Homemade Escarole Soup (ZUPPA DI SCAROLA)

Adding a hearty soup to your diet is quite filling, has plenty of nutrients from the meat and vegetables and is only about 100 calories per cup/serving. Although low calorie canned soups are quick and easy to make, their salt content is still high (about 400-800 mg of sodium) per serving compared to homemade soups where you add salt to taste.

To help me with my diet, my wife makes a batch (8 qt. pot) of homemade escarole soup about once every two weeks which we then store in the freezer in serving size plastic containers. You can then take them out of the freezer as needed and heat them in the microwave for about 15 minutes before serving.

Escarole soup (Italian Wedding Soup or Zuppa Di Scarola) has a variety of names and recipes. Although escarole is the main ingredient, you can substitute with spinach and add other vegetables like beans, lentils, carrots, onions, and celery. Also, after adding chicken (whole or pieces) as the main meat you can add tiny meatballs (beef or veal), sausage, prosciutto, sopresssato or pepperoni.

My wife learned how to make her escarole soup from my Italian mother which was passed along from her family. I’m sure that with the availability and source of foods (open market, corner store, or super market), the recipe has changed a little over the years. My mother would sometimes shop in the North End of Boston at the open market and later at the corner grocery. Quite often (in the 1940-50s) she would also buy her vegetables from the street vendor who circulated the neighborhood in horse and wagon with all his fresh produce.

You can see the recipe below and some photos of how my wife makes her soup at the link …. http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/EscaroleSoup21809

You can also see some other online recipes and a variety of names for escarole soup at the link ……. http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,italian_escarole_soup,FF.html

Recipe (Escarole Soup)
Ingredients : 1 pound ground beef , 4 slices wet Italian bread, 3 chicken quarters, 4 eggs, 1 cup barley, 4 tablespoons grated Romano cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon gravy master, 1 tomato, 2 cups chopped celery and carrots, 1 large onion, 2 heads escarole (wash thoroughly) and chopped.

Preparation: 1. Mix the ground beef by hand with 2 eggs, 2 tbsp Romano cheese, pepper, salt, garlic, parsley, small shredded pieces wet bread (squeeze out extra water). Make tiny, marble size meatballs and put in refrigerator till needed.

2. Mix a slurry with 2 eggs and 2 tbsp grated Romano cheese in a glass and store in refrigerator till needed.


3. Fill an 8 qt. pot to about ¾ with water and start heating on stove. Add chicken and vegetables (onion, celery, carrots). Add seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and gravy master). Add barley and bring to boil. Stir frequently to mix the barley. Simmer for about 2 hours. Add the washed escarole, the meatballs and the glass of egg slurry. Simmer for another hour. Let cool and scoop into serving size plastic bowls. Store in freezer .

Comments welcome. Send email to markryan82@comcast.net

Snow Job?

Is this a snow job? Is it spring yet? Have you had enough snow and cold? I heard on the news today that they had snow in London and no plows to clean the streets. The last time it snowed in London was 20 years ago. Extreme weather seems to be occurring all over the globe (ice, snow, rain, floods, mud slides, beach erosion).

From December 2008 through February 2009, we have had 10 days of plow-able snow in Wilmington, MA. That’s the number of times I have had to take out the shovels and snow blower to clean off the front stairs, walkways and driveway around my house. In addition, I also do the sidewalk leading to my neighbors (100 feet left and right) and most of the time, do another neighbor’s driveway. It normally takes me about three hours to clean the snow after a storm. It seems like there has been snow every week this winter.

You can see the past record of weather conditions and snow accumulation for your area at your local TV station web link or at Accuweather.com See the link at …… http://www.accuweather.com/
Just type in your zip code. You get the current weather and forecast. Go to bottom of page and select past month. (You can get data for the past two months). You can also get monthly averages (charts and graphs) in the Boston Globe printed at the beginning of the next month. The total amount so far for Wilmington, MA is 44.7 inches (December 25.3 and January 19.4).

Since I live in a suburban area near a school, we have the luxury (or curse) of having a sidewalk plow clean away the deep snow on the sidewalk. However, they normally plow the sidewalk the day after the storm and generally leave lumps of snow behind the plow as it goes by. Most of the time, I have cleaned the sidewalk before the plow and then need to clean it again after the plow.

Another chore is to shovel out the mailbox which is on a post at the edge of the sidewalk. The mail is delivered by mail truck that pulls up close to the mailbox to deposit the mail. If the snow or ice blocks the mailbox, you get no mail. Sometimes the street plows will drive in tandem to clean off the street and push the snow up onto the sidewalk, knocking off the mailbox from its post. I had mine knocked down several times. Ah, the joys of living in the burbs.

Living in the city is no better, since they plow the snow to either the even or odd side of the street which reduces the spaces available for parking. To solve the problem, neighbors shovel out their spots on the street and place a “decorative marker”, like a barrel of lawn chair, in the shoveled out area to claim the spot for their personal use. Many a fight has occurred protecting one’s “turf”.

After you have cleared the snow off the sidewalk or driveway, you need to check the house roof. Is the snow piling up too high? Will the roof support the extra weight? Do you have a roof with the proper pitch so the snow slides off naturally? Will the sun melt most of the snow before the next snow storm? Some flat roofs on businesses, schools and shopping centers have collapsed from the extra weight of snow.

If you are concerned with any of these problems, you probably have purchased a roof shovel. This tool has a shovel blade that is bent 90 degrees from the handle and allows you to pull the snow off the roof. These shovels also have long handles that can be extended to about 20 feet. If you have a ranch house with only one level, you can reach some of the roof snow from standing on the ground. If you have a two story or plus house, you need to use a ladder. This can be dangerous and may need professional help. Most roof areas cover 1000 + square feet on each side. That is a lot of snow to pull off the roof. You can see some photos of me clean snow after the 2-4-09 snow storm at the link …....
http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/Snow2409#

Another problem with leaving snow pile up on the roof is getting ice dams which I have explained in a previous BLOG. If the snow melts and latter refreezes, some ice may back up under the shingles and then melt on interior ceilings.

By this time of year, most people are getting a cabin fever as we remember how great it is to be outside in warmer weather. However, we only have a few more days to wait for the first day of spring on March 20th, which is about “40+” days away. Can you wait that long? To make matters worse, the ground hog saw his shadow, which means 6 more weeks of winter. Can you handle it? Are we getting SNOWED or what?