Dinner in 15: cheesy bean bake

 Ciao bambini.  Annalena was very busy and very occupied last week, so you didn't see her.  She's sorry about that, and will try to make it up to you, with many recipes this week.  Yes, many of us are getting ready for Thanksgiving, but as Annalena's veterinarian once said of her beloved Margot  "kitty's GOT to EEEEEAT"  (Dr. vander Woeert was Dutch, so please improvise the accent). 

Annalena is going to start with a recipe that you literally could have on the table in 15 minutes.  If you do things the way Annalena does, you'll need to do some prepping to make this, but the prep work is so easy, that you should be doing something like this, every week.

We're making a cheesy bean casserole.  It's a vegetarian dish that needs "something green" to go along with it.  Annalena made salad, but you should choose what you like.  Are we ready to begin?  Well, good.

First, preheat your oven to 475, and get a very sturdy, very big pan ready.  And you will need these ingredients:

What you see here, ragazzi, is all we will need:  1/4 cup of tomato paste (Annalena uses the stuff in a tube.  If you have passato, use that.  Try not to use the stuff in the can because, well, what are you going to do with the leftovers?).  There is also 1/2 pound of good quality mozzarella (remember our rule:  no cheese that ends with an  "LLY-O" for the army.  If you can't get mozz, use fontina.).  You will also see five cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced,  olive oil (you'll need 1/4 cup of that), and ... the item where you should be doing prep:  4 cups of soft beans.

Now, tesori, you COULD use canned beans on this.  But REALLY?  Have you ever looked at the ingredients in canned beans, even the organic ones?  REALLY?   No no no, Annalena does NOT want you using canned beans.  What she wants you to do is to get some fresh dried beans (more on this below), and soak a pound of them, overnight.  The next day, depending on the school of thought to which you belong, either dump the water and re-cover the beans, or add more water to cover the beans by 2 inches.

Some commentary here, amici.  Dried beans keep forever.  That does NOT mean they do not change.  Old beans will take forever to cook, if they cook at all.  FRESH dried beans (which sounds like a contradiction in terms), will cook up quickly.  Here's a way to tell, if the beans you have, are old, or new.  When you cover them with water, and let them soak overnight, see how much water they take up.  Fresh dried beans will take up a LOT.  Old ones? Not so much (Is anyone but Annalena thinking of the line in "Flower Drum Song " - which could be the San Francisco Chinese variation on the life of your New York Italian gal   -  "Oh, yes.  A dozen thousand year old eggs.  AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE FRESH.")

Sorry.  Even though it's politically incorrect to say so,  Annalena loves that movie (and does anyone NOT love the song "Love look away?").

So, ok, we've established that you should buy your dry beans from someone who replaces them regularly  (Annalena is with a great many cooks who buy them from Rancho Gordo. She gets hers mail order, but you can find them in good stores).  On the water:  Annalena grew up being taught that while soaking, the beans would give up chemicals that would cause gas, and might inhibit their cooking.  Many do not adhere to this belief, and point out, rightly, that if you dump that water, you are wasting a  scarce resource.  Indeed, as our current government not so slowly destroys our environment,  this is an issue.  Being old school, and not long for this world, Annalena DOES change the water.  For what it is worth, she winces when she does.  To each his or her own on this. 

In any event, cook those beans, and cook them longer than you think you should.  You want the beans to be soft.  And if you start with a pound of dried beans, you'll have about 7-8 cups of cooked, which is twice what you need for this recipe.  Put half of them in the freezer, and use them for a soup  . (Annalena used them to make a kale and white bean soup with a tomato broth.  Too bad she's already married, right?).

Let us step back to the cheese.  Indeed, one should ALWAYS step back to cheese.  We have to grate this.  Grating mozzarella, is not easy.  It's soft.  Soft cheese are difficult to grate or shred.  Our solution?  Any volunteers?  AH.   Annalena thinks she sees Laura back there hesitating.  Laura, you were going to suggest freezing the cheese for half an hour, weren't you.  BRAVISSIMA.  Yes, ragazzi, you do NOT freeze cheese overnight , but if you freeze it for a half hour, a soft cheese is much easier to grate (this is a technique Annalena learned, by the way, from a Chinese teacher, who used it to slice beef for stir frying.  Yet again, Annalena crosses paths with the Flower Drum song.  One day, she will tell you all about her overdramatic interpretation (some would call it an interruption) of the song "Chop Suey."  It does suit Annalena's fach).

