Cooking for Two - Bruce Weinstein [8]
One 14 ½-ounce can chicken stock (regular, low-fat, or nonfat, but preferably lowsodium)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage, or ¼ teaspoon rubbed sage
One 15-ounce can Great Northern beans, or other white beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1 ounce)
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Loosely wrap the garlic cloves in a small piece of aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes, or until quite soft and sweet-smelling. Open the packet and set aside to cool.
2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Swirl in the oil, add the pancetta, and sauté for 2 minutes, or until just browned and frizzled at the edges, stirring frequently. Toss in the onion and cook for 3 minutes, or until pale but very fragrant, stirring often.
3. Add the escarole and cook only for about 1 minute, just until the greens begin to wilt, tossing them occasionally with two wooden spoons or tongs. Stir in the stock and sage, then raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reserve ¼ cup of the beans in a small bowl; stir the remainder into the soup. Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, squeeze the garlic pulp from its papery hulls into the bowl with the reserved beans. Discard the hulls. Mash the pulp and beans with a fork until smooth. Alternatively, place the reserved beans and the roasted garlic pulp in a mini food processor and pulse 5 or 6 times, or until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. After the soup has cooked for 20 minutes, stir a small amount of the soup broth (say, ½ cup) into the bean-garlic purée, just to dissolve it, then stir this mixture back into the soup, along with the grated cheese. Stir just until the cheese melts, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions
Top each bowl with 1 tablespoon chopped, pitted black olives, or a small amount of purchased caponata (Sicilian eggplant salad). Since both olives and caponata can be quite salty, reduce the amount of salt in the soup to teaspoon, or none at all.
Place a toasted round of bread in each bowl before adding the soup. For a richer soup, drizzle each toasted round with extra-virgin olive oil before placing them in the bowls.
Crack 2 large eggs into small custard cups or teacups. After you swirl in the garlic purée, but before you add the cheese, slip the eggs into the soup. Cover and continue cooking over low heat for 3 minutes, or until the eggs are poached. Gently ladle the soup and one egg into each serving bowl, then top each bowl with half the cheese. Season with salt and pepper before serving.
CELERY ROOT AND ALMOND SOUP with ROASTED SHALLOTS makes 2 servings
This is a creamy soup, based on a standard served in Parisian bistros, but thickened with ground almonds. It’s a sumptuous soup because of the celery root (also called celeriac), a globular root from a variety of stalk celery, prized for its powerful celery taste with parsley overtones. Look for a celery root that is firm, compact, and spherical (the latter to make peeling it easier). A vegetable peeler will remove most of the leathery skin, but use a paring knife to cut out the deeper crevasses.
½ cup sliced blanched almonds
4 medium shallots, peeled
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
One 14½-ounce can chicken stock (regular, low-fat, or nonfat, but preferably lowsodium)
2 tablespoons dry vermouth or white wine
1 small celery root (about 12 ounces), peeled, then cut into a ½-inch dice
cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, optional
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast them for about 6 minutes, or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. Remove them from the oven, but maintain its temperature.
2. Place the shallots