Crockpot Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of olive oil 
1/4 cup Portuguese red wine or a dry red
1 onion chopped
1 pound tomatoes chopped
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup stelline pasta (small stars)
s+p to taste

1. When crockpot has been heated to high add oil, onions and s+p. Let the onions soften.
2. Now add tomatoes, red wine and bay leaf.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Let cook for 5-6 hours on low. If it thickens too much add water. 
5. Discard the bay leaf and blend with an immersion blender or pour into blender if you don't have one. 
6. Process until smooth.
7. Add your small pasta stars and let the soup continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. 
8. Lastly stir the milk in until combined.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Pour into bowls, garnish with the parsley, serve and enjoy!

Meatless Monday

Kale Soup with beans

Put down the chouriço everyone!! It's Meatless Mondays! You can still make your sopa de couves delicious without chouriço or pork by adding extra yummy flavors like carrots or even sweet potatoes. Experiment with your vegetables and see if you can bring a new dish to your table. 

Ingredients:

• 1 quart of water, vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 large onion, roughly diced
• 4 cloves or minced garlic 
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 4 celery stalks chopped
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 large bunch kale or collards, remove stems, wash well  and chop
• 1/2 cup  of small pasta like mini bowtie or elbow
• 1 (15 ounce) can of white or red beans
• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
• s+p to taste

Directions: 

1.  To make your own flavorful broth, begin by sauteing onions and celery with olive oil until softened, then add in your minced garlic. Saute until you start to smell the garlic. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a slow boil. Cover for 10 minutes. Remove pot from flame and with an immersion blender, blend your celery, onions and garlic until smooth and water becomes this cloudy delicious broth.  

2. Now add the rest of the water, potatoes, kale or collards and  s+p.

3. Bring to boil and cook covered for about 25 minutes.

4. Add your beans and carrots and cook for about 10 minutes. I smash half the can of beans for a thicker brother. .

5. After cooking the beans and carrots you can add your small pasta and simmer for 5-8 minutes.  

6. Taste for s+p.

Hope you Enjoy! 

Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of good olive oil 
3 garlic cloves minced or chopped 
4 medium or 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
8 cups of water, or half homemade chicken stock and half water 
1/2 pound kale or collard greens, stems removed, cut into very, very fine julienne (i end up putting half in the food processor)
Good salt:  kosher, sea salt or rock sea salt                                                                                                              Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chouriço and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the chouriço to a plate. 

 2. Add the onions into the pot and season with salt and pepper. Saute until they’re translucent and very soft. Add garlic after to prevent them from burning and cook for 2 minutes more. 

3. Add your 8 cups of liquid (I always have my electric kettle full of hot water on standby). Then drop in the potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are almost done, 15 to 20 minutes. 

4. When potatoes are almost done lower heat so that you can puree with an immersion blender. Do not puree completely. Leave them a little chunky for a more rustic comfort feel. You can also add the chouriço here to blend as well. Since I do not eat meat I add the cooked chouriço at the end and my husband gets to eat the chunks of chouriço that way.

5. Add the shredded greens and bring everything back to a boil and cook down greens for 15-20 minutes. Season with more salt, if needed, and pepper.

6. Ladle the caldo verde into bowls and enjoy.

Keep in mind when I make soup I'm only cooking for my husband and I. I always make enough for seconds with leftovers for each of us the next day. I don't make enough for a feast and left over soup in the fridge for a week. We all know our mothers are good for that. So keep that in mind with the amount of ingredients I use for soup. If you are a family of 6 and you want seconds, then double this recipe :) 

Enjoy!

Steph's Favorite

Hello my foodie friends :) 

I have so many favorite Azorean dishes, but if I had to pick one. It would be my family staple Sopa de Feijão com Couves. Translated it's Bean Soup with Greens. Soup was always an option. Traditionally that's how Azoreans ate most of their vegetables. At moms If there isn't soup on the stove, it's in the fridge. At my house I try to make soup at least twice a week. You feel better after having a bowl, even if you were feeling fine :P  It's comfort food at it's best. Here is the recipe. 



Sopa de Feijão com Couves

1 bunch 1½ lb fresh collard greens (washed, trimmed of center rib and torn into 1-2 inch pieces)
1 small onion finely chopped
3 potatoes (peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes)
¼ cup of pasta such as elbow macaroni
1 half link of Portuguese chourico and piece of pork fat for flavor
8 cups of water
¼ cup of olive oil
3 gloves of garlic, (peeled and crushed)
2 cans Red or White Kidney beans (IMPORTANT STEP - mash 1 can of beans for thicker broth. I use immersion blender)
Season with salt and pepper to taste


Place large pot over medium heat. Add whole or sliced Chourico, pork, onion with olive oil and sauté for 10 minutes. Add garlic last, you don’t want it to burn. Meat doesn’t need to cook, just release flavors. Then add just enough water to cover Chourico and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes to bring out flavors into the water to make a flavorful broth.
Prepare the greens by washing them thoroughly and tearing the leafy portions from the steams. Tear into bite size pieces into a colander to rinse. Discard stems.
Add the rest of the 8 cups of water to pot.
Add the collard greens. Cook on Medium heat for 30 minutes.
Now add diced potatoes. Continue to cook on same heat for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes test the collards. They shouldn't have a bite to them. They should be soft.
Add beans (half smashed) and pasta.  Mix thoroughly. Let simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is cooked making sure they don’t over cook as they will soften in the hot soup.
Serve with pop seco (Portuguese rolls)


In my home we omit the meat and pasta. Still tastey! Try and it out and let me know what you think