Despite this relatively mild winter that we seem to be enjoying, it’s still winter, and it’s still cold. Nothing combats the winter blues like soup. Usually we reach for something hearty, like a meaty chili, or stew. However, it is possible to take on winter with vegetables alone! Here’s another recipe from the Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper, which is mighty tasty.
At this point it’s possible you think we’re trying to trick you: “That’s no soup! That’s a bowl of noodley-bits.” Well, in a sense, you’d be right. You are in fact looking at a bunch of noodles, but if you look closely you can see some vegetables, too. We decided to add some egg noodles to our garden soup, but we may have gone a little bit too far. It might be worth cooking your egg noodles separately, and adding what you need if you are wanting more of a soup with noodles, and not some noodles with soup.
Garden-In-A-Pot Soup
3 tbsp. of olive oil
2 each of medium onions and carrots, thinly sliced
top third of 2 stalks of celery with their leaves, thinly sliced
8 cloves of garlic, minced
generous pinch of hot red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. each of dry basil and sweet paprika
2 tbsp. of tomato paste
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
handful of washed, fresh spinach leaves, chopped
1 big portobello mushroom, cap and stem washed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 of a large head of green cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup of dry white wine
6 to 8 cups of broth (low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth)
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) of shredded Asiago or sharp cheddar cheese
Egg noodles, or any kind of pasta if you’d like a little something extra.
Preparation:
In a heavy 6-quart pot, combine the olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted and aromatic. Stir often to prevent burning.
Uncover, raise heat to medium-high, stir in the tomato paste, basil and paprika. Cook about 2 minutes. Add remaining vegetables, wine and broth. Bring to a simmer, partially cover pot, and cook 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and soup is full-flavored.
from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper.