Google+

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Autumn Vegetable Soup with Italian Flavors


With this soup, I discovered a new and easy way to deepen Italian flavors in soup. I added the garlic with the broth, rather than with the onions at the beginning, so the flavor is much stronger and I added some purchased green olive spread to the broth. The green olive flavor, along with the crunchy cauliflower, the sweet carrots, and the moody chard, worked beautifully to produce an incredibly tasty soup.

It's been misty here all day and a vegetable soup seemed like a good light lunch to offset the upcoming holiday goodies. But this soup was so good, I have to admit I ate 3 small bowls full.

Autumn Vegetable Soup with Italian Flavors:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp butter
2 leeks, white parts only sliced on the diagonal
3 small red potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 Nantes carrots, sliced on the diagonal
1 cup cauliflower florettes
1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
salt & pepper
2 cups vegetable stock
pinch of sweet basil (dried)
2 tbsp red lentils
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp green olive spread
3 large leaves chard, ribs removed and torn into manageable pieces

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook gently until softened (5-6 minutes). Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and butter. Cover and cook for approx. 8 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking. Season: keep in mind the green olive paste is salty. Add the vegetable stock, dried sweet basil, red lentils, and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the garlic and green olive spread. Simmer, partially covered for 8 minutes. Add the torn chard leaves and simmer an additional 4-5 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve.

6 Comments:

Blogger Kalyn Denny said...

I love the sound of this, especially the idea of adding the green olive paste into the soup. Brilliant!

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Green olive paste-that sounds amazing.
Beautiful photo.

4:14 AM  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

I don't think I would have thought of that, so thanks! Beautiful.
(Ha ha. Ate all three bowls.)

10:02 AM  
Blogger Catherine said...

cookie: ouch! I corrected that.

5:44 PM  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

No, no! I didn't mean to tease you for eating the crockery. I was frankly teasing you for eating three bowls full! Ha ha.
BTW, I'm surprised to see that your cauliflower is -- white!
:D

7:13 PM  
Blogger Vanessa said...

Three small bowls! How *could* you! ;-) I think the real question is, how *couldn't* you. Beautiful photo.

6:58 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home