With all of this cold weather, this is the time of year to make good wholesome comfort food at home. With the help of a lot of seasonal vegetables and a little extra time on my hands, I have been putting together some really awesome meals. The first is Ribollita, a tuscan inspired soup. Tuscany is known, amongst other things, for their unsalted bread. So this Ribolita is basically a minestrone soup with some chunks of sourdough bread thrown in. It makes for a nice hearty meal on a winter day. Its loaded with cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, cannelini beans, spinach and basil. Top it off with some shaved parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. It really is an amazing soup. Next time though, I am going to substitute the spinach for Tuscan Kale.
Next up is a middle eastern/greekish dish known as Moussaka. Its a beautiful casserole, traditionally layered with a meat and tomato sauce, eggplant and an egg custard on top. The spices especially bring out the flavor of this dish – hints of cinnamon and fresh grated nutmeg. We substituted Yves Meatless Ground Round for the ground lamb or beef that you would typically put in it.
Finally, I made a vegetable pot pie filled with fennel, onion, sweet peas, carrots, potato, and mushrooms. I also added a little rosemary which created some nice aromatics.
