Parsley Root Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of parsley roots with tops
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 large white onion or 2 smaller onions, chopped
• 1 potato, peeled and cubed
• 1-1/4 teaspoon of salt
• ¼ teaspoon of white pepper
• 4 cups of turkey stock
• 1/3 cup of olive or vegetable oil
• 1-1/4 cups of whipping cream

Directions:

1. Detach tops from parsley roots and tie together 6 parley springs with kitchen string.
2. Chop some of the remaining parsley leaves to make ½ cup
3. Peel roots and cut into chunks
4. In soup pot, melt butter over medium heat; fry the chopped onion, stirring occasionally until soft – about 8 minutes
5. Add parsley roots, potato, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes.
6. Add stock and parsley tops, bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat, simmer until vegetables are very soft – about 35-40 minutes
7. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; add chopped parsley and pinch of salt.
8. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 3 minutes.
9. Transfer mixture to blender and blend until parsley in minced. Strain through fine sieve, discarding solids.Set aside.
10. Remove parsley tops from soup and puree soup. Stir in cream and bring to boil.
11. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle each serving with scant teaspoonful of parsley oil

Hope you have enjoyed this recipe – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated!

Here is another easy-to-put-together crock pot recipe – this soup tastes great the day it is made and will freeze nicely as well for later, ready-to-eat dinners. If you put it together in the morning, you will have a great dinner in the evening. Serve it with a sandwich or fresh bread – it is very filling to be a meal of its own!

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of Zesty Italian dressing

• 1 cup  of chopped onions (1 medium)

• 1/2 of cup chopped celery (1 stalk)

• 1/2 cup  of chopped carrots (1 medium)

• 1 can (19 fl oz) of diced tomatoes, undrained

• 1 can  (19 fl oz.) of red kidney beans, drained, rinsed

• 2 cans (10 fl oz. each) of vegetable broth

• 2 cups of water

• 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning

• 1-1/2 cups  of small pasta shells, uncooked

• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1       Heat dressing in large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.

2       Add onions, celery and carrots; cook 2 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

3       Spoon into slow cooker.

4       Add tomatoes with their liquid, the beans, broth, water and Italian seasoning; stir. Cover with lid.

5       Cook on low for 6 hours (or on high for 3 hours).

6      Stir in pasta; cook 10 to 15 min. or until pasta is tender.

7       Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and send in your comments, suggestions and experiences – your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated!

Little homemade meatballs are a real treat in this dish and are very easy to make. You roll them and toss them into the soup as it cooks. And as for the pasta – use whatever you have on hand – any variety will work well!

Italian Chicken Soup:

2 – 900 ml cartons of chicken broth

1-1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, thyme and basil)

2 cups of bite size pasta

1 egg

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb. of ground chicken or beef

2 large tomatoes – chopped

1 zucchini – chopped

1 medium size carrot – thinly sliced

Pour broth into a large saucepan and set over high heat. Add Italian seasonings and bring to boil. Measure out uncooked pasta. If using spaghetti or lasagna, break into small pieces. When broth boils, stir in pasta and reduce heat to medium.

Immediately crack the egg into a large bowl. Sprinkle with basil, salt and Parmesan. Whisk until mixed.

Crumble in chicken or beef meat. Using a fork or your hands, work in until evenly mixed. With wet hands, form the meat mixture into small balls about the size of a cherry and drop right into soup as each is formed. Stir occasionally. Then add chopped tomatoes and zucchini . Continue to boil gently until pasta and vegetables are cooked through. Total cooking time for pasta will be at least 10 minutes.

Serve warm with your favourite sandwich or cheese bread and enjoy!

If you would like direction for great sandwiches, check out:

http://www.mama-knows.com/recipes/the-world-of-sandwiches.html

Chicken Broth:

4 lb. chicken cut into 5 or 6 pieces

6 cups of cold water

1 carrot sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

salt and pepper to taste

Clean and wipe chicken, put all except breast meat in a large pot. Add water, vegetables and seasonings. Heat gradually to boiling point; add breast meat. Cover and cook slowly until breast meat is tender (give it about an hour or more  it depends on what meat you are using) . Cool and remove fat that will set on top of the broth. Bring to boil again; strain. Add more seasonings if desired. You can now cool it and store it for future use or return vegetables into the broth, cut up the meat and add noodles. Cook until noodles are tender and again adjust seasonings to taste.

I also like to add chopped potatoes and sliced mushrooms – it makes this old-fashioned chicken noodle soup even better!

I would love to hear your comments – was this recipe helpful to you?

Cream Soup Base:

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of flour

2 cups of milk or light cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Few grains of onion powder

Few grains of celery seed

Melt butter, slowly stir in flour and cook for about 3 minutes after mixture bubbles. Add milk gradually and cook over direct heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and smooth. This will give you about 2 cups of soup base. if you need to make larger quantity, you can double this recipe.

Cream Soup Base Variations:

Cream of Vegetable Soup:

Use 2 cups of cream soup base and add 1 cup of puree of any of the following vegetables: asparagus, potato, peas, corn, beans or lentils. This will give you about 6 servings of cream of vegetable soup.

Note: Puree means any vegetable boiled or steamed and rubbed through a sieve. If you want to, you can use electric blender instead of the sieve and strain puree of you don’t like pieces of skins in your soup. But it is OK to leave it as well – this recipe will become your personal for sure, just by using vegetable you like and adding spices of your preference.

You can make Cream of Tomato Soup by pureeing canned tomatoes , adding it to your soup base and seasoning it with onion, peppercorns, celery of celery seed, bay leaf, salt and pepper

For making Cream of Potato Soup, peel and finely chop potatoes, add a little finely chopped onion, pepper, celery salt, cayenne and parley and simmer the soup for about 10 minutes for make sure potatoes are cooked.

Another favourite is Cream of Asparagus Soup- for that, puree about 1 cup of asparagus, add to soup base, season with salt, pepper, paprika and grating of cheese to serve

As you can see, the basic cream soup recipe will open the doors for you to make all you favourite cream soups – and i would love to hear about what creation you came up with and I will include it in the above recipe!