How to Make the Perfect Soup from Any Delicious Vegetable
5 ingredients and 5 steps to a hot bowl of love.
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January is National Soup Month, (no, really,) and it’s no wonder. What do you need after the 4:30 sunset on a cold, rainy Tuesday more than a hot, delicious bowl of soup? That’ll warm your cockles, along with the respective cockles of those you love and/or are required by law to nourish.
You could open a can, sure. But can you bring people together at the table with the parsimoniously ingrediented, institutionally tinned, and carelessly opened runoff from Big Soup? No, my friend, you cannot. You want something BETTER… something healthy and delicious, made fresh by someone who gave a shit. Or maybe you’re just Italian, I don’t know.
Here’s how to make it easy. It’s not a recipe, not a technique, not even a formula. It’s a lifestyle, and you’re about to embrace it.
The Foundation
There are a few basics you need to have on hand at all times during soup season (let alone the 30-day bacchanal that is National Soup Month.) You probably have them all in your kitchen right now, but here’s the list.
- Onions (1 or 2)
- Garlic (3 or 4 cloves)
- Butter (2 tablespoons)
- Olive Oil (a glug or 2)
- Chicken Stock
For stock I use Better Than Bouillon, because it’s easy and it’s good. It comes in a mushroom-based vegetarian version if that’s your thing, as well as in roasted chicken and low sodium variants, all great. Just keep it on the door of your fridge and you’ll never run out. If you prefer to make your own stock or buy the cartons (Progresso is best, IMHO) knock yourself out.
As for equipment, I use an enameled cast iron (if you need one get this one if you can splurge, or this one if you just want a good one,) and a stick blender, I love this one.
The Main
The best vegetable to make soup from is the best vegetable you have on hand when you want to make…
