Lasagne Soup

Lasagne Soup

Lasagne is the ultimate comfort food for me, so why not make the dish into a yummy hearty soup?

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound (450 g) ground beef
• 1 large onions, chopped 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-6 cups (1½ l) Beef stock (I used leftovers from my beef soup)
• 1 handful pasta (I used  XX)
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Topping: 

• 1 cup (240 ml) sour cream or creme fraiche
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch of freshly ground pepper
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• shredded mozzarella cheese 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the beef, breaking it up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. 

Add onions and cook until softened, then add garlic, and spices. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and heat it through, until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves and beef stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. The longer you let it cook, the deeper the flavors become. 

Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Right before serving stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the topping. In a small bowl combine all but the mozzarella, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in bowls with a dollop of the topping and som sheredded mozzarella on top.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Lasagnesuppe

Ingredienser:

• 2 tsk olivenolie
• 450 g hakket oksekød
• 1 stort løg, groft hakket 
• 4 fed hvidløg, presset
• 2 tsk oregano
• 1 tsk timian
• 1 tsk basilikum
• 1 tsk rosmarin
• ½ tsk chiliflager
• 2 spsk konc. tomatpuré
• 1 dåse hakkede tomater 
• 2½ dl rødvin (behøves ikke, men giver mere dybde i smagen)
• 2 laurbærblade
• 1½ l okseboullion (jeg brugte resterne af min oksekødssuppe)
• 1 håndfuld pasta 
• 1 dl hakket frisk basilikum
• salt og friskkværnet peber, smag retten til

Topping: 

• 240 ml creme fraiche
• 1 dl friskrevet parmesan 
• ¼ tsk salt
• 1 knsp friskkværnet peber
• ½ dl hakket frisk basilikum
• revet mozzarella

Directions:

Varm olien i en tykbundet gryde, og brun det hakkede oksekød heri. Sørg for at kødet bliver findelt, mens det brunes. Tilsæt løg, hvidløg og krydderierne, og steg i et par minutter indtil løgene er blevet bløde. Tilsæt tomatpureen og varm den igennem, til den får en rødbrun farve, Dette tage lidt af syren i tomatpureen.

Tilsæt de hakkede tomater, rødvin, laurbærblade og oksebouillonen. Lad suppen simre i omkring 30 minutter. Jo længre tid den koger, jo dybere bliver smagen.

Kom den ukogte pasta i suppen og kog indtil den er al dente.  Kom den friske basilikum i suppen lige før serveringen. Smag suppen til med salt og peber. 

Mens pastaen koger i suppen, mix toppingen. Bland alt undtagen mozzarellaen  og smag det til med salt og peber.

Server suppen i skåle med en klat topping og revet mozzarella på toppen

Velbekomme!

Koldskål - Cold Sweet Buttermilk Soup

Strawberry Koldskål - Cold Sweet Strawberry Buttermilk Soup

Koldskål, or kærnemælkskoldskål, is a sweet cold soup made from buttermilk. Koldskål is mostly eaten in the summer months. It's normally a dessert, but is also served as a light and fast dinner on a hot day.

My mom made koldskål with eggs, sugar, vanilla and buttermilk, but I make mine without eggs, and I think it's just as good. Sometimes I add some whipping cream to make it more creamy. Serve the koldskål the traditional way with lemon juice, kammerjunker and an iceberg (raw meringue), or with a sprinkle of granola. Koldskål is easy to change up by adding your favorite fruit, I used Strawberries here.

This is my first time making koldskål in my vitamix, and I think I got way to much air incorporated this time, Next time, I'll mix the koldskål at a lower speed, to avoid all the bubbles. 

Ingredients:

• 1 quart buttermilk

• 170 ml (6 fl oz) yogurt with vanilla

• 1 dl whipping cream (optional)

• 1 lemon, the juice of, (I used the juice of 2 meyer lemons)

• 85 g sugar (start with a little less, and add more if needed)

• 1 vanilla pod, the seeds from, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

For Strawberry koldskål, add 6-12 strawberries.

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into a blender, and blend until you have a homogenous mixture. Add more sugar and/or lemon juice if needed.

Serve the koldskål cold and with the topping of your liking.

Enjoy!

Koldskål - Cold Sweet Buttermilk Soup

Sunchoke Soup with seared Scallops

Sunchoke Soup with seared Scallops

Last weekend I went to the local farmers marked, the perfect place to find farm-fresh produce in season. It was here I found sunchokes, aka Jerusalem Artichokes, sunroots or earth apples. 

You can eat the sunchokes raw in salads or cooked in soups and gratins. The raw sunchokes has a nutty taste, while the cooked are sweet with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Sunchokes has a high content of vitamin C and K.

