Mangia Con Elena

Italian Beef and Barley Soup  IG: @mangia.con.elena  I am soup obsessed. Ask anyone who knows me and they will agree wholeheartedly. If you scroll through my blog you will see a variety of soup recipes. Soup in my childhood home was a regular occurrence. It wasn't just for the winter months as often my mother would use all of the veggie leftovers in a soup because in our Italian household nothing ever went to waste. My parents taught us an appreciation of food and gratitude for every meal that graced our table.   My mother made the most delicious soups and never followed a recipe. Her base was always the same- home made chicken, beef or vegetable broth depending on what the ingredients for that night's soup was going to be used. I definitely am the same way when it comes to most of my cooking but especially soup.  When the craving hits for soup, I first go in the freezer to see what meat and broth I have and then into the fridge to see what vegetables will best compliment the c

Lentil Vegetable Soup IG: @mangiaconelena Pinterest: mangia con elena Italians love their soup. Soups are eaten in every season but there is nothing better than eating a warm and satisfying bowl of soup in the dead of winter. Soup chases away the February blues. So when I woke up this morning and looked at the 10cm of snow that blanketed our yard I knew it was going to be a soup kind of day. Italian soup varieties are plenty. The best thing I love about soup is that you can add and omit different ingredients and it will taste amazing each time. As long as you can create a flavourful base starting with the soffritto or holy trinity (celery, carrots and onions) that is the beginning of most great Italian classic soups. This soup is a flavourful combination of healthy lentils, kale, zucchini and sweet potatoes in a red wine, tomato  and vegetable stock. If you have other vegetables in your fridge feel free to throw them in. This soup would taste great with added cauliflower florets, brocc

  Pasta e Fagioli With Borlotti Beans Pasta e Fagioli could very well be the national dish of Italy. It was born in the countryside and very much a true "cucina povera" dish. This flavourful soup was made out of necessity using simple, inexpensive ingredients that they harvested.  There is no official recipe for pasta e fagioli, but is present in every region of Italy with slight differences in the ingredients. We grew up on my mother's version of pasta e fagioli which she learned to make as a young girl. This classic romano style uses pancetta to flavour the broth and give it a salty, earthy flavour. She would add the ends of home made prosciutto so as not to throw them out or bits of home made pancetta. Nothing went to waste in our house. If meat was not available, we would eat it without and the version here is meatless.  Of course, the choice is up to you to add pancetta or not.  If you are going to add pancetta simply cut it into cubes and fry before adding the soffr