COOKING CLASS OHIO

There's a soup swap in Irvington on Wednesday. I created a simple soup to bring. The rule was you had to use at least one local ingredient. I used dried herbs and powders because during the Indiana winter, I find the fresh stuff to not be very "green" in the sense that they're generally trucked in for hundreds or thousands of miles. You could add more veggies (tomatoes, carrots, etc.) but this is what I had on-hand.

Ingredient list:
refrigerated tortellini-1 package
cannellini beans-1 can
Italian sausage (my local item)-1 raw link
fresh spinach-a handful or 2
tomato paste (Red Gold...also "local")-1 can
parmesan cheese-to taste
Italian herbs, seasonings-to taste

Note there is no added salt, and that most of the protein comes from from the beans NOT the sausage...which is more for flavor. Only 4-5 oz. of sausage were used to make about 3 quarts of soup. The cheese adds the salty flavor boost. The entire process takes less than 30 minutes.

1-boil water (maybe 6 cups?) in a large pot and add the tomato paste to it...stir to blend
2-cook the sausage in a skillet (if it's in a link, remove the casing), break it up into small pieces
3-drain the fat off the sausage, and add the cooked sausage to the tomato broth
4-add the (drained) cannellini beans and the package of tortellini, continue to gently boil
5-season the soup generously with onion powder, garlic powder, fresh cracked pepper, Italian herb seasoning, red pepper flakes (if desired), distressed/ground celery seed
6-add 1-2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves alongside the seasonings, stir, and simmer for 2-3 more minutes
7-ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with freshly grated (or the green canister type) parmesan cheese

French Onion Soup

2 white or yellow onions, sliced thin
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp white wine approx.
? tsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
4 cups beef broth or water with 1 bullion cube
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 cup mozz cheese
? cup parmesan
? cup asiago cheese
Stale sourdough bread, cubed

Cook the onions with the butter on medium low heat for 10-20 minutes (should carmelize and turn a golden color). Add the white wine, sugar, and cook a few more minutes.

Whisk the flour in with the broth so it doesn't clump and pour the broth mixture in, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes (more if you feel like it, but I was hungry).

Pour the soup into small oven safe dishes and put the bread on top of the soup, cover with the cheeses and either bake at 400* until the cheese browns, or broil it.