This is one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy fresh, summer corn, and a great lesson in just how little help these sweet ears need. If you’re using perfect, peak season ears, a little butter, salt and pepper is really all you need. And no, water never counts.
In case you’re wondering why we blended half the corn at the beginning, even though we were going to blend it at the end anyway, I have a great reason for that. The first time I made this soup, it came out so perfectly delicious that I’m now afraid to change the steps.
I blended the corn, and started cooking; not knowing it would look so terrible and broken. It tasted amazing, but looked like a horrible mistake, so I ended up giving it a little blitz with the stick blender. That did the trick, and I had something that looked as gorgeous as it tasted.
Would it taste the same if you simmered the corn in the water, and then blended it all at the end? I’m not sure, but my instincts say no. By the way, if you don’t have a stick blender, you’ll have to carefully puree about half the soup in a blender (in batches if necessary), and then add it back in. I really hope you give this amazing corn soup a try soon. Enjoy!
I’m not crazy about the name for this recipe, but I honestly didn’t know what else to call it, and I blame Twitter for that. Allow me to explain. I saw a photo on there of what I thought was a burrata sitting in a pool of green gazpacho soup, but after a closer look, it turned out to be salsa verde.
That does sound pretty good, but due to the mistaken identity, I was now fixated on the idea of serving this fresh, extra-creamy mozzarella in a bowl of ice cold, cucumber and herb-based gazpacho.
Except, I wanted the cheese to be the star of the dish, with the soup acting almost as a sauce. I thought of calling it something like, “Burrata in a Swamp,” but that didn’t pass the wife test, so long story short, I went with the search engine friendly name you see at the top of the post.
I really wanted a thin, light texture to play off the gooey cheese, so I didn’t add any bread, and also strained it through a fine sieve. The gazpacho seems colder, and more intense this way, and in my opinion works better than a thicker version would. So, whether you’re going to do this with the cheese or not, I really hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredient for 4 portions “Gazpacho Verde” with Burrata:
8 ounces burrata cheese (1/4 cup per serving)
3 cups sliced English cucumber (about one large)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons picked fresh oregano leaves
1 cup packed picked basil leaves
1/4 to 1/3 cup seasoned *rice vinegar, to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup water, plus more as needed
*If using regular rice vinegar, season to taste with salt and sugar. You can also use white wine or sherry vinegar, and do the same.
You hear stracciatella often referred to as, “Italian egg drop soup,” which is fine, but knowing the name actually means little, torn rags, or shreds, works so much better metaphorically.
When you’ve been run ragged, stracciatella is always there for you. After a long, infuriating day at work, you want something fast, filling, and comforting; ideally made with ingredients you already have on hand.This is all that, and less.
Sure, you could order some unhealthy, and expensive take-out, but that’s just a shame spiral waiting to happen. Better to beat up a few eggs with some cheese, and boil up the last of that homemade chicken stock, you made using this video.
By the way, if you’re a normal person, and don’t have homemade broth in the freezer, this works perfectly well with a high-quality, packaged broth. As you eat this, hopefully with some nice crusty bread, imagine all those little “rags” floating in the bowl are all your torn-up problems, both real and imagined. They were there, and then they were gone. You just won, with soup. I hope you give this stracciatella a try soon. Enjoy!
Our grandparents called them the winter blues, but nowadays we know this condition as Seasonal Affective Disorder; a melancholy scientifically proven to be caused by shorter, darker days.
Since fall and winter are full of those, we’re going to need some coping strategies, and this hearty Tuscan bean soup is one of the more effective.There’s just something about that combo of smooth, silky soup, and crunchy, crispy croutons that makes everything seem okay.
Speaking of shorter days, this recipe is also a fantastic base for creating even more substantial weeknight meals. Things like sausage, peppers, and/or maybe a handful of greens, always works in this.
I tried a new method prepping our veggies; pureeing them instead of dicing. I thought this might save time, possibly extract more flavor, and quicken the cooking. Hey, two out of three aren’t bad! It was faster than dicing, and the soup only had to simmer for 15 minutes, but I didn’t think the flavor was quite as good as the classic diced veggies method.
Either way, this soup is delicious, and guaranteed to fog up your kitchen windows. Smiley face sold separately. I really hope you give this Tuscan bean soup a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 servings:
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic *As stated in the post, I prefer diced veggies to the ground ones I tried in the video, and if you do go for the traditional method and cut your vegetables in small cubes, you'll have to simmer you soup for about 30 minutes, or until they are sweet and very tender.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon picked thyme leaves
2 (15-oz) cans white kidney beans aka cannellini beans
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
- Garnish with fresh bread cubes fried golden in olive oil, tossed with Parmigiano Reggiano, and fresh Italian parsley.
This roasted butternut squash soup is probably my favorite fall soup of all time, which is why I’m so shocked we haven’t posted a video for it before. It’s cheap, easy, nutritious, and absolutely delicious; and should probably go into the once-a-week rotation for a few months at least.
As I mention in the video, there’s really no great reason to simmer this for an hour like I did, but I think it does help harmonize the flavors, not to mention humidify your home. A cold, rainy day just looks better through steamed-up windows.
If you’re feeling like something a bit more substantial, try this topped with a handful of crispy bacon. Of course, I wouldn’t say no to some diced ham either. Add a hard roll, and you can’t get a better autumn meal. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 6 portions:
For the sage brown butter:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6-8 large sage leaves (or a lot of tiny leaves like I used in the video)
For the soup:
3 1/2 pound butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
6 garlic cloves, peeled sage-infused brown butter
2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
6 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
