Tomato Basil Sausage Soup

Now this dish turned on the thick side for soup. Your could call this a pasta dish with sausage, or a nice thick stew. I'm calling it soup. I'm eating it with a spoon and that's all there is to that. A nice slice of crusty garlic bread wouldn't go amiss either.

Tomato Basil Sausage 'Soup'

1 can (28oz) tomato puree
1/2 - 1 lb mild italian sausage
3-4 carrots, finely diced
2-3 ribs celery, finely diced
small handful fresh basil, chopped
4 tbsp Basil Olive Oil
1/2 lb small pasta
1 can white beans
1 box (32 oz) vegetable or chicken stock

In a large soup pot over medium heat, add the tomato puree and the stock. Heat until it reaches a low simmer, then add the celery and the carrots. Cook about 10 minutes. Increase the heat until you have it just under a boil and add the pasta. Cook for 6 minutes then lower the heat to a mild simmer again.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil to medium high and add in the sausage, casing removed. Cook until done through, making sure to break into very small bits. About 10 minutes. Pour the contents of this pan all into the soup.

Open the can of white beans, drain the water off, but do not rinse. Add along with the fresh basil.

Bring the soup up to a mild simmer again and cover loosely. Allow a bit of the steam to escape, you don't want your pan to explode.

Let simmer 5-20 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan every once in awhile. It's thick and things may stick.

Top with a little roasted garlic sea salt and you're good to go. Just in time for it to snow. Again.

For a thinner soup: add one more box of stock, cook the pasta separately, rinse the beans before adding them and only use 1/2 lb of sausage.

Slow Cooked: Pork Chops and Spinach

I've cooked a pork loin in the crock pot before, but I never even thought about it for pork chops until my sister-in-law gave me this recipe. Thank you!

The best thing about this, is the leftovers. For 4-6 pork chops, there is still way more spinach and broth than you need to serve with this. Don't throw it out, don't even take it out of the crock pot. There is a recipe below that will give you the easiest overnight soup ever, and my lunch today. Go leftovers!

Slow Cooked: Pork Chops and Spinach

4-6 pork chops, thick
1 10oz package frozen spinach
2 tbsp Garlic Olive Oil
2 cups vegetable broth
1 apple, peeled and minced
2 onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup flour

Pour the flour into a shallow plate or wide bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the pork chops and dredge them in the flour.

Add the broth, apple, and onions to the crock pot. Lay the pork chops on top and cover. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

When you turn the slow cooker on in the morning, set the package of spinach out to thaw. At the end of the cooking time remove the pork chops to a plate. Break open the spinach and stir it it to the crock pot. Let it cook for about 5-10 minutes so that it is fully heated through.

Serve the pork chops with a few spoonfuls of the spinach mixture over it.

Leftover: Spinach and Potato Soup

2 cups vegetable broth

10 chopped small potatoes

Leftover spinach broth

Add the vegetable broth and potatoes to the leftover spinach broth from above. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low. 

Put it in some jars and you have your lunch! Add another swirl of Garlic Olive Oil to really punch it up.

Fridge Soup

I had leftover chicken in the fridge from something my husband made, and a lot of escarole from the pork chop dish earlier this week. The chicken was so good I couldn't throw it away, and I never got to get a picture of it either! He just has to make it again.

Clean Out the Fridge Soup

2 cups leftover chicken, shredded
4-6 cups greens, escarole or spinach
1/2 onion
2-3 shallots
4-6 cups broth
1 pkg mushrooms
2 stalks celery
2 tbsp White Truffle Garlic Olive Oil
2 tbsp seasoning blends

In a large soup pan, heat 2 tbsp Olive Oil and add the chicken. Saute for a few minutes.

Chop the celery to a fine dice. Slice your greens into thin ribbons, and rough chop the mushrooms and onions. Add them and the broth to your pan. Increase the heat to a simmer.

Everything is already cooked for this soup, what you are doing is letting all the flavors really meld. You could let this simmer until everything is just warmed up, or you can let it go for awhile.

I simmered mine, uncovered for about 45 minutes.

The most important ingredients to this soup are the chicken, greens and broth. I used beef broth, because that's what I had on hand. And I had some of the Hunter's Blend spices, but original would be nice. If you used the Italian Herb or Basil Olive Oil, I think that the Italian Table Blend spices would be nice. You could also make this spicy if you want. Use the Zesty Onion or Citrus Habanero Oil and some of the Southwest Spices to really clear your sinuses. This is just what I had in my fridge. If you have other stuff, go for it! Small pasta would be great, also carrots. Mmmm, carrots.

African Groundnut Stew

While this hearty stew is traditionally made with peanuts, I love to use cashews with it. Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday. This is one of my favorite winter foods. And I got to use our newest oil!

It is also very easy to make this vegetarian. Use more sweet potatoes, throw in some carrots and use a veggie broth instead of chicken broth and it's still the best comfort food around!

African Groundnut Stew
Inspired by Simply Recipes

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 Chicken Thighs
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium pieces
2 tbsp Zesty Onion Olive Oil *
2 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil
1 28oz can tomatoes
2 small onions, diced
1 cup cashew butter
1 cup roasted cashews
1 3inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
6-8 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper, at least
Salt and Black Pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, for serving

In a large soup pot, heat the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil to medium high heat. Rinse the chicken and sprinkle with salt. Add to the pan, skin side down and cook about 10 minutes, flipping once to brown all sides. Pull them from the pan and set aside for later.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and saute the onions for 2-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and the ginger and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Stir often to make sure nothing is sticking. Add in the sweet potatoes and stir to coat everything well.

Add in the chicken, broth, tomatoes, cashew butter and coriander. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt. Simmer about 45 minutes. Add in the cashews. Simmer another 30-45 minutes. The chicken should be falling apart.

Remove the chicken to another bowl and shred the meat. Discard the bones and skin. Add the meat back into the stew along with the cayenne and a few tablespoons of black pepper.

This stew should be spicy and thick, warming from the inside out. The best kind of food for winter.

* Our new Zesty Onion Olive Oil isn't on our website yet. Available in store or by phone only right now!