To use an immersion blender, take the pot off the stove and set it somewhere stable. Submerge the business end of the immersion blender completely into the soup, holding it straight up with the base flat against the bottom of the pot. To avoid splattering and over-blending, turn on the motor to the lowest setting and then gradually increase the speed. Then simply move the blender around, always keeping the base flush with the bottom of the pot and the blade submerged.
Food processor You can use a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment to purée some soups, but for very liquidy ones it really doesn’t do as good a job as a blender or immersion blender. If you do use one, work in batches and avoid filling the bowl of the processor more than two-thirds full.
Potato masher Yes, the lowest-tech option of all works quite nicely when you want a somewhat puréed but still fairly chunky texture. Just mash (gently, to avoid splashing) until you like what you see.
GET THIS SOUP SUPPLIES
Keep these staples around so you can make soup any time by rounding up a few good vegetables:
Broth in boxes (various vegetable broths, plus maybe some chicken)
Bouillon cubes
Canned beans
Canned tomatoes
Tomato paste
Dried thyme, oregano, cumin, and red pepper flakes
Olive oil
Garlic and onions
Soy sauce
Toasted sesame oil
Parmesan cheese
Rice
Soup pasta (such as orzo or little stars)
STOCK OPTIONS
When a soup calls for stock or broth, I recommend using the kind that comes in boxes because it tastes much better than canned. Look for a good organic brand. They’re all quite different, so shop around until you find one you like. For those emergencies when you run out of broth, keep some bouillon cubes on hand.
STORING SOUP
To store soup, let it cool, transfer it to an airtight container, and put it in the refrigerator. Stored in this way, most soups will keep for 3 to 4 days.
Most soups also freeze well. A handy way to do this is to let the soup cool and then put individual portions in resealable plastic freezer bags. That way you can put one in the refrigerator to thaw in the morning (never thaw soup, or anything, at room temperature—it’s not safe, bacteriologically speaking) and it will be ready to heat up when you come home from work. Press most of the air out of each bag and lay it flat in the freezer until it has frozen solid.
You can also freeze soup in plastic containers with airtight lids. Liquids expand when they freeze, so leave about half an inch of space at the top. Always label bags or containers with the kind of soup and the date (permanent markers work best). If a soup has lived in your freezer for more than 6 months, throw it out.
Soups that tend to be freezer-challenged are those made with dairy, eggs, and/or lots of puréed potatoes. Freezing tends to make them break apart and take on a mealy or watery consistency. So don’t freeze these.
STYLE IT
The aesthetic and psychological impact of a simple garnish can’t be overstated. Set aside some of the herbs used in making a soup to top each serving. Or add a dollop of sour cream, yogurt, crème fraîche, or salsa, or a drizzle of good olive oil. Grated Parmesan or crumbled feta or goat cheese works well with many soups. And for crunch, sprinkle a few croutons or crumbled tortilla chips on top.
GO-WITHS ROUNDING OUT A SOUP MEAL
Soup can definitely be a one-bowl meal. But depending on your appetite and your mood, you might want to add a little something to round out the menu.
SALAD Match the dressing to the style of the soup. I’ve given you some recommendations with the recipes (kind of like wine-and-food pairings, except it’s soup-and-salad pairings), and you can take it from there.
For a filling, nutritious, and inexpensive dinner, simply ladle some soup over a bowl of cooked rice.
A vegetable or potato side dish
SLICED TOMATOES Drizzle with olive oil, feta, olives, and herbs.
GREAT BREAD Warm or toast a few slices of crusty bread or cornbread—store-bought or homemade (see Chapter 4: Vegetarian Entrées).
Sliced deli meats
Some good cheese
roasted garlic paste
A GREAT INGREDIENT FOR SOUP
Makes 6 tablespoons
This recipe is vegan.
Roasting garlic completely transforms its flavor. It’s still pungent, but the sharpness is greatly softened. Use Roasted Garlic Paste for mashing into soups, potatoes, sauces, or dressings—also for spreading on crackers or little toasts as an appetizer; topping grilled chicken, fish, or steak; or tossing into cooked vegetables. This will keep well (packed into a small, tightly covered container and topped with a slick of olive oil) for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator—or indefinitely in the freezer. (Never store it at room temperature—it needs to stay cold.)
