White Bean Soup w/ Crispy Prosciutto
Think of soup like your favorite old sweater. It's warm & comforting and with different accessories and separates, you can create several different outfits out of your old standby. For the past two years I've been obsessed with white beans. I've made different variations of this soup with similar flavor profiles. There's the Tuscan Ribollita that uses white beans, bread, kale & pancetta. There's my favorite soup ever, Sausage White Bean Soup and most recently my mom's Pasta Fagioli Soup that also uses sage, pancetta and white beans. Never have I made a soup that purees white beans so they make the base of a soup. This is also the first time I've baked prosciutto in the oven and created shards out of them! I liken these little adjustments to putting your sweater over a hot new dress and sealing the deal with a fabulously fancy red scarf.
When you puree white beans in soup, magic happens. It's as if you added a cup of silky heavy cream...And those crispy Proscuitto shards? Scrumptious! I think most of them bypassed the soup and went directly into our mouths.
Hello White Bean Soup, you're like an awesome new outfit in my repertoire.
Pasta Fagioli Soup
I'd like to introduce you to my mom's famous (to our family) Pasta Fagioli soup. During the winter, my mom makes this soup like it's going out of style. Over the years, she's learned a few things while making this soup: always make a double batch & it's nice to add more pancetta. The double batch thing is important because she can pull some out of the freezer on a whim for my dad or she can be prepared for when my brother comes home from New York and raids her fridge (he inhales this soup, even when it's cold!).
For years I was reluctant to try this soup; I don't know why. I guess have weird issues with hot tomatoes and the thought having beans with pasta kinda weirded me. I dunno!
One day last year I was hanging out at my parents house and my mom convinced me to some. Let me tell you I how dumb I felt for wasting many years of my eating career without this soup. It was AH-MAZING. I am a changed woman.
This is one of those recipes that instantly becomes a staple in your life. You'll go on auto pilot when you're grocery shopping and always buy the ingredients so you're never too far from a batch of this soup. Heck! You might even have some stocked in your freezer for a moment's notice like my mom.
It's hearty, comforting and pleases all the men in my life; I like that in a soup.
Soup Roundup!
After making FOUR soups this week, I've got tons of leftovers in the fridge & freezer! Today, a big bowl of Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup warmed up my afternoon. It's so nice to just work through the leftovers on a lazy Sunday. Since I don't have any fridge space left for a new soup today, here's a little roundup of soups from the past! Enjoy!
Trader Joe's Tomato Roasted Red Pepper Soup I always keep this in my pantry!
Mexican Chicken Soup This soup is great for ANY kind of weather.
Sausage & White Bean Soup This soup changed my life! I always have the ingredients on hand for it!
Curry Zucchini Soup I love this soup. Especially because my mom always makes it on Christmas.
Sweet Potato & Chipotle Soup Smooth! Creamy! Spicy! Easy! A good tortilla chip vehicle.
Tuscan Ribollita The most incredibly hearty soup in my arsenal!
Vegetable Minestrone - I call this "Clean out your Fridge, Soup!" I make a batch of this almost weekly.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup So incredibly creamy, without the cream!
Creamy Mushroom Soup You might have the power to change someone into a mushroom lover with this one!
Here are the soups I accomplished this week:
Curried Squash & Red Lentil Soup with Cilantro Oil
Wow. That's kind of a lot! Are you totally souped out now?! Don't worry next week is gonna be filled with crafts, holiday treats and some more things to cross off my 31 comes before 32 list.
Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup
This soup has Sunday Afternoon written all over it. When it's cold outside, and you want your belly full of greens, meat & potatoes, THIS is the soup you should turn to. It's also one of those soups that gets better the second day, when the flavors meld together. I love that! The overnight stay in the fridge brings out more than you could have possibly anticipated!
Sausage AND Kale? I think this soup really has MY name written all over it.
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Curried Squash & Red Lentil Soup
This soup introduced me to two things: Red Lentils & Cilantro Oil. I learned that red lentils are super deceptive. They don't really stay Red or keep their lentil shape when cooked. However, they do thicken up a soup and add extra fiber & texture. I like that. Cilantro Oil? It's my new favorite thing! It's a crucial component to this dish and it is INSANELY good when paired with my Killer Garlic Bread. Casey and I tested out a shameful amount of pieces with it! How could the garlic bread be anymore enticing??!! Cilantro oil! The best part is that it's easy to make and such a fancy little accompaniment. The soup instantly elevates to fancy status because of that special green oil. Who knew?
OK back to the soup. I'm usually skeptical of soups that have water as the base instead of chicken or vegetable stock. This soup shocked me. There was simply no need for stock because the curry and ginger packed the flavor punch it needed. The squeeze of lemon at the very end adds the slightest tang and beautifully balances the sweetness of the butternut squash. And let's talk about the butternut squash for a second. It's creamy! The way it squishes between your tongue and the roof of your mouth? Lovely! I spent a good 15 minutes sampling that feeling with each cube. Please try it and tell me I'm not weird. Ok umm I'm feeling self conscious now. Go make this soup!
Soups A Plenty!
I'm heavily distracted today. You would be too if you were scouring the internet for good soup recipes. There are soo many good ones, I don't know even know where to start! Here's a list of soups that have caught my eye...
