"In & Out of the Kitchen in Fifteen Minutes or Less" by Anne Willan - Fifteen-Minute Minestrone

Date I made this recipe:  November 30, 2015

In & Out of the Kitchen in Fifteen Minutes or Less by Anne Willan

Published by:  Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

ISBN:  0-8478-1013-2

Recipe:  Fifteen-Minute Minestrone – p. 48

Even though my husband and I didn't come even close to stuffing ourselves this Thanksgiving, I was still in the mood for something quick, easy and refreshing and found it in this Fifteen-Minute Minestrone recipe from Anne Willan's cookbook.  Oddly enough, only two recipes in this book – the minestrone and a "Fifteen-Minute Fire Pot" – are the only two recipes in the book with a fifteen-minute moniker.  Not that this means anything, you understand, because all the recipes she included take "fifteen minutes or less"  of your time in the kitchen or the book wouldn't be named what it was named. At least we hope.  But do note, that while the recipes themselves may take a while to cook (like, e.g. the Roasted Root Vegetables with Nut recipe (p. 100) that takes 45-55 minutes, she fully intends for you to limit your time in the kitchen so as to relax, possibly with a glass of wine, while the oven does all the work. 

I must confess that I wasn't quite sure a minestrone soup made in fifteen minutes would come up to my high standards but I am happy to tell you it was delicious.  And we just felt so very healthy eating it to boot! 

I probably never should have doubted Anne Willan's prowess in the kitchen but I am ashamed to say that I did, even if for a brief moment.  I met Anne several years ago at a book signing and at that time, I knew of her from her work at The Greenbriar Hotel and Resort in West Virginia.  Not that I've ever eaten there, mind you, but I passed by it twice on travels through West Virginia. 

This cookbook has a nice variety of recipes, from fish to pastas, salads and the like.  All the photos looked pretty mouthwatering and if the taste of the minestrone was anything to go by, flavor is not lacking at all in these dishes.  I like that – fast and flavorful!  And if you really want to save time, each recipe contains an At-A-Glance set of truncated instructions should you not want to read the entire thing.

That said – you will need to allocate more than 15 minutes of your time to make the minestrone as there is some chopping and dicing to be done. Once you get that out of the way, the rest of the job involves opening cans and if it takes you more than 15 minutes to open cans, you need a new can opener!

Were it not for the fact that I limit myself to making only one recipe per cookbook one time only, I would certainly add this to my "make again" list. 

Fifteen-Minute Minestrone – serves 4

1 bay leaf

1 leek

3 celery stalks

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-ounce slice of country ham (Ann's note:  I bought a thick slice of ham from my grocery store's deli.  If you use non-deli ham, trim the sides to remove any excess fat.)

1 garlic clove

2 small zucchini

Salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup pasta bows (uncooked)

1 small can of plum tomatoes (8-ounce)

1 small can of white kidney beans (8-ounce)

R sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley, to decorate

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

At-A Glance Instructions (full instructions are included)

Bring 1 quart water to boil with bay leaf in large covered soup pot.

Slice leeks and celery and wash.  Heat oil in frying pan, add sliced vegetables with pepper, and cover with foil.  Cook gently until soft.

Meanwhile, dice ham and add to pan.  Peel and chop garlic and add.

Trim, quarter, and slice zucchini.  Add to pot of boiling water some [freshly ground] pepper.  Stir in pasta and cover pan.

Drain tomatoes and add juice to soup.  Coarsely chop tomatoes then add.  Stir in beans, then add vegetables, ham, and garlic.

Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer 3-4 minutes.

Adjust seasoning, spoon into bowls, and top with parsley sprigs.  Served grated Parmesan separately.

"Perfect Soups" by Anne Willan - German Split Pea Soup

Date I made this recipe: November 9, 2008

Perfect Soups by Anne Willan
Published by: DK Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 0-7894-2853-9 © 1994, 1998
Recipe: German Split Pea Soup – p. 86-89

Well this week, I was, as my mother used to say, “busy, busy, busy,” such that I didn’t have time until now (almost a week later) to post this recipe for German Split Pea Soup.

As far as pea soups go, my mother was the standard-bearer for how split pea soup should be: as thick as all get-out, such that a spoon could stand by itself if necessary. Mom’s recipe was simple, calling for peas, carrots, onion, potatoes and one ham bone (as opposed to ham hock), usually left over from a ham Sunday dinner.