So, now we have had our lesson on beans, and we're ready to cook.  Is your oven at 475?  Surely Annalena has prattled enough to let it get there.    Now, remember that big pan?  Put the olive oil in, and the garlic.  Let them heat together, and after about a minute - yes, a minute - you'll get something like this:

Now, you're going to add the 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, and stir it around for about another minute:

This is all happening, by the way, at medium high heat.  See how the oil has colored and the paste has broken up a bit?  Worry not.  All will be well.

Now, to the beans.  In they go, and stir it all together:

Now, remember that cheese we worked so hard to grate?  Let's sprinkle it over the beans:

And now, let's put this pan into the oven, for 5-10 minutes.  Check it after 5.  The cheese will have melted, but you may want it to darken.  Indeed, who can reject crispy cheese?  So, Annalena baked this for 10 minutes, and put it  under the broiler for two minutes:

Annalena suggests that you go back and count up how much time we spent working on this dish.  Not much, huh?  

Heavens, this is good.  Let's make it again, ragazzi. Annalena does not say this often, but this recipe is a keeper.  She served garlic bread and salad with it, and regretted nothing.    And with that, she offers you all a song which  she hopes applies to you. 

Annalena will be back tomorrow, with another, more difficult recipe.  In fact, it is a redux of a recipe already here, but ILLUSTRATED!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aurqCBAqUBI

SPECIAL ELECTION DAY RECIPE: Baked pasta alla Norma

Ciao, ragazzi.  Annalena was going to post a different second recipe this week, but since she was making Election Night dinner for the Guyman and herself, she's posting this, for many reasons.

First:  NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY EXCUSE FOR NOT VOTING, PERIOD.  Annalena will NOT get into a discussion of WHO you should be voting for, although you probably know her views on that, but in any event, to say  "I didn't vote because....", simply is not going to cut it anymore.  Annalena and the Guyman each have three appointments on Tuesday, and they have a full day of work.  WE WILL BE VOTING.  You should be too.

And this post is to take the issue of dinner off the table.  Yes,  ragazzi, some of you will use dinner as an excuse. MAKE IT AHEAD.  And here's one that Annalena approves of,  which is simple enough to make, and which is going to be even better if you make it today, or tomorrow, and eat it on Tuesday.

And, she will even throw out this offer:  if there are any of you nearby, who "just can't," if you vote, Annalena will share this casserole with you.  There's plenty.  First two or three to ask, get fed.

Now, onto this dinner.  By now, most of you will know of Annalena's love of Sicily, and Sicilian food.  Thus it is sometimes surprising for Annalena to hear that people do not know that the dish "pasta alla norma" is Sicilian.  Simple, seasonal, and elegant, you should all be making it:  pasta, tomato sauce, fried eggplant, and ricotta salata.  Very easy.

"Fried" will put some of you off immediately:  it takes too long.  "Eggplant" will throw off others.  And that's fair, to some extent.  But IT IS ELECTION DAY .  So, Annalena took a recipe from her beloved friends at City Saucery, and adapted it a bit, to make it more user friendly for those of you who may have issues.  Here we go.   

First, you need a good pound, pound and a half of eggplant, which you will cut up into small cubes:

Not a fan of eggplant?  Use another vegetable.  Use mushrooms.  Use butternut squash.  Use a big summer squash if you have it.  For heaven's sakes, use peppers or some combination.  Clean out your refrigerator.  JUST DO IT.  And then preheat your oven, to 425

Now, after you've cut up the veggies, peel and smash 8 cloves of garlic.  Mix this with your eggplant, and 1/4 cup of olive oil, and a big pinch of salt.  Get it into a baking dish:

Don't like garlic?  DON'T USE IT.  Like garlic, but 8 sounds like too many?  CUT IT BACK.   C'mon, as Madonna said  "use your imagination/that's what it's for."  Stir this all together, and put it in the oven, for 30 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

And to those other ingredients.  You will need two eggs, and about a cup of a firm cheese, cubed.  Annalena used feta here, because she was out of ricotta salata .  Use provolone if that's all you can get.  Use a young pecorino.  Or just ask the guy or gal at the store what you should use:

Now, you will also need one quart of tomato sauce.  Ragazzi, you know how Annalena is about making her sauce.  Sometimes, she doesn't have any on hand.  That's where the City Saucery folk come in.  Annalena LOVES their sauce.  So, whether you make it yourself, whether you buy it, JUST GET A QUART OF TOMATO SAUCE.  Geez, you can get it everywhere.  Try not to buy one with corn syrup or other yucky stuff,  please.  

