I had a rough day. Everything is okay; it was just...let's go with "crushing." Crap days necessitate three things: comfort food, yoga pants, and good television with Logan (oh lord, I'm so 31).
For me, the ultimate comfort food is really good ramen. But good ramen requires a few things I didn't have: lots and lots of time, and either expertise or hubris.
So, tonight was a night for penultimate comfort food, which is obviously anything involving pasta and tomatoes. Maybe that sounds boring, but this iteration was pretty delightful. You look at this bowl and think you know exactly what it's going to taste like. But, tarragon, man. It changes everything.
My sophomore year of college I had some friends who had this magical thing called Cable. They were pretty good friends, so I was over there enough to develop a bit of a Food Network habit. One day I saw a tarragon halibut dish featured and immediately had one of those intense flashbacks that only a memorable meal can produce (or maybe I just like eating too much). This memory took me straight to the summer before my senior year of high school, visiting New York City with my mom. We stayed with my aunt and uncle, and Aunt Liz made the most amazing fish with tarragon. I felt impossibly grown-up and cosmopolitan, trying this herb for the first time in this Manhattan high rise and not even asking for ketchup. The world was full of so many unknowns, and at that moment I believed every new encounter would be just as eye-openingly delicious as Aunt Liz's fish.
Watching Food Network that day (don't even remember what show), I knew I had to try the recipe. That sounds pretty run-of-the-mill now (31), but when I was 19? When I was 19 I figured out you could order the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl at Jack-in-the-Box with just rice and it was only 89 cents. They gave you the soy sauce for free. For Free. Hello, fancy dinner out.
It took a bit of financial finagling to work up to tarragon halibut, but I did it. I was so looking forward to revisiting that feeling I had in New York. I even dug out my copy of Sarah McLachlan's "Surfacing," because that's what Aunt Liz had played during dinner. This was going to be livejournal-worthy for sure.
It was a rough night. I don't know if I was just a horrendous cook or if the recipe could be blamed for some of it, but OOF. That heart-rending recipe is the reason I don't have cable to this day. JK I'm just super cheap. It spoiled me for tarragon for years to come, and I'm still a little tarra-gunshy.
But in tonight's mostly pantry-based soup, the tarragon was perfect. Every bite made me a little bit happier. I went from "I like this" to "I really like this" to "I LOVE this." Logan said it was "tarra-fyingly good." (We get along all right.)
I think this is the first soup made up in my brain that I'd make again in exactly the same way. I'm not espousing eating your feelings, but it sure worked tonight. At least was fairly healthy.
It's basically just a tomato soup with chickpeas, pasta, kale, carrots and tarragon. Nothing fancy, but comfort food isn't meant to be.
In choosing my pasta I went for a 100% durum pasta, because that toothsome (oh man, I love that word) element really makes it hold up to the chickpeas. You could use a semolina pasta, but I don't think it would be quite as satisfying.
Some days we all just need a win. Today was that day for me, and I'm so grateful I had silly ol' Soupruary to redeem it.
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| Spoon in the picture = mega excited to eat. |
Tomato Tarragon Soup with Chickpeas, Pasta and Kale
GET THIS STUFF
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups diced San Marzano tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
2 small carrots, sliced
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup small shaped durum pasta
3 or 4 leaves of kale, ribbed and sliced in ribbons (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, plus a few sprigs as garnish
a good squeeze of lemon juice (probably about 1 tablespoon)
DO THIS WITH IT
Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat in your soup pot, and add onion with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
Add tomatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
Add carrots and garbanzo beans and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add pasta, bring back to a simmer and cover for another 5 minutes. Add kale and tarragon, cover again and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Test to be sure pasta is cooked al dente -- if not, continue simmering covered until pasta reaches desired doneness.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Serve garnished with tarragon.
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