Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Soups & Stew For Fall

Rachael RayPhoto byJeff Lipsky

Let's talk about comfort food! These three 30 minute soups & stew from Rachael Ray are the perfect comforting dishes for your Fall menu. Comfort Food is something we all love, especially during the cooler weather months of October and November. Here are Rachael Ray's 30 minute soups & stews that your family will be ask for again and again.

First is Tomato-Vegetable Soup and Grilled Four-Cheese Soldiers. This is one of my favs from Rachael Ray! It gives me such a nostalgic feeling, and what's more comforting than tomato soup and grilled cheese? This classic duo was always a childhood favorite.

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small bulb fennel, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery with leafy tops, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar or Acacia honey
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 Parm rind
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 quart (box or jar) passata or purée
• A few leaves of basil, torn

For the Grilled Four-Cheese:

• 6 tablespoons softened butter or 1/2 cup Fabainse (aka aquafaba spread) or mayonnaise
• About 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 clove garlic, pasted or finely grated
• About 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 8 slices good quality white bread
• 8 slices mild provolone cheese
• 8 slices white American cheese, such as Cooper’s Sharp American
• 8 slices deli mozzarella or mild Fontina

Growing up in an Italian-Amercican family, Tuscan recipes were always a favorite in our house and Rachael's Tuscan Soup brings me back to Italy. A hearty meal made with Italian sausage, pancetta, potatoes, kale, chicken broth and fragrant seasonings. This Tuscan Soup is the ultimate in comfort food for a weekday, or any easy weekend meal this Fall.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 pound loose hot Italian sausage
• ¼ pound pancetta, finely diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (1/3 palm full)
• 1 scant teaspoon sugar
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 chunk rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced into ½-inch-thick half-moons
• 1 bunch flat-leaf/lacinato kale, stemmed and shredded into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups half-and-half
• Nutmeg, to taste
• Charred bread, rubbed with cut garlic, EVOO, and flaky sea salt
• Grated Locatelli Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to serve
• Chili flakes, to serve

Directions:

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add sausage, brown and crumble, then remove to plate to drain. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, add the pancetta and render for 2-3 minutes. Add onion and garlic, season with salt, pepper, fennel seeds and sugar, reduce heat a bit and cook onions 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, rind and potatoes, bring soup to boil and cover, then simmer 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Uncover soup and wilt in kale, add half-and-half and turn off heat. Season with nutmeg to taste and adjust salt. Remove rind. Serve soup in shallow bowls with charred bread and pass cheese and chili flakes alongside.

And last, is Rachael Ray's Red Wine Beef Stew Over Polenta. It's an easy dish, from Florence, Italy that Rachael calls a “crazy easy stew.” She states ''It’s the most traditional. It’s just beef cooked in red wine and tons of black pepper. Everyone can do this. There’s very few ingredients and it’s delicious in the end.'' If you are not a fan of polenta, this stew is just as tasty over white rice.

For The Red Wine Beef Stew:

• 2 pounds beef chuck, shank or ranch steak cut into about 1 ¼-inch cubes (any stewing or braising beef will work)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon black pepper, coarsely ground or crushed w mortar and pestle
• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 3 - 4 juniper berries
• 1 1.5-ounce container of veal demi glace or a cornstarch slurry of 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with a splash of water
• 1 bottle Sangiovese grape Tuscan wine such as Rosso di Montalcino
• 1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
• Fat handful of parsley, chopped

For The Polenta:

• 6 cups stock or water
• 1 ½ cups polenta or polenta with buckwheat
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup grated pecorino or Parmigiano or combine them together

Directions For The Red Wine Beef Stew:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Season the meat with salt and black pepper. Brown meat in batches in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat in a thin layer of olive oil for each batch. Transfer browned meat to a platter as you cook in batches then return all meat to the dutch oven.

Add in rosemary, juniper berries, veal demi glace or cornstarch slurry, the bottle of wine and garlic. Bring to a bubble, cover and cook for about 90 minutes in the oven, remove from the oven and let rest while you cook the polenta. When beef is done, remove rosemary sprigs and transfer to a large serving bowl. Garnish with parsley.

Directions For The Polenta: Heat stock over medium in a medium pot, stir in polenta. Stir at a low steady simmer for 40-45 minutes until smooth yet pourable. Add butter and stir in cheese. Transfer to a serving bowl.