Add that sauce, with a nice quantity of parmesan, to the cheese and eggs, and then mix everything up.  If you don't have parmesan.... FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE USE PECORINO.   

Remember we were baking eggplant?  Well, here they are, after 30 minutes in the oven:

If you used the garlic, and you really fear for putting a whole clove in your mouth, well, it's not the biggest thing that's been there (at least that's Annalena's hope), but if you don't want it, fish it out.  You can see what is eggplant and what is garlic.  And if you miss one or two, please, don't go nuts. 

You're going to let this eggplant cool, while you begin cooking a pound of pasta.  Annalea used bucatini.  You should use what you have, and what you like.  But cook it LESS than al dente, because it's going into the oven. 

While that pasta is hot, add the tomato sauce mixture, and the eggplant, and stir it all together:

Remember that pan you used to bake the eggplant?  Now, dump this stuff into the pan (it's probably still got enough olive oil for it to be considered "greased"), and put it in the oven at 425 (remember we kept the oven on), for 30 minutes.  If you like, put some parmesan on top.  See rants above for options.  If you can find some good basil, throw some in.  If you have pesto, maybe use some of that.  And if you have none of these,  you're fine.

Your house will smell wonderful.   You will be SO proud of yourself.  And you will be on your way to fulfilling your civic duty.

Seriously kids, this stuff is important.  If you sat out the last one, or if you voted for someone whom you knew couldn't win because you couldn't find a perfect candidate, look at yourself in the mirror.  Can you live with yourself if you do it again?   Think about the last 2 years.  And if you're not happy, whether you like it or not  THIS IS YOUR FAULT.  Purge that fault.  VOTE

"Beefing up" your eggs: grain frittata

Ciao, ragazzi.  And Happy Daylight Savings Time.  Annalena hopes you put your extra hour to good use, be it catching up on sleep, reading, cleaning, etc.  Now it will be light in the morning and dark at night.  Annalena likes this, because sometime in 2019, it will begin to be light when she gets home, and that will make her happy.

Ok, we have now officially had our first diversion.  Let us move on. Frittate. Or, as we usually hear them described (Annalena shivers):  frittatas.  They seem to be easy.  They seem to be simple. After all, it's a dumbed down version of an omelet, right?

DO. NOT. GET. ANNALENA. STARTED.   No, they are not.  And while they are not complicated, if you think you can start a frittata, go and get your hair done, and then come back and finish, well, honestly carini, you deserve what you get.

Frequently, when Annalena eats a frittata, she feels unsatisfied at the end (that is true with so many things, but we will not discuss that, other than to ask:  did you know one of Annalena's favorite songs is Peggy Lee's  "Is That All There Is?").  So, when Annalena saw a recipe suggesting that we add GRAINS to our frittate, well... sign her up.

Now, to be certain, this recipe is nothing new.  People have been making them this way for hundreds of years.  As Annalena's gal pal Annalisa, who lives in Sicily once said  "what's so special about using leftovers? You don't throw away food."   CERTO CARA CERTO.  And this will make you WANT to re-use the leftovers.  It really will.

When we cook we frequently have left overs, especially with grains:  rice, farro, barley, etc.  Even pasta.  Save it.  You can use it for this recipe, and you won't regret it.  Annalena had leftover rice. She would make it with anything.  Let's begin.

Annalena was making this for two people, so she used six eggs.  To size this up, add two more, for any additional person:

The dark stuff in the center, is a tablespoon of fish sauce.  Use soy sauce or shoyu if you are avoiding fish and meat.  You could leave this out entirely, but you'd miss it.    What Annalena also had, was the leftover rice from earlier that week:

And also, leftover pole beans:

You can see that Annalena chopped the beans, and there was rosemary and some mushrooms in the rice.  Your grain can be "clean" or "dirty," doesn't really matter.  If you don't have leftover vegetables, you're ok, but if you have a vegetable in the house, use it.   You know you don't eat enough of them. 

Well, remember Mao's statement  "to make an omelet you have to break eggs?" (That's not actually what he said, but that's what was reported).  You also have to stir them up.

Frittate do not need the "lightness" of a souffle, so we are only mixing our ingredients together, so as to combine them. What this means is that the eggs should have a uniform color:  no yellow or white streaks.  

