13. Making Soup from Scratch

It's getting cold here in Los Angeles and it's a rainy today, so it's the perfect time for soup!!  So warm and comforting!!  I love making soup!  So easy and delicious!!  Stay inside, grab a great movie and enjoy some soup! 

  Italian Wedding Soup

What you'll need: 

 Soup: 

 2 quarts chicken broth 

 2 cups water 

 ½ cup pastina (small pasta) 

 1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped 

 1 carrot, sliced thin 

 ½ pound spinach (just leafy part, julienne cut) 

 Meatball Mixture: 

 ½ pound ground beef 

 1 egg

 2 tsp. Italian bread crumbs 

 1 tsp. grated parmesan cheese

 2 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped 

 1 small onion, minced 

 2 beaten eggs

 Parmesan cheese 

 What you'll do: 

In a soup pot, combine soup ingredients and bring to a low boil.  Mix meat ingredients in a bowl, make tiny meatballs, and drop into boiling broth mixture. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs.  With a wooden spoon, stir soup as you slowly drop in the beaten eggs, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Cover and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Top with grated parmesan cheese. This recipe has been in my family forever!  Always reminds me of home. 

**You can make this recipe vegetarian by using vegetable broth, soy meatballs, and omitting the egg.

  Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

What you'll need: 

  2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

  2 tablespoons good olive oil 

  3 large yellow onions, chopped 

  1 tablespoons mild curry powder 

  2 large butternut squash 

  4 sweet apples, such as McIntosh or Fuji

  2 teaspoons kosher salt 

  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

  A dash of cinnamon 

  2 cups water 

  2 cups apple cider or juice 

  What you'll do:

Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot so it doesn't stick.

Peel the squash, cut it in half, and remove the seeds.  Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples.  Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and 2 cups of water to the pot.  Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft.  Blend with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and blend.

Pour the soup back into the pot.  Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like.  It should be slightly sweet and quite thick.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm.

This recipe just screams fall to me!  It's so good!!  Give it a try!

**Did you make too much?  Soup is really easy to freeze!  Just let the soup cool completely and pour into plastic tupperware and freeze!  When you defrost, place it in the fridge overnight. This is an immersion blender and it makes life so much easier!

 

These are excellent for blending warm soups or sauces.  Instead of transferring soup to a blender in batches then eventually back to the pot.  Simply stick this blender right into your pot.  Makes life so much easier!!  I have this one by cuisinart and they are around $50.  Definitely add it to your Christmas list!

Comments

[Tania Gonzalez]

I am on that tomato soup!! Yum!!

[Ginikay]

Hi :) Just wondering on that Italian Wedding Soup (which, by the way, sounds FABULOUS)... how long do you let the meatballs boil/cook before you add in the eggs? I can't wait to make this, I just have to buy the pasta, and then I have everything already onhand!

[Leslie]

You are going to crack the eggs in when the soup is done. You want the meatballs to be cooked through. When you add the eggs, whisk them in a bowl, swirl the soup with a spoon and pour in the eggs. The swirling with naturally break up the eggs.
Enjoy!