Cooking Archives · Page 7 of 7 · Jess in the Kitchen

Kitchen Sink Vegetable and Venison Soup

If I was told I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would ask for soup in a heart beat. It’s my favorite. Maybe it’s because I always perpetually cold. Or maybe it’s because I get to chop all the vegetables, and for reasons I don’t understand, it’s cathartic for me. All I know is soup makes my soul and tastebuds sing and this vegetable and venison soup is so good, it surprises me every time I throw it together!

We had guests this weekend and the whole New Year’s Eve timing made it hard for us to think about planning for meals. It was Friday, but it sure felt like a Tuesday and our house wasn’t even clean! Enter this recipe–I love this vegetable and venison soup because I almost always have everything on hand, there are so many beautiful colors, and the flavor is delightful! The next time you need a quick meal that will leave you with some leftovers, give this one a try! –Jess

Your ingredients:

1 pound ground protein (we do our own ground venison but pick your own favorite-turkey, beef, combination of both), seasoned with salt and pepper and browned
2 1/4 cups diced carrots (3 large)
2 cups diced onion (2 medium)
1 1/2 cups diced celery (4 stalks)
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon each pepper, salt, and basil
8 cups beef stock (I love the Orrington Farms beef base to make my own! Only thing I use 😉)
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (I used oregano and basil seasoned)
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup dry barley, cooked according to directions or tossed in with everything else (but you will need to simmer the soup longer if that’s the case)–optional
Olive oil

Your Steps to Vegetable and Venison Soup

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large saucepan. Add garlic, carrots, onion, and celery. Season with basil, salt, and pepper. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft.
Put into large soup kettle with remaining ingredients (if you are using broth base, add 10 cups of water first, heat to boiling, and stir in broth base. The add in remaining ingredients). Allow to simmer on low for at least 30 minutes to allow all those flavors to mingle ❤️😍 Sometimes I like to mix in 1/4-1/2 cup dry barley too, cooking per directions on package. But truly, this is a great recipe to throw together even without it. Serve with some crusty bread and you’ll feel like you’re winning at life! Let me know what you think!

Tools of the trade

This beef base is to die for. And a cast iron Dutch oven? A must in the kitchen.

Looking for another wonderful, but totally different venison soup? Check out my root vegetable and venison soup!

Kitchen Sink Vegetable and Venison Soup

A family favorite: Full of good for you vegetables, ground protein, and a special flavor surprise in the basil. You'll be sure to come back for more!

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Servings

Ingredients

1 pound ground protein browned
2 1/4 cups diced carrots 3 large
2 cups diced onion 2 medium
1 1/2 cups diced celery 4 stalks
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon basil
8 cups beef stock
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes undrained
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen peas
Olive oil

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large saucepan.
Add garlic, carrots, onion, and celery. Season with basil, salt, and pepper.
Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft.
Put into large soup kettle with remaining ingredients.
Allow to simmer on low for at least 30 minutes to allow all those flavors to mingle.

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January 5, 2020October 2, 2024

JessLeave a comment

Quick and Easy Lasagna Bake

I may not look it, but Italian blood runs through my veins and I LOVE a good pasta dish. Homemade lasagna warms my soul and my belly, but I hesitate when making it because it’s a labor intensive dish. And the noodles! I spend too much time worrying about whether they will break, stick together, and the like. Because of that, I generally compromise with baked ziti, but it just isn’t the same. Then this quick and easy lasagna bake bake came into my life, and I am forever grateful. The inspiration came from Taste of Home’s Lasagna Toss, but has quite a few modifications by me.

Your ingredients

1 lb ground Italian sausage (I used my Italian-seasoned ground venison)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
2 cups chopped, raw spinach
8 oz. noodles of your choice, cooked and drained (I used penne)
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan cheese
parsley

Your Steps to Lasagna Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes, until just turning translucent. Add sausage, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Cook until meat is browned. Stir in spaghetti sauce and chopped spinach. Cook until spinach is cooked down, approximately 6-8 minutes. Stir in noodles.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta and 1 ½ c mozzarella together (add more basil and oregano here if you are a spice king or queen!).

Grease a casserole dish. Pour half of the meat mixture into the pan. Spread the cheese mixture on top of that by dropping small spoonfuls onto the meat and breaking apart with your fingers to evenly spread it out. Add remaining meat mixture. Top with 1 ½ cup of mozzarella, grated parmesan, and parsley. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. For perfectly browned cheese, turn on the broiler to 450 degrees in the final 1-2 minutes of cooking. Be sure to watch it though. Cheese can go from perfect to burned crazy fast! I always take the risk because I LOVE me some perfectly browned cheese (I am a Wisconsin girl, you know…we love our cheese.)

