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    Home » Entrees

    Italian Escarole Soup with homemade Orecchiette

    September 26, 2012 by athomewithrebecka 10 Comments

    italian soup1edited

     

    My impression has always been that oreccheite are difficult to make, to my surprise nothing could be further from the truth.  Although, time-consuming the technique is simple and well worth the effort.  I added the delicate pasta to my robust and garlicky, Italian Escarole soup; with a hint of spice from the escarole, the tiny orecchiette elegantly enhanced the soup by gathering the flavors into their soft folds.

    For the pasta

    Makes - several dozen (unused pasta can be frozen)

    • 2 cups semolina flour, plus more for baking sheet
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
    • 1 cup water, divided, plus more if needed

    Method

    • Mound semolina and all-purpose flours and salt in 3 separate piles on a large, clean work surface.
    • Using your fingers, swirl ingredients together until combined.
    • Gather flour mixture into a pile, and create a well in center. Pour ½ cup water into well.
    • Gradually incorporate flour mixture into water using your fingers.
    • Once all the water is absorbed, continue adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture begins to form a dough.
    • Start to gather and knead dough, working it until no dry flour remains on work surface.
    • Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
    • Divide dough into 16 equal portions, and cover them with a clean, damp kitchen towel.
    • Roll 1 portion of dough into an 18-inch-long rope.
    • Use a knife to cut and drag a ⅓-inch piece of dough from end of rope facing you -- a grainy wooden cutting board helps grip the dough.
    • Holding knife at a 45-degree angle to work surface, press and roll dough toward you.
    • Unfurl each piece of dough over your thumb in the opposite direction to form a concave shape, and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet lightly sprinkled with semolina flour. Repeat with remaining dough. Orecchiette can be stored at room temperature in a single layer overnight; cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.

    pasta4

    pasta5

    soup

     

    I followed the recipe without deviation, finding my results to be pretty near perfect.  It's a great thing to find a recipe that actually turns out looking like the photo and tasting delicious at the same time. The only thing that I would pay closer attention to, is my measurement of the pasta. The more orecchiette I made, the bigger they got resulting in 'Belle Grandi' Orecchiette!  The pasta gets bigger as it cooks so my sweet 'little ears' plumped up into large ears however, they still tasted fantastic.

     

    For the Soup

    serves 6

    2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
    1 medium onion chopped
    6 garlic cloves, minced
    8 cups roughly chopped escarole
    7 cups water
    2 tablespoons chicken base plus more to taste
    2 cans (15 ounce) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
    1(16) ounce can good quality diced tomatoes
    salt and pepper to taste

    Method

    • Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion to pot and cook until translucent stirring frequently, add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add water, chicken base, beans, and diced tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for additional 30 minutes
    • Increase heat to bring soup bake to the boil, add orecchiette and cook for 5 minutes, add escarole and cook additional 15 minutes or until pasta is al denti.
    • Serve with crusty Italian bread and a sprinkle of shaved Parmesan cheese or homemade ricotta
    soupclose

    Sources:

    Martha Stewart Living October, 2012 page 74-76.  Written by Lucinda Scala Quinn

    wikipedia

    This recipe is being entered in the Cooking with Nonna Columbus Day Recipe Contest: Theme: Homemade Soups

    « Canning Fig Preserves
    SAAG PANEER »

    Reader Interactions

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    1. athomewithrebecka

      October 10, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      I won the contest!! Yea! I can't wait to get the basket of Academia Barilla products! The basket includes: fine EV Olive Oils, Fruit Preserves, Tomato Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar and a fantastic cookbook by a celebrity chef with a great collection of recipes. Thank you Rossella Rago and Cooking with Nonna staff for choosing my recipe!

      Reply
    2. john@kitchenriffs

      September 30, 2012 at 11:29 am

      Your new home looks great! As does this soup. Orecchiette are such a nice shape. I don't believe I've had them in a soup - great idea. And I like greens in soups. Really nice - thanks.

      Reply
      • athomewithrebecka

        October 02, 2012 at 1:32 pm

        So nice to see you John! Thanks for visiting my new blog home.

        Reply
    3. Blackswan

      September 29, 2012 at 8:10 am

      Hi dear, great to be here too! Love the new look & hope to see more of you.
      Wow, that's a tasty recipe you've got here too! Happy blogging!

      Reply
      • athomewithrebecka

        September 29, 2012 at 11:00 pm

        Thank you so much Shirley. I'm still tweaking to get the final look. Sorry it wasn't ready when you stopped by.

        Reply
    4. Ann@Anncoo Journal

      September 29, 2012 at 12:46 am

      I like your new home, bright and spacious 🙂
      Love your hearty soup too ~ slurp!!

      Reply
      • athomewithrebecka

        September 29, 2012 at 1:05 am

        Thank you Ann! I still have a lot to do to fix the place up! I lost me theme moving to the .org so now back to square one...ugh! Thank you for visiting!

        Reply
    5. athomewrebecka

      September 28, 2012 at 10:29 am

      Thank you Carol!! I'm so excited to be on WordPress. More great changes to come with new plugins!! xoxo

      Reply
    6. Carol White

      September 28, 2012 at 5:31 am

      Love your recipe Rebecka also your blog is wonderful.

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Cooking with Nonna Winner - Academia Barilla Prizes says:
      January 4, 2013 at 9:25 PM

      [...] recipe for Italian Escarole Soup with handmade Orecchiette, was chosen the winner of the Cooking with Nonna, Columbus Day Recipe Contest.  As the winner, I [...]

      Reply

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