Wednesday, October 27, 2010

basic what'cha'got italian soup

This is a canned-food based soup, just so you're warned. Because that's what I got this week.

1 can condensed tomato soup + 1/2 can water and 1/2 can milk
1 can ham-flavored green beans and potatoes
1 can peas
drizzle of olive oil
few tablespoons of fried onions
some italian herbs with extra oregano and basil
1 bay leaf
cracked black pepper
1/4 c shaky-cheese-- we had a parm-romano-asiago blend
1 beef bullion cube

Throw everything in a pan, stir well and heat until cooked.

Modifications:
- I think any ham-or-bacon-flavored thing could go in instead of the greenbeans-- maybe bacony beans? Bean with bacon soup? Hoppin' John? Something like that. Maybe even bacon-or-ham-cooked greens, and then add the potatoes separately.
- Peas could be subbed with anything sweet to cut the acidity of the tomato soup.
- More flavor could be added by using broth instead of the water.
- Garlic could go in stead of onions-- or both.
- Any sort of leftover meat, veg and/or most starch could be thrown in to make it more of a meal, I think.
- I might add a can of condensed veggie soup next time to add more vegetables and the flavor that comes from them.
- Could add extra liquid, and then cook pasta right in there-- or cook the pasta separately and add it, but then there's two dirty pots to clean afterward.

Review:
- I think next time, I'll use a higher quality tomato base-- this way-off-brand stuff is too acidic AND too sweet
- I'll plan for it next time and have protein to throw in.
- Overall, a good experiement, though, a sort of creamy tomato-bisque based minestrone.

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