A Soup You Can Eat All Week
Plus, crispy chickpeas and pumpkin whoopie pies
The weather is crazy right now in Upstate New York. Today has a low of 39°F, definitely soup season weather! But Thursday it’s going to be 79°F, decidedly NOT soup season weather. Well, it’s almost November so I’m plowing ahead anyway, and this week’s dinner is a Sausage and Sweet Potato Tortellini Soup. It’s what I call a Weeklong Soup: you make it once, and then each day you add a little more broth as you reheat it for leftovers. This week’s newsletter also has some super-easy Crispy Chickpeas, as well as a batch of wickedly delicious Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!
This is the time of year when life starts to get super busy. My older daughter has her dance recital coming up - if you’ve never watched a group of 3 and 4 year olds put on a ballet performance, well, it goes about how you’d expect! Lots of cuteness, not so much coordination.
.We’re also getting ready for Halloween! My older daughter wanted to be a dinosaur, so I got both her and her baby sister dinosaur costumes. Then she changed her mind and wanted to be a unicorn. She’s gone back and forth, but I think it’s going to be a game day decision. Most likely she will end up as some sort of dinosaur/unicorn hybrid - I’ll update you next week! The baby is sticking with the dinosaur costume though 😆
My husband Steve is also running the New York City marathon this weekend! That means I’ll be making lots of pasta this week as he carbo loads - so pretty much like every other week.
I need TV Recommendations
One last thing before we get to the recipes! I went a long time without watching any new TV shows (is anyone else just totally wiped by the end of the day and can’t even focus on a show??), but I recently picked up a couple. I just made it through English Teacher on Hulu and Nobody Wants This on Netflix - I highly recommend both if you’re looking for some light, easy, funny comedies!
But now I need some new shows!! What are people watching? I need something light that will keep me engaged but also I can half pay attention to 😆
The Recipes
There are a few recipe notes to get us started.
The Snack: Crispy Chickpeas - I live in a house of chickpeas skeptics, but this recipe led to some conversions! I developed this recipe as a component to another recipe I’m working on for my new cookbook, but they’re so good I felt they deserved to shine on their own. You can eat them on a snack, toss them in a salad, mix them with some vegetables, or more. I’ve noticed the cooking time can vary depending on the brand, so make sure you cook them long enough to be crispy!
The Dinner: Sweet Potato and Squash Tortellini Soup - this is comforting, warm, and super flavorful. Because we’re all busy, I take a shortcut and use a jar of marinara sauce in this recipe (my favorite brand is Rao’s). If you prefer, you can use a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes instead, but add some extra cooking time to Step 3 to allow the flavors to develop. I’ve made this recipe with both frozen tortellini and fresh tortellini from the refrigerated section of the grocery store; both work well, but the frozen kind will take longer to cook.
The Dessert: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies - My family has been eating these nonstop. The dough is a mix between a cake and a cookie so it’s quite wet; don’t expect to be able to pick it up and roll it between your hands like you can with cookie dough. You can pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to help firm it up, or dust a measuring cup with some flour and use that as a scoop. Or, for the perfectly round whoopie pie, add the dough to a piping bag and pipe it into little piles.
Crispy Chickpeas
Prep Time 5 Min | Cook Time 30 Min | Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients
One 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp chili powder
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Pat the chickpeas dry, then spread them on the parchment paper. Drizzle them with the olive oil, then sprinkle on the paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Toss the ingredients together until the chickpeas are well coated.
Bake the chickpeas in the oven until they are crispy, 30 to 35 minutes, then serve.
Sweet Potato and Sausage Tortellini Soup
Prep Time 15 Min | Cook Time 35 Min | Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 pound Italian sausage
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed
24 oz tomato sauce
6 cups chicken broth
1 rosemary sprig
12 oz tortellini
2 cups spinach
½ cup grated Parmesan
Recipe
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces, and cook until it is completely browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste.
Add the sweet potato, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and rosemary sprig. Let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes. The soup should be bubbling slightly but not boiling rapidly. If the top of the soup appears greasy and oily, lay a paper towel on the surface and use it to sop up the fat.
Add the tortellini and let the soup continue to simmer until the tortellini is fully cooked; the timing will depend on whether you use frozen or fresh tortellini, so use the package instructions as a guide.
Once the tortellini is cooked, stir in the spinach and Parmesan. Remove the rosemary sprig and serve.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Prep Time 30 Min | Cook Time 15 Min | Makes 9 to 10 Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
One 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin spice OR 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, pinch of cloves
For the filling
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 ½ sticks (12 tbsp) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
4 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tsp pumpkin spice OR 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ginger
Recipe
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Mix just until the wet ingredients combine with the dry ingredients; do not overmix.
Scoop about 2 tablespoons worth of dough at a time and place it on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. You should be able to fit 9 or 10 cookies on each sheet. The dough will be quite wet and sticky. If you’re having trouble scooping it, place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up, or dust a measuring cup with flour and use that as a scoop. Alternatively, place the dough in a piping bag and pipe the dough into small piles. Wet your fingers and smooth over the tops of the dough.
Bake the cookies until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean, 13 to 15 minutes.
Let cool completely while you make the filling.
Combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and pumpkin spice and beat on medium until a smooth frosting forms, about 2 minutes.
Once the cookies have cooled, spread the filling one the flat side of one cookie then place another cookie on top to make a sandwich. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
I just binged the first episodes of High Potential on Disney+. Really fun show!
If you have Apple+, you can’t go wrong with Ted Lasso. On Prime, we watch a lot of BritBox for good mysteries. Broadchurch is great.