Escarole and Bean Soup

Here's a recipe for one of the easiest soups to make in the world: Escarole and Bean Soup. The biggest burden is cleaning the escarole. I recommend filling a large bowl with water. Remove the core from the escarole by cutting the head in half. Place the half flat on your board. Cut the core out by making a V with your knife. Ditch the core and the dodgy outer leaves. Place the separated escarole leaves in the water. Let rest for about five minutes. Drain in a colander. Repeat, and repeat again. Yes, three times should be the charm.

This soup can be frozen for later usage. It holds up just fine.

Escarole doesn't get all the glory that spinach and kale receive, but it is packed with vitamins and it works really well in soups. Plus, it totally reminds me of my amazing grandmother, so yeah, it's a winner in my book.

Escarole and Bean Soup
Makes 6-8 servings

1 medium head of escarole, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 19 ounce can Cento cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 inch piece of prima donna or parmigiano cheese
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, heat up olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for about three minutes.

Add escarole. Let escarole wilt for about five minutes.

Add the beans, broth, water, cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Simmer partially covered for 20-30 minutes. Serve with grated cheese. A drizzle of olive oil and some bread are also really nice with this.

Translation

OMG. So I feel like a huge dork.

The reason?

Italian Wedding Soup and what it means.

Last night, while watching Sarah Palin do the Sean Hannity interview and the Top Chefs do the Top Chef thang, I said to The Husband, “I must know why Italian wedding soup is called Italian wedding soup. It’s not like they’ve ever served it at the 5 billion Italian weddings we’ve attended.” I was bundled up in a blankie and surrounded by six cookbooks and the new fab J. Crew catalogue, none of which were giving me answers.

The Husband grasped at some straws. “Maybe they served it at weddings a long, long time ago?” he offered, turning back to his newspaper and Sean.

I kept researching, because when I need to know something, I NEED TO KNOW!

Yeah, I’m a bit obsessive.

But, behold the trusty Internets came to the rescue.

So according to a few food Web sites, Italian wedding soup is just a dumb American mistranslation of the Italian phrase, “minestra maritata.” Minestra is the Italian word for soup; maritata stands for married. But the “married” bit refers to the yummy, fantabulous union of greens such as escarole or chard or spinach and meat, which are featured in the delish soup.

The name has absolutely nothing to do with vows and receptions and chicken dances and bridesmaid dresses from hell.

Who knew?

Well, I’m sure really smart foodie people knew.

But little ole’ me had no idear.

Anyways, I wanted to know this info because I was prepping to make my Suzie version of minestra maritata, which I like saying way more than Italian wedding soup.

So from now on, minestra maritata stands.

Yeah, I’m sure the pronunciation is being botched by yours truly.

See what one year of high school Italian, three years of high school French and four years of college Italian get ya?

Absolutely no skill at all in pronouncing foreign words.

Yay! This is really helpful on all my world travels. They LOVED me in Paris and my deer-in-headlights response, “Parlez vous anglais? Me dumb American.”

Truth be told it’s probably my fault: I’m quasi deaf from genetics and constant piano playing and blaring Bon Jovi and U2 and Pearl Jam in my Mustang as a teen and dancing to Duran Duran and Madonna with the volume turned ALL THE WAY UP when MTV actually played videos as a kiddie. And, I can barely pronounce words in English. When people talk foreign to me it’s as if Charlie Brown’s teachers have descended into real life right before my eyes….. or really bad ears.

So….

Yeah.

On to the soup…

I put tortellini in my soup to make it more substantial. Usually, you use acini di pepi, which are super tiny pasta. I brought a huge vat of the soup in question over to my sister Michele’s for her fam. Hope they dig it!

Be sure to thoroughly wash your greens.

Escarole and Meatball Soup aka Minestra Maritata

For the meatballs:
1 lb. ground chuck or sirloin
2 extra-large eggs
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

For the soup:
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large or 2 small bay leaves
1 head escarole, cleaned and shredded
½ pound tortellini or ¾ cup fav soup pasta
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large bowl or a clean sink with water. Place escarole leaves in water. Wait five minutes. Drain and repeat. Shred into 1/2 inch strips.

Make the meatball mixture:
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with your hands. Don’t overmix! Let mixture sit for about 15-20 minutes.

For the soup:
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion, carrots, celery and bay leaf for five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add broth and water. Bring to a boil.

Lower heat to medium so that soup simmers. Cook veggies for about 20 minutes.

Roll meatballs with a 3/4 inch circumference.

Add meatballs into soup pot. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add escarole. Cover pot with lid. Cook for 15 minutes.

Add tortellini. Cook for 20 minutes.

Serve with parmesan cheese and Italian bread.

Makes about 10 to 12 servings.

Best Soup Ever

I love the fall.

Simply because when the weather turns chilly it’s time to make soup.

You thought my adoration of autumn was based on football starting, didn’t you?

Ha ha.

Truth be told I would rather watch hours of static on the TV than subject myself to football. But, go Eagles! Or, I guess I should say, “Go Redskins,” since that’s the team Mark digs, which I still don’t understand considering he is a lifelong South Jersey resident.

Anyhoo, one chilly night this week, when the husband was working crazy late (It’s the life of a newspaper man), I whipped up my famous Tortellini and Escarole Soup.

It is fabulous. I highly recommend it, which is why I’m sharing it with you.

Since Mark was doing his daily grind at the office, I took the photo this go-around.

Mark said it was a keeper. Yay!

As a side note, my dad has run a photo lab for like my entire life and yet, I take the worst pictures ever. But I keep trying. As I tell my piano students when they miss a note, “You gotta keep trying.”

Fortunately, my husband is a mac daddy photog. Unfortunately, he works approximately 70 hours a week, so sometimes a blogging gal has to take the pics herself.

If you've never tasted escarole or pancetta (key ingredients of said soup), you really should give them a whirl. Keep an open mind when cooking. That’s my rule of thumb.

Pancetta is similar to bacon, but it isn't smoked. You could substitute bacon, but I think the pancetta has a more subtle flavor. If pancetta isn't carried in your local grocery and you have to resort to buying it at a fancy pants market or online, you can freeze what you don't use. Again, just like bacon. In my parts of the world, Bagliani's on 12th Street in Hammonton carries awesome pancetta.

Make sure you wash your escarole really well. When you get a head of escarole, peel off the outer layer, chop off the core and separate the leaves into a big bowl or clean sink filled with water. Swish the water around and let the leaves chill out. Dump the water and repeat. I know – it’s a process. But seriously, do you want dirt in your food? I don’t think so.

I cut the escarole into strips for the soup. When you put the leaves in the pot, it appears that you have enough escarole for a small army, but it wilts down. Give it time.

Tortellini and Escarole Soup

2 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ cup pancetta, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 (15-ounce) can of cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained (I like Goya)
1 head of escarole, washed well and shredded.
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I like Swanson)
3 cups water
½ lb. cheese tortellini
Salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and brown for a few minutes. Add onion carrots and garlic. Cook for a few more minutes until fragrant. Add beans, escarole, broth and water. Season with salt and pepper. Increase heat so that mixture comes to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Add tortellini and cook until heated through.

Serve with parmesan cheese and Italian bread.