Cappelletti: Our Family Tradition/ updated video

 I decided that today was the day I was starting to make the Cappelletti for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.. 

Today’s Cappelletti 12/8/2024 sampling a few.  Yummy!

Growing up they were a wonderful addition to our Turkey dinner.  Mom spent hours making them and usually made anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 of those little pasta filled caps..

 I remember my grandmother making them and how it was expected that this tradition would be continued on Thanksgiving.

Fortunately Mom, until recently, she's 88, had kept it up.. 

She had learned that making them and freezing them would be the answer to the exhaustion that was felt trying to make enough to make everyone happy.. 

Today I am happily carrying on the tradition with my daughter (Susan)at my side helping.. 

We serve them in homemade chicken soup and I  make that ahead of time as well to ease the stress of the day so I can enjoy the holiday as well..  

I Hope you enjoy this recipe.. I know I had promised it and I hold true to a promise made... Happy Cooking!

My Italian handy Food Companion explains them as:

Cappelletti:  small pasta hats (ka-pel-ett-ee) similar to tortellini( stuffed with a variety of fillings)

We chose the below recipe:  Some use cooked chicken chopped in place of ground meat

Filling:

1 ½ lb. Ground chuck(or beef and pork)

1 can tomato paste (optional)it was in grandma’s traditional recipe)

1 can water

¼ tsp. Cinnamon

¼ tsp. Nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 ½ cups breadcrumbs

½ cup Pecorino cheese grated

1 egg beaten

By adding the tomato paste it gives your filling a slight red color

In a medium pan sauté chuck (beef) in small amount of oil..

 Season with salt and pepper. 

Add 1 can tomato paste, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1 can water while cooking slowly..

 Remove from heat, add breadcrumbs, cheese and egg.  Mix thoroughly..

Cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

Pasta Dough ( double or triple recipe)

2 ½ cups flour

3 eggs @ room temperature

dash salt

shot glass water or less

shot glass oil or less

In your upright stand mixer add eggs, pinch of salt and water.  Mix.  Using dough hook slowly add flour until a ball forms.  Remove place on a slightly floured cutting board and work dough with hands until a soft ball is formed.

Cut dough in sections and press down to be able to slide into your pasta Machine.  Set on 2 than 3 then 4..

After dough is mixed take from mixer and put on floured cutting board. (I use an acrylic board)

Mix together with hands into it forms into a ball

Slice in sections and press slightly so it will go into pasta machine easily

I start with #2 and proceed to 3(my pasta machine reading) on side of machine

Easily goes through

Cut into small sections.  I had doubled the recipe and I made 300 cappelletti's.. I bagged the rest of the filling in small bags and froze..(approx 5 bags)I will make them between now and Thanksgiving..

Fold in half and then , twist the pasta between index and forefinger, crossing hands and pressing pasta ends together..

I place cappelletti on cookie sheet and freeze until set .

Place cappelletti after frozen in bag and put in freezer until ready to use..Bon appetite!

Happy Holidays from my kitchen to yours,


M.j.

10/26/11

Tuscan bean soup, my version!

My version of a recipe I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1tablespoon butter

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped celery 

1/4 cup chopped carrot

1/4 cup minced or chopped onion 

1/4 cup chopped spinach

1-15 oz can chicken broth 

1- can butter beans drained

1- 4 oz. Tomato sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

Sauté onion carrots , onions, celery and garlic in vegetable oil and butter.  When tender add tomato sauce, chicken broth beans and spinach.  Slowly Add heavy cream and Cook slowly until

Slightly thickened.  It’s delicious!

Note: next time I’d add another can of beans to make the consistency to my liking.

It is delicious !

Short cut cream of chicken and vegetable soup

Soup time.  Whether we are ready or not Fall will be here soon  and there is always time for soup .

I decided today to try and make this soup easier than I have before.

32 oz. Chicken broth

1/2 cup each chopped carrots, celery and onions

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

I tablespoon butter

One half  of a 10 oz. Package frozen corn

1small potato cubed

One half of a package of frozen green beans

1cup acne de Pepe uncooked

1 small can cream of chicken soup 

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tsp. Salt

1tsp. Pepper 

Frozen chopped spinach optional 

1cup rotisserie chicken shredded 

Sauté carrots, celery and onions in vegetable oil and butter until slightly soft.

