The Last Of The Gnudi

Because our weather had turned more toward winter than spring, bringing us several days of unusual rain for this time of year, I decided to make a hearty soup to bathe the last of the gnudi. It was easy enough to do as I had a fridge full of veggies and the leftover sauce from this gnudi iteration, so in the morning I went to work, simmered the result for a few hours, turned it off and let it rest, then reheated it for dinner the same day.

I sautéed chopped onion, green garlic, fennel and celery in a tablespoon or so of olive oil, then added the leftover sauce and a big box of organic chicken broth, plus a healthy handful of oregano and thyme from the garden. A little later on, I decided a dollop of red wine couldn't hurt, so that went in as well. The sauce already had some spicy Italian sausage, mushrooms and zucchini, enough to make the soup hearty.

When all that simmering had been accomplished, I added a handful of fresh peas, boiled another pot of salted water for the gnudi and, when they were done, dropped them into the bowls of soup. Somewhere along the line, the soup got plenty of salt - no need to add any - but we did grind some fresh pepper and grate a light sprinkle of ParmReg into our bowls, just to add to the deep funkiness.

The rain was running down the windowpanes and the wind was tossing the treetops around outside as we sat down in a pool of yellow light in the warm house to steaming bowls of gnudi soup.