Soups Archives - The Midnight Baker

Creamy Shrimp and Crab Bisque

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 23:00:51 +0000

Shrimp and crab bisque is a soup that can be a meal.

Delicious Shrimp And Crab Bisque

I’ve loved bisques forever. If there’s any Brooklynites out there who remember Lundy’s on Emmons Avenue down in Sheepshead Bay, you’ll know where that love started. Sadly Lundy’s has been gone for years but not my love of these rich creamy soups. This shrimp and crab bisque is just another one I fell in love with.

Bisques are pretty simple to make. They are rich and filling enough to be the star attraction at dinner. Just add a hard roll and a green salad and you’re all set.

Shrimp And Crab

You don’t have to use the most expensive large or jumbo shrimp in this. The small or medium ones do just fine; in fact those sizes are preferred. And small and medium shrimp are quite budget conscious too. This soup won’t break the bank!

When it comes to the crab meat, I tend to use the canned variety. I know, I’m always on about fresh, but the canned is pretty good and the main thing is that it is shelf stable. Since I don’t do actual crab legs anymore, I consider it a good choice. Whatever you choose to use, the soup will be excellent so you have no worries.

The Cream

I departed from my usual here and used half and half instead of light or heavy cream. The way I though about it was the soup is rich enough with the seafood and heavy cream would have been overkill. Milk–whole milk that is–would probably work well too.

For my EU and UK readers, “half and half” is an American thing. It’s actually equal parts of whole (full fat) milk and single (light) cream.

The Recipe

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Shrimp and Crab Bisque

Creamy delicious soup

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Lundy's, rich seafood soups, seafood bisque

Servings: 6

Calories: 152kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 tbs butter
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 tbs finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/2 lb medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
1/2 lb pre-cooked crab meat
1/2 cup white wine

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large saucepan, melt butter over a low heat. Stir in flour, salt, white pepper, bouillon granules, and onion. Blend 3/4 cup half-and-half cream into the mixture. Mix in shrimp and crab meat. Turn the temperature to medium heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
Blend the remaining half-and-half cream and wine into the mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

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Instant Pot Mushroom And Wild Rice Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 00:00:12 +0000

The Instant Pot really helps all the flavors in this mushroom and wild rice soup meld.

Mushroom Wild Rice Soup–The Instant Pot Way

Have you discovered that your Instant Pot or electronic multi-cooker really makes flavors blend so well?

I’ve been pressure cooking for ages and discovered their trick long ago. I was doing this even before these new-fangled and automatic pots became the vogue. What I’m trying to say is you don’t need the fancy equipment to make this recipe or any other labeled “Instant Pot.” Your trusty old Mirro or Fagor stovetop model will do very nicely too.

I love these appliances/pots for soups and especially this one. Sure you can do it conventionally but you get better flavor from pressure cooking and more importantly here is that the wild rice will cook in a jiffy!

Wild Rice

If you’re in the midwest and Minnesota in particular, I’m sure you can tell me a thing or two about wild rice!

I do find wild rice a bit difficult to get here where I live. I know there’s places I could order it online, but the prices are, in a word, outrageous. I know it’s an expensive ingredient, but some of the prices I’ve seen made me keel over.

For that reason, I used a readily-available wild rice blend. It’s pretty easy to get and truthfully–I liked the little variety in the mix. I feel it made this mushroom wild rice soup a lot more interesting. So use what you can get that doesn’t wreak havoc on your purse.

Vegetarian?

If you’re a vegetarian–meaning you eat eggs and dairy products but no meat–use the also-suggested vegetable stock.

This is a tough one to make vegan since I don’t think substituting nut or grain milks would result in a good flavor. If you want to try it and let me know how it tasted, I’d appreciate it since I like to give a vegan option where it’s possible.

The Recipe

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Instant Pot Mushroom Wild Rice Soup

A wonderful and filling soup

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Natural Pressure Release30

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: instant pot soups that are meals, vegetarian instant pot soups, wild rice soup with mushrooms

Servings: 6

Calories: 423kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb mushrooms fresh, thickly sliced
1 cup rice wild rice or wild rice blend
1 cup carrots diced
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
2 celery ribs diced
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme dried or 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 oz chopped spinach fresh or frozen
1/2 cup cream

Thickening:

1 1/2 cups milk
4 tbs flour
4 tbs butter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the mushrooms, wild rice, carrots, onion, celery, stock, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper in the Instant Pot.
Seal and set on "soup" setting, or 30 minutes at high pressure. When time is up, let the pressure reduce naturally--this will take approximately 30 minutes.
Remove lid when pressure has dropped and add the spinach and cream. Stir. The residual heat is enough to wilt the spinach.
For thickening, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour and let it cook and bubble for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat until it begins to boil; cook for 2 minutes then whisk into the soup.

