This week forThirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and whoever else wants to join us, I made Zuppa di Pasta e Broccoli (Broccoli Soup with Pasta), on pages 36-37.
Yes, indeed, the book has a soup section. I think he put that in there just for me. I am surprised it has taken me four months to pick a soup from that section actually as they all look quite good. And, well, we all know I am the Soup Queen. This was delicious!
The ingredient list: broccoli, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, beef bouillon, and pasta (he suggests ditalini or small shells).
The whole process is very easy and fast, so a great bowl of soup is less than 30 minutes away. Like the rest of his recipes, very straightforward, just follow the steps and it all works. The garlic in it lends a nice little punch of flavor. All in all, absolutely wonderful.
The only thing I would change next time is to increase the broth by a bit as I like broth a lot. The photo in the book shows the soup with ditalini pasta which is little and has a hole through the center so the broth measurement probably works best for that type of pasta...I used small shells which are larger than ditalini and therefore take more of the liquid to cook the pasta (and be absorbed by it) and they also take up more space in the bowl than the ditalini. So, if I use the little shells again next time, I will increase the broth to accommodate that. All that said, it was perfectly delightful just the way it turned out this time, and if you are like Matt, the whole broth thing is way over-rated and he would much prefer it exactly this way. When you make it, you get to decide!
If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here. (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)
