PASTA E FAJIOLI

PASTA E FAJIOLI

                           

My grandmother always saved prosciutto ends for her recipe and my aunt always used smoked ham hocks.  If you can get a prosciutto end, use one and then add two smoked ham hocks.  This will give you wonderful flavor.  If you have a butcher who makes his/her own Italian flavored sausage, use that.  You need a very large slow cooker for this soup.  

Ingredients:



1 bag of yellow eye beans (dry)

1 large onion (diced)

half a bunch of celery, with leaves (diced)

3 or 4 fresh carrots (diced)

2 ham hocks and one prosciutto end or three smoked ham hocks

six Italian sausages

1 head of garlic, chopped finely

1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes (with basil)

2 cans of San Marzano tomato paste

1 can of beef consommé

12 ounces of chicken broth

1 large can of cannelloni beans

1 large can of red kidney beans

1 cup of peccarino romano cheese

2 cups of cooked macaroni (traditionally tubettini)

salt and pepper to taste

The night before you make this hearty soup, soak the yellow eye beans in cold water.  This will prepare them for the soup.  You need to pick through the entire batch of beans, discarding any beans that look bad.  If you find pebbles or leaves, discard them also.  Add a teaspoon of baking soda (this helps eliminate intestinal gas).  Also, if you have no cooked pasta, cook the pasta (tubettini) but undercook by three minutes.  (Refrigerate the cooked pasta until needed.)

Before putting all the ingredients in the slow cooker, rinse the beans in cold water.

Put all ingredients in the slow cooker except for the canned beans and pasta.   Before serving time, nuke the pasta and beans just on the warm-up setting of your microwave.  Add the pasta and beans to the slowcooker.

Many cooks add fresh basil but since the tomatoes have basil, adding fresh basil may be too much. 

  

Serve with a good loaf of Italian bread and plenty of freshly grated parmigianno regianno.  (One of my cousins prefers the taste of pecorino romano cheese so this is a personal choice.  You can get both imported cheeses at most markets or order online.  The longer this soup simmers, the better it tastes.  It freezes very well just remove any bones before freezing.  

A Perfect Summer Cake

Baking a perfect cake for a summer outing depends on great ingredients and allowing the baking time without distractions.  This cake requires focus and attention but is not difficult to make.  You can create a wonderful summer dessert if you follow the directions carefully.  Almost all the ingredients are already in your pantry or refrigerator.  Although this cake contains liquor, you can substitute juice if you don't want alcohol in your cake.  

Preheat oven to 350F

Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 cup of sour cream

3 to 4 eggs

1 pkg. of instant pudding mix (I use either white chocolate or cream cheese pudding mix)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil 

1 cup of liquid (equal parts of orange juice, Triple Sec and vodka)

1 tsp. of grated dried orange peel

Spray a bundt pan generously with Pam.  Sift a little of the cake mix into the pan, coating all sides and the middle.  Put the remaining cake mix back into your mixing bowl.  

I love using a mixing bowl with a pour spout for delicate cakes.  Put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix well with an electric mixer.  You can substitute Grand Marnier for the Triple Sec or orange juice for the entire cup of liquid required for this cake.  The batter can take more liquid than normal because of the instant pudding mix.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.    Allow the cake to cool completely (at least two hours) before removing from the pan.  

Decorating the cake:

Finishing this cake can be as plain and simple as sifting confectioner's sugar over the top and placing fresh raspberries on it.  You can make a chocolate ganache (this pairs well with orange) or a raspberry coulis...