"Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest."
~ Henry Van Dyke

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Soup's on...


During the cold days of January, there is little more comfort that can be found as that of a hot bowl of soup. I thought I would share a couple of my soup recipes with you this month. Now this Tomato and ravioli soup is a real stick to your ribs soup but still very simple to make. I never buy canned soups for us as making soup from scratch is easier than you think, rewarding to make and much tastier than anything from a can.

For this soup, you will need an onion, a leek, a package of ravioli, 2 cans of peeled tomatoes, a jar of grilled red peppers, 2 vegetable bouillon tablets, (fresh) basil, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Dice up the onion and cook in olive oil.

Slice and dice up the drained grilled peppers.

Add the grilled peppers and two cans of tomatoes with liquid to the pan. Chop up the tomatoes with a spoon in the pan. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes.

Make 750ml bouillon and add this to the soup. Allow the soup to cook again a further 5 minutes.

Cleaning a leek is easily done if you remove the green end and cut from just under the root to the end. If you want smaller pieces in your soup, cut again creating 4 sections. Let the leek rinse under cold running water to wash out any sand. Now cut your leek up in thin pieces.

Your soup should not be ready to puree before adding the last few ingredients.

Add the leeks.

Add a package of fresh pasta to the soup pan. I used porcini mushroom filled ravioli. You could also use tortellini. Salt and pepper the soup to taste.

Leave the soup to simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes. You must be sure your pasta is cooked. It may need to stay on longer.

Serve with ripped fresh basil leaves and a light sprinkling of flaked parmasan cheese. You can choose to add dried basil along with the pasta and any kind of cheese is optional. Enjoy this hearty soup with fresh bread.

15 comments:

Maggie said...

Looks and sounds fabulous Heidi, something that even i could have a go at, lol

Andylynne said...

What a wonderful soup sound yummy. Soup is such a comfort food, and so very versitle. Thank you for posting, can't wait for the others.

faerieeva said...

That soup sounds wonderful. As soon as the gestational diabetes wears off, I should try it. Tomorrow is creamy veggie soup at my house. I like soups on fridays, especially rainy day fridays.

I LOVE the article on taking tea as well. One part of me agrees on the prettiness being part of the ritual. Sometimes with a very busy todler, I do not take the time to get out the pretty cups for myself, especially since my 'me time' is so limited that I often do several things at once.
Since Saint Nicholas day, I have a little guilty pleasure though. My husband gave me a big mug with his own picture on it running a half marathon. He had remembered I liked the picture. It's not the pretty china, but it is something added to the tea that always makes me smile.

Ginny said...

We, too, eat a lot of homemade soup in the winter. Our very picky son-in-law-to-be actually likes most of the soups I've made. I love to serve soup with homemade artisan bread from the book, "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day."

Brigitta said...

Thank you very much Heidi!! I know what I'll be eating this weekend. I'm assuming this is for 2 people? (I can put half of in the freezer for another day and make my life a bit easier LOL)

sweet regards
Brigitta

Brigitte said...

This is exactly the way I make tomato sauce, just without the ravioli. I'll have to try your recipe with the ravioli that are such a great addition.

Elizabethd said...

Licking the screen now! That looks delicious Heidi, and I will try it, using some of the tomato puree that is in the freezer.

Linda said...

This looks so good, thank you for the recipe. I have a couple soup recipes I usually fix and I'm looking forward to making this. I love raviolis so I know this will be delish.

I enjoyed your tea time post and I'm going to make my afternoon tea more special....you always inspire me...hugs, Linda

onlymehere said...

I love tomato soup and this sounds divine!

Nancy said...

Okay, it looks good and I will eat it at your house. LOL. The only soups I make, are potato and veggie.
Love you, Mom

Anonymous said...

Heidi this soup sounds wonderful. Maybe I can have it for dinner once when I am in Amersfoort :) My favourite is carrotsoup! You can taste it when you are in Hilversum next time.
Have a nice weekend.
Hugs and groetjes
Elly

*Ulrike* said...

Can you say yum oh! That looks super good for a winter day. I make soup quite often, and need to make a batch of lentil soup as my step-daughter is coming by and loves it.

Simple Home said...

Heidi, that soup looks and sounds delicious. I've never been as good at making soup as my mom is, even if I do it the same way. I love eating soup though, one of my favorite foods. Btw, we're studying the pilgrims right now, and we're at the part where they went to Holland before coming to America. We just read today about Skating holiday and how people would skate out in the canals. It was so interesting. I never realized that.
Blessings,
Marcia

angelasweby said...

Heidi,
What a lovely and most appropriate blog post this is. I love soups and have been making a few myself recently. This one looks delicious. It's especially welcome as it's such a brightly coloured soup and really lightens up a dreary day :>)
Thanks so much for the easy to follow instructions.
Warm wishes and bon appetite.
Angela xx

DonnaTN said...

It looks yummy and easy to make! If only we could smell it!