~Sunday, December 16, 2012
winter+soup.jpg)
Throwing together last minute
meals takes years of practice. My mom is
a genius at it—especially hearty winter soups with ripe vegetables that need to
be put to good use. She will never let
good food go to waste. As a young girl
growing up in Sicily, even having meat for dinner was a rarity. The only time the family had meat for dinner
was when a wandering chicken met its fate on the railroad tracks—the kids would
be ecstatic! Needless to say, she grew
up to appreciate having food on the table and how to make a meal out of anything.
Ingredients
(Serves 8 to10)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic, coarsely
chopped
4 celery stalks
3 carrots
3 medium zucchini
4 medium russet potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup lentils, rinsed
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
with garlic, oregano, and basil seasoning
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely
chopped
½ teaspoon freshly ground
pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Crostini (optional)
Dice vegetables and potatoes
into one-inch pieces.
Heat the oil in a large pot
over a medium-high flame. When hot, sauté
onions until golden, adding the vegetables, potatoes, and salt; sauté an additional
10 minutes. Toss occasionally to prevent
ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add lentils, diced tomatoes, and 5 cans of
warm water (my mom uses the empty tomato can).
Bring to a boil and mix in bouillon cubes; reduce to a simmer and cook
for an hour, mixing occasionally. Stir in
parsley, adjust for salt, and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
Transfer pot to a cool burner, puree
ingredients coarsely using a hand blender, then return to warm burner to simmer
an additional 5 minutes; add pepper, mix and let rest 15 minutes. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and
broken crostini pieces in individual soup bowls. (By the way, when my mom prepares these
wonderful soups, they are usually just the primo
piatto!)
