butternut chicken-noodle soup

We don’t get many rainy days in San Diego, so when we do I like to make fall-y dishes and savor the moment. Chicken noodle soup has a reputation for being curative so I decided to make it and see if it’d help me feel just a little bit better. The only problem is that I was craving a sort of hearty and sweet soup, so I had to mix the savory “normal” flavor of chicken soup with something sweet: a butternut squash. It was a marriage made in heaven.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 large onion, diced

1 small bunch celery, sliced coarsely

2 large carrots, sliced coarsely

1 whole chicken, cut into large pieces (or use your favorite cut, just be sure to leave some of the skin for flavor)

Egg noodles, I prefer linguine egg noodles—not too thick, not too thin

1 small-medium butternut squash, cubed in about 1.5/1.5 inch squares

Olive oil

Water

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add a little oil to the bottom of a dutch oven, heat on high.
2. Once heated, add the chicken pieces. Cook until just golden brown.
3. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken from pot, set aside.
4. If needed, add a bit more olive oil, turn heat to medium, and add onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir!
5. Add chicken back into the pot, fill with water—until chicken is more than just covered.
6. Bring to a boil and then cook on medium for about an hour.
7. In another pot, boil water, salt it, then cook egg noodles.
8. While noodle water is coming to a boil add the squash to the chicken mixture, let cook.
9. Add salt and pepper.
10. When noodles are done, add them to the bowls and cover with chicken soup. OR you can add the noodles to the soup directly, is personal preference.

¡Buen provecho!

spaghetti alla bottarga

Some foods are best when left simple. This is the case with Bottarga, it is a type of caviar that is highly coveted by the Sicilians. Bottarga is either tuna roe or mullet roe that is grated over pasta. Our Sicilian friend had us over for this amazing dish, since then we've been making it on our own. He used squid-ink pasta, the ink adds a salty-sweetness to the dish. I highly recommend finding this pasta as it will add lots of flavor. The recipe is fast and delicious and you only need 4 ingredients.Too bad I was so eager to eat it...I forgot to take a picture, but if you like caviar you will probably love this dish. If you look online, you can find pictures of the squid ink pasta and pictures of Bottarga...now go get some and make yourself this dish!

Ingredients
Serves 4


400 grams ink pasta
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
olive oil
Bottarga

Directions
1. Fill pot with water (for pasta), when it comes to a boil, salt the water and add the pasta cooking until al dente--follow the directions on the package.
2. In a pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, approximately 1-2 minutes.
3. When pasta is done, drain and add to pan with garlic and oil.
4. There are two variations on how to add the Bottarga, you an either add it to the oil (after the garlic is done) and let cook VERY briefly, add the pasta and toss together--OR--you can add the pasta to the garlic-oil mixture, grate the Bottarga on top, then toss.  

Serve with a side salad, I used kale as the bitterness from the kale salad complements the salty-sweet pasta.