Put those aside for a minute.  Put a couple of tablespoons of butter (or olive oil, if you're staying away from the animal stuff:  of course, you are eating eggs, but Annalena tries to accommodate), and add one sliced shallot. USE A NON STICK PAN.  USE A NON STICK PAN.  USE A NON STICK PAN.   (Did you get that this is the most important thing in this recipe?).  Cook that shallot at medium low heat (in fact, cook everything here at less heat than normal):

When you have something like this (after about 2 minutes)

Have a rubber spatula recipe, and pour in your eggs.  What you see below, is going to happen immediately:

Can you see the bubbling at the edges, and the way it cooked, almost like a pancake?  This is a good thing, which will turn into a bad thing, if you do not do things right  (and this is where our amateur frittate makers screw up).  Get your spatula, and GENTLY, AND SLOWLY  stir things from the bottom, and all around the pan:

The eggs ae going to cook quickly, and what you want to do is distribute the heat and the cooked product, as well as you can. This also prevents the eggs from becoming tough.  Do this, for about three minutes, and then step back.  Now, we are going to start doing something really, REALLY  important. 

Annalena is lifting the frittata from the pan.  You do this so that you can get it out of the pan when it's done.  The protein in eggs really likes the pan surface, even if it is non stick.  So you are going to do the above, all around the pan.  At first, not so far into it: the eggs are still soft.  But after you do it for 2-3 minutes, things will have congealed sufficiently, that you will get all the way to the center.  And that's a good thing.  

At this point, you will have been cooking, for about 7 minutes, and  you'll have something with a surface that looks like so:

You could eat these eggs now, but if  you did, you'd wonder why you bothered.  So, lower the heat even further, put a lid on the pan, and let it cook, undisturbed, for five minutes.

Annalena hopes you can see the nice, creamy surface.    If you are feeling hesitant, take your spatula and move it under the eggs again, to make sure nothing is sticking, and the beast is at one.  Because next, you are going to put your faith in something.  Turn down the heat.  Wait a minute.  Say a prayer. Put a plate big enough to cover the frittata over it, and cover  your hands.  Now, very bravely, seize the pan as close to the cooking part as possible, and flip it ) (Annalena's hands were occupied, so she couldn't photo this). You will get:

Not perfect, but pretty damn pretty, yes?  And, if yours does not come out as one, no one is going to know if you just push it together.  It is even LESS likely they will know this, if you have something tasty on hand, like tomato sauce, or sauteed mushrooms, or more of those vegetables, or, if you have generous friends like Annalena does, chilies rellenos.  You can put them on top of the frittata, and it looks even better:

"Simple food " ain't so simple, ragazzi.  It takes a bit of focus, but with that, you can do it.  So, the next time you go to a brunch spot, spend 17.00 for a frittata, and wonder if it was worth it, go home and make one.  You may stop standing on those brunch lines.  OR, you may have more respect for the kitchen staff.  One way or the other, you'll be a better person.  xoxoxoxoxxoxo

The salad that should have been dinner: Roasted delicata squash, pecans, radicchio, and arugula salad

Well, that title is a mouthful isn't it, ragazzi?  And so was this salad.  And there is a lesson to be learned here.  Sometimes, "enough" is too much.  Let Annalena explain.  The salad which follows, was intended as a side dish to a main meal of scallops with a beet and cucumber relish (which Annalena will post, in due course).  She actually thought that the salad would be a good accompaniment. 
It was.  It would have been a better dinner.  And so it goes.  We learn.  So, as you go through this recipe, please keep in mind that this is substantial.  You can make it MORE substantial if you're REALLY hungry, but you better be really hungry.

We start with one of the early fall squashes, delicata:

The one pictured is very young.  As they mature, these will turn yellow, and orange.  They will do so on your counter top, but keep an eye on them.  In Annalena's experience, these, and spaghetti squash, do not keep as well as the butternut and acorn varieties, so try to use them sooner rather than later.  

After you've put your oven at 425, you'll cut this critter in half, lengthwise (careful.  The skin is not all that tender:

Some people like to roast these seeds, but Annalena ain't got time for that.  Whether you roast them or not, you have to scoop these out, with a big spoon.  Then, you'll have a semi hollow squash.  You can turn it upside down, and then cut each half, into semi circles:

While you're prepping the squash, and the oven is heating up, throw about a cup of pecan halves onto a baking sheet, and put them in the oven.  In the time it takes for the oven to get to 425, they will roast (Annalena forgot to take pictures of this).  

