Cooking Method: Simmering

Tomato Soup

This Tomato Soup is really delicious and so simple to make. The surprise ingredient is Acini di Pepe Pasta, which is a tiny, round pasta that translates to "seeds of pepper" in Italian, though they are much smaller than actual peppercorns. They are classified as pastina, or "little pasta," and are often used in broth-based soups like Italian Wedding Soup.

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Marcella Hazan’s Rice & Smothered Cabbage Soup

Marcella Hazan's Rice & Smothered Cabbage Soup features slow-cooked cabbage and onions. The sugar in the vegetables caramelize and become tender and sweet. You then add Italian Arborio rice and simmer it longer. Don't let the simplicity of the ingredients fool you. This soup is complex in flavor and satisfyingly comforting

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Japanese Shiitake-Butter Sticky Rice

Japanese Shiitake-Butter Sticky Rice is so easy to make because the shiitake mushrooms and carrots are steamed on top of the rice, infusing it with their flavor. The butter and miso add richness and umami.
It's a great side dish for meat, chicken, or seafood. We actually ate it on its own. You can also top it with a fried egg.

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Penne alla Vodka

This Penne alla Vodka is so easy and delicious. The penne pasta is tossed in a sauce made with vodka, tomatoes, heavy cream, and onions. The alcohol helps intensify and accentuate flavors in the dish. Apparently, after doing a little research, Penne alla Vodka fell out of fashion, though it seems to be back. Here is a bad Google-translated Italian article about the decline and resurgence of this classic dish.

Penne with vodka? Probably, there is no dish more mortified and out of fashion than the creamy pink pennette.

Finished on the shelf of the “good things of bad taste” of the 80s, along with shrimp cocktails, Russian salad and cream tortellini, penne alla vodka lived three decades ago their quarter of an hour of celebrity, and then took the path of an unstoppable decline that relegated them to a B-class dish worthy only of sleepless students or operetta cooks.

Removed for decades from the collective imagination, their infamous name has been deleted from the menus of all the restaurants in the world, condemning them to an inexorable oblivion in the face of a fault that does not seem so clear.

Yes: have we ever asked ourselves why?

Why has pink penne been forgotten, despite the fact that they can be placed, together with pizza, among the dishes 'always good even when bad'?

Anyway, vodka or non-vodka, the time to redeem the soft pink seasoning has come.

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Ratatouille Lentil Soup

This Ratatouille Lentil Soup is from Lidey Heuck's brand new fabulous cookbook. The vegetarian soup is hearty, healthy, and filling due to the protein-packed lentils. It makes a big batch that freezes really well, so you can have it at the ready on those days you are just too tired to cook.

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Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli is a classic Italian soup made with pasta, beans, and vegetables. It is a hearty soup that is perfect for a cold winter day. There are many different variations of Pasta e Fagioli, and in fact, I have three other Pasta e Fagioli recipes on this blog! This one has a creamy texture from puréeing a can of white Beans.

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Hungarian Mushroom Soup

I happen to love mushrooms and made this Hungarian Mushroom Soup. It’s so delicious and comforting. The mushrooms are sautéed in butter until softened, then simmered in broth with onions, paprika, and other spices until thickened and finished with sour cream. It takes no time to prepare and I served it with crusty bread.

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Lighthouse Inn Potatoes

Lighthouse Inn Potatoes originated at an iconic hotel and restaurant located in New London, Connecticut, which closed in 2008. Executive Chef Leon “Wally” Walden, who worked there for nearly 50 years, created Lighthouse Inn Potatoes. It is similar to scalloped potatoes, but instead of sliced potatoes he used chunks of potatoes that are cooked in light cream and butter and a bit of baking soda, which neutralizes the potatoes’ tannins and create a velvety sauce. The potatoes are topped with buttery parmesan panko breadcrumbs and baked until the bubbling and golden brown.

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Iced Berries with Limoncello White Chocolate Sauce

This rather unusual and ridiculously easy dessert is from Nigella Lawson. Iced Berries with Limoncello White Chocolate Sauce is refreshing and delicious. It is made with white chocolate, heavy cream, and limoncello, an Italian lemon-flavored liqueur. The sauce is then poured over a bed of frozen mixed berries. I know it sounds a bit weird, but it's really good. 

By Leslie Blythe

Sweet Potato and Sage Tian

This Sweet Potato and Sage Tian is made with thinly sliced sweet potatoes, sage leaves, garlic, and cream. The ingredients are layered in a baking dish and then baked until the sweet potatoes are tender and the cream is thickened. This is a dish that is deeply rooted in Provençal cuisine. It is often served during fall and winter when sweet potatoes are in season. The tian is a symbol of Provençal hospitality and is often served at family gatherings and special occasions.

By Leslie Blythe