Cauliflower Soup

I just can’t eat enough soup in the winter time. It’s fun to make and most of the time it’s a guilt-free meal. I grew up eating mostly chicken based soups and chili’s, but after marrying an Italian, I got to experience a whole new spin on soup. Italians eat soup as a first course often and every region has their own way to make what we call Minestrone here. Italians also favor broths with different kinds of pasta, every kind of bean soup you can imagine and the occasional creamed vegetable soup. The following recipe falls in the last category. There’s no cream in the recipe, but the pureed potatoes give it a real rich flavor.

This recipe calls for the use of broth cubes, which are often used in Italy for soups and risotto. I prefer the natural brands that can be found in the natural foods section of the grocery store as opposed to the traditional Knorr ones that contain MSG and tons of sodium. If you really don’t want to use the cubes or don’t have any on hand, I would substitute the water with chicken or vegetable broth.

Cauliflower Soup

1 cauliflower
2 potatoes
1 clove of garlic
2 cubes of broth
6 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 tbs chopped parsley
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of milk
¼ c grated parmesan
Salt & pepper
Clean the cauliflower and divide into flowerettes. Cut the florettes into small, bit sized pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes.
In a soup pot, brown the onion in 4 tbs. of olive oil. Add the potatoes and cook 2-3 minutes on moderate heat. Add three cubs of water, milk and broth cubes and let simmer 20-25 minutes.
In the meantime, sauté the garlic, butter, parsley and cauliflower in the remaining oil. Let the mixture cook for a few minutes, then add salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 tbs of water and continue to cook over low heat.
Turn the heat off the potato mixture and puree the mixture in a blender or food processor (or with a hand blender if you have one) and return the mixture to the pot. Add the cauliflower mixture to the potato mixture and heat through. Serve immediately with grated parmesan cheese.

Recipe notes: Don’t worry too much about the size of your potatoes cubes because they just get pureed anyway. Keep the pieces of cauliflower small, otherwise it’s too awkward to eat.

Results: This is the second time I’ve made this recipe and everyone loves it. We’re talking about fights breaking out for the last spoonful kind of liking it. It’s definitely a keeper.

Lost in Translation

Now that I'm no longer in Italy, I've decided to take on a new project to satisfy my yearning for authentic Italian food. When I left Italy, I brought back the ultimate souvenir. Well, two actually. The first is my dog Pluto, who hails from the hill town of Cortona and the second is the complete encyclopedia of Italian cooking. Collecting the 16 volumes of the encyclopedia was no easy feat. Each week I had to vigilantly buy the newspaper “La Repubblica” and then spend an extra 12 Euros on the next installment. Heaven forbid that I missed a week and then I had to spend the next 2 weeks tracking down a newspaper stand that had one left. Right before we left Verona, I found a little shop that had all the issues, so I left Italy with the compete collection! Yes, I was so happy. Who know how much it cost for me to ship them back here, but I don't care, I love these books so much! They contain recipe after recipe of real Italian regional specialties. The only problem is that they are written in Italian and the measurements are in metrics. This means that every time I decide to make one of these, I have to think a little bit. I've decided this year to translate one or two recipes a week and blog about it. So far, the recipes I've made have been mostly fantastic, so let’s see how it goes....
I’m starting off with a dish I love, but have never actually made myself. It is rich and super quick to make. The recipe does include raw eggs, so be sure to use fresh and clean eggs. Any bacon can be used in this recipe, but if you can find guanciale or pancetta, it will give the recipe a more authentic recipe.
This recipe comes from Lazio region of Italy.

Spaghetti alla carbonara
¾ lb of spaghetti
7oz of pancetta or good quality natural bacon
4 eggs
4 tbs of grated pecorino (parmesan can be used in a pinch)
½ tbs olive oil
Salt & pepper
Slice the pancetta in thin strips and brown in the pan with the oil. When the strips are browned, remove from the pan and with some kitchen tongs.
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl then add the pecorino and some pepper.
In the meantime, cook the pasta in salted water. When the pasta is al dente, drain the pasta and save about ½ cup of the pasta water.
Put the spaghetti on a serving plate and add the pancetta and stir. Add the egg mixture and stir. If the mixture is too dry, add the pasta water that you saved. Stir and serve immediately.
Advice from the encyclopedia:
It is critical that you add the eggs at the right moment. If the pasta is too warm, it will cook the eggs too much (think scrambled eggs). Add the eggs at the very end and stir lightly and this will create harmonious ingredients and give the dish a creamy effect.
Serve the pasta with a dry white wine.

The Result: This was sooo good. Everyone was licking their plate, including my daughter who doesn't like eggs. The kids had no idea they were eating eggs! It was a hit, but it was really rich, so don't make the portions too big.

Try it!