Jennifer LeBow

Jen LeBow’s Minestrone Soup Recipe

 

Let me start by saying that minestrone soup is “loose” in terms of ingredients. It always has beans and seasonal vegetables, but after that, there’s plenty of latitude, so feel free to substitute, add or subtract ingredients as you see fit.

Rinse and soak 8 oz. dried cannellini or Great Northern beans in 2 quarts water and 1 ½ t salt overnight. Reduce heat to VIGOROUS simmer and stir (uncovered) every few minutes for 1 hour.Drain. (If you don’t have time, bring 8 oz. beans to boil in 2 quarts of water, allow to boil about 5 minutes and then remove from heat, cover and let stand for an hour. If you REALLY don’t have time and want to use canned beans, you’ll need to just add them later in the cooking process so they don’t get mushy.)

In heavy pot or Dutch oven on stove top, cook on medium-high 5 minutes:

1 1/2 T EVOO

4 oz pancetta, cut into ¼” cubes

 

Add and cook 8 minutes:

2 ribs celery, cut into ½” pieces (about ¾ cup)

2 small or 1 large carrot cut into ½” pieces (about ¾ cup)

1 extra large Vidalia onion cut into ½” pieces (about 1 ½ cups) (I use a food processor)

1 medium zucchini cut into ½” pieces (about 1 cup)

 

Add and cook 2 minutes:

3 minced cloves garlic

½ small head green cabbage (about 2 cups) (I use the food processor for this, too)

 

Empty contents of pot into bowl and set aside.

 

In same pot, bring to boil:

8 oz. (dry) soaked and drained white beans

7 cups water

3 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

Parmesan cheese rind (about 5” x 2”)

(If you don’t have a block of parmesan, you can add it when you serve)

 

Add and cook 15 minutes:

reserved vegetables

2 cups chopped tomatoes, in ½” pieces

 

Remove from heat.

 

Discard bay leaf, parmesan rind

 

Add:

½ cup fresh basil, chopped

1 t dried thyme

1 ½ salt, to taste

 

Belle (my daughter) LeBow’s Nutella-stuffed sea salt cookies

My daughter, Belle, has inherited both my sweet tooth and my love of baking. Nutella is her favorite food of all time and, when she was looking for something new to try, she came across a recipe that she tweaked a little (again, shades of her mother). Below is the result and they are reaaaaaalllllly good!

 

Belle LeBow’s Nutella-stuffed sea salt cookies

Refrigerate a jar of Nutella (at least ½ a cup) and set out a bit of sea salt in a small bowl.

Melt while whisking constantly:

1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter in a pan over medium heat. Once it begins to brown, pour into bowl to cool for about 5 minutes.

 

In a standing mixer, combine:

Cooled brown butter

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

 

Add and beat til combined:

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

 

Add and beat til combined:

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/8 teaspoon of salt

 

Add and mix by hand til combined:

¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels

½ cup milk chocolate chips

½ cup butterscotch morsels

 

Divide dough into 2 balls and chill at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

 

Take out one ball of dough and roll into balls (about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough per cookie.

Flatten each and place 1 teaspoon chilled Nutella in center. Fold edges of cookie back in to reform ball. Return Nutella to the refrigerator.

 

Bake cookies 9-11 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cool on wire rack. Repeat with other dough ball and Nutella!

 

This recipe is adapted from one posted on Ambitious Kitchen.