Is there anything better than onions and garlic?

Looking for more dinner inspiration? Check out my cooking page by clicking below!

Cooking

Tools of the Trade

Not too many tools required for our lasagna bake, but I will say, a good Pyrex casserole dish and flexible cutting boards are ALWAYS a must 🙂 Check the links below to add to your cooking collection!

Quick and Easy Lasagna Bake

Love lasagna but not the prep that goes with it? Create a quick and easy lasagna bake to skip the prep but keep all the flavor!

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 25

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings

Ingredients

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
2 cups chopped raw spinach
8 oz. noodles of your choice cooked and drained (I used penne)
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan cheese
parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, sauté onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes, until just turning translucent.
Add sausage, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.
Cook until meat is browned. Stir in spaghetti sauce and chopped spinach. Cook until spinach is cooked down, approximately 6-8 minutes.
Stir in noodles. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix ricotta and 1 ½ c mozzarella together. Feel free to add more basil and oregano here as well.
Grease a casserole dish. Pour half of the meat mixture into the pan.
Spread the cheese mixture on top of that by dropping small spoonfuls onto the meat and breaking apart with your fingers to evenly spread it out.
Add remaining meat mixture.
Top with 1 ½ cup of mozzarella, grated parmesan, and parsley.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
For perfectly browned cheese, turn on the broiler to 450 degrees in the final 1-2 minutes of cooking.

Notes

Be careful with the broiler. It’s my favorite technique for getting browned anything, but can easily go from perfect to burned. Watch it carefully.

Keyword Italian, lasagna, pasta bake

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December 29, 2019April 17, 2024

JessLeave a comment

From Scratch Italian Wedding Soup

Soup. It speaks to my soul. If someone said I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would choose soup in a heartbeat. Here’s the thing: I love all the parts of the prep; the chopping, the cooking of garlic (because you need all the garlic in your life), the long slow cook on the stove in a Dutch Oven, all of it. And this Italian Wedding Soup fits all the bills.

I may not look it, but I have enough Italian in my DNA to call myself an Italian, and ALL Italian food makes my taste buds do a happy dance; so when I saw a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup, I immediately started looking at all sorts of recipes to pull my favorite parts and make it my own. I was happy with how quickly this got pulled together and everyone in our family loved it!

Ready to get cooking? Let’s get started!

Your Ingredients

1 lb of Italian sausage seasoned ground venison (regular ground Italian sausage would work great!)
2 eggs, beaten
4 Tablespoons bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 cups finely diced carrots
4 cups chopped spinach
minced garlic, 2-3 cloves (I like to do a cereal spoon-ful, but do to taste. I have only experienced too much garlic once in my life)
11 cups chicken stock, low sodium
1 cup orzo
salt, pepper, and basil to taste

Your steps To Italian Wedding Soup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan, and ground venison together. Shape into 1 inch meatballs and place on the lined baking pan. Bake the meatballs for 10 minutes, until cooked through. (If you haven’t cook meatballs this way yet, you have to give it a try! It saves a lot of stress in terms of making sure they don’t burn in a pan as well as the yuck of clean up. I wouldn’t do it any other way now!)

Meanwhile, sauté the carrots with garlic, salt, and pepper until softened. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil.

Once the chicken stock is boiling, add orzo and cook to al dente. Two minutes before the pasta is done, add spinach and meatballs. Season with pepper and salt to taste. Easy and delicious.

I’m loving all the uses I’m finding for this seasoned ground venison. It’s still low fat and healthy, a great alternative to Italian sausage, which we love at this house.

From Scratch Italian Wedding Soup

Looking for a simple but so delicious soup to serve? This Italian Wedding Soup has a little of everything: orzo, meatballs, carrots, and spinach. Give it a try!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings people

Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage
2 eggs beaten
4 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
4 cups chopped spinach
2-3 cloves minced garlic
11 cups chicken stock low sodium
1 cup orzo
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Mix eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan, and Italian sausage (venison or regular) together. Shape into 1 inch meatballs and place on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until cooked through.
Meanwhile, saute the carrots with garlic, salt and pepper until softened.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add orzo and cook to al dente. Two minutes before the pasta is done, add spinach and meatballs. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Keyword Italian sausage, Italian Wedding Soup, meatballs, soup, soups and stews

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