The soups I'm making on repeat
Feelin' souper
With Thanksgiving coming in hot, it seems like my Instagram feed and inbox are inundated with all things holidays – 18 different recipes for mac and cheese; potatoes of the regular and sweet variety, gratin-ed and mashed and candied every which way; and the ubiquitous quest to make brussels sprouts palatable (why are brussels sprouts considered a Thanksgiving staple? And why don’t people like them?).
Don’t worry – my two cents on Thanksgiving is coming next week in the form of a roundup of veggie-centric dishes that can and will steal the show. But I’m not in Thanksgiving mode quite yet. I’m still in regular ol’ cooking mode. And for me, that means dishes that can be made quickly, are deeply satisfying, and have the ability to make every day feel a little more special.
Since we’ve officially entered cozy season in LA, I’m making lots o’ soup. Because what brings on the cozy vibes more than soup? Plus, you’re almost required to eat them with an extra-yummy side, like homemade croutons or grilled cheese. I’ve been on a veggie soup kick, and these two are on repeat.
Veggie Noodle Soup
This soup is tangy, earthy, and packed with both veggies and noodles. If you want yours to be a bit more brothy, feel free to resume the amount of pasta, though that definitely was not my journey. It requires a bit of chopping, though once everything is prepped, it comes together fairly quickly. You can always throw your veggies in the food processor to speed up the prep work, though then you’d have to wash that – so, pick your poison wisely.
1/4 cup olive oil
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bunch of Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated. Stems finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
1 quart of veggie or chicken stock
2 cups of water
1 can of tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 cup of pastina or small shaped pasta
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup chopped dill
Salt to taste
Add olive oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add your chopped celery, carrots, onion, and Swiss chard along with a generous sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring often, until veggies are softened but not brown. Add your stock, water, tomato sauce, and bay leaves, and season generously with salt. At this point, I think it should taste almost too salty, since we’ll be adding the pasta a bit later and that will absorb some of the seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce to heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add Swiss chard leaves and pasta and cover. Simmer on medium-low for another 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked to your liking. Taste and add salt if needed. Add lemon juice (I like this to be very zippy and lemony) and chopped dill, stir, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Marcella’s Tomato Soup
I’m calling this Marcella’s tomato soup because it’s basically just Marcella Hazan’s famous butter and onion-spiked tomato sauce, blended until smooth with a bit of extra broth. But trust me when I say it’s the most low-effort, high-reward tomato soup you will ever cook. It couldn’t be more effortless to cook, and something about the tomatoes, onion, and butter together creates a flavor that is so rich and layered, you’d swear there were more than just these three ingredients.
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1 stick of butter (OG recipe calls for 5 tablespoons but I always throw in the whole stick)
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt
2/3 cup stock of choice
Add the tomatoes, butter, onion, and a generous sprinkle of salt to a pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes, mashing the onion and tomatoes as you go, until the onion is soft. Add to a blender with the stock and blend until smooth. Serve with whatever you like to eat your tomato soup with and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
That’s it for today. Next week we’ll have some Thanksgiving-worthy veggie dishes, a little gift guide with foodie and non-foodie items, and maybe some more holiday stuff because once I go Thanksgiving, I go full festive mode.
Thank you for being here :)