Saucy Tomato Bean Soup
It’s Steve’s birthday today and he wanted to start another weight loss program, so didn’t want to go out to eat and didn’t want me to cook, but I decided to make him a red and greasy as he calls it, anyway, since he’d probably change his mind – and he did! I added a few tricks such as a beautiful canned fried eggplant. And here it is.
Serve as soup or sauce. Pasta is optional. Today I’ll go with linguini tossed with Creamy French dressing with fresh oregano added. It was indeed festive!
Surprise ingredient? Canned beet sticks – color, texture and flavor all compliment.
Makes 13 cups sauce and 10 cups pasta
SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. margarine
1/2 lg. red onion, peeled and cut into 3/8 inch squares
2 T. Kalamata olive liquid from olive jar – no olives this time
14 oz. can FRIED EGGPLANT by Galil (delicious by the way and so tender throughout)
28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes in puree, cut into sm. bite-size
28 oz. Bush’s Vegetarian Baked Beans
15 oz. can sliced beets – drain liquid into sauce, then stack slices on board and cut into 1/8 inch wide strips
28 oz. can tomato puree – some brands are thinner than others – I used PUBLIX brand
6 oz. can tomato paste
1/2, 12 oz. jar Mancini Red Roasted Peppers, cut into thin strips
- Save second half of jar for the pasta
2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. red cayenne pepper
1 t. dried basil
2 T. fresh oregano leaves or a few sprigs or 1/2-1 t. dried
1/2 c. mushroom broth – I used Pacific Foods brand
3/4 c. Madeira wine
- Not all Madeiras are the same. The best brand since Pandemic days when all companies degraded their product is SERRA MISSION brand.
INSTRUCT:
1_ In lg. soup pan/pot, over medium heat, melt oil with margarine.
2_ Add onion and saute till mostly wilted.
3_ Add olive liquid from jar, stir, cover and cook onion till soft.
4_ Add remaining ingredients, stirring after each addition.
5_ Continue to cook, covered, stirring as needed till it slightly boils, then cook 20 minutes longer.
PASTA if wanted: French Linguini
16 oz. linguini pasta – cook in sufficiently salted, boiling water- like the sea, till soft, then drain well, transfer back to pot
1_ ADD to cooked pasta the following:
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
15 oz. bottle Creamy French Dressing – Wish-Bone
2 t. garlic powder
1/2 jar Mancini Roasted Peppers, cut into sm. dice
salt and black pepper to taste
light sprinkling red cayenne pepper
1 T. liquid smoke
2_ Toss to evenly disperse and coat all pasta.
3_ Serve Saucy Tomato Bean Soup alone in soup bowls with or without animal-free shaker parmesan cheese – I used Follow Your Heart brand, or serve over individual plates of the pasta.
4_ If desired garnish with fresh oregano sprig(s).
THE ANIMAL-FREE CHEF™© 