Tomato Vegetable Casserole

This is my disappearing recipe.  I copied it, into the blog and was about to alter the recipe to what I had actually done but decided to get my photos first.  I still am not sure why but I could not find them.  I went through pages of photos and still no photos for this recipe.  I finally gave up and saved this as a draft and promptly forgot about it.

Today, when I was about to blog another recipe, I found the draft and decided to take another look.  Lo and behold, the photos jumped out at me, almost immediately.  Have you had days like this?

Tomato Vegetable Casserole     Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis  (adapted)     6 servings

Ingredients

1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yam, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 large zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
Salt and pepper
1 large ripe tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons taco chip crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the potato, yam, bell pepper, carrots, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until coated. Spread vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Arrange the onion slices evenly over the vegetable mixture. Arrange the zucchini over the onion. Drizzle with 1  tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the tomato slices over the zucchini.

Stir the Parmesan and  crumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the Parmesan bread crumbs over the vegetables in the baking dish. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender, and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes. 

This is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays         Made from Scratch Mondays    Allergy Free Wednesday      Real Food Wednesday    Made from Scratch Mondays       Hearth and Soul

    Cast Party Wednesdays      Pennywise Platter   Seasonal Event

Desperation Tomato Soup — Giada

I made this, one night, when my eyes were literally closing.   Forget cooking, I didn’t even want to eat.  

The other of lifting a fork to my mouth overwhelmed me.    I am sure, many of us, have these days or evenings where everything looms large.  I have them more, these days, when I am on extra duty for my job.  

That night typified exhaustion but I knew, not eating, was not going to do me any good.  I could see sleeping for an hour and waking up with hunger pains.  Then, I would, very likely not fall back to sleep for hours.  No, we were going to eat even if was lettuce without dressing.

Why I picked up Giada’s book up, I don’t know and why it opened to this soup is even more strange.  Who am I to ask questions?  I had dinner, Italian style, ready in a short while.  Tomato soup, something I love and something comforting.

I will hang my head, in shame, for those of you who always cook from scratch, something I often do, very often, but not that night.  This soup embarrassingly is made from bottled Marinara soup, boxed Vegetable Soup and canned beans plus a few extras.  I, even peeled carrots…..Wow!  Chopped an onion…..Double wow!!

Let me tell you, this soup was very good.  It had flavor and was smooth and went down, easily and I loved it, at least that night.  My instincts tell me, I would like it again and then again.  It was not simply the desperation but I can keep it for another desperation night when sleep calls.

Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Serves:  4 to 6 serving

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 28 ounces vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2  any small pasta
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and onion. and saute until soft, about 2 minutes.

Add the jar of marinara sauce, chicken broth, cannelloni beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, salt and pepper.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

Eat and enjoy!

Note the length of time for this soup, if you cook the pasta while you are browning the vegetables………12 minutes. Even a tired lady should be able to handle this and if one can’t, sleep is the only answer.

This is linked to Totally Tasty Tuesdays (Mandy’s Recipe Box),   Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits  Tasty Tuesdays   Mix it Up Monday    Cookbook Sundays

Gluten Free Wednesdays