Wednesday: winter minestrone soup, gnocchi gratin, endive salad

Three dishes that ended up working well together.

The winter minestrone soup was a simple one from Le Menu: cook a finely chopped onion with a minced clove of garlic and a pinch of salt in some butter until the onion softens and the garlic has smoothened out. Add a carrot cut into matchsticks and some savoy cabbage cut into bite size pieces and cook another couple of minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add salt if needed, then add some pasta and simmer until the pasta is done. Two minutes before serving, add some kidney beans.

The gratin was inspired by another Le Menu recipe (for Kugeli Gratin), but was heavily adapted: Cut a whole chicken breast into bite-size pieces. Brown these well on one side in some peanut oil and then set aside. Pour some olive oil in a gratin dish and then add 500g of gnocchi in a single layer. Add the chicken and some finely diced smoked bacon. Combine some tomato sauce with a bit of water, some vegetable boullion, a bit of hot paprika, and some black pepper and pour over the gratin. Top with grated sharp cheese and bake at 210C for 15-20 minutes, or until it looks done.

Our salad was from CPV: cress, belgian endive, and apple with a vinaigrette from mustard, lemon juice, white balsamico, and olive oil.

Good food!