Easy Tortellini Soup

I was walking the food section at Costco and picked up a double package of fresh 4 cheese tortellini. I had no idea what I was going to make, but tortellini sounded great. When I got home I found this great and easy recipe for tortellini soup on the food network. I made this to go along with the panini I made. 

Tortellini Spinach Tomato Soup:

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 c. diced onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

4-6 c. chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1 (14-oz.) can of diced tomatoes

1 (9-oz.) package fresh tortellini 

1 bunch of fresh spinach chopped

some salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese

In soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Sautee the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent (about 5-7 minutes) stirring often. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth, turn up heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions. When the tortellini is almost done, add the chopped spinach. Taste and add the salt and pepper to your taste. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Panini Everywhere!

I just learned today that "panini" is actually the plural form of the singular "panino" and it seems like my kitchen has been overflowing with panini these days. I was inspired by watching a clip of Everyday Italian where Giada makes 2 different kinds of panini. I tried just the first one, a panino alla margherita. It was really easy to make and I love the flavor of the fresh basil. It's as easy as making a grill cheese sandwich...really!

Panino alla margherita: (this is for one panino...but you'll want to make more)

2 slices of good Italian artisan bread (I used Pugliese I found at Costco)

2-3 slices of sliced fresh mozzerella (depending on how big your bread slices are)

2-4 fresh basil leaves depending on the size of the leaves

2 thin slices of tomato ( I used roma tomatoes)

some salt and pepper

and some olive oil for brushing

Heat your grill pan to medium-low. Brush olive oil on one side of a slice of bread. On the other side, layer the mozzarella slices and sprinkle a little salt on top of it. Then place the tomato slices and the basil leaves. Top it all off with the second slice. Brush that slice with olive oil as well. Place the panino on the grill pan and press it down with a grill press. The panino is done when the outside is golden brown and the cheese is all melted inside.

If you don't have a panini press or a grill pan and grill press you can just use a heavy skillet to press the sandwich down in the pan. It just won't have the nice grill lines on the outside.

Baked Couscous

I've been on this couscous kick...trying to find a good couscous recipe to convince Daniel and my parents that couscous is really good. Couscous is actually very easy to cook (especially the quick cooking kind) and very versatile. Here's a recipe (a far cry from it's Berber origins) I tried the other night that was ok. I am going to try a similar one here pretty soon that adds spinach and basil to the mix.

Baked Couscous:

2 c. coucous

3 c. chicken broth (I used the the low sodium one)

1/2 c. toasted pinenuts*

2/3 c. diced onions

some olive oil

1/2 tbsp. (about) minced garlic

1  14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained (reserve the liquid)

1/2 tsp.  ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toast the pinenuts. I just did it over the stove in a pan until they were a light brown and fragrant.

Add the minced garlic to the olive oil and start to heat. Add the diced onions and sautee until they are soft and translucent. Next, add the drained tomatoes and coriander and cook for a couple of minutes. 

In an oven safe dish, mix the onion and tomato mixture with the couscous and chicken broth. Stir in the pinenuts and season with the salt and pepper. Mix it all really good. Then, stick it in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes. 

*I think that it would be good if you chopped up the pinenuts before you add them to the dish. 

This blog is one whose idea I thought up a long time ago. I tend to try a lot of new recipes and I keep making the ones I like and playing around with the ones that weren't so good. I guess this blog would be a good way to keep track of everything that I try and want to try again. My own personal recipe box, if you will. So let's get cooking.