Friday Soup

This is a family recipe passed down from my Roman Catholic great grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1920s.  I never met her, but I love her soup.  It feeds us for days, costs less than $.50 per serving, and is the perfect pantry meal - I always have the ingredients on hand for those days when I just can't bear to go grocery shopping.  (I don't fall far from the tree.  My great grandmother hated grocery shopping, too, so one day she took the week's grocery money and blew it all on a dress.  I've done that, only I bought books.)

Friday Soup

1 large can whole tomatoes
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
1/2 pound small pasta (acine de pepe or orzo)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
red wine
dried oregano
dried basil 
dried thyme
2 bay leaves 
salt/pepper

Chop the onion and garlic and cook in a few glugs of olive oil in a large pot.  Add a bit of red wine (my method for measuring olive oil and wine is the same- upend the bottle and count to two) if you have it, but it isn't necessary.  Add the tomatoes, breaking up the whole tomatoes with your fingers or a spoon.  Add the spices.  I don't measure the spices, but I think I use about one and a half teaspoons each of oregano and basil, and 3/4 teaspoon of thyme.  Add enough water for it to look "soupy," cover, and simmer for an hour or so.  Add the pasta and stir constantly to prevent it from sticking.  When the pasta is nearly done, drain the beans and add them to the soup.  Cook until heated through.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with salad and crusty bread.

And since I have been inundated with requests for pictures of my new crib, here are a few of my kitchen before our furniture came.  Here it is viewed from the eating area:

And from the family room:

I've never had so much counter space.

Lentil Soup

This recipe came from one of those little Martha Stewart food magazines you see at the checkout.  I made it tonight, and even the kids liked it.  You're supposed to run your oven and make sourdough croutons, but I say "pppbbhhttt" to that.  I served it with rosemary bread toasted and rubbed with garlic along with a salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.  Very good, and very cheap!

1 tbsp. (or so) olive oil

1 med onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

2 carrots, quartered lengthwise and chopped thin crosswise

bag of lentils, picked over

2 cans vegetable or chicken broth

3 1/2 cups water

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. cayenne

Cook onion/garlic in oil for 1 minute.  Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil.  Lower heat, simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender.  (I had to cook mine for 30 minutes.)