You now take these half moons of squash, and mix them with honey, and chili powder:

(Lest Annalena forget, the man who sells her honey, is a HUNK.  Let's go visit him sometime, ok?).  So, while you "reminisce" about Andrew, your honey man, put the squash, a big tablespoon of honey,  two tablespoons of olive oil, and a pinch of chili powder in a bowl, together with a scanty teaspoon of salt.  Toss it all together, and then dump it onto a baking sheet, covered with parchment, and smooth out the squash to a single layer.    Put this into the oven, and let it roast for about 30 minutes.  Turn the pieces over with some tongs, every ten minutes or so.  You'll get:

If you recall, we've already roasted our pecans, they're out of the oven, and now, we've roasted our squash.  You can see how much it has shrunk.  So, you can combine your pecans and squash on one baking sheet, at different corners if you like.  You should not mix them at this point, because the residual moisture in the squash, will undermine your toasted pecans.  You COULD also combine the pecans and squash, and eat them without the salad, or you could eat the squash as is, and forget about the pecans.  Remember, ragazzi, you always have options. 

Let us now address the salad greens.  We are using radicchio:

If you are not familiar with this beautiful, reddish purple vegetable, you would be forgiven for thinking that it must be sweet.  IT IS NOT.  Indeed, Annalena remembers when she first encountered radicchio in the 80s, bit into what she thought was going to be the sweetest lettuce she has ever tasted, and spat it out.  Radicchio is a cicory, and all of the cicories (endive, tardivo, etc), are bitter.  They are Italian, in fact, from around the Venice area, and they are very well favored by Italians.  Americans, well.... we'll get there.  And for what it's worth, they are very resilient, and you can quarter them, and grill or roast them, and they DO sweeten. 

NOT TODAY SATAN.  We're going to simply quarter these, and then slice them into thin slices:

Eyeball how much radicchio you have, and add about an equal quantity of - another bitter green - arugula:

For those of you who are concerned with "eating bitterness" (ask a Chinese friend.  Many of Annalenas readers have been doing so for 2 years plus), rest assured the pecans, the squash, and our dressing, which follows, will sweeten this.

Now, to the dressing.  Originally, this dressing was made, with buttermilk.  Annalena had no buttermilk, but she had.... creme fraiche.  And if you wish to go completely vegan (did you notice we are vegan so far?), get your hands on a thick nut milk, or make it  yourself (it is not hard), and combine about half a cup of your buttermilk/creme fraiche/nut milk, together with the juice of one lemon, and another scant teaspoon of salt.  

Annalena added a grated clove of garlic, and wishes she didn't.  The garlic taste was very, very strong.  So leave it out if you don't want that strong a flavor.  Finally, add 1/4 cup of good quality olive oil, and mix the whole thing together:

And we're ready to literally toss this thing together.  Put the squash and pecans into a bowl with the greens, mix them together, add the dressing, and mix it again:

This is a rather substantial salad, ragazzi.  If you feel like you may be hungry, or there will be more, hungry people, you should add some fried tempeh or tofu, if you wish to keep the vegan or vegetarian aspect of it.  Scallops would be nice, and so would some very rare tuna, or even some steak.  As Annalena said, you have your options.  

And there we are for  this week.  Annalena wishes you all well.  Seriously, ALL of you, be well.  Take care of yourselves.  Share.  And be nice to each other.  Ultimately, all we have, is each other. 

A contemporary stone soup: celery, or celery root soup, with or without cheese

Ciao ragazzi.  A new week, and let us try to  forget the horrors of the week,  with a focus on some good things.  Ascolta:  Annalena was in the tower for the bomb threat, and she walked down 33 flights of stairs.  What sustained her was the woman next to her, who was even more frightened.  In summary, Annalena did what you would expect her to do.  She said to her new friend  'NO, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE, NOW TAKE OFF THOSE HEELS AND GIVE THEM TO ME. YOU'LL WALK FASTER."  Because that, amici, is what we do.    And we cook.  So, let's cook.

Do any of you remember the old story "Stone soup?"  It is a story we might all do well to recall:  someone starts making a very impoverished dish by putting a stone in a kettle with boiling water.  As people go by, they add what extra "anything" they have.  At the end, our hero (sometimes a heroine) eats lavishly.

Annalena thinks of this as a stone soup, because you can pretty much make it from what you probably have in the house.  And, it also features a vegetable you probably have at all times, and never use:  celery.

Annalena is guilty of this.  While there are vegetables she does not like (kale, brussels sprouts, although she is trying on these.  Parsnips, not so much), she likes celery.  And it's in the house, to add "backbone" to dishes.  But she never eats celery as "CELERY."  Can we have a show of hands on that?  Yes, she thought so.  This soup celebrates the indispensable celery.

