Friday, 10/8/2010

We've been sick for 5-6 days now.  We should be on the mend, but Katie is the only one who seems to have made any real progress yet.  In fact, Katie and I picked Ben up from work early, because he wasn't feeling well.  When it came time for dinner, I made comfort food--Italian Sub Stoup with Garlic Toast Floaters.  My friend Jamie sent this Rachael Ray recipe to us several years ago and we are very thankful she did.  It is definitely one of our favorite soups.  And, just to clarify, it is calls a stoup: thicker than a soup, thinner than a stew. 

ITALIAN SUB STOUP with GARLIC TOAST FLOATERS

Stoup Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (twice around the pan)
3/4 pound (3 links) hot or sweet Italian sausage, split and meat removed from casing
1/4 pound pepperoni, diced
1 ham steak, diced (about 1/2 to 3/4 pound)
1 green bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, quartered and sliced
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups gemelli pasta or other short-cut pasta

Crouton Ingredients:
1/4 cup for croutons
5 cups cubed crusty bread
3 large cloves garlic, cracked from skin
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 bunches arugula, trimmed and coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)

Directions:
1.  Place a large soup pot or dutch oven on the stove top and preheat to medium high heat. Add olive oil, 2 turns of the pan and the sausage. Brown and crumble the sausage, drain off excess fat if necessary then add the ham and pepperoni. Cook meats together 2 minutes then add peppers and onions and cook 2 or 3 minutes more. Add diced tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken stock and bring stoup to a boil. Stir in pasta and cook for 8 minutes. Make croutons while pasta cooks.
2.  In a large skillet heat about 1/4 cup of olive oil, 4 turns of the pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add bread to garlic oil, toss and toast the cubes 5 or 6 minutes. Season the toasty cubes with red pepper flakes, oregano and lots of grated cheese.
3.  Stir arugula into soup just before you serve it up. Ladle up the stoup and float several toasty garlic bread cubes in each bowl.

Notes:

1.  The very first time we made this stoup, we added the arugula.  The problem was that we didn't eat all of the stoup the first night and yet we had added in all the arugula.  It was soggy and gross to eat after the first meal.  So, if you plan on using arugula, I would recommend adding arugula to each bowl as you go, rather than adding in the entire amount to the large pot. We usually just skip this ingredient. 

2.  I always use some kind of spiral noodle in this stoup.  The original recipe I received called for 1 cup of pasta.  We doubled it to 2 cups.  The most current recipe on the Food Network calls for a 1/2 pound of pasta.  I definitely don't think it needs 1/2 a pound.  1-2 cups should be plenty! 

3.  The recipe says to add kosher salt to taste.  I find that the meats provide plenty of salt.  Definitely taste it before dumping in any salt. 

4.  In the past year I've had a difficult time finding decent pepperoni sticks in the grocery stores I shop. When I haven't been able to find pepperoni sticks, I have substituted with prosciutto or dry salami.  Although the other meats work fine, I prefer the flavor of the pepperoni.  Tonight I used thin slices of pepperoni, like the kind you would used on a pizza.  It was just fine. 

5.  This makes enough for 6-7 generous bowls of stoup.  Now, the croutons are a different matter.  The recipe says that 5 cups of bread cubes is enough for 4 bowls of soup.  I'm sure that is true if you limit yourself to what is reasonable.  Ben and I like them too much to spread them out that far:)  I usually end up making new croutons each night we have the stoup.