Video

Nutrition

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Mexican Street Corn Soup

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 00:00:46 +0000

Mexican street corn soup is winter’s answer to the original summer specialty.

Mexican Street Corn Soup

Let me start by saying I love Mexican street corn. However, most people, myself included, think of that as a summertime thing.

Since winter is a time for soups why not try to translate that summer flavor in a warming and hearty soup. That’s just what’s happening here. You get all the flavor of your favorite corn side dish in a warm winterized soup. That’s a real win-win situation from where I’m sitting.

Most of the ingredients are ones a lot of us have on hand already so it won’t break the bank.

Corn

Living in the northeast, I rarely see fresh ears of corn in my store’s produce department unless it is summer. Of course when it’s in season and locally grown, that would be my first choice for this since you cannot beat the taste. It does involve some work to get the kernels off, but it is worth it.

The great thing about this soup is you are not bound to only using fresh. The closest thing to the great taste of fresh on-the-cob-corn is frozen kernels and that’s what I used here. It not only is convenient, but it tastes great.

You can, of course, use canned corn. Due to the processing, it doesn’t taste as great as fresh or frozen, but it will do nicely here so if you have it, use it.

Crema

While I usually make my own for proper street corn, I didn’t bother here.

As sour cream is a good substitute for crema, you can go ahead and use that. I admit I did buy the commercial crema that comes in a can. It’s OK and if you have it, use it. I did in this and it was fine, but I’m sorry I spent the money on it. I think the sour cream would have tasted better barring the real homemade one.

The Recipe

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Mexican Street Corn Soup

If you love the real deal, you'll love this soup. "Souper" easy too.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: mexican soups, mexican street corn soup, soups with pantry ingredients

Servings: 6

Calories: 215kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 cups whole kernel corn divided
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth divided
1 Tbs olive oil
4 scallions whites and light greens minced, greens sliced
1 Tbs minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder or regular chili powder
1 cup crema or sour cream
1/2 cup Cotija cheese Parmesan may be substituted
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Purée 2 cups corn kernels with 1 cup broth in a food processor.
Heat oil in a pot over medium. Add remaining 2 cups corn kernels, minced scallion whites and light greens, garlic, and chili powder; cook 5 minutes.
Stir in remaining 3 cups broth and puréed corn; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in crema and Cotija until heated through and cheese melts, 3 minutes.
Add cilantro and lime juice; season soup with salt and pepper. Top servings with sliced scallion greens

Nutrition

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Classic French Onion Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 00:07:38 +0000

Classic French onion soup is not difficult to make at all. It just takes time but it’s worth it.

Classic French Onion Soup

The first thing that comes to mind when anyone thinks of French cuisine almost always is classic French onion soup.

Sure, it comes frozen and in cans–it always did–but there’s something so special when you make your own. Since making your own, including the stock, gives the soup your own special “flair.”

I readily admit to not using my own homemade stock in this since there’s so many good ones on the market–often for less cost than making your own.

There is another shortcut you can use which will make this soup set up in a jiffy so read on.

Caramelized Onions

If you make this soup from scratch, this is the most involved part of the entire process. It’s not hard; actually, it’s quite easy. However, it is a tedious process where you have to stir and watch closely.

There’s a way to eliminate that process. You let your slow cooker do all the work! Since I started making slow cooker caramelized onions, I always have them on hand for other things. They freeze very well.

One caveat about the slow cooker method is that your entire house will smell like onions. So what I do is put the slow cooker out on my screen porch to do it’s magic. A garage works equally as well.

Bread And Cheese

A baguette is the best bread to use for this soup. It’s relatively narrow and had a good texture that won’t become soggy easily. that’s provided the soup is served almost immediately. Regular French bread can be used in a pinch if you can’t get a baguette. Of course your own homemade bread is best if you have it. The bread must also be lightly toasted and dried out making it somewhat like melba toast.

As for the cheese, Swiss is most often used, but it’s not imperative. In fact, I prefer this with a nice aged and piquant provolone cheese. It makes the taste a lot more interesting because of the bolder flavor. But any melting cheese will do so use one you love.

The Recipe

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Classic Onion Soup

Comforting and delicious

Prep Time25

Cook Time1

Course: Appetizer, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: French

Keyword: classic french onion soup, main course soups, slow cooker carmaleized onions

Servings: 6

Calories: 375kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 cups sliced onions
2 tbs butter
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbs flour
2 quarts beef stock
1/2 cup brandy or white wine/vermouth
2 sprigs fresh thyme optional
1 baguette or small French bread cut in 1/2-inch/1.25-cm slices
6 slices Swiss cheese or provolone
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Toast the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a 300F/150C oven until the edges just begin to get golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside
To caramelize the onions--melt butter over medium heat in a dutch oven. Add the oil. Add the sliced onions and stir to coat with the butter/oil. Saute the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then stir in the sugar, cover the pot and cook for another 5 minutes (this is to cook the onions), stir occasionally. Remove the cover and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are a nice deep brown. This will take about 30 minutes. Alternately, you may prepare the onions ahead by following this recipe beginning at the step 3 below where the flour is added--do not use additional butter/oil.
Stir the flour into the onions and cook for 2 minutes to cook the flour. Add the brandy or vermouth, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, and thyme if using, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Place soup in 6 individual soup crocks (mine are 18 oz each). Set your broiler too high. Top each soup crock with 1 or 2 slices of baguette, place Swiss cheese over the bread and divide the Parmesan cheese evenly over each crock.
Place under the broiler and remove when cheese is melted, about 1 minute.

