Minestra of root vegetables
AND now we enter the soup season. In the face of such recent challenges as being buffeted by freezing temperatures, battling the flu or simply recovering from the lingering effects of holiday overeating, there is nothing quite so restorative as a bowl of soup.
And there are few things that are easier to fix than a soup made just from vegetables. No long simmering of meaty bones or tough cuts, no complicated stocks. Build a vegetable base and then add water. That’s basically it. You don’t even need to use broth -- as the vegetables simmer they’ll release their own.
A well-made vegetable soup has just about everything you could want in a winter dish -- a balanced complexity of flavors, a soothing warmth, just enough heft to sustain, and a surprising lightness despite its big taste.
These soups are a pleasure, not a penance. Serve them with good bread and cheese, and maybe some tangerines and cookies for dessert, and you’ve got an incredibly satisfying meal.
Still, though they can be assembled with a fairly free hand, nothing about the preparation of these soups should be haphazard. Like all good cooking, a pot of soup needs to be carefully thought out.
For meat-eaters, the hardest part of making vegetarian soups is coming up with a combination of ingredients that has enough substance to make you feel like you’ve eaten.
Throw a bunch of root vegetables in a pot and you’ll get something that tastes pretty good -- think of first-course soups made from pureed potatoes or carrots. But it will lack the body that can let a soup be the center of a meal.
Finding a substitute that doesn’t involve meat takes some creativity. The best solution is beans. Because they’re naturally high in protein and have a dense, meaty texture, beans fill in nicely, giving the vegetables the balance they need.
Generally, the best soups are made by starting from scratch with dried beans. As the beans soften during cooking, they release starch that thickens the broth, giving it body and savor.
And starting with dried beans is not as much bother as you might think. You don’t need to soak them in advance; in fact, the texture of the broth will be infinitely better if you don’t. They do take a little longer to cook this way, but usually less than three hours -- and for almost all that time the pot is sitting by itself, bubbling merrily away in the oven or on the stovetop.
Lentils are even easier. They’ll cook in less than an hour and have a pleasantly peppery, meaty flavor.
The most notable exception to the whole from-scratch thing is dried garbanzo beans or chickpeas, which really do need to be soaked to get the cooking time down from days to hours. Canned chickpeas are a boon for soup and stew makers. Rinse them well to get rid of the tinny-tasting canning liquid, and you’ll be hard-pressed to tell them apart from beans you took a couple of days preparing.
Leisurely cooking
AFTER that, though, vegetable soups are a breeze. The actual preparation isn’t terribly demanding and it’s leisurely paced. A half-hour’s worth of chopping and slicing is usually plenty. That’s just enough to make you feel like you’re actually cooking without coming close to crossing over into drudgery.
For the most part, you don’t even need to pay that close attention. Exact shapes and sizes of cuts aren’t critical. No perfectly cubed mirepoix here; chop the vegetables as neatly or as sloppily as you wish. Just make sure that things with similar textures are cut in similar sizes so they’ll cook evenly.
And almost all of the actual cooking is done over low enough heat that you’d have to take a mighty long nap to risk burning anything.
The white bean and fennel soup has a thick, rich-flavored broth that comes mostly from the cooking liquid from the beans. What really makes the soup sing, though, is three levels of fennel flavor -- silky sweet from the stewed bulbs, aromatic and herbaceous from the chopped fronds, and nutty and caramelized from the quickly fried wedges that are added as a garnish.
In the soup with winter greens and chickpeas, it’s the braised greens that give the dish its savor. The more kinds you use, the better the broth will be. Prop a couple of toasted baguette slices in the bottom of each soup bowl to soak it all up. A finishing grace note of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano ties the whole thing together.
If you’ve ever wondered just how sweet cabbages and root vegetables can be, try the minestra. Without the peppery flavor of the lentils, it would be over the top. But along with a healthy swig of vinegar cooked off at the end, they provide just the right balance.
Ladle it into a warm bowl. Sliver some good Gruyere onto slices of bread and toast them until the cheese is browned and bubbling. Then settle in to watch a Lakers game on television. It’s winter in Southern California.
Trim the tough green tops of the leeks, leaving only the white stalk behind. Cut each stalk in quarters lengthwise, cutting down to but not through the root end. Rinse well under cold running water, separating the layers of the leeks to get rid of any dirt that might be hiding there. Thinly slice both leeks crosswise.
Melt the butter in a heavy 4- to 6- quart soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Add the leeks, carrots, parsnips and rutabaga, cover tightly and cook gently until the vegetables are bright in color, beginning to soften and become aromatic, about 5 minutes. The vegetables do not need to be added all at once; you can chop them one at a time (they should be chopped to about the same size) and add them to the pot as you go along. Add the garlic and cook about 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant.
Place the thyme sprigs in the center of the bay leaf and fold the bay leaf around them. Tie with string to hold together in a packet. Or you can fold the bay and thyme in a square of cheesecloth and tie it closed. Add the herb packet to the soup and cook for a minute or two.
Add 8 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of salt and a generous grinding of black pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pot, leaving the lid ajar, and reduce the heat to maintain a sprightly simmer. The liquid should be bubbling quickly, but not boiling
Cook until the vegetables have softened and their flavors have married, about 1 hour. You should not taste any individual vegetable, but a more complex combination of all of them.
Cut the cabbage in lengthwise quarters and cut out the solid core. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise and then slice it about one-fourth to one-half inch thick. When the soup vegetables are cooked, add the cabbage to the pot and gently stir it in. Continue to simmer until the cabbage is silky and sweet, about 30 minutes.
While the soup is cooking, in a separate medium saucepan, bring 6 cups of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a rolling boil. Add the lentils, reduce the heat to a simmer and, with the cover slightly ajar, cook until they are tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and set aside.
When you are almost ready to serve, remove the bay leaf bundle from the soup. Raise the heat under the soup to a faster simmer and add the lentils. Stir gently to avoid breaking up the root vegetables. Stir in the vinegar and let the soup cook another minute or two to lose the raw smell. Season with a generous grinding of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or vinegar as needed, then ladle the soup into warm bowls. Serve immediately.
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