I've already made a few grocery lists...I'm pretty sure you will too. Prepare to get sucked in by the seductive powers of SOUP.
Vegetable Based:
Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Parsnip Leek aka Cry Baby Soup from Gourmet Fury
Spicy Pumpkin Soup with yummy Thai Flavors from If You Can Make that You Can Make This
Pumpkin Soup with Creme Fraiche & Shrimp from Sparkling Ink
Red Cabbage Soup from Apron Strings
Vegetarian Split Pea Soup from 101 Cookbooks
Creamy Tomato Soup from Joy the Baker
Fabulous Roots Soup from Simply Photo
Purple Soup (cauliflower) from Chez Us
Curried Zucchini Soup with Coconut Milk from 3191
Mushroom & Tarragon Soup from Dula Notes
Celery Root Soup from David Lebovitz
Balthazar's Creamy Mushroom Soup from Smitten Kitchen
Vegan Sweet Pepper Coconut Chowder from Resolute Woot
Potato Parmesan Soup with Parsley Fennel Pesto from Running with Tweezers
Chestnut Apple Soup from Sassy Radish
Onion Soup from Lottie & Doof
Miso Soup from Dana Treat
Vegan Tomato & Fennel Soup from Gluten Free Girl
Carrot Soup from Bleubird Vintage
Roasted Vegetable Soup with Polenta Croutons from Tartelette
Pear, Pecorino & Potato Soup from Cooking with Amy
Kale & White Bean Soup from Bake Me Away
Melted Leeks and Quinoa with Poached Farm Egg & Parmesan Broth from Married with Dinner
Delicata Squash Soup with Blue Cheese from A Chow Life
Hearty and/or Meaty
Chicken & Vegetable Soup from Honey & Jam
Lentil Soup with Chipotle Yogurt from Sprouted Kitchen
Scotch Ale, Pumpkin & Pork Stew from Nectar & Light
Black Bean & Ham Bone Soup from Three Many Cooks
Chickpea Tomato Soup with Rosemary by Orangette
Le French Lentil Soup (using Trader Joe's steamed lentils!) from The Ugly Green Chair
Tortilla Soup from Matt Bites
Garlicky Black Pepper Shrimp & Black Eyed Peas Soup from Gourmeted
Italian Wedding Soup from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
Beef & Mushroom Stew from the Pioneer Woman
Pho Ga, Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup from Steamy Kitchen
Mulligatawny Soup from The 10 Cent Designer
Chicken & Dumplings from Leite's Culinaria
Green Tea Soba Noodle Soup with Tilapia and Mushrooms from 5 Second Rule
Pesto Tortellini Soup from This Week for Dinner
Seafood Miso Soup from Wright Food
Chorizo & Lentil Soup from Seven Spoons
Pork Belly Ramen with Kale, Beet Greens & Snow Peas from Sean Wilkins
Oh btw! That soup up there is my Curry Butternut Squash Soup! It's super creamy, but with no cream!
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
I've made this soup twice in the past week. That should tell you something! This recipe comes from one of my favorite websites, 101 Cookbooks. There isn't a recipe on Heidi's site that I haven't drooled over. I should note that this soup is not your typical broccoli cheddar soup. It doesn't contain mushy overcooked broccoli or bright orange cheddar cheese. The two main flavor boosters are grainy mustard and aged cheddar. They both add such a wonderful tang & depth to the soup. I bet it would pair really well with a cold hoppy beer.
We also need to talk about the star of the soup. Mustard Croutons! The whole thing is genius. I could probably plow through the whole batch in one sitting, sans the soup... Unfortunately, I know better after this past weekend. My friend Whitney has made this soup several times and I totally see why she's been smitten. It's REAL good. She says that replacing the cheddar with feta is fantastic! Next time, I'm gonna try that. I also forgot to top my soup with some smoked paprika. There's always leftovers....
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Vegetable Lentil Soup
I'm declaring this week-- SOUP WEEK! It's like Shark week-- but with soup! After scarfing down too much food, all I want is something simple and hearty with lots of vegetables & fiber. Soup always comes to my rescue! Make it one night and you have a few days worth of leftovers. This time of the year is so jam-packed with activities, it's nice to just quickly warm up a bowl of soup and have lunch or dinner in an instant. Pair a bowl with a crusty hunk of bread and a nice green salad and you are feeling good about the holidays coming up. I know I am.
So yeah, let's kick off SOUP WEEK!
I'm really warming up to lentils these days. My mom made me a really great Ina Garten soup with lentils and kielbasa (will make & post sometime soon!) and I've been nuts for lentils ever since. This Vegetable Lentil Soup is pretty hearty and of course perfect with garlic croutons. There's lots of vegetables in the mix and it's a really good base if you want to experiment with different flavors. Add some cumin and you have some smokey depth! Add chunks of sweet potatoes and you're using a power food in addition to all this tasty goodness. I bet kale would be awesome in there too...I'll probably try that next time! I threw in some freshly grated Parmesan in one of my servings (NOM!) and in another bowl, I added freshly sliced avocado (TASTY!) Go ahead, make this and use it as a springboard for your new favorite soup. Or if you are just looking for something to put in a bowl that will warm up your freezing hands, this will do the trick, no doubt.
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