Tag Archives: aleppo pepper

Tomato garlic soup with homemade pasta bits

. Pasta, Soup . , , , ,

Jon sure is spoiled! Last night he got homemade soup that included homemade pasta. Of course, he was spoiling me by doing all the cleaning. :-)

I started off by making the pasta dough in my trusty Kitchenaid mixer. I mixed semolina flour and salt with some olive oil, and then added water until a nice dough was formed. Then, I put the pasta roller attachment on the Kitchenaid and started rolling out the pasta sheets. I was actually making pasta for dinner last night and an upcoming dinner later this week, so the first half of the dough got sliced into long noodles and put aside to dry.

I have often made this soup with orzo, so I decided to slice the rest of the dough into small triangles, squares, and similar shapes. I left the sheets fairly thick, and used my ravioli roller to slice up the dough.

While the pasta bits were drying, I started the soup by mincing lots of garlic…like, really a lot (more than 1 head of garlic!!) and then sautéing the garlic over low heat in a little olive oil. I added in the Aleppo pepper, thyme, and parsley, and then veggie broth, and them left the broth to simmer for about 30 minutes.

When I started the water for the pasta, I also added peas and diced tomatoes to the broth. After everything was cooked and super fragrant, the soup was ready to serve. I put some of the yummy pasta bits in the bottom of each bowl, topping it with the broth. It is a yummy and light soup that doesn’t taste like it has that much garlic in it! Really!

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Sweet and Sour Veggies

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Sweet and Sour Veggies Over Rice

Sweet and Sour Veggies Over Rice

When I was growing up, my mom would sometimes make a sweet and sour chicken dish including peppers and pineapple that I always really enjoyed. This was one of the first dishes I learned to cook on my own, and was also one of the first dinners that I made for Jon when we started dating.

Red and Green Peppers

Red and Green Peppers

As with most of my cooking, I used the original recipe primarily as inspiration. While the brown rice was cooking, I started off by chopping red and green peppers and onions.

 

Peppers and Pineapple Sauteing

Peppers and Pineapple Sauteing

The onions sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper, basil, and aleppo pepper flakes. The chopped peppers went into the pan next, followed by pineapple chunks and some vegetarian “chicken”.

While the veggies all sauteed together, I mixed up the sauce with pineapple juice, apricot jam, and a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce.

Adding the Pineapple Apricot Sauce

Adding the Pineapple Apricot Sauce

Once the veggies were ready, I added the sauce to the pan and let it cook down a little bit to thicken and permeate the veggies with its sweet, sour, spicy goodness. To serve, I put some brown rice in each bowl and ladled over the veggies with lots of sauce. Jon remembered that it was one of the first dishes I cooked for him but said it has gotten even better with time. And of course, I thought of my mom and how glad I am that I got her love of cooking.

A Vegan Version of a Favorite Childhood Dish

A Vegan Version of a Favorite Childhood Dish

 

Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

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Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

I’ve tried making dairy-based cheeses in the past, usually with limited success…my mozzarella always seemed to turn into a ball of rubbery white goo that looked and tasted nothing like cheese! So, when I found this recipe for vegan mozzarella on Olives for Dinner, I was pretty skeptical and assumed my attempt would end up in a pizza that tasted like coconut. However, it turned out excellent! I followed the instructions to heat the coconut milk, and then mix in and whisk all the other ingredients. Once they were almost a pudding-like consistency the mixture went into the fridge to gel.

Pizza Dough Ready to be Topped!

Pizza Dough Ready to be Topped!

I started the pizza by spreading out the dough and then chopping up all my veggies, including red onions, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and some fresh basil.

Onions, Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil on the Pizza

Onions, Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil on the Pizza

After spreading out the veggies, I put a good amount of celtic sea salt, freshly ground pepper, aleppo pepper, and red pepper flakes over the veggies before adding the vegan cheese. After adding the cheese, I sprinkled a little olive oil over the pizza plus more freshly-ground pepper.

Pizza Topped with Vegan Cheese

Pizza Topped with Vegan Cheese

The pizza went into the oven for about 20 minutes, and when it came out I was shocked…the cheese was melty and bubbly looking just like real cheese! And tasting it was even better – it was warm and gooey and didn’t taste at all like coconut. I’ll definitely use this cheese recipe again; I bet it would work great in lasagna and other baked dishes!

Pizza Fresh Out of the Oven

Pizza Fresh Out of the Oven

Pappa Al Pomodoro (Tuscan Bread Soup)

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Pappa Al Pomodoro

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Yum…this is one of my favorite comfort soups combining some of my favorite things: bread, tomatoes, and white beans!

Sauteing Onions and Garlic

Sauteing Onions and Garlic

I started off with onions and garlic, of course, and let these saute in a big soup pot until they were soft and starting to brown a little bit. Then, I added in some herbs and spices…basil, red pepper flakes, aleppo pepper flakes, turmeric, and a little allspice. I know it sounds like kind of a strange combination, but it gives the soup a little spiciness and warmth.

White Navy Beans

White Navy Beans

After the spices had heated up a little bit, I added the white beans to the pot. This time I decided to use white navy beans, but I’ve also used cannellini beans in this dish. The beans gave off a little liquid, so I let them hang out to reduce the liquid before the next step.

Adding Tomatoes and Stock to the Soup

Adding Tomatoes and Stock to the Soup

Next up was my favorite part – adding the tomatoes and liquid to make it into soup! I used a combination of diced and crushed tomatoes, plus added a little bit of veggie stock until it had the right soup-like consistency and then covered it to let the soup simmer and all the flavors combine.

Bread Cubes - Defenseless Against Cats!

Bread Cubes - Defenseless Against Cats!

While the soup was simmering away, I cut up cubes of bread to add to the soup. Of course, this then meant that our cat Kaley went on “bread hunt” mode in the kitchen. For some reason, she desperately loves bread so I spent the next 15 minutes defending the counter from her assaults until the soup was ready to have the bread added.

Mixing in the Bread Cubes

Mixing in the Bread Cubes

Finally, I mixed in the bread cubes and let them soak up the soup for a few minutes. The soup was perfect with a little freshly ground pepper on top!

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Orecchiette with Simple Tomato Sauce

. Pasta . , , , , ,
Orecchiette with Tomato Sauce

Orecchiette with Tomato Sauce

I was so happy today when in Whole Foods I discovered they now have whole wheat orecchiette! Yeah! This is one of my favorite pasta shapes, but since I couldn’t find it in whole wheat I would only use it on “special” occasions. So of course I had to make it immediately (well, not in the store, but today). Hopefully they will read this and keep it in stock regularly just for me…

I decided to make a simple tomato sauce to go with the orecchiette. I started by sauteing some onions and garlic with Aleppo pepper (a wonderful slightly-spicy red chili pepper), a littler turmeric, Celtic sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.

Onions and Garlic Sauteing with Aleppo Pepper

Onions and Garlic Sauteing with Aleppo Pepper

Chopped Tomatoes

Chopped Tomatoes

Then I chopped up some baby tomatoes and added them in to the sauce. After simmering for a while, they got all melty and released all their yummy tomato juices.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Simple Tomato Sauce

My lovely orecchiette had been cooking, so I added some of the pasta water to thicken the sauce.

Orecchiette

Orecchiette

After draining the pasta, I spooned some of the sauce over the orecchiette and enjoyed the whole wheat goodness in a great pasta shape. Yummy and healthy!

Whole Wheat Orecchiette with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Whole Wheat Orecchiette with Simple Tomato Sauce - yummy and healthy!