Italian soup Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Hooray for Rao

March 10, 2020

About 5 months ago, Rao rolled out 6 new Italian-style soups. Their award-winning sauces are terrific, but how about the soups?

See Your Soup Before You Buy It

I like to keep soup on hand. Preferably, homemade and tucked away in the freezer. But I also keep a few canned soups in the cabinet for those times when I’m feeling a bit peckish and in need of a quick picker-upper.

When I was in Straubs recently I ran onto a new soup—at least, new to me. Rao is now making a line of soups in glass jars. You can see the colorful vegetables floating around in the broth. No can opener needed.

A Long, Careful Reach

On my tippy toes, I reached for the Minestrone that was on the top shelf. This took a bit of doing. Once upon a time, I was 5′ 5 l/2″ tall. But overtime I’ve condensed to 5′ 3 1/2″. I miss those two inches at times such as these. I reached up carefully, hugging the jar to my bosom as I transferred it to the grocery cart. I was tempted to get another variety, but decided to leave well enough along.

I checked out with equal caution. I recall having once spilled a packet of fresh blueberries. There were hundreds of those little blue orbs. When they hit the floor, they spread faster than the Coronavirus.

Of the six soups, Rao’s Italian Wedding Soup, appeared to be the favorite of reviewers. It’s next on my list to try.

Checking Out

As I placed the jar carefully on the conveyor belt, I turned on my best imitation of Hyacinth Bucket and said, “Do be careful with my Rao’s Made-for-Home Italian-Style Vegetable Minestrone.” (Which I said without taking a breath.) He looked at me the way the postman looked at Hyacinth when she asked why she hadn’t received an invitation to the Queen’s garden party. Even so, the clerk gently placed the jar in a paper bag to itself.

Being Ever So Careful

I carefully placed my bags in the back of the car and once in the garage, I loaded everything into the grocery cart that serves the condo. So far so good. Upon reaching the kitchen, my Rao’s Made-for-Home Italian-Style Vegetable Minestrone was the first item I unpacked. I placed it gently in the cabinet. But the glass-jarred soup looked so out of place alongside all those canned goods. So I decided to have it for lunch.

Rao’s Made-for-Home Italian-Style Vegetable Minestrone

Home Free?

Once the soup was separated from its jar, I felt a sigh of relief. After it warmed nicely, I transferred the soup into a bowl and sat down to enjoy. It really looked like homemade minestrone—much like what I make from scratch. Even the taste reminded me of my recipe. Ah, what a great discovery! Buoyed by my success, I determined to try the other varieties as well. I congratulated myself for such a great find and my care in getting the first jar home intact.

About that time my iPhone rang. I jumped up to answer and when I did. . . . well, you know what happened. My soup and floor met a grim fate. Or as La Fontaine once said, “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”

Soup Weather and Time for a Pot of Minestrone

November 2, 2019

Staring into the pot makes the soup cook faster—so I learned from the kitchen diva, Lucy Van Pelt 🙂

As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, I think about heading South. Or pulling out my goose-down comforter. Or buying a new winter coat. I also think of making a big pot of soup and that’s what I did this week. One of my favorites: Italian Minestrone.

A Pot of Veggies and Noodles to Warm the Innards

As I pulled out the ingredients I had on hand, I was missing the noodles I prefer. So when Robin called, I asked where she was.

“I’m in the car,” she said.

“Hmm . . . . might you be anywhere near The Hill?” I asked hopefully. I was delighted, when she said yes.

“I need a special noodle for the Minestrone I’m making,” I said. “I like tubetti, the short tubular noodle, but I’m all out. I can never find them in the grocery stores near me.”

Robin to the Rescue

Robin showed up a while later with five varieties of noodles! I stuck with the tubetti and we divvied up the remainder. In gratitude for the home delivery, I promised to share the soup with her when it was finished.

With noodles in hand, I was back to soup making. I love this merry medley of vegetables (onions, leek, carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, spinach, and tomatoes), but chopping them takes about 45 minutes. I need a sou chef. Hmm. . . I should have invited Robin to stay around for my “chopping party.”

A small dash of balsamic vinegar and a topping of Parmesan add a flavor boost.

Pointers That Add Flavor

There’s a couple of things I do with this soup (or any vegetable soup) to give more depth of flavor. I add a Parmesan cheese rind—a trick I learned from Italian cookbook maven Marcella Hazan. I keep them in the freezer just for soup making. I’ve noticed they sell them at the grocery now. Like a bay leaf, you remove the rind from the soup before serving.

I also saute the vegetables before adding the broth and tomatoes. In the end, goes the spinach and noodles.

Marcella Hazan’s classic cookbook is considered the most authentic guide to Italian food ever published in the U.S. Her recipe for Minestrone is much like the one I use, though she adds cabbage and beans.

While I’m Here . . .

While I had the kitchen in a mess, I made and froze a batch of Italian Meatballs. I get about 25 meatballs from the recipe, that calls for merely one pound of meat (a mix of ground beef and pork). Amazing!

It’s the panade (bread soaked in milk) that plumps up the ingredients and makes the meatballs smoother. I’m thinking that a freezer sack of meatballs will come in handy for those extra meals during the Thanksgiving holidays.