat is to make soup. So few ingredients are needed to really make something super flavorful & satisfying.

Here are the ingredients needed for this dish:



Start by chopping up your onion, carrots, celery & garlic. I always find it easier to cook when you have everything prepped and ready to go. Heat up a large pot to medium heat and saute your onions for a few minutes.



Then add your carrots, celery & garlic.



Cook for about 4 minutes then add 1 - 2 teaspoons of red curry paste. (depending on how hot you like it), 1 teaspoon of ground ginger & 4 cups of broth. It's up to you on what type you'd like to use...either chicken or vegetable broth work here.



Now bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until the carrots are tender. (The timing will depend on how small you chopped your carrots.)



While the soup is cooking I like to make home made croutons to add as a garnish. Start by cutting up some bread into cubes.



Season with a drizzle of olive oil, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Move them to a baking sheet and bake at 350º for about 10 minutes.



Keep an eye on them so they don't burn, and be sure to stir them up a bit so that all the edges get nice & golden brown.



These make such a nice snack as you're waiting....



Once the carrots are cooked your soup is ready. I like to puree my soup a bit to smooth out the texture, but not so much that its paste. I use my stick blender for this step.



Taste for seasoning and add anything you might need...salt or maybe some butter? :)
Serve and top with the crunchy croutons. I also topped it with some chives & a drizzle of olive oil.



This is one of the simplest & quickest meals you can make. Its also quite healthy too! Enjoy!

cheers!
xo diane
email me for the recipe card: thepantrychallenge@gmail.com

Quickie Recipe 4 - Day 2 Pasta: Butternut Squash, Peas & Bacon

Today I had a wonderful idea as to what I could create from the left over pasta dough & butternut squash filling that I had left over from the ravioli recipe the other day. I basically thought to "deconstruct" the ravioli, using the filling as the "sauce" then adding a few more ingredients for flavor & texture.

First I just rolled out some of the pasta and cut it with my pizza cutter into small strips (think fetuccini or smaller).



As the noodles were cooking I slowly heated up a tablespoon of butter, about 1 cup of the filling and about 1/4 C of milk. Once that was incorporated I added about 1/3 C of frozen peas and about 3 TBSP of crumbled bacon.



Once the pasta cooks add it to the filling and toss. At this point you also want to add a spoonful of the pasta water.



I served mine with cracked black pepper & a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.



It was so simple and the sweetness of the squash & peas was nicely balanced by the salty & smoky bacon. Enjoy!




cheers!
xo diane

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

It's finally cool here and I decided to pull out one of my recipes that I enjoy making during the fall; butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce. Now this one is a bit more time consuming than my regular recipes because I am making the pasta by hand. However, it is not any more difficult because there are still so few ingredients. It is so worth the effort...

Here are the ingredients for the filling of your ravioli:



Start by preheating an oven to 400ºF. Next, cut your squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds & pulp. Season both halves with butter, salt & pepper then place on a parchment lined baking sheet.



Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes just until the flesh is soft and tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Scoop the flesh from the skin into a bowl and set aside.



While the squash is baking you can work on your pasta. Here are the ingredients you need for that:



Start by pouring your semolina flour out onto a board or large work surface and make a well in the center.



Next break your eggs into the well and add your olive oil. I add my salt to the outside ring of flour so it doesn't toughen the eggs.



Slightly beat the eggs with a fork so they are easily incorporated into the flour and now slowly blend the flour from the outside edges into the egg mixture.



Once the flour has been mixed in you can start using your hands. This is the fun part...



Work the dough gently at this point until it comes together and forms a ball.



Now you will knead it for about 10 minutes to get the gluten in the flour to develop. You will notice that the dough will become more elastic during this process. Now you can test the texture of the dough. You may add a bit of water if it seems too dry or more flour if it seems to wet. Each and every time you make dough this will be different.



Once you are done kneading it, wrap the dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest.



Now you can go back and finish making your ravioli filling. Chop toasted hazelnuts and add to the squash with butter & a grating of nutmeg. (This step is where you can become creative. You may substitute toasted pecans or pine nuts for the hazelnuts, and use a bit of cinnamon, clove, all spice or whatever you'd like to season the filling.) Mix it all together to form a nice mash.



Now back to the pasta. Once the pasta has rested cut about 1/4 of the dough and re-wrap it so it doesn't dry out. Form the dough into a small rectangle with your hands and run through your pasta machine on the widest setting.



Fold the dough into thirds and run it through again. Repeat this about 4 times.



Once you have done that, dial your pasta machine to the next smallest setting. Keep doing this until you reach the desired thickness for your pasta dough.



Cut the strip in half and set onto a floured surface.



Place a teaspoon or so of filling at even intervals onto one of the pasta strips. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and run it around each of the dollops of filling.



Now take the other strip of dough and place it gently on top of the strip with the filling. Gently press around the edges of the filling making sure to seal the dough together and not to have any air bubbles inside the ravioli.



Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut in between each of the raviolis. Now you are ready to cook them in well salted, boiling water. This will only take a few minutes because you are cooking fresh pasta.



While those are cooking you may slowly heat up your butter in a saucepan. You are looking to brown it, not burn it, so be careful. You can add some dried sage at this point too.



Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well, then add to the pan of browned butter. Gently toss the ravioli and serve. I like to garnish it with whatever chopped nut I used in the filling.



Here's a close up of a bite where you can see the beautiful butternut squash filling.



This is one of my favorite things to make for a special occasion. Even though its quite time consuming it is well worth the effort. This dish is quite rich so just a few raviolis are plenty for anyone. Enjoy!

As you can see, this recipe is full of photos and directions, thus I have not made a recipe card for this item. If you wish to have specific measurements for any of the ingredients, please contact me: thepantrychallenge[at]gmail[dot]com and I'd be happy to give them to you.

cheers!
xo diane