Soup and Bread – One of Those Perfect Combinations

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I love soup and once the weather turns I could eat it everyday, unfortunately Stella does not like soup.  I was hoping that this soup would be the one since it had sweet potato and butternut squash in it – but no luck.  I am going to keep trying until we find a soup she likes – if anyone has any recipe suggestions – PLEASE pass on.  To me, bread is the perfect combination with soup – can nibble on it along with the soup or my favorite, dipping the bread into the soup – yum!  So, with my helpers, dinner rolls were made.

We had one of the neighborhood kids with us last night – he came to keep us company since his parents needed to work, but we were fortunate that his mom finished up her appointment early and was able to join us for dinner!

The soup recipe is from a cookbook, not sure which one since I was given a copy, but it does call for a red bell pepper – which I omitted.  If I cook anything with pepper – I cannot taste any of the other flavors – just pepper – so I do not use.  I will put the step in for those who want to add – the soup was delicious without it.

Squash and Cannellini Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper, halved and seeded
4 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp chopped sage (I got it right out of my herb garden!)
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
black pepper

1. Place the bell pepper skin side upward under a very hot broiler until blackened.  Place in a plastic bag and leave to cool slightly, then remove the skin and cut into very thin strips.

2. Heat a little of the stock in a large pot and gently saute the onion and garlic until softened.

3. Add the squash and sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the red bell pepper, rest of the stock and the herbs – bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

5. Remove the bay leaf.  Add the beans, olive oil and lemon juice and season with black pepper.  Cook for a further 5 minutes, then serve.

Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

1 package quick acting dry yeast
1 1/3 cup milk (heated to 105 – 115 degrees)
3 – 3 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and the rest unbleached flour)
3 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbl butter, melted
course salt

1. Disslove yeast in  warm milk with sugar in an electric mixer bowl.

2. Stir in 1 cup flour, oil and salt, beat until smooth.

3. Stir in enough remaining flour, scraping dough from the sides, until a soft dough forms.

4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.

5. Spray a 12 cup muffing pan with non-stick spray (I used my misto filled with olive oil).

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

7. Punch down dough in cneter and fold over a few times.

8. Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands.  Put 3 balls to one muffin cup.  Fill all 12 cups.

9. Brush melted butter on all and srpinkle with course salt (I omitted).

10. Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until crust is light golden brown.  Immediately remove from pan, place in bowl and cover to keep warm.

I used a yeast specific for whole wheat flour – the rolls were very dense – not sure why – I had never used this yeast before.  My helpers rolled the dough longer than I would have, but they were having fun and loved helping.  Even though they were denser than expected – they went fast and were enjoyed by all.

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