potato, leek and sorrel soup

in an effort to use all of the veggies from my csa, i made a soup tonight that contains 4 different items from this week's haul.  its turned out quite nicely, and i'm going to freeze most of it (sans dairy).  the soup was complemented nicely with a hearty rye bread.

1 tablespoon butter

2 slices bacon - chopped

1 medium onion - diced

1/2 cup carrots - diced

1 leek - sliced

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon flour

1 quart chicken stock

1 cup water

1 lb potatoes - diced in 1 inch cubes

1 bunch red sorrel (seen at right) - cut off stems and slice thinly

2-3 sprigs summer savory

cream (approx 1 tablespoon to 1 cup soup)

parmesan - grated to top soup

melt butter in large pot, add bacon, onions, carrots and cumin.  saute over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.  add leeks and saute until leeks are soft.  salt and pepper to taste.  add flour, stirring constantly until flour dissipates into the mixture.

add chicken stock, water, potatoes and summer savory.  cook over medium heat until potatoes are cooked approx halfway through.  at this point, add the sorrel, salt and pepper to taste, and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are soft.  

let soup cool and puree the mixture.  prepare soup to order:  cook over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon cream per 1 cup soup (or more if desired).  top with grated parmesan.  enjoy!

veggie & goat cheese lasagna

its been a fun summer (a little too fun for blogs posts) and i've been making good use of my csa veggies.  just before taking a two week trip (food photos to come), i was becoming buried in summer squash.  i also had to empty the fridge before the trip.  this lasagna is a result of using only ingredients (excepting the noodles) that i already had in the fridge.  the result was delicious. 

3 cups marinara

3 lbs summer squash - sliced

1 cup onion - diced

2 leeks - sliced and sauted in 1 tablespoon butter

8 ounces ricotta

8 ounces goat cheese - room temperature

1 egg

2 tablespoons fresh parsley - chopped

bechamel sauce (1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup cream)

8 ounces whole wheat lasanga noodles - cooked

to prepare bechamel sauce:

melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat, gradually add flour to melted butter, stirred constantly to blend flour into butter.  once all flour has been blended, cook on low for 2-3 minutes.  slowly add cream to mixture, and cook on low for 3-5 minutes.  remove from heat, blend with 3 cups marinara (makes a pink-ish orange sauce).

to prepare squash:

in 1 tablespoon butter, saute diced onion until glistening.  add squash, salt & pepper.  saute for 3-5 minutes over medium heat (do not over cook).

to prepare cheese mixture:

add ricotta, goat cheese, parsley and egg; mix well 

to layer lasagna:

spoon thin layer of marinara/bechamel sauce on the bottom of the pan and top with noodles, then layer, sauce, leeks, squash, cheese mixture, noodles, sauce, etc.  top the casserole with cheese sauce.  bake at 350 degree for 45 minutes to an hour.  let cool, slice and enjoy!