The contents of this soup can vary depending on what you have on hand. The broth can be based totally on vegetables if you are vegetarian, you can cook it for just hours or all day. You can vary the amounts of the ingredients if you need to.
Soup-making is a very creative process. The secret of most good soups is the sauteing of the ingredients and sweating them before liquid is added.
Ingredients (serves 6 - 8):
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2-3 carrots, quartered and sliced
- 2-3 large stalks of celery, diced
- some leaves of swiss chard, cut into small pieces
- some leaves of kale, cut into small pieces
- some green beans, cut into small pieces
- 2-3 potatoes, quartered and cut into small pieces.
- 1 - 15 oz. can of cannellini beans or northern beans, cooked, or equivalent amount of home-cooked beans)
- 1-2 zucchini, quartered and sliced
- 8 cups of chicken broth (you may substitute vegetable broth but the taste will be significantly different)
- 1 cup canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, chopped
- some leaves of fresh basil, chopped
- salt and pepper
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the onions, carrots and celery. Saute them for several minutes. Add the chard and kale and saute them until wilted. Add green beans and cook for several minutes. Add potatoes and zucchine and saute them for several minutes more.
Add broth or and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for between 1-2 hours. Before serving, add the cooked cannellini beans and cook for awhile, check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as you determine.
Notes: If you have a nice leftover rind of parmesan cheese, add this to the soup while it is cooking. It adds a great amount of flavor and some saltiness to the soup. Never throw away those last pieces of parmesan or romano cheese even though they are dried up - they are worthy of the soups you will make. Ralph had a great collection of end pieces!