Italian Sub Stoup with Garlic Toast Floaters

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:
We've made this meal dozens of times and love it each time. It is just the taste of fall for Ben and me. I measured out the stoup tonight and found that it yields nine 1.5 cup servings, approx 375 calories per serving before croutons.  I set aside two servings and froze the rest. 

The crouton recipe above is how we usually make them. Tonight I wanted to just make only enough croutons for this meal.  I got a mini boule of sourdough bread and cut enough to give us each a half serving. I lined a toaster oven pan with foil, sprayed it generously with olive oil cooking spray. After adding the cubed bread, I sprayed the bread with the oil and broiled until crispy, turning once. I tossed the crispy bread with 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 1/8 dried oregano, and 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan. The calorie count was definitely lower since I didn't try to saute the croutons in oil. 

I'm sure that in the past we have each eaten a good two cups of stoup and at least a full serving of croutons each. At the end of the meal, Ben and I were feeling full and pleased to have a few more calories left in our day for wine.  

Katie has lived more than 4 years without trying soup. Just wasn't interested. Tonight I pulled out the good old Campbell's chicken noodle soup and she agreed to try. She probably ate one noodle an inch long and gagged. She psyched herself into thinking that it would be awful. I drained the broth for her, but she still wouldn't give it another try.  So, she went to bed without dinner tonight. She wasn't in trouble, but noodles and chicken were her only dinner option. Thankfully for Katie, we have PEPS tomorrow night so she doesn't have to try it again tomorrow. Kyle spit out a mouthful of noodles, but was willing to eat them one or two at a time. He pounded two squeeze pouches of veggies and fruit.

Sunday, 1/23/2011

We played a game of refrigerator roulette tonight.  I finished off the last of the Italian sub stoup with a slice of toasted bread.  Ben ate the last of the chicken cutlets and a slice of toast to soak up the delicious sauce it was cooked in.  Katie had a piece of toast and applesauce.  Well, at least we have room in the fridge for tomorrow's groceries:)

Sunday, 1/16/2011

We had our third helping of this week's batch of Italian Sub Stoup while watching the Golden Globes this evening.  Nothing new to report on the stoup, but I have to say, many of the dresses worn to the award show were quite ugly in my opinion;)

The big accomplishment of the day was that we managed to get our new treadmill upstairs, thanks to the help of Ben's brother, Spencer.  I could go into lots of details about what went as planned and what didn't, but the bottom line is that we got it up there.  It was heavy and made us sweat a lot.  I can't wait to start using it!

Thursday, 1/13/2011

Tonight we had our second serving of this week's batch of Italian Sub Stoup.  It was still tasty and delicious:) 

Monday, 1/10/2011

I made a stop at the grocery store yesterday on my way home from a rehearsal.  I was going to pick up just a couple things, but ended up buying enough to make a few meals.  Snow is predicted this week and I just don't want to have to go out if I don't have to.  I decided to make Italian Sub Stoup for a couple of our meals this week.  Thankfully, I remembered all the ingredients:)  This afternoon Katie played nicely by herself and let me get it prepared before Ben got home.  She just isn't into soups; so, it was just for me and Ben.  

This was the first time we have had it without the garlic toast floaters.  After two months of holiday carbs, we are trying to limit our bread intake. Instead of seasoning croutons with red pepper flakes, oregano, and parmesan cheese, I just added that mixture to the top of each bowl of soup.  The yummy croutons were missed, but the stoup was still delicious. 

Sunday, 10/10/2010

Happy 10/10/10!  We finished off the Italian Sub Stoup tonight.  Last night I used up all of the sourdough bread I was using for the croutons.  I picked up a small loaf of asiago cheese bread to use for tonight's meal.  It was much too soft inside to cut up for croutons.  Instead, I sliced the loaf lengthwise, spread on butter, and sprinkled the halves with parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and garlic powder.  I then broiled them until the cheese melted and got a bit crispy.  It was a tasty alternative to the sourdough bread, although not preferred.

Saturday, 10/9/2010

Today was an awesome day.  From start to finish, it was simply a great day.  Here's what I did and enjoyed.

• Ate breakfast at the Alki Bakery with Ben and Katie.  The chocolate chunk, pumpkin muffin and orange cream cheese coffee cake were delicious.
• Played on the beach in the rocks with Katie.
• Finished the vocal recording for my upcoming CD "Favorite Things".
• Listened to the almost finished CD with Ben and Bron, my friend and producer.  It is so close to being done!  Katie napped the entire time:)
• Waited in the car for the rain to break with Ben.  Our good friend Nancy watched Katie for us.  Thanks Nancy!
• Stood in the rain for a photo shoot.  Ben was my photographer.  We got a great shot for the back cover!
• We saw a full rainbow stretch out over Downtown Seattle while we were outside.  What an awesome reminder of God's promises.
• Ate dinner with my family at home. We had our second meal of Italian Sub Stoup tonight.  I have been using a loaf of sourdough bread to make the croutons.  It has been the perfect consistency for toasting and floating in the stoup.  Yummm:)
• Watched "It's Complicated" with Ben after putting Katie down for the night.  It was a good movie and worth the watch. 

I love days like today!

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.