By comparison, the pea soup served by my grade school, Sacred Heart Catholic School, is a shining example of something that should never be called pea soup, much less soup. Sacred Heart’s version was ground peas (yes, if “split” peas are good, pulverized peas were better) and water. Thirty eight years after being served my last bowl of that slop, I still have nightmares. (And so it’s amazing that I made this recipe!)

This recipe falls somewhere in between greatness and disaster. The soup wasn’t overly thick or thin but there were issues. First and foremost was the fact that despite extending the cooking time by at least another hour, the peas never softened up and in all the years I’ve been making pea soup, that’s a head-scratcher. The cookbook author gives you the option of soaking the peas in cold water for eight hours in order to shorten the cooking time, but never before have I experienced problems with peas. It might be because I used green split peas instead of yellow (I couldn’t find yellow) but I doubt it.

Next was the general lack of flavor of the soup. My mother’s was robust but here, even with the addition of dark beer, the flavors fell short. The ham hock added some flavor but not much and my husband was not overly impressed with the frankfurters. So I don’t know—you might try experimenting with it and maybe add some additional spices to see what happens…or you might be fine with it the way it is. It’s not that we snubbed it in favor of other foods because we at it to the last drop (probably because my mother's voice was in my head admonishing me against wasting food!) but it could have been way better.

Anne included "how to" photos in her book that I must say helped quite a bit because my diced vegetables were exquisite. Left to my own devices, I likely would have been a lot more cavalier with the whole thing.

Finally, I didn’t realize until I was dicing vegetables and watching my Packers play that I had subconsciously selected a green pea…or yellow pea soup recipe for the annual Packer/Viking game. (Green and gold are Packer colors). But alas, it didn’t help as my Packers lost by 1 point having missed a last-minute field goal. That’s okay, we beat them earlier in the season so now we’re even-steven! Perhaps if my Packers had just had some hearty soup in advance of playing things might have been different. Food for thought (pun intended!)

German Split Pea Soup – Serves 6-8
Work Time – 35-40 minutes; Cooking Time 2-2 ¼ hours (or longer)

2 large onions
½ lb carrots
½ lb potatoes
½ lb rutabaga
2 celery stalks
1 cup dried yellow peas
3 whole cloves
1 bouquet garni, made with 5-6 parsley stems, 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and 1 bay leaf
1 smoked ham hock, weighing about 1 lb
1 quart water, more if needed
2 cups dark beer
Salt and pepper
½ lb frankfurters
1 medium bunch of parsley
1 tsp mustard powder

Peel the onions and trim the tops, leaving a little of the roots. Chop into a small dice.

Peel the carrots and trim off the ends. Cut each carrot across into 2-inch pieces. Cut each piece lengthwise into ¼-inch slices. Stack the slices and cut them into 4-6 strips together and cut into dice.

Peel the potatoes and follow the directions above for dicing; same with the rutabaga.

Peel the strings from the celery with the vegetable peeler. Cut the stalks lengthwise into ¼-inch strips, then crosswise into a dice.

Put the split peas into a strainer and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Pick over and discard any stones. Leave the split peas to drain.

Assemble the bouquet garni using a cheese cloth and string. The author says to tuck the cloves into the string tied around the bouquet garni but it seemed easier just to include them in the cheese cloth packet and call it a day.

Combine the diced vegetables and split peas in a casserole and add the ham hock, water, bouquet garni, dark beer, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Skim off the scum that rises to the surface, then cover, and simmer until the split peas are very tender, 2-2 ¼ hours (Or not as I found out! After 3 ¼ hours, I still had some not-so-tender peas on my hands but we were starving and so I gave up!) Stir the soup from time to time and add more water if it seems too thick.

Meanwhile, using a chef’s knife cut the frankfurter into ½-inch slices on the diagonal. If you are going to add chopped parsley as a garnish, chop them now and reserve until the very last minute.

Put the mustard powder into a small bowl. Spoon in 1-2 T of the hot soup liquid and stir together well until the mustard powder has dissolved completely. Reserve.

Remove the ham hock and bouquet garni from the casserole. Let the ham cool slightly, then pull of any meat and chop coarsely, discarding any skin and fat. Return the ham to the soup.

Add the frankfurters and cook gently without boiling until they are heated through, 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the mustard mixture and most of the chopped parsley. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary.