I’m going to keep rolling with the soup recipes to help keep ya’ll warm in this cold Midwest winter!  This squash soup is one of my all-time favorites, it has just the right combination of hearty and healthy with just a bit of indulgence thrown in with the bacon and cream.

If you enjoy the recipe please let me know, and post your photos!

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

6 slices bacon
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes
2 Granny Smith apples 
2 pounds butternut squash
6 cups chicken stock or broth
4 cloves garlic, minced 
4 springs of fresh thyme, bundled, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Garnish:
Greek yogurt
Diced scallions
Bacon

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 425 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the ends of the squash off and then cut in half lengthwise, then use a spoon to remove the seeds. Place squash on the sheet and drizzle each half with just enough olive oil to lightly coat it on the inside. Rub the oil over the inside of the squash and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
2. Turn the squash face down and roast until it is tender and completely cooked through, about 45 to 50 minutes. Set the squash aside until it’s cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Then use a large spoon to scoop the butternut squash flesh into a bowl and discard the tough skin.
3. Cook bacon in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, then transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, reserving  the fat in pot. 
4. Cook the leek, carrot and onion in fat in the pot over low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
5. While vegetables are cooking, chop the potatoes and peel and core the apples and coarsely chop.
6. Stir in chopped squash, potato, apple, stock, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into onion and carrot mixture, then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Puree soup in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender.
8. Add cream, thyme and apple cider vinegar to pureed soup and simmer on low, covered, for 30 minutes.  Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve soup topped with Greek yogurt, chopped bacon, and diced scallions

This is one of my all time favorite and ever-evolving soup recipes, but I think I've finally nailed it down to share with you here! Hearty, healthy and warming, this soup is the perfect starter course for any Italian meal!

The first step is getting the soup going, here are the ingredients and directions for the soup, to follow will be the recipe for the meatballs, which you can prep and sear while the soup is simmering for time efficiency. 

(Serves 6)

Ingredients 

2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
6 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 (16 oz) cans white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 (32 oz) cartons of chicken broth, OR buy a rotisserie chicken and boil it for 45 minutes and strain it to make your own broth, this is my preferred method!  It adds depth and richness to the soup.
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 springs fresh thyme 
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced, OR 1 bag of prepared spinach, rinsed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Directions

1.  In a large saucepan, heat butter on medium heat. Saute onion in butter for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently to sweat the onion, then add carrots and celery and saute for an additional 5 minutes, adding a few pinches of salt and pepper about halfway through. Add garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, continually stirring. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Add beans, chicken broth, pepper, thyme and parsley . Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for 15 minutes.
   
   (During the simmer is when you will prepare and sear the meatballs, see recipe below)
   
   
2.  With slotted spoon, remove half of the bean and vegetable mixture from soup and set aside in a bowl.
3.  In blender at low speed or with an immersion blender in the pot, blend remaining soup in small batches until smooth, Once blended pour soup back into stock pot and stir in reserved beans and vegetables.

    4.  Add your seared meatballs and bring to a boil, occasionally stirring. This will finish cooking your meatballs                 and add more flavor to the soup. Stir in spinach and cook 5 minutes or until   spinach is wilted. Stir in lemon             juice and parmesan cheese.  Let rest with a lid on to let the flavors marry.
​    5.  Taste for salt and pepper and add as needed, serve in bowls with a few meatballs each and top with more               parmesan cheese.  This soup is also great made ahead of time, just allow to cool and store in the fridge up to           2 days in advance.  Enjoy!


Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken 
1 egg
1/2 cup italian style breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced 
1 shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper 
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon grape-seed or canola oil, for searing

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand, roll into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.
2. In a large non-stick or cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering, then add the meatballs in batches, turning as they begin to brown.  You want to get a good sear on all sides of the meatballs so they stay together and add texture to the soup, but they don't' need to cook all the way through as they will finish cooking in the soup.  Once all are nice and seared, set them aside and continue soup recipe at step 2. 

Hope you all enjoy this recipe, please leave comments or photos of you soup if you'd like!

BEEF BOLOGNESE RECIPE

While I like to develop my own recipes whenever possible, sometimes the best recipes come from the masters and you just have to accept there isn't much more you can do to improve upon them. Bolognese is one of my favorite dishes of all time, and Marcella Hazan has the best version of this classic I've ever made.

The only variation I make to this bolognese recipe is adding 6 cloves of freshly minced garlic.  I like to serve this sauce over freshly made pasta, but store bought is great as well, I'd suggest a pasta with a lot of surface area or hollow pasta so the sauce has something to adhere to.  I make mine with fresh linguine, but you can use store bought penne or fusilli as well.  As with all pasta dishes, but sure to cook your pasta al dente and add the hot pasta with the hot sauce and mix well to allow some of the sauce to absorb into the pasta. 

If you make it, leave your photos or reactions to the dish in the comments, I'd love to see them!

From "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan 
YIELD: 4-6people
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1⁄2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
3⁄4 pound ground beef chuck Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk Whole nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1-1⁄2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, torn into pieces, with juice
1-1⁄4 to 1-1⁄2 pounds pasta (preferably spaghetti), cooked and drained
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese at the table
PREPARATION
1. Put oil, 3 tablespoons butter and chopped onion in a heavy 3-1⁄2-quart pot and turn heat to medium. Cook and stir onion until it has become translucent, then add chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat well.

2. Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble meat with a fork, stir well and cook until beef has lost its raw, red color.

3. Add milk and let simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon, fresh nutmeg and stir.

4. Add wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated. Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down so that sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through the surface.

5. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it will begin to dry out and the fat will separate from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add 1⁄2 cup water as necessary. At the end of cooking, however, the water should be completely evaporated and the fat should separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

6. Add remaining tablespoon butter to the hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.