Zuppa di orzo (Italian Barley Soup)

There are certain food blogs that bring back memories of the food my Mom would make for dinner. One of those blogs is Memorie di Angelina. The writer's Nonna is from the Campania region of Naples. My Nonna was from the Benevento region. That is so exciting for me. I feel like the recipes on the blog are as close to cooking like my Nonna as I can get.

Tonight we had Zuppa di orzo (Italian Barley Soup). This is comfort food at it's best.
Click here for the recipe. And spend some time reading through the other recipe s at Memorie di Angelina. You will be bookmarking quite a few of them.

Barley Soup and Black-Pepper Breadsticks

For Christmas, Chris gave me a copy of Lidia's Commonsense Italian Cooking. I love Lidia. Her cookbooks always fun to read and filled with recipes that I want to try. The first recipe I tried from this book was Barley Soup.

Perfect for this time of year when it is just so darn cold. I made the whole recipe and have a couple of portion tucked away in the freezer.

And a sneak preview- We are eating at Becco on Saturday!!!!

From Lidia's Commonsense Italian Cooking, Barley Soup

(serves 8 or more)
Ingredients -
2 smoked ham hocks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups peeled, cubed russet potatoes
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 pound split peas. rinsed
3 cups barley, rinsed
12 ounces baby spinach
2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Method -
Put the ham hock in a saucepan, and cover them with water. Bring to a simmer, and simmer for 10 minutes to remove some saltiness. Drain and rinse.
In a large soup pot, over medium heat, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes, and saute until they being to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery, and saute until everything is coated with oil. Add 8 quarts of water, the split peas and the ham hocks, and bring to a rapid simmer. Simmer, uncovered until the peas have broken down, about 45 minutes.
Add the barley, and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. The split peas should be broken down and have made the soup thick and creamy at this point. Add the spinach, corn and salt and simmer until the spinach is tender, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

With the soup we had Black-Pepper Breadsticks. I found the recipe on the Food and Wine site. They tasted just like Frezels, little black pepper crackers my mom made. I am not sure I have the spelling correct on that. I will have to check with my sister.

From Food and Wine, Black-Pepper Breadsticks

Ingredients -
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (about 1 1/2 envelopes)
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons bread flour
3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
4 teaspoons kosher or Maldon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Method -
Preheat the oven to 350° and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, yeast and 2 tablespoons of the flour and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 3 cups of flour along with the shortening, salt and pepper and knead at medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 7 to 8 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface and divide it into fourths. Cut each quarter into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-by-1/2-inch rope. Using a knife, trim the breadsticks to 8 inches; arrange on the baking sheets and bake for about 45 minutes, until golden and firm, shifting the pans halfway through baking. Transfer the breadsticks to racks and let cool before serving.

Soup with Bread & Fontina Pasticiatta

Have you checked out the new Lidia's Italy site. You will find alot of good recipes. Tonight we had Soup with Bread and Fontina pasticiatta. It was like onion soup without the onions. It's a combination of chicken broth and cheese sandwich made with Fontina. Of course it was delicious. This sounds confusing. Just click the link on above and I am sure you would love this as much as we did!

I also made what might be a side dish for Thanksgiving. I found Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Feta Pie on Foodbuzz and gave it a try. This could be the winner for Thanksgiving side dish. It was simple to prepare. And it was very flavorful.

Barley Soup

Turning to page 139 of La Cucina we find the recipe for tonight's dinner, Minestra Di Orzo or Barley Soup 1. There are 5 Barley Soups recipes in the book. This one is from the Valle D'Aosta region. Another simple and delicious meal. I love this cookbook!

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 leek, cut in thin strips
1 medium, cut in thin strips
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot grated
1/2 cup Pearl Barley
1 bay leaf

Method
Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add the leek and onion and cook until the leek begins to soften. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes, then cover with boiling water. When the mixture returns to a boil, add the barley and bay leaf. Let cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 1 hour, until the barley is tender.

We had some left over Arborio rice from the other night so I made some Suppli (Rice Balls) from Simple Italian Snacks as a side dish.

Barley Soup with Beef

I turned to the cookbook, La Cucina for tonight's meal. Barley Soup 1. Or Minestra Di Orzo 1. The cookbook numbers it's soup, for instance there are 5 Barley Soup recipes. This recipe comes from the Valle D' Aosta region.

Ingredients
4 tbsp. butter
1 leek, cut in thin strips
1 medium onion, cut in thin strips
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 sprig thyme

Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add leeks and onion and cook until the leeks begins to soften. Add the potatoes and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes, then cover with boiling water. When the mixture returns to a boil, add the barley and thyme. Let cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 1 hour, until the barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Up to this point you have a great vegetarian soup... but I still have the leftovers from the roast from Christmas in the freezer. I cut the meat into small pieces and added them to the soup. Voila - Beef Barley Soup!

It was delicious. I had to stop at 2 servings. Even without the beef it would have been good. Perfect for a very cold Monday night dinner