3 whole heads of garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little extra
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position (if using a full-size oven) and preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 375°F. Line a small baking pan with foil.
2. Slice off and discard the very topmost tips of each garlic head. Stand the heads, cut side up, on the foil. Carefully pour about 1 teaspoon of the olive oil onto the cut surface of each head. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bulbs feel soft when gently pressed. (Larger bulbs will take longer.)
3. When cool enough to handle, break each bulb into individual cloves and squeeze the pulp onto a plate. Use a fork to mash the garlic, gradually adding the remaining olive oil as you mash. Use right away, or refrigerate or freeze with a little olive oil until use.
homemade chicken noodle soup
Makes 4 to 5 servings
Canned chicken noodle soup is about to become a thing of your past. This straightforward version is all about making (and keeping) it real: big chunks of chicken, wide noodles, plenty of carrots and celery. For the broth, go for the kind sold in boxes, and choose a good-quality brand, preferably organic. To make this soup even easier, you can replace the chicken breasts with some leftover rotisserie chicken or other cooked chicken meat. Just shred enough to make about 2 cups and add it to the soup along with the noodles.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red or yellow onion, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
2 medium carrots, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 stalks celery, sliced ¼-inch thick
8 cups (2 quarts) chicken broth
2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ pound wide egg noodles
Freshly ground black pepper
A handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
1. Place a soup pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. After about a minute, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onion and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion softens.
2. Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and turn the heat all the way down to the lowest possible setting. Cover and simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. (You can check by cutting into the meat with a sharp knife.) Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken from the broth. Put it on a plate and let it rest for about 5 minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle comfortably.
4. Meanwhile, using a large spoon, skim off and discard any foamy residue that might have shown up on the surface of the soup. Bring the soup back to a gentle boil over high heat, and add the noodles, stirring to keep them from sticking together. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the noodles are tender.
5. While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken (use two forks, a small knife, or your fingers) into bite-sized pieces.
6. When the noodles are tender, add the shredded chicken to the soup and season to taste with a fe
w grinds of black pepper. Serve hot, topped with a sprinkling of parsley.
* * *
GET CREATIVE
For a nostalgia-laced simple dinner, pair this soup with a green salad dressed with Homemade Ranch Dressing (Chapter 2: Salads), and garnish the salad with very sweet cherry tomatoes.
Squeeze some fresh lime juice into the soup just before serving, or serve with wedges of lime on the side for people to add at the table.
To take the soup in a Latin direction, in addition to adding lime juice, you can garnish each serving with chopped cilantro plus some crispy tortilla strips (or crumbled tortilla chips) and a dollop of your favorite salsa.
Love matzo ball soup? Buy a package of matzo meal, follow the directions for making matzo balls (you can even make them a day or two ahead of time), and add them to the soup instead of the noodles.
* * *
caramelized balsamic–red onion soup with cheese-topped croutons
Makes 6 servings
Try this sweeter, simpler take on traditional French onion soup, topped with toasted cheese croutons. You can use any kind of mustard—Dijon, spicy brown, or even plain old yellow. Make the croutons while the soup is simmering, so everything can be ready at about the same time.
Make this vegan by omitting the butter and leaving the cheese off the croutons.
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
6 large red onions (4 to 5 pounds), thinly sliced
2 teaspoons salt
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
6 cups water
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cheese-Topped Croutons (recipe follows)
1. Place a soup pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. After about a minute, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Toss in the butter, if desired, and swirl until it melts into the oil.
2. Stir in the onions and salt, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally (and more often as the onions darken), for about 30 minutes, or until the onions become deep golden brown and very soft.
3. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, and mustard, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes longer.
4. Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat all the way down to the lowest possible setting, partially cover, and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
5. Season with black pepper, then ladle the soup into bowls. Top each steaming bowlful with a crouton, and serve right away.