On medium heat Add chicken broth and one can cream of chicken soup.  Wisk until blended.

Add parsley, salt and pepper.

Add frozen or fresh vegetables. Cook on medium heat for approximately I hour or less.  Add 1cup acne de Pepe or your favorite small noodle.  Cook until tender and then serve.  Optional bread and butter and side salad.

Enjoy!

This soup was very tasty and even better the next day! Yum!!

Easy Macaroni Soup!

Todays macaroni soup I added a little extra elbows so it’s pretty thick. ****  If necessary when it’s reheated I may add a little extra chicken or beef broth. Updated photo. 4/1/2024

Any day is a good day for this soup! Kiddo's will love this back to school recipe and it's so easy!

I've caught a "cold" and a bit under the weather so this Macaroni Soup will hit the spot for me.  I'm re-posting my blog post from last winter if you haven't checked it out.  A great dish for anytime but it hits the spot when you have a cold.  I add a little red pepper to it to open up those sinuses. Enjoy!

 I'm back in the kitchen and I totally surprised myself.  I thought I wouldn't touch a pot or pan for a week..  Guess I overlooked the fact that there weren't any leftovers so today I heard the weather guy say rain changing to snow in our forecast so soup's on..Macaroni soup that is!!!!

This recipe is one I have made and it's very easy...It's a basic recipe which takes no time to put together to warm you up on a chilly day.  You can add extra black pepper to spice it up..

Happy Cooking!

  

 1 lb. beef ground (I use 85 % ) so It'll give your soup good flavor..If you are worried about fat content use 90 %+.
1/4 +tsp. onion powder
1/4 +tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. parsley

1/2 tsp. Basil
1- 15 oz. can Hunts Sauce
1- large 32 oz. Beef Broth

1- large 32 oz. Chicken broth 
****1/2 lb. + elbow macaroni cooked rinsed and drained 
****salt and pepper to taste
grated Italian cheese


In a medium to large pot place about 3 tablespoon canola oil , add  ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder,  parsley, basil ,salt and pepper.  Saute until slightly browned....After browning, add sauce and beef and chicken broth. Cook over medium heat for approximately 30 minutes..Add cooked elbow macaroni and grated cheese....(for a thicker soup add extra pasta)  Note:  Do not overcook elbow pasta.

Note:  cook pasta separately (drain, rinse and cover in a bowl)if you like a more broth like soup and add the desired amount to broth. 

From my kitchen to yours,

9/16/12

1/19/16
8/21/16

10/4/2017

Mom’s Potato soup

Making Potato Soup on a very cold day!

Every now and again I get a craving for the way my mom made potato soup. It's quite simple and so delicious.  There are many days I think of my mom and feel so grateful for her sharing her passion and  love for baking and cooking to me.  I hope I am helping a lot of young and older people who have a passion for good home cooked food.

This recipe is a guesstimate because she never gave me the actual recipe written down. I decided to do exactly what I remember on those oh so good soup days.

She always made a pot of chicken or beef soup once a week and it usually was Monday(laundry day).

I pretty much do the same and I remember her pot was a big and I mean big stock pot.  She always used mostly thighs and breasts but did use (the pic of the chic) which contained legs too as I recall or even she'd cut up a whole chicken.  Note:  She always had extra broth which she would freeze for another day.

I will simplify my recipe as there are only two of us.  

2  to 3 lb.  bone in chicken breasts and thighs.(Bone in makes the broth hearty).
Celery tops (green tops and a few pieces( don’t skimp).  You can cut the whole top from the celery bunch.

Fresh or dried parsley (optional)
1 medium onion
Several cleaned carrots

2 tablespoons Better than Boulion or you can add chicken or beef broth for more flavor.
Salt (a few Tablespoons) depending on your taste.
At least 6 cups water or more (fill a Dutch oven or stock pot to a reasonable amount with water).  Enough to have chicken immersed completely in the water.

In a large Dutch oven or stock pot in COLD WATER place all ingredients.  Cook on medium heat until chicken starts to fall off bone. That will be several hours.  Note:  Use a crockpot for convenience and you can allow it to cook for at least 6 hours on low heat or 4 hours on high heat.

After chicken is cooked (mine will usually fall of bone)  Remove chicken, carrots, onion and celery from broth/soup.  Cut carrots in small pieces. Remove chicken from bone and allow to cool.   Discard the rest.  After cooled cut chicken in cubes or shred.  Mine usually shreds.  If you have too much chicken I would use the rest for chicken salad or I have frozen cooked chicken in freezer for later use.  Use a large freezer storage bag or wrap in clear wrap and aluminum foil and label it cooked chicken.  

Note:  I have found cooked chicken is handy to have in the freezer.  I have used it in casseroles and actually made chicken salad with it later.  
 

After chicken is STRAINED I cut up two medium potatoes and add to broth(you could CUBE potatoes and cook separately and drain while you are cleaning chicken parts.  They will need to be cooked in broth until tender.  I have found to like my potatoes for this soup cooked separately and added to broth after I have thickened it.

   Speaking of thickening the soup/broth.  Here's how I do it.  I melt several (at least 2 TO 4 Tablespoons butter in a small pot.  Once the butter has completely melted I add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and a ladle of the chicken broth to the pot while whisking until incorporated.  It'll be like a smooth thicker liquid.  Once I have done that I add that mixture to the pot of broth making sure to keep stirring until butter/flour mixture has blended in soup.

Next I add the potatoes, carrots and chicken to the slightly thickened soup. Keep stirring and allow everything to heat to a slight boil and serve.

Please note:  I refer to soup/broth.  They are both the same.

If you desire you can use an immersion blender and puree it for a thicker consistency.  I would not puree the carrots with it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I also hope it was clear for you to understand.  I can get a little wordy at times trying to explain my recipes.  Enjoy!!

NOTE: make sure you strain your soup before you thicken it

9/24/19

Shortcut cheeseburger soup

This was a very delicious shortcut recipe that I’m sure you can make with other brands of Tomato soup.  I happened to have Costco’s creamy tomato soup

on hand so I used it as my base.

 

 

Going to put either the toast on the bottom or top of this soup when I serve it.

Shortcut cheeseburger soup.

Ground beef fry until browned thoroughly.(1/2 lb. Works fine)

Add tomato soup (1quart)(Costco) and 1 cup milk.  ( you can add less but this soup was a bit salty).  After it boils for about 10 minutes add American cheese (I added 6 to 8 slices) and I’ll pour the soup into my bowl and top it with a nicely browned slice of Texas toast.   You can use plain croutons if you prefer.

**** I think a thicker crustier bread is your best choice imo.

Easy and delicious!

Enjoy!

Healthy white minestrone

I had seen this recipe on Eating well .com and was really curious about the taste as it was a white minestrone and different than any minestrone recipe I had made; so today I went grocery shopping for ingredients.

I had my homemade chicken broth so I used it otherwise I would have used what this recipe called for in broth 

I will put an asterisk next to how I adapted this recipe to my liking.  I only used one zucchini and as far as seasoning cut back to 1 tsp. Thyme and I tablespoon of cider vinegar because I just wasn’t sure of what boost it would give to the soup.  Having said that I would follow the recipe as is the next time.  It was really delicious.

     

     
           

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 medium leeks, trimmed, washed ) and thinly sliced( note: I watched a video as how to thoroughly clean and cut the leeks)

• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth

• 1 cup water

• *1 large red potato, diced(white)

• *2 teaspoons dried thyme( I used one)

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• *½ cup whole-wheat orzo(I used wheat instant rice at the end and allowed to sit 5 minutes without stirring )

• 1 -15-ounce can white beans, rinsed

• *2 medium zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced( I used one zucchini)

• *1 pound fresh spinach, stems removed(I used 1/2 bag frozen spinach rinsed )

• *2 tablespoons cider vinegar(I used one)

• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add broth, water, potato, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 5 

Minutes.

1. Add orzo and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 5 minutes. Add beans and zucchini and continue to cook, partially covered, until the vegetables and pasta are tender, about 8 minutes more.

2. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season the soup with vinegar. Ladle into bowls and garnish with Parmesan.

   Delish!

   Enjoy!