My dad spent his entire career as a dedicated, hard-working doctor. Growing up, he was often gone to the hospital long before I got out of bed and arrived home just in time for dinner. With the exception of summer grilling, my mom was the cook in our house. Now that my dad is retired, he has made it his mission to learn how to cook. He’s taken a cooking class, started to get his feet wet in the kitchen, and even wants to buy new cooking tools. Now, this is saying a lot for a guy who has barely chopped an onion over the last 50 years. So, I was excited and…a little scared to try his food (sorry dad!). Tom and I arrived at my parent’s house for Thanksgiving weekend on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, I got to taste my dad’s cooking for the first time. The verdict? He’s totally skilled!
He made this minestrone soup for lunch and it was so yummy I had to have the recipe. Because our last name is Marieb and he’s Lebanese, we joked that he’d soon have a whole line of foods called Marieb the Arab. Marieb the Arab’s Italian soup, Marieb the Arab’s Swedish meatballs, Marieb the Arab’s French stuffing…you get the picture. Who knows? Maybe it’ll happen and he’ll have a whole second career as a chef! At the very least, he’ll get shout-outs on my blog.
- 1 cup small shell pasta
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 links (about 8 ounces) hot Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups kale, stems removed, coarsely chopped
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas
- 1 15 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1. Cook pasta
- 2. While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook for about 3 minutes or until browned. Break the sausage up into little chunks as it cooks.
- 3. Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) and saute for 10 minutes.
- 4. Add kale, chickpeas, tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.
- 5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add pasta and salt and pepper to taste.
Lebanese men are multitalented and still need wise assed female aid.
Next time Uncle Norm makes dinner we’ll bring the wine!