anyways, every so often i'd stray from the pizza tradition and get a lasagna. the lasagna would come in it's own personal little dish that it was baked in. the sauce had a really great slow cooked beefy texture, and i especially liked this particular lasagna because it came without ricotta. i've never been a fan of ricotta.
while the lasagna was always delicious, the best part about ordering it was that before it came to your table you'd get a warm, garlicy, buttery roll, the best green salad with the most perfectly tart italian dressing you've ever tasted and some bomb minestrone soup.
i don't quite know what kind of rolls our friend served. i can't figure out how to make a dressing so delicious and sour and peppery, but i make a goddamn excellent knock off of that ridiculously good minestrone.
i'll go ahead and call it "loaded minestrone" to denote that there's a little more going on in there than in the minestrone you might be used to. but it's super good, super easy and super quick to make. i can't stress the ease and tastiness of this enough. the only dishes you dirty are your knife, your cutting board and a pot, for crying out loud.i serve it at our christmas parties and people flip their freaking lids over it. i can't wait for it to cool down so i can start making this again. i think van will love it too.
 |
| wish i had a more delicious looking photo... |
loaded minestrone soup
serves many. probably 8 big servings.
2 containers of chicken stock (or veggie. whatever)
1 large can of diced tomatoes with juice
1 can of kidney or lima beans ( i like lima)
1 zucchini diced
1-2 carrots diced
1 potato diced
handful of small pasta (little shells or little elbows)
1 small onion, diced up small
several cloves of garlic
olive oil
s/p
3 heaping tablespoons of dried oregano/italian herbs
heat some olive oil in your nice big soup pot. add your onions. after a couple minutes when onions are looking a little soft, add your garlic, carrots, potato and zucchini. sprinkle all contents of your pot with salt, pepper and italian seasoning. stir this mixture all up for a few minutes.
add your cans of stuff. don't throw out the juice. dump it all in there!
bring to a boil. when your carrots and potatoes seem almost soft enough to eat, toss in a handful of your small pasta.
once pasta is cooked and veggies are soft it's dinnertime. i like to serve mine with some good quality oven toasted bread and grated parm.
