When the weather turns cold and crisp and there are apples around every supermarket corner, nothing says happy fall like a good, hearty soup. Now, I've never been one to make my own soup. It just hasn't been a culinary bridge I've felt like crossing.
But thanks to my new iPhone (I'm seriously, in love) and a great app called "How to Cook Everything" by famed New York Times food writter Mark Bittman with thousands of recipes and a cool feature that creates shopping lists for you based on what recipe you want to make for the week, I'm now a vegetable-soup maker.
So here's the recipe for the best homemade Chunky Vegetable Soup ...
Ingredients:
- 1/4 olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced (the more the merrier I say!)
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped prosciutto or other ham
- 2 cups of hard vegetables (I used turnips and baby potatoes)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 cups of stock (I used beef stock)
- 1 cup of canned tomatoes
- 2 cups of soft vegetables (I used squash and some spinach)
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- Parmesan cheese for a garnish and extra zing!
Steps:
Chop everything up! (This is the pain in the butt part) but keep soft and hard vegetables in separate bowls. Then in a large, deep pot sweat the onion, celery, and carrot in some of the olive oil. Stir until the onion softens. Then add the ham if you're using it and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes. Then add your 2 cups of hard vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook and stir for a minute or two.
Mmmmm ... so far so good, right?
Next, Add the stock and the canned tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then lower to heat to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring every now and then, for another 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Then add the soft vegetables and parsley. Continue to simmer the soup for another 15-20 minutes unitl all the vegetables are tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste and a tablespoon of olive oil at the end. Garnish with cheese and enjoy this hearty goodness!
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