Pizza King owner soon to release first of three cookbooks She owns a downtown Albany restaurant and teaches cooking classes and still found a way to put together her own cookbook. Ruby Lewis, owner of Pizza King, is getting ready to release “A Taste of Italy: My Favorite Soups,” the first of three books in a series. It contains 23 recipes. “I have always wanted to have a cookbook,” Lewis said.

The next two will focus on stuffed pasta and Italian desserts. Lewis didn’t attend a culinary school but rather studied alongside chefs in Italy, learning how to cook authentic Italian food using fresh ingredients. She says cooking is her passion.

“I love it all!” she said. “I love planning the menu. I love making the food. And I love serving my guests.”She also loves to teach, which is one of the reasons she wanted to put out a cookbook. “I have learned so much over the years I have been cooking,” she said. “I just want to share everything I know with others. It’s like being at my class. These tips show how to perfect soups.”

One tip she would give to first-time soup makers is to just have fun with what they are doing. “People make a big deal about making their cooking creations perfect,” she said. “What’s the worse that could happen? You have to come to Pizza King for dinner if it doesn’t turn out.”Lewis explained that Italian cuisine revolves around simple ingredients and enjoying the process of making the dish: “Italian food is about balanced flavors and using fresh, real wholesome, great foods.”

Lewis wanted to start her book series with a volume on soups because she says it’s something everyone enjoys. “It’s hearty, it’s tasty, and with the cold weather, everyone loves soup,” she said. “It’s just a great meal.”

She added that soup is a way for everyone to get more vegetables, legumes and grains into their diet. The cookbook can be found at Pizza King, or online at www.pizzakingalbany.com. It costs $21.95. Here are two recipes from her book:

Roasted tomato basil soup

Ingredients:

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes (peeled and roasted)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 yellow onions, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. sea salt

1½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

1 (28-ounce) can pear tomatoes, with juice

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

2 packed cups fresh basil leaves

3½ cups chicken or vegetable stock

Directions:

Peel and roast tomatoes.

Place an 8-quart stockpot on medium heat. When warm add the oil and butter.

When oil and butter are warm, sauté the onions until they start to brown, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.

Add the canned tomatoes, thyme, chicken stock and the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet.

Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. During the last five minutes of cooking time, add the basil.

Allow a few minutes for the soup to cool slightly before processing in a blender.

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve hot or cold.

When serving hot, place a toast slice of good Italian bread on the warmed bowls, ladle the soup on top and finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper.

Serves 6

Tips from Lewis:

• To peel tomatoes: Use a small knife to score a shallow X in the flower end (not the stem end). Use a slotted spoon to dip the tomato into boiling water for no more that 20 seconds. Immediately place the tomato in a bowl of ice water to cool. The skin will slide off starting from the X-cut.

• When substituting for fresh tomatoes, choose canned whole peeled tomatoes. A 28-ounce can of fresh tomatoes equals two pounds of fresh tomatoes.

Lemon chicken pasta soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

3 garlic gloves, peeled and cut in half

1 to 2 pinches red pepper flakes (to taste)

6 cups chicken stock

2 lemons, zested and juice (reserved in separate bowls)

2 bay leaves

1 small cup dry acini pasta

2 cups diced cooked chicken meat

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, plus a few leaves for garnish

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Directions:

Place a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot on medium heat and allow to warm before adding the oil.

Once the oil has warmed, add the onions, carrots, celery and red pepper flakes and sauté approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute longer.

Add chicken stock, lemon juice and bay leaf and bring just to a boil.

Immediately turn the heat to low and allow the vegetables to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes, stirring the pasta as needed.

All the chicken (it only takes about 2 minutes to warm the chicken thoroughly.

Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaf.

Taste and then adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Add the chopped parsley.

Ladle into warmed serving bowls and garnish with lemon zest and parsley leaves. Pass the grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

Serves 6

Tips from Lewis:

• Salad bars in grocery stores are a great resource for ready-to-use ingredients such as precut vegetables and cooked shrimp and chicken. It might be a bit more expensive, but you will only get the quantity that you will use and there is generally a lot of variety available.

• You can give canned broth a little extra flavor by simmering vegetables, poultry, fish or meat bones in the broth for 15 minutes. Then strain the flavorful broth and use it for your soup.