Or, its relative, celery root.  You will see it sold as "celeriac" at times.  Yes, it IS the root of celery, although what we see in the markets as celery root, is not the root of the celery we buy and don't use.  The actual green vegetable that comes up out of celery root, is stringy, and tough.  You will see it, sometimes, as "soup celery," or in those packages of "vegetables for soup, " where a savvy business person has put together a carrot, an onion, and so forth, and some celery s/he can't sell elsewhere, marked them up 200%, and POOF.  You can make your own soup.

So what else is new?  Annalena digresses.  Conversely, the root of what we buy as "celery," is tiny, and almost useless.    We are going to need one, or both of those today.  We are going to need, as well, some onions, and potatoes, some fresh herbs, and some water. 

What you see in this pictue, behind the box of the (optional) cream cheese, is a celery root.  To prep it, you're going to need to cut away all that brown stuff, and then cut the white stuff into cubes.  But to continue.  We are making four quarts of soup today (stone soup is meant to be shared), but you may cut all of these quantities in half.    And the measurements here, are very, VERY approximate.  You will need one large bunch of celery, preferably organic, leaves and all.  Also two large onions.  You  can also add one small celery root.  OR, you can substitute ALL of the celery, with about 4 pounds of celery root (before you clean it). 

You will need to cut the onions roughly,  and do the same with your celery, and/or the celery root:

You will also need about 2 pounds of potatoes.  You'll peel, and cube these:

These potatoes are a new variety to Annalena, and they are called "satina."  One day, if you are a true food geek, go look up how many varieties of potato there are, and try to learn as much as you can about them.  They are different. Annalena learned that today with these potatoes, as we shall see. 

So, now, we are going to cook.  Get your big old soup pot, and cover the bottom with olive oil.  Add the onions, and a big sprig of rosemary, or several of thyme (and if you don't have them, just make the soup without them)

Drop your heat to VERY low, and cover the pot.  Let these cook at low temperature, and stir them every 2-3 minutes or so.  When they just begin to brown, you're done.  Take the rosemary out after ten minutes.  The onions will take about 15:

At this point, if Annalena told you , you were pretty much finished "cooking, " you would probably believe her.  And you are.  What you do, now, is you add the potatoes, the celery, the celery root, and two quarts of water:

Raise the heat slightly, and cover your pot.   Come back after 20 minutes:

The Guyman would eat this soup as it is, and you can do so, too.  But we're going to go on.  And now that comment about potatoes.  Had Annalena used her usual yukon golds, they would have been tender and falling apart.  In contrast, the satinas essentially took her knife hostage and wouldn't give it back.  So, Annalena cooked the soup another 15 minutes (you will probably need to do that if you use only celery root too).  When she went to the internet, Annalena learned that satinas are an "all purpose waxy potato."

AH.  Waxies take longer to cook, and don't break up (sort of like Annalena and the Guyman).  So, when the potatoes had not disintegrated after 30 minutes, Annalena knew... BASTA. 

Now, if you are going to go the root of cheese,  you will need a package of cream cheese (8 ounces), and the same quantity of sharp cheddar.  

Did you know, by the way, that in Europe,  cream cheese is called "Philadelphia"  Seriously.  You may be able to buy other brands, but rather than call it "cream cheese," which is a very different product in Europe,  you will be buying "Philadelphia"  (and you will pay a lot of money.  It is NOT a big thing in Europe). 

So, whether you are going to use the cheese or not, you now have to puree the soup.  That means letting it cool, to lukewarm, and then doing it in batches.  You have a lot.  Three to  four total trips to your blender are probably needed: 

See that slightly green color to it?  It's beautiful.  You are going to lose it if you add the cheese, so that's something you should consider.  And what you do is you puree the pureed soup again, this time with the cheeses:

Did you notice that Annalena did not mention salt in this recipe?  She did not because , yet more food geek stuff, celery needs salty soil to grow.  It grows where other stuff won't.  And cheddar can be salty.  So at the end, taste your soup, and add the salt you want.    This is what Annalena got:

This is four quarts of soup.  Annalena and the Guyman will eat one.  They will share the other three.  Because, ragazzi,  that is what stone soup is about:  sharing.  And it's something we all need to learn, or learn better.  We HAVE  to start sharing what we have.  Honestly, in Annalena's view, the only thing that is keeping us together is the ability to share with others.  ALL of us have something in abundance.  SHARE IT.  

And  there.  Annalena was preachy ,but "thoughts and prayers" are not  going to cut it anymore.  So, make some soup, SHARE it, and you'll feel much better about things.    Annalena la promessa