Really good soup that feeds a crowd.

On Thursday night I was in charge of feeding about 60 people at a Relief Society Party.  I woke up Friday morning and knew I had my brother Bart and his wife and baby and my Dad and Gigi coming to dinner that night.  I wanted to make something really good and not way hard and I didn't want to go to the store.  I also wanted to be able to do most of the work in the morning, so I could straighten up the house in the afternoon.  I turned to King Arthur Flour because if I was going to try something new on all of those people I needed a reliable recipe source.  

I decided on this recipe for Italian wedding soup.  It was a big hit.  And it makes a ton.  

Notes:

I had to move it from my six quart to my eight quart pot.  For the meatballs I mixed half pork and half ground beef.  I patted the meatball mixture out in a jelly roll pan with my hands and baked it all in one piece.  After it was cool I used a pizza cutter and cut the meat into small squares.  Way easier than making dozens of tiny meatballs.  

I completed through step 4 in the recipe and then put everything in the fridge to be completed later.  I also added a chopped up fennel bulb that I needed to use up to the vegetable mixture.   I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. 


I served the soup with these breadsticks.  They are chewy and a bit like bagels because you boil them before you bake them.  Don't make them longer than about 6 inches.  I didn't have diastatic malt powder, so I used malted milk powder in the dough and left it out of the boiling water.

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Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

Includes everything I love about italian food; basil, tomatoes, garlic, pasta & yummy veggies. Oh, and of course, sausage!

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• This is based off a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I tweaked it a little bit, and this is how I like it:
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• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 32 0z. diced tomatoes
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
• 8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
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• In a large pot, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
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• Saute onions and carrots in drippings. Add garlic and saute 1 minute.
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• Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage.
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• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
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• Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini, basil and parsley.
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• Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

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Two Simple (and super tasty) Soups

Our weather here lately demands steamy hot soups.  Here are two really simple ones.  I mean really simple.

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

2 Tblsp.  Butter
2 Tblsp. Olive Oil
2 large Leeks (sliced crosswise and rinsed)
3 cups chicken/vegetable stock
1-2 potatos, cut in 1/2-inch pieces1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter and oil in medium sauce pan and add leeks.  Cook on medium heat for about 4 min.  Add stock, brink to a boil, then add potatoes.  Simmer until potatoes are tender.  Then, crush several potatoes against the side of the pot with the back of a wooden spoon to help thicken the soup.  Lower heat, add cream and seasoning.  This would be good with some bacon crumbled on top or some buttery croutons--or both!


Thai Coconut Squash Soup*

1 Butternut squash (or two acorn squash)
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 can coconut milk
1-3 tsp.  Thai red chili paste (can be purchased in the asian section of most grocery stores)
1 cup chicken/vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.  Slice squash in half, brush flesh with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast skin side down for 1 hour (this can be done ahead).

Scoop out flesh from squash into soup pot.  Add coconut milk and chili paste.  Over medium heat, use hand blender to mix until smooth.  Add stock and blend again until smooth.  season with more chili paste and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve topped with roasted pepitas or chives.

* adapted from 101 Cookbooks recipe

BONUS: My kids eat and like both of these soups!

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Soup, soup, all the time

Follow these links to four of my favorite:

Creamy Tomato Soup with Dill

Garlic Stracciatella

Potato Leek Soup

Soy Ginger Soup with Tofu and Noodles

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Quick Posole

This is a great remedy for turkey and potato overload. It is good with or without chicken.

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

3 tablespoons oil

1-2 chicken breasts

1 (10 oz) can red or green enchilada sauce

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 cups (or more) chicken broth

1 can diced green chilies

2 (15 oz) cans white hominy

In a 3 to 4 quart pan, brown the chicken until nearly done in the oil, remove to a plate. Add garlic and onion to pot and saute one minute or less, cube chicken and add to pot. Add enchilada sauce, oregano, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is no longer pink in center. Add hominy, reheat to simmer. Add garnishes of choice to serve.

soup garnishes:

iceberg lettuce

lime wedges

sliced radish

queso fresco (or monterey jack)

cilantro

tortilla strips

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Pumpkin Soup

Velvet Pumpkin Soup
What could be more seasonal in October than pumpkin? And my father-in-law grew it in his yard. Perfect!!

I went out to my porch and picked a medium sized pumpkin. I split it in half and roasted it cut side down on a cookie sheet in the oven for about an hour at 400". It gave me 5 generous cups of pumpkin which I used to make a double batch of soup. I cut down the cayenne to only about an 1/8 tsp. for a double batch. With the curry it was the perfect spiciness for my taste.

If your pumpkins aren't moldy after Halloween is over you can cut them up and roast them or boil them (let the pumpkin cool and then scrape the pulp off the skin). You will end up with lots of cooked pumpkin to make cookies, soup, muffins etc. You can even freeze it and use it for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. It substitutes 1 to 1 for canned pumpkin and tastes so much better!!



Velvet Pumpkin Soup
"The name of this soup refers to its texture, not its taste. Though it's smooth in the mouth, it's fiery on the tongue! Red pepper, garlic, coriander and curry give this soup its heat. "

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
3 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 1/4 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
3 cups chicken broth
16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin (or squash)
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

Melt butter or margarine in a large saucepan, and sauté garlic and onions till golden brown. Add curry powder, salt, coriander, and cayenne pepper; simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

Add pumpkin, stirring till smooth. Add evaporated milk. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes; don't allow soup to boil (but a simmer is OK).

In batches, transfer soup to blender or food processor. Process till very smooth. Serve hot.

The recipe is from King Arthur Flour.

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