A healthy new year

Welcome to the improved Mia Cucina Italiana. Now with healthy recipes! Due to a recent health diagnosis, my menus have completely changed to a more healthy outlook. Even though I’m watching amounts of fat, carbs, sugar and sodium, I insist on eating good food, and the blog will reflect tasty and nutritious meals. The only thing you might need to add is salt. I use a salt substitute, but feel free to use salt to taste.

This soup is one of my new go-tos. Italian Chicken Noodle with veggies. It’s both light and fulfilling with pasta (I use Ronzoni Gluten-Free, or any whole wheat pasta will do). The marinara sauce adds a nice punch of flavor. I like to cook chicken for this recipe, but you can use leftover or rotisserie chicken and cut down on time for a quick weeknight meal that any fans of chicken noodle soup will love.

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

ITALIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Serves 6

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 halved boneless chicken breasts
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch pieces.
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups unsalted chicken broth
1 zucchini, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup cooked macaroni of your choice per serving
1/3 cup chopped fresh spinach per serving
Top with 1 Tbsp. crumbled reduced fat feta cheese or grated Parmesan per serving

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add chicken and season with a small amount of salt and pepper or salt-free seasoning. Cook chicken 5 minutes on each side until browned. Add 1 cup water to pan, cover and cook on low heat 5 more minutes. Remove chicken from pan and save all the liquid to a separate glass container.

2. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in soup pot on medium heat until warmed. Turn heat to medium-low and add onion and carrots. Add Italian seasoning, bay leaves and garlic to pan and simmer on low until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in broth, reserved chicken cooking liquid, zucchini and marinara. Simmer 15 minutes. While soup is simmering, fork or cut cooked chicken into bite-size pieces and add to the soup to warm.

4. Place macaroni and spinach into individual soup bowls. Add servings of soup and top with feta cheese.

Take a pound of Italian sausage…

While making Christmas eve dinner this year, I remembered my dad's big dinner spreads. He would make a huge appetizer table so the whole family could graze while he was in the kitchen finishing off dinner. The table featured a big antipasto platter with an assortment of meats, cheeses and veggies. But the big hit was the Italian sausages, cut into bite-sized morsels and topped with his famous marinara sauce. Very simple, yet it was always eaten first. So, I wanted to see what I could do with a pound of Italian sausage (and lucky that my city just happens to be the hometown of Graziano's Italian Sausage).

Sausage Marsala

SAUSAGE MARSALA
Serves 4

16 oz linguine
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb Italian sausage
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1/2 yellow onion, cut in half & thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
salt & black pepper
1/2 tsp each dried basil & oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup beef broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup grated romano
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in large saute pan over low heat. Cover and cook sausage about 12 minutes total, turning to brown on all sides. Remove to a cutting board and let rest. Cook linguine according to package directions, drain and return immediately to pan, add a little butter and cover to keep warm.

2. There should be juices left in the saute pan, if not add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add 1 Tbsp butter, the onions and bell pepper. Add salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Stir to combine and cook on medium heat about 5 minutes until vegetables soften. Add the minced garlic to the pan and stir, cook 1 minute longer.

3. Add marsala and cook down a bit, about 5 minutes, then add the broth and tomato paste. Stir to mix in the tomato paste, cook 5 more minutes. Add the romano and stir until melted. Lower heat and add the cream.

4. Add linguine to pan and toss to combine. Serve immediately in pasta bowls with a little romano grated on top.

Sausage & Tortellini Soup

SAUSAGE & TORTELLINI SOUP
Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 lb Italian sausage links
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped carrot
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/3 cup chopped zucchini
16 oz cheese tortellini
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp each dried basil & oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in soup pan over medium-low heat. Brown sausage on all sides, cook about 12 minutes total. Remove to a cutting board and let rest.

2. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to soup pan. Add onions, bell peppers carrots and Italian seasoning and sweat over medium heat about 5 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

3. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Turn heat up to high to start boiling, then turn to lower heat to simmer 10 minutes. Cut sausage into bite-size pieces, add to soup along with cream.

4. To serve, add portion of cooked tortellini to each soup bowl. Ladle in soup and top with shredded Parmesan.