I decided to make sunchoke soup, a  creamy soup perfect for an appetizer, but filling enough to use as a main course. 

Serves 4 as an appetizer or serves 2 for a main course.

Ingredients:

• 400 g sunchokes, peeled and chopped
• 300 g potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 dl (1¼ cup) whole milk
• 1 dl (little over ⅓ cup) cream
• 2 teaspoons chicken base
• 6 dl (2½ cup) water
• salt and white pepper, to taste

Topping:

• 6-8 scallops
• 2 tablespoons dry chorizo or paprika sausage, chopped and fried
• 3 teaspoon chives, finely chopped
• a few drops truffle oil
• sunchoke chips (1-2 sunchokes)

Directions:

Soup:

Cook the sunchokes and potatoes in milk, cream, chicken paste and water until tender. Blend the soup mixture in batches. If using a traditional blender remove the middle-nob so the steam can escape and cover with a kitchen towel so you will not burn yourself on soup splatters. Puree until smooth. Season the soup with salt and white pepper. Keep the soup hot while you sear the scallops.

Sunchoke chips:

While the sunchokes and potatoes are cooking. Brush 1-2 sunchokes clean. Slice the sunchokes very thinly into a bowl of ice water. Heat grape seed oil in a saucepan. Pad dry 3-5 slices  and fry them in the hot oil until they turn golden. Let the excess oil drip off on some paper towel. Sprinkle with salt.

Scallops:

Heat some grape seed oil in a skillet and fry the scallops on high heat until golden on both sides. Just before removing scallops from the skillet, season them with salt and white pepper.

Pour the soup into a serving size bowl. Top the soup with 1-2 scallops  and the rest of the topping. 

Enjoy.

Tom Ka Gai - Coconut Chicken Soup my way

Tom Ka Gai - Coconut Chicken Soup my way

We love soups in my house, we try to have soups at least every other week. We had this soup as a "skrub af suppe" directly translated to "go away soup or go home soup." It's kinda midnight snack, a nice way to end a party, getting some salt into people there has been drinking all your wine a liquor. ;)

This is my version of Tom Ka Gai soup, it not the original recipe, but made to my taste.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (450 g)chicken breast tenders
• 2 teaspoons chicken paste
• 850 ml water
• 1 inch minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 lemongrass
• 1 lime the juice of
• 3 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1.5 can coconut milk

Topping:

• 5 scallions/spring onions
• 1 chilli, thinly sliced
• a few sprigs fresh cilantro

Directions:

Cut chicken tenders into bite size pieces. 

Blend ginger, garlic and lemongrass with a splash of the coconut milk, till it has the texture of a thick paste. If you like the soup spicy, add some chilli  to the blender. Bring water, chicken paste, ginger paste and chicken to a boil while stirring. Let the soup simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and bring soup to a low simmer. Season the soup with lime juice and salt. 

Serve the soup hot with scallions, cilantro and chilli as topping.

Enjoy!

Danish Soup Dumplings - Melboller

Danish Soup Dumplings - Melboller

Danish soup dumplings, aka melboller, are a must have in soups in Denmark. They feel soft, light, and fluffy. They kinda melts in your mouth and has a subtle salty flavor.

Most people in Denmark buys soup dumplings from the freezer aisle in the supermarket. But my mom always made them herself. So for me the store bought dumplings tasted kinda funny. I learned to make these as a kid. I would stand on a chair next to the stove, and cut the dough from the dough press (bollesprøjte) and the small dumplings would fall into the hot water. It might have been easier for my mom, if I hadn't helped her, but I wanted to help.

Ingredients:

• 75 g salted butter
• 200 g water
• 105 g all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring the water and butter to a boil in a saucepan, take the pan off the heat. Add all the flour at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.  The dough should become cohesive and shiny. Heat the dough a bit, if it's not shiny. Whisk the eggs  and add a bit at a time to the dough while mixing. Add more egg until the dough is soft but still paste like. Be careful not to make the dough too thin. Mix in the salt.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot, take the pot off the heat. Place dough in a traditional danish bollesprøjte (like a cookie press) and cut the dough with a knife into the hot water (WATER MUST NOT BOIL). If you do not have a bollesprøjte use a spoon.

Bring the hot water and the dumplings almost to a boil three times, adding a splash of cold water to cool the water a bit. After the third time and when the dumplings are firm, lift them out of the water and let them drain. Make sure not to put to many dumplings in the water at the same time. You only want one layer dumpling in the water at a time.

Serve with soups, like beef soup.

Enjoy!

Bollesprøjte