My friend Karen worked out this recipe, which she first got from someone else, then perfected it. Usually I only use my mother's and my own recipes for this site, but this is so good I would feel guilty if I didn't pass it along. Karen made this dish for me not long ago and I became an instant glutton for it. If I ever have to decide what I want for my last meal, this would be one of my considerations. Of course, the prison cook will, no doubt, cut corners and screw it up. Let him be an example to you - when it comes to ingredients, don't settle for lesser quality.

 

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 1 Can of Chicken Broth
* 2 Cans of Vegetable Broth
* 2 Green Onion or Leeks
* 5 Stalks of Celery
* Porcinni Mushrooms (fresh or dried)
* 1 Cup of Red Table Wine
* Salt & Pepper
* Red Pepper Flakes
* 2 Large Bunches of Rappini
* Wild Rice
* Romano Cheese

If you are using dried Porcini mushrooms you will first need to soak them (for an hour or so) in the one cup of red wine.

Slice the leeks and sauté them in about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

Pour the broth into a large pot. I use Imagine brand which can usually be purchased in a health food store. It is very rich and extremely good quality.

Slice the stalks of celery and add them into the pot along with the leeks and the mushroom-wine combination. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
Let this mixture slow cook for about 2hours BEFORE you add the rappini.

Clean and de-stem the rappini. Throw it in the soup and let it cook for about 1 hour. Don't overcook the rappini because you don't want it to disintegrate.

Now cook the wild rice (1 cup/person) separately. For every cup of rice you need to cook it in 2 cups of liquid. In this case, you will use half water and half broth from the soup. Add a slice of butter to it as well.

Upon serving, you will put the rice in the serving bowl - do not blend it in with the pot of soup. So anyway, mix the rice and soup together in the serving bowls and sprinkle generously with Romano cheese.

Fantastic!