Dear Cooks,

Rachael Ray's most ambitious book to date, Look + Cook not only includes 225 all-new recipes—from 30-Minute-Meals and Yes! The Kids Will Eat It to Sides and Starters and Bottom-of-the-Jar-Tips—but 600 step-by-step full-color photographs that illustrate how to create 100 meals. It's as if you were cooking right next to Rachael, shadowing her as she drizzles the steaks with EVOO, reduces balsamic vinegar to a syrupy sweetness, and expertly scoops seeds out of a pepper. Always inventive, always simple, always fun—dishes like Fondue with Apple Brandy, Lemon Risotto, Glazed Chicken & Peaches with Cheese and Bacon Biscuits, and Bocconcini Stuffed Meatballs with Tomato-Pesto Sauce are the kind of table-pleasers that Rachael never fails to deliver.

Plus, check out the accompanying real-time video for select recipes at www.rachaelray.com/lookandcook!


Clarkson Potter/Publishers

Midwinter Minestrone
Serves 4

  • 2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin
    olive oil)
  • 1/4 pound sliced pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice (optional)
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into1/4-inch dice
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped into1/4-inch dice
  • 2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    or grated
  • 1 large or 2 medium red onions,
    chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 ounce dried porcini or mixed wild
    mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/2 cup soft sun-dried tomatoes,
    thinly sliced
  • 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 small bunch of purple or green
    kale, washed and dried
  • 1 cup semolina or whole-wheat
    ditalini or other short cut pasta
  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
  • Pecorino Romano cheese, grated or
    shredded, to pass at the table

Place a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the pancetta to the pot (if using) and cook until crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, bay leaves, garlic, and onions to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the veggies are tender, 7 to 8 minutes more.

Add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, stock, and 2 cups water to the pot, and bring up to a boil. Hold the kale by the stems and curl up your opposite hand around the greens at the base of the stem. With a quick jerking motion strip the greens off and away from the stems and chop the greens.

Add the kale, pasta, and chickpeas to the soup pot, and cook until the pasta is al dente. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaves.

Ladle the soup into shallow bowls, top with the Pecorino Romano, and serve.


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