I meant to make this soup and post about a couple of weeks back, but well, that never happened. I finally got around to making it but now that it's not shavuot I don't really need to associate every dish with the smallest bit of shredded cheese as being "dairy in honour of the holiday."
This is another recipe from Kraft's What's Cooking magazine. This latest spring issue is actually quite good. There are 3 recipes in there that I have already made. The Spring Pesto Pasta was great. This Minute Minestrone is great. And the Sesame Noodles were also quite good. I didn't bother blogging about them because I didn't take pictures, and I'm on a dairy kick and the only thing dairy about those noodles is that there isn't any meat in them. Maybe I'll write about them some other time. I've just recently received the summer issue but I haven't had a chance to look through it and make anything from it yet.
The Kraft magazine has a $3.95 price tag on it, though I can't imagine who possibly would pay for it or where you would buy it. I've just checked out the Kraft website and I'm actually not sure that you can sign up for this magazine anymore anyway. They've got another magazine that you have to pay to subscribe to. Maybe I just keep receiving this one because I signed up for it long ago. I hope they never stop sending it, unlike the free Glow magazine I used to get from Shoppers Drug Mart. Yes, it was another long ad for the store, however ... there were some good articles and it was a good way for me to read up about various products. I really liked getting it and was quite sad when it stopped coming my way.
So back to the minestrone ... it's not that I didn't know how to make this before hand. But this is a great version because it's so quick and easy. The recipe in the magazine calls for chicken in the soup which obviously we can't have, but still ... this is a great easy base to work with. You can put in different veggies for a change. And really, the whole thing is quite healthy ... what with its whole wheat pasta and beans!
4 cups vegetables (I used corn, peas and carrots [all we had today that wasn't already earmarked for other things... you'd think it was winter here or something!])
1 1/2 900 mL cartons vegetable broth
1 can 596 mL diced tomatoes
1 can 540 mL white beans, well rinsed
1 1/2 cup whole wheat rotini
1 cup shredded mozzarella
salt, pepper, basil, and oregano to taste. I also put in some garlic and onion powder because we somehow had neither fresh in the house.
Step 1: Combine all ingredients except cheese in a saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring occasionally.
Step 2: Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until pasta is tender.
Step 3: Serve topped with cheese.
I'm not bothering with pictures of this soup, there's nothing to show but suffice it to say that it was delicious and Zvi and I gobbled up our bowls.
Continuing on with our week of dairy meals in honour of Shavuot, this recipe is adapted from Kraft's What's Cooking Magazine. I know most of the magazine is an ad for Kraft products ... but I still love receiving it in the mail. Sometimes there are really great recipes included, and if not, it's still great getting a magazine in the mail - especially a free one!
I pretty much tripled this recipe to use the entire package of fettuccine. I don't like making only 2-4 servings at a time usually. Not that Zvi and I like to eat the same thing every day, but it's great having enough to feed guests when they come by. I also really prefer to make a lot of a few things so we have variety and the ability to choose what we eat throughout the week.
This pasta dish was quite good and very simple to make. I usually cook with less pre-made ingredients, but the truth is that making my own cream sauce would not only have cost more money and taken more time, it probably would have been a lot more fattening as well. I would have used my own vegetable broth if I was in the habit of keeping some around, but I'm not. I usually just make my own broth as I'm making soup and I never really put aside any extra for using later on. Maybe I should.
1 900g package of fettuccine
1 bundle asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
1 container herb and garlic cream cheese
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cups pesto parmesan dressing
2 cups frozen peas
chopped basil for garnish
Step 1: Cook pasta as per package instructions. Add asparagus during the last minute. Drain and set aside in large bowl.
Step 2: Over medium heat, cook cream cheese, broth and dressing. Cook until sauce begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Stir in peas and cook for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Add sauce to pasta. Mix thoroughly.
Step 4: Top with basil. Enjoy.
In honour of Shavuot, I've decided to make a number of dairy meals this week. The first of many was an amazingly delicious braided lemon cheese loaf that I saw on smittenkitchen. It was pretty easy to make, though I did appreciate Zvi taking Bayla outside with him while he was digging holes around the arbour for our new clematis vines. I was working on a pasta dish at the same time (which I'll write about another time) and so it would've been difficult juggling playing with Bayla as well. This loaf is not overly sweet, making it perfect for a light dessert or even breakfast. Smitten mentioned wanting to try it again with a filling other than lemon curd, and I agree ... from the moment I tasted it I started dreaming about how good it would taste made with fresh juicy peaches later in the summer. Cherries would also be delicious ... probably any berry actually and now that I'm thinking about it ... strawberry-rhubarb would no doubt be incredible as it would have that same sweet/sour taste as the lemon curd. But I digress, the cream cheese lemon flavour is amazing and Zvi and I are really enjoying our pre-Shavuout dairy treat.
Don't be frightened of the many components in this recipe. There are many elements, but none of them are difficult to make. Just take it one step at a time and you'll be very grateful that you did!
Sponge
6 tbsp warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Dough
Sponge
6 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
2 eggs, 1 beaten for dough, 1 beaten with water for brushing
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
sugar and poppy seeds for sprinkling
Cream Cheese Filling
1/3 cup softened cream cheese
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
Lemon Curd
3 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Step 1: Make Sponge. Combine sponge ingredients. Stir well. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Make Dough. Combine dough ingredients and mix with a stand mixer, first using the paddle attachment and then the dough hook. Knead for about 5 minutes until dough is soft and smooth. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Dough should be nearly doubled in size.
Step 3: Make Lemon Curd. Here 's a great tip for squeezing lemon juice without getting any pits. In a saucepan, over low heat, whisk together lemon curd ingredients. Whisk frequently until curd has thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer lemon curd to bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. You'll only need 1/4 cup of lemon curd for this recipe but you'll have almost 1/2 cup. Enjoy the remainder with some toast, some yogurt, or just lick it up from the bowl. Mmmm mmmm good!
Step 4: Make Cream Cheese Filling. Combine all filling ingredients. Mix until smooth.
Step 5: Assemble Loaf. Gently punch down dough. Roll it out on a well floured surface into a large rectangle, about the size of your baking sheet. Transfer dough to parchment paper lined baking sheet. Gently mark 3 equal columns lengthwise in the dough. Spread cream cheese filling over the center section, leaving about an inch at the top and bottom uncovered. Spread lemon curd over the cream cheese. Cut an equal number of 1 inch strips on either side of the loaf. Be careful not to cut through the parchment paper like I did. I used a sharp knife, a bench scraper probably would have been wiser.
Step 6: Braid Loaf. Remove 4 corner segments. Fold top down and bottom up. Overlap strips on opposite sides of the loaf working your way down. You can tuck the last few strips under the loaf or just press them into the bottom like I did. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about an hour.
Step 7: Bake Loaf. Brush loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar and poppy seeds. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375F. Loaf should be golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting into it, giving the cheese some time to cool.
Step 8: Enjoy. Try not to eat the whole loaf at once ... seriously, it's that good!
