The Roanoker - January/February 2021 - 15

Buy it local: Zen Pepper Sauce: Mr. Bill's Wine Cellar and Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op * Clark and Hopkins Artisan Pepper Sauces: Wine Gourmet and
clarkandhopkins.com * Clark and Hopkins Bloody Mary Mix: Food Lion * Gunter Salsa: Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op * Virginia Wine Selection: Mr. Bill's Wine Cellar

Sausage &
Lentil Soup
Recipe inspired by Carrabba's
Sausage and Lentil Soup.

8 servings.
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1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter or
olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage
1 48-ounce package lowsodium chicken broth
11/2 teaspoons Greek
Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 14.5-ounce can diced
tomatoes
1 cup red lentils
2 tablespoons Clark and
Hopkins Chesapeake Bay
Pepper Sauce

In a large pot, add onions, carrots,
garlic, and celery and butter or
vegetable oil. Sauté until the onions
are transparent. Cook sausage in a
skillet until browned. Drain fat off of
sausage and add to pot.
Add chicken broth, salt, Greek
seasoning, diced tomatoes, red
lentils and pepper sauce. Cover with
lid and simmer for about an hour.
Add additional chicken broth if too
much liquid cooks out during the
cooking process.
Virginia wine pairing suggestion:
True Heritage Castalia Farm Reserve
Petit Verdot Monticello 2018. $20 range.

Slow Cooker Salsa
Chicken Soup
Makes 6 cups
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2 (3/4 pound each) boneless
skinless chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
12-ounce jar Gunther's
Gourmet Salsa Fresca
10.5-ounce can cheddar
cheese soup

Past Fagioli Zuppa
with Red Pepper Pesto

Sausage & Lentil Soup

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1 cup Green Giant Steam
Crisp Mexicorn
Cooked Jasmine rice for
serving
Garnishes: shredded
pepper jack cheese, sour
cream, chopped green
onions, chopped cilantro

Place chicken breasts and chicken
broth in a slow cooker and cook on
high for 3 hours or until fork tender.
Place chicken on a cutting board
(reserve chicken broth in slow cooker)
and shred chicken into small pieces
with a fork. Return chicken to slow
cooker and add salsa, cheddar cheese
soup and Mexicorn. Stir to combine.
Add some additional chicken broth if
too much liquid cooks out during the
cooking process. Heat in slow cooker
on low heat until ready for service.
Serve over jasmine rice in soup bowls
with garnishes.
Virginia wine pairing suggestion:
Grü-V Grüner Veltliner. $20 range.

Pasta Fagioli Zuppa
with Red Pepper
Pesto
Red Pepper Pesto:
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8 ounces roasted red bell
peppers
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5 tablespoons Parmesan
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2/3 cup roasted pine nuts
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1/2 cup fresh basil
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5 tablespoons olive oil (or
more as needed)
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1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

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3 cloves garlic, quartered
lengthwise
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste

In a blender or food processor, purée
peppers until they are smooth and
well blended. Add parmesan cheese
and pine nuts to peppers and blend
until well combined. Chop basil into
tiny pieces and blend into peppers,
cheese and nut mixture.
Add oil and vinegar to combined
ingredients. Add additional oil if
needed to make a smooth pesto.
Press garlic and combine with other
ingredients. Add salt and pepper.
Cover and refrigerate.

Pasta Fagioli Soup
" Ditalini " translates to " little
thimbles. " It is the traditional
pasta used in rustic Italian soups.
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2 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small rib of celery,
chopped fine
1 carrot, sliced thin
11/2 cups chicken broth (or
more as needed)
15.5-ounce can Cannellini
beans, rinsed and drained
16-ounce can tomatoes,
drained and finely chopped
1/2 cup Clark and Hopkins
Chesapeake Bloody Mary
Mix
1/3 cup ditalini pasta

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2 tablespoons minced
fresh parsley leaves
Garnish: freshly grated
Parmesan and crumbled
baked prosciutto

In a heavy saucepan cook the bacon
over moderate heat, stirring, until it
is crisp, pour off all but 1 tablespoon
of the fat, and in the remaining
fat cook the onion and the garlic,
stirring, until the onion is softened.
Add the celery, the carrot and the
broth and simmer the mixture,
covered, for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mash 1/3 cup of the
beans, stir them into the bacon
mixture with the remaining whole
beans, tomatoes and Bloody Mary
mix and simmer the mixture,
covered, stirring occasionally, for
5 minutes. Stir in the pasta simmer
the soup, covered, for 10 minutes,
or until the pasta is al dente and if
desired thin the soup with additional
chicken broth.
Let the soup stand off the heat,
covered, for 5 minutes, stir in the
parsley and serve the soup in bowls,
sprinkled with Parmesan and a
large dollop of red pepper pesto and
crumbled baked prosciutto.
To bake prosciutto: Preheat oven
to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place
slices of prosciutto flat on a rack on
a baking tray. Bake prosciutto 7 - 10
minutes or until the prosciutto is
crispy. Watch carefully to prevent
burning.
Virginia wine pairing suggestion:
Villa Appalaccia Virginia 2019
Toscanello. $21 range. I

BECKY ELLIS is a freelance writer specializing in champagne and food. Her motto is " Don't wait to celebrate! Pop the cork now! " She loves to share tips for entertaining with bubbly. Find her
creative recipes and champagne tasting notes on her blog bubblybee.net and Instagram at bubblybeeboop.

TheRoanoker.com

JAN/FEB 2021 15

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The Roanoker - January/February 2021

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