Soup Night (6 page)

In my humble opinion, Parmesan cheese makes just about anything taste better. (I haven’t tried it with ice cream, but that may be next.) Of course you can sprinkle on shredded cheese from the supermarket or grate some from a block directly onto the soup, but if you have an extra few minutes, you can do something spectacular.

Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or baker’s parchment, and carefully position spoonfuls of grated (or better yet, shredded) Parmesan cheese on the baking sheet. They don’t expand much during baking, so you can put them pretty close together. As a soup garnish, I like a size a little bigger than a quarter (easier to handle in a spoonful of soup), but that’s up to you. With your fingers or the back of a spoon, press the cheese mounds to flatten them; otherwise, the center will still be soft when the edges are browned. Use a spoon to neaten up the edges of each round, and bake until they are nicely browned on the edges, 7 to 8 minutes.

When the cheese cools, it becomes crisp, and that crispness holds up surprisingly well in a bowl of soup. To make ahead, store in a tightly covered container — with a lock and key, if you have kids at home. (Some of you may recognize this garnish by the Italian term
frico
, but I like my name better.)

Serves 6–8

Cumin and chipotle peppers give this version a Southwestern flavor.

• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  
• 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
  
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped (see note below)
  
• 6 cups chicken broth
  
• Sour cream, for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and cumin, and sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
   
2. 2.
   Stir in the sweet potatoes, chipotle, and broth; for a little extra punch, stir in a bit of the adobo sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender (careful, it’s hot) and purée until smooth, then return it to the pot. Or use an immersion blender and purée the soup right in the pot.
   
4. 4.
   Bring the soup back to a simmer. Serve hot, adding a swirl of sour cream to each serving.
   

Variation:
It’s an extra step, but if you take the time to roast the sweet potato chunks before adding them to the soup, you’ll get a richer flavor. (See Roasting Vegetables, below.)

Make ahead?
Make the soup up to a day in advance, chill until serving.

For large crowds:
This soup, with its inexpensive ingredients, is ideal for expanding. Go easy with the cumin; increase it only incrementally, and taste as you go.

In many cases, roasting vegetables before adding them to the soup deepens and enriches the finished flavor. It does add an extra step, but the results are worth it. The general procedure is this: Preheat the oven to 400°F, peel the vegetables as desired, cut into chunks, and toss them in a little olive oil. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast. Check on the vegtables at about 5 minutes; if you want the pieces to retain their shape in the soup, remove from the oven now, while they still have some bite. If the soup will be puréed, they can go back in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes longer, until very tender.

Serves 6–8

Sweet potatoes and tart apples are a very appealing combination.

• 6 medium sweet potatoes
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
  
• 2 tangy apples, such as Granny Smith or Braeburn, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  
• 6 cups water
  
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, preferably white (see note below)
  

1. 1.
   Preheat the oven to 400°F. Poke a few holes in the potatoes, place on a baking sheet, and roast until quite tender, 45 minutes or so.
   
2. 2.
   Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and apple slices, and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half, scoop out the flesh, and add it to the soup pot. Stir in the water, salt, and pepper, and simmer for a few minutes, until everything is heated through.
   
4. 4.
   Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender (careful, it’s hot) and purée until smooth, and then return it to the pot. Or use an immersion blender and purée the soup right in the pot. Check for consistency; add more water if desired.
   
5. 5.
   Bring the soup back to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings; serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
Depending on your schedule, you can do a little ahead, or a lot, or the whole thing. You can complete step 1 and store the baked potatoes in the refrigerator, in a plastic bag. Or finish through step 2 and refrigerate. Or finish the soup completely and chill until serving time.

For large crowds:
This soup doubles (or triples) very nicely.

Serves 6–8

Italians call this soup
pasta fagioli
(pronounced fah-
zho
-lee, or fah-zhool if you’re several generations away from the old country). The combination of creamy bean soup with al dente pasta is irresistible. The flavor is so haunting and the texture so voluptuous that you’ll wonder how such modest ingredients could conspire to create something so indulgent. And what makes it successful as a make-ahead main dish is that the pasta is cooked separately. I make vats of the bean soup ahead, then each time I reheat a portion, I boil up a fresh batch of dried pasta so the al dente texture balances the creaminess of the soup. If you are in the habit of buying blocks of Parmesan cheese, save the rind for this soup.

• 1 pound dried cranberry or pinto beans (about 3 cups), picked over and rinsed
  
• 10 cups water
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
• 1
  ³
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoons salt
  
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
  
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
  
• 5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, roughly 2 by 3 inches (optional)
  
• ³
  ⁄
  ₄
  pound dried small pasta
  

1. 1.
   Bring the beans and water to a boil in a large heavy soup pot and boil for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Do not drain the beans or discard the soaking liquid.
   
2. 2.
   Heat
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₄
   cup of the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, and then add the onions and
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   teaspoon of the salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, rosemary, and pepper, and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Add the beans with their soaking liquid and the cheese rind (if you have one on hand) and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender. This could take 1
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   to 2
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   hours, depending on the age of your beans. Add more water if necessary to keep the beans covered, and stir more frequently toward the end of cooking. Remove from the heat and stir in
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₄
   cup of the oil and the remaining 1
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₄
   teaspoons salt. Cool, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
   
4. 4.
   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
   
5. 5.
   Remove and discard the cheese rind. Transfer the soup to a blender (careful, it’s hot) and coarsely purée until smooth, then return it to the pot. Or use an immersion blender and purée the soup right in the pot. Reheat over moderately low heat, stirring frequently. Add water to thin if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
   
6. 6.
   While the soup is reheating, cook the pasta until al dente, and then drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and pepper to taste.
   
7. 7.
   Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with spoonfuls of pasta, and then drizzle with additional olive oil.
   

Make ahead?
One of the glories of this recipe is that you cook the soup and the pasta separately; not only does that keep the pasta from getting mushy, it makes it very easy to make the entire dish ahead of time. Just refrigerate the pasta and the soup separately. Or freeze the soup for another day, and cook up a fresh batch of pasta when serving. The soup gets quite a bit thicker as it stands, so you may want to add water when reheating.

For large crowds:
This recipe lends itself well to multiplying.

Recipe from Ann Bates,
Civano Soup Supper
, Tucson, Arizona

Serves 6–8

Ann says: I developed this recipe over many years and from several sources, including a Mexican friend in Sunnyside, Washington. It was one of the first things I ever made for a Civano Soup Supper. As we were all eating and talking, a young man came to ask if I was the one who had made the red pozole soup. When I responded that I had, he said, “I haven’t tasted a pozole as real as this one since I used to eat my grandma’s.” It made my day!

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
  
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
  
• 3 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1-inch pieces
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 10 whole dried guajillo chiles
  
• 5 (15-ounce) cans hominy, drained
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
  

• Lime wedges
  
• Shredded cabbage
  
• Thinly sliced radishes
  
• Tortilla chips
  
• Sliced jalapeños
  

1. 1.
   Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté until browned; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
   
2. 2.
   In the same pot, brown the pork in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside with the chicken.
   
3. 3.
   Add the onion to the soup pot and sauté over medium heat until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
   
4. 4.
   Pour in the chicken broth and return the chicken and pork to the pan.
   
5. 5.
   Leave the chiles whole but remove the seeds and membranes, to reduce the heat. The easiest way to do this is to slide the tip of a paring knife in at the stem end and slit all the way down one edge, then tease the chile open the same way you would open a book. Add the chiles to the pot and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour.
   
6. 6.
   Remove the chiles and discard. Add the hominy and oregano and continue to simmer for 1 hour longer. Serve hot with your choice of garnishes.
   

Make ahead?
You can make this soup in a slow cooker: Brown the chicken and pork, put them in the slow cooker, and then add the other ingredients. Simmer in the pot with the heat set on high for about 5 hours.

Alternatively, complete steps 1 and 2 and store the cooked meat in the refrigerator for as long as 24 hours. Or, if you have room in the refrigerator, make the whole thing the day ahead; like all stews, this is even better the second day.

For large crowds:
Hominy is not expensive; neither are the chiles. If cost is a concern, you might increase the meats by half values and the other ingredients by full measure. Don’t cut back on the chiles; the flavor they add is crucial.