Tag Archives: soup

Tangy Pumpkin Soup

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This zippy, velvety and comforting pumpkin soup, adapted from Everyday Thai Cooking (Tuttle Publishing) exemplifies Katie Chin’s easy approach to Thai cuisine. It uses ingredients that you can find in many supermarkets, and if you can’t find ’em, Katie has suggestions for simple substitutions. “Thais often use pumpkins to make desserts or delicious savory soups like this one,” Katie says. “The heat from the spices is a great contrast to the sweet pumpkin in this seasonal soup. You may substitute the pumpkin with any kind of winter squash.” I found it works just as beautifully with butternut squash. Check out Katie’s blog, The Sweet and Sour Chronicles.

tangy-pumpkin-soup-everyday-thai-cooking2 tablespoons coconut oil, Canola or other high-heat cooking oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 fresh hot red or green chiles, preferably Thai chiles, thinly sliced (seeded, if you prefer less heat)
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 cups peeled and diced pumpkin
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup regular or light coconut milk
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 2-inch pieces and bruised (you can substitute grated zest of 1 lemon or lime)
1 teaspoon palm or brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Fresh Thai or Italian basil leaves, for garnish

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir-fry shallot, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chiles and garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pumpkin, stock, coconut milk, lemongrass, sugar and salt, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil. Cook until the pumpkin softens, about 8-10 minutes. Quickly stir in fish sauce and lime juice.

Transfer a blender, or using an immersion blender, blend the soup to a smooth or slightly chunky consistency, as desired. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with basil leaves. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

 

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

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This Thanksgiving, Mom requested butternut squash soup and grilled cheese. I made enough to freeze for easy meals in December, and I’m glad I did … this soup may be simple, but it’s gooood.

simple-butternut-squash-soup

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Ribollita

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Ribollita is a classic Italian recipe that puts day-old bread to delicious use. Not only is this soup easy and flavorful and light and hearty all at the same time … it’s even better made the day before and reheated.

ribollita

2-½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup onion, chopped
½ cup celery, sliced
3 sprigs thyme
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chipped Swiss chard
3 cups chopped kale
3 cups water
3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
¼ cup tomato puree
1 teaspoon sugar
sea salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
12 ounces day-old Italian or French bread, torn into 1-inch pieces

Heat 1-1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender. Add chard and next 8 ingredients (through tomatoes) and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.

Place 1/3 cup beans in a bowl and mash with a fork until fairly smooth. Add mashed beans, remaining beans, and bread to soup. Cook 5 minutes until heated through. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over top of soup.

Serves 8

 

White Bean and Chard Soup with Sausage

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Perked up with chard and Italian sausage, this white bean soup recipe straddles the line between fresh and green and rich and hearty. So much so, in fact, that it would be perfectly appropriate in any season.

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Spring Soupe au Pistou

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Pistou is the Provencal cousin of Italian pesto (difference: the French version doesn’t include pine nuts), and it’s used as a condiment as well as in a soup that bears its name. This spring rendition of the typically summery soup adds a touch of fresh mint to the traditional basil in the pistou (just enough basil to “borrow” from your new seedlings), and substitutes leeks for onions and sugar snap peas for haricots verts in the soup itself. As spring turns to summer, adapt the recipe to use whatever produce is available. Add zucchini or other summer squash. Trade the snap peas for green beans, use fresh shell beans instead of canned, and swap canned tomatoes for peeled, seeded summer-fresh tomatoes (you’ll need 1 1/2 cups). Serve with grilled bread.

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Colcannon Soup with Oven-Roasted Kale

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This soup is inspired by colcannon, a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale. Buttery Yukon golds are medium-starch potatoes, which makes them particularly versatile. You could use russets or fingerlings instead. Leeks, too, have a wonderfully complex flavor and are a traditional component in colcannon. If you can’t find them, sub two yellow onions in the recipe. Yellow onions have more intricate flavor than white onions (and they tend to be cheaper). Roasting the kale enhances its flavor and yields a crunchy texture that makes it a pretty garnish for the soup. Use any variety of kale you find, from curly to dinosaur (also known as lacinato).

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Simple Udon Soup

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This udon soup is simple, satisfying and comes together in about 20 minutes from broth to bowl. Mix it up as much as you like–sub spinach for the bok choy, toss in some shrimp, or add any type of roasted meat you might have on hand.

udon-soup-recipe1 tablespoon peanut oil
½ pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups baby bok choy (about 3 heads), cleaned and sliced (keep the stems separate from the leaves)
2 cups roasted chicken or meat, shredded (optional)
6 cups dashi
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin*
6 ounces dried udon noodles, cooked according to package directions and drained
¼ cup scallions, thinly sliced

Heat peanut oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat and sauté shiitakes and ginger for 4 minutes, until mushrooms are golden brown. Add garlic and bok choy stems, and continue cooking another 2 minutes. Stir in remaining greens and any meat.

Pour dashi into the pot;  stir in soy sauce and mirin. Bring to a boil. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls and ladle the soup on top. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.

Serves 4

* Mirin is a sweet rice wine. If you can’t find it, substitute 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon sugar.

Turn Scraps into Soup

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On Friday, I wrote about nostalgiancholy being the predominant emotion of the season for me. And that holds true. But as the mornings grow misty and frost etches the windowpanes, I also feel the desire to find abundance in frugality, joy in what we already have. One way to do both, I’ve discovered, is to create a variety of economical stocks from scraps I’ve accumulated that then become the base for soups (and whole grain risottos and sauces and . . . ) all winter long.

soup-scraps-vignette

Great ideas to snip and save in the freezer for food-scraps stocks are:

  • Leek trimmings
  • Rinds of hard cheeses
  • Heels of prosciutto, pancetta or salami
  • Shrimp or lobster shells
  • Chicken carcasses and wings
  • Beef or pork bones
  • Mushroom stems

And while you can feel free to raid the produce drawer for anything a bit beyond its prime, the golden rule is not to use anything slimy, moldy or smelly.

Formula for a Scraps Stock

  • Char a halved onion, cut side down, with 1/8 cup of unpeeled aromatics (like garlic, ginger, shallots, lemongrass and the like, depending upon the flavor profile you’re shooting for) in a large stock pot over medium heat until well colored, about 5 minutes.
  • Add a total of 4 cups additional coarsely chopped vegetable scraps (leek tops, celery, carrots, mushrooms stems, etc. in any combination) and shells or carcasses, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add 10 cups water, herbs (like bay leaves, thyme and rosemary) and 1 tablespoon miso, and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and add in any cheese, cured meat scraps or dried mushrooms.
  • Simmer for anywhere from 40 minutes (for vegetable stocks) to overnight (for chicken or beef stocks)

Note that while stocks should be full-flavored, they are intentionally underseasoned (unlike broths) in order to make them super versatile. This gives you freedom later to reduce the stock or use it in a highly seasoned dish without it imparting too much saltiness.

Mushroom, White Bean and Sage Soup

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If you have mushroom stems stashed away, make this with homemade Mushroom Stock. This gluten-free, vegan soup is hearty enough to make a meal with nothing more than a hunk of good bread.

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