Week 16: Penne & Aspargus in Parmesan Broth

Given my love for cheese, I've been looking forward to making this soup for weeks. The only thing stopping me was the fact that I'd have to make the broth and track down what I thought was going to be a hard-to-find ingredient. But all-in-all, this soup wasn't too hard to make and eating it was sooooo worth any trouble.

First off, this soup is all about the broth. Luckily, my awesome cookbook gave me an idea on how to doctor up a store bought broth, and it works amazingly. Basically just simmer regular store bought broth with onions, carrots, celery stalks and Italian parsley and thyme for 20 minutes. I even made and extra batch and froze it for future brothy soups.

This soup broth, though, calls for parmesan cheese rinds to add an incredibly interesting flavor to the broth. Not knowing that I could just purchase the rinds, I almost used the back up plan the cookbook offered and spooned in grated parmesan once the soup was ready to serve. I was worried I'd have to buy several full pieces of cheese with rinds in order to have enough to flavor the broth, and that would have cost a fortune. But I figured, I wanted the full effect, so I called up Whole Foods and they said they did sell Parmesan with the rinds (Nob Hill, Trader Joe's and Safeway did not). Once I got to Whole Foods, after walking around the cheese section looking confused but too stubborn to ask, I caught a glimpse of a huge parmesan display with just rinds for sale in a little container. Jackpot! And this helped keep the cost down too! The rinds simmered in the store-bought broth with the veggies and herbs for 20 minutes. I strained the broth and then it was ready to go! The smell was amazing and the broth was delicious enough to drink on its own. Not sure what the effect of just sprinkling in grated parmesan before serving would have been, but I can't imagine it would have been the same. This came out too good to skimp the next time I make it.

To complete the soup I cooked the pasta for 5 minutes less than the package directions. I then added the asparagus and green onions and cooked for a few minutes more. Finally, I added the peas and cooked for another few minutes. While this was happening, I sliced some prosciutto and crisped it in a fry pan until crispy. This can be added with grated parmesan for a garnish. And that's it. Soup's on! This soup is 5 stars all the way. Even my dad, Mr. Meat & Potatoes loved it. AND my dear friend who is less than experimental with his food was pretty impressed too... AND my foody girlfriend Cat came and took some in a tuperware to heat up for her lunch that day. I appreciate the shout out she gave to me on Facebook, but also kinda wish I had kept that last serving for myself. Hahaha.
I can't wait to make this again. Although the broth is intended to be the star of this dish, I did add more pasta and peas than the recipe called for to make more of a hearty meal. I would also increase the asparagus next time too. I will also try a different kind of pasta too because my penne was a little big and hard to eat with a spoon.

The soup was a little pricier per serving than the last few, but considering this was a meal in itself, $26 for 6 servings is a pretty economic meal. Also, I was out of parmesan and ended up not even needing it since the broth was flavorful enough without it, so that can be skipped to cut cost if you don't have it on hand. I served it with a yummy ciabatta bread too!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: Easy
Cost: $25.84
Nutritionals: calories 242, fat 2 grams (per serving)


Ingredients
8 cups chicken broth / $2.49 / Smart & Final
2 onions / from home
2 celery stalks / $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 medium carrots / 6 for $2.00 / Farmer's Market
2 Italian parsley sprigs $1.00 per bunch / Farmers' market
6-8 ounces parmesan cheese rinds /$3.96 / Whole Food's
2-3 cups uncoooked penne pasta / $0.99 / Trader Joe's
1 pound asparagus / $5 / Farmer's Market
1 bunch green onions / $1 / Farmer's Market
1-2 cups frozen peas (defrosted) / From home
5 ounces prosciutto (for garnish) / $3.99/ Trader Joe's
Grated parmesan cheese (for garnish) / $3.41.Trader Joe's



Feeding the troops soup!
A-bay loves his soup!