* * *
GET CREATIVE
A good salad partner for this soup is Original-ish Waldorf Salad (Chapter 2: Salads).
Use scissors to snip some fresh chives on top of each serving.
Use the croutons to top other kinds of soup, too. They’re particularly good with the Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (Chapter 1: Soups).
Put some extra grated Swiss cheese at the bottom of each soup bowl, then ladle in the soup and top with a crouton.
* * *
cheese-topped croutons
Makes 6 large croutons
You can make these with any kind of Swiss cheese, but the flavor will be much better if you use one of the higher-end ones, like Gruyère or Emmentaler. (And if you don’t have any of these cheeses handy, you can use bleu cheese, or any grating cheese with assertive flavor.) This works well with day-old bread, so it’s a great way to use up what’s left of a baguette.
Six ½-inch-thick slices French bread baguette, cut on the diagonal
¾ cup (packed) grated Swiss cheese
1. Preheat the oven or a toaster oven to 350°F. Line a baking tray with foil.
2. Arrange the bread slices on the prepared tray. Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the bread is lightly toasted. (Keep an eye on it, so it doesn’t burn.)
3. Remove the tray from the oven, and change the setting to “broil.” Divide the grated cheese evenly among the tops of the toasts. Then place the tray under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and is just beginning to turn brown. (Again, pay close attention.) Remove the tray from the broiler and set it aside until you’re ready to serve the soup.
creamy tomato-basil soup with parmesan fricos
Makes 4 servings
Imagine the flavor of grilled cheese and tomato soup—all in a single bowl. This super-easy soup is all about tomato flavor. And the fun little Parmesan Fricos add a cheesy crunch that takes the whole thing over the top. Some canned tomatoes are saltier than others, so start by adding the ½ teaspoon salt, then taste the soup and see if you think it needs more. Make sure you have prepared some Roasted Garlic Paste ahead of time.
Make this vegan by using plain soy milk instead of the regular milk and skipping the fricos.
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Roasted Garlic Paste (Chapter 1: Soups)
15 to 20 large basil leaves, roughly torn
1½ cups milk
½ teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan Fricos (recipe follows)
1. Combine the tomatoes, garlic paste, basil, and milk in a soup pot or a Dutch oven, and place it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and then immediately turn the heat to low and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for a few minutes.
2. Use a blender or immersion blender (see Chapter 1: Soups) to purée the soup until it is smooth.
3. Heat the soup gently over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is hot but not boiling.
4. Season with the salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with Parmesan Fricos on the side.
GET YOUR FRICO ON
Once you master the simple technique of frico-making, you’ll find all kinds of uses for them. They’re great with soups, they’re a nice alternative to chips, and you can serve them with olives and salami and call it an antipasto platter. They also make a perfect garnish for Caesar Salad (Chapter 2: Salads) in addition to, or in place of, the traditional croutons. To make them, you’ll need the kind of grated Parmesan that’s shredded, not powdered. You can buy it pre-grated or make your own from a piece of cheese, using the medium holes of a grater. If you’re DIY-inclined, you might enjoy playing with different frico sizes and shapes. You can make them huge, or shape them by draping them inside cups, around a rolling pin, or whatever else you think of, as soon as they come out of the pan. As they cool, they’ll keep that shape, and then you can fill them with a little salad or just use them as an extra-cool garnish.
parmesan fricos
Makes 14 to 16 fricos
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1. Set a large skillet over medium heat. Drop 1-tablespoon heaps of Parmesan directly in the pan, and working fairly quickly, use the back of a spoon to spread each heap into a round of cheese about 3½ inches in diameter. (They should look lacy, with a bit of the pan showing through between the shreds.) Make sure to leave a little space in between fricos, so you’ll have room to get in there with your spatula.
2. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the underside is golden and stays stiff when prodded. When the top surface of the cheese goes from melty to somewhat dry looking, the fricos are ready to flip. Use a thin-bladed metal spatula to turn them over gently, and cook on the second side for about 2 minutes, or until golden and crisp all over. Transfer to a rack or platter to cool and finish crisping.
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