Nutrition

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Chunky Tomato Soup

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:10 +0000

Chunky tomato soup is quite possibly the best tomato soup you’ll ever eat. Quick cooking and easy.

Chunky Tomato Soup Tastes Like You Fussed

One taste of this soup will convince you that a great-tasting soup isn’t a lot of work.

When I first tasted this, it reminded me of pizza so I like to call it “pizza in a bowl,” but that might be misleading. However, if you don’t want to make pizza or go out for it, this might satisfy the craving.

This is also a soup you can make with common pantry items you likely have on hand. That’s a big plus in my book and you’ll definitely want to keep it in mind when you have unexpected guests–and who doesn’t during the holidays?

Easily Made Vegan

The soup is vegetarian–for those who include some dairy so there’s no substitutions necessary.

However, it’s easily converted to a vegan dish. The substitutions are easy; nut or oat milk can replace the cow’s milk. As for the croutons, you can always forego them but I understand the quality of vegan cheeses now is quite good. I’ve also heard that nutritional yeast is widely used by vegans to substitute for Parmesan. Of course, vegetable stock can replace the chicken. So this soup is quite versatile and can be served to practically anyone with some minor changes.

And if that isn’t all, it’s probably pretty light on calories too if you’re watching them.

Soup & Sandwich?

By all means! Especially if you’re serving people with larger appetites. For me now, a bowl of this soup suffices for a dinner. That wasn’t the case years ago though, so with guys and younger folks, a sandwich is probably necessary.

What is traditional with tomato soup–grilled cheese of course. With this soup I’d make a fancy grilled cheese made with mozzarella. Now it’d be more like pizza!

The Recipe

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Chunky Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is a perennial favorite

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chunky tomato soup, quick tomato soup, tomato soup from canned tomatoes

Servings: 4

Calories: 419kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup milk
28 oz petite diced tomatoes 1 large can, don't drain
28 oz crushed tomatoes 1 large can, don't drain
1 tso dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
14 oz chicken stock or vegetable stock

Parmesan Croutons

2 cups white bread cubes
4 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft. Add flour; cook and stir until moist. Gradually add milk, cooking and stirring about 2 minutes or until smooth and bubbly
Stir in crushed and petite diced tomatoes, basil, oregano and stock. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. Stir frequently and do not allow mixture to boil.
To make croutons, toss bread cubes with olive oil and grated cheese. Spread onto baking sheet and place into a preheated oven at 350F/180C. Bake until croutons are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Top soup with crouton.

Nutrition

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Vegetable Beef Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 00:00:37 +0000

Is anything better for lunch or dinner than a hearty vegetable beef soup?

Vegetable Beef Soup Any Way You Like It

Vegetable beef soup is one of the most popular soups around. There’s numerous reasons why.

First reason is simple; it tastes so good. It really is a meal in itself because it contains meat and veggies.

Another reason is that if you have any leftover beef and vegetables, it’s a great way to use those leftovers up.

Maybe best of all is that it can be a quick choice for dinner when you’re using up what you have on hand or it can be a labor of love when you make your own stock.

Making Your Own Stock

Making your own stock isn’t necessary for this soup, but it’s well worth it if you have the time.

First you start with about two pounds (I kg) of meaty beef bones. Lay them in a single layer in a large baking pan then toss in a cut-up carrot and a cut-up medium onion. Preheat your oven to 450F/220C and oven brown them for approximately 30 minutes, turning them half way through the cooking.

Place the browned bones in a large stockpot or Instant pot. Deglaze that baking dish with a bit of water and scrape up the browned bits. Add this mixture to the bones in the pot. Add a bay leaf, some celery ribs or leaves, a cut up onion and 3 whole peppercorns and you’re set to go. You can add a teaspoon of salt but I don’t bother since I season when I make the soup. You simmer this about 4 hours on the stovetop or cook at high pressure in the Instant Pot (affiliate link) for 2 hours. The Instant Pot produces much better stock so I advise it.

When done, cut any meat off the bone to use in the soup and strain the liquid through a strainer so all those bits and pieces are not in your stock. You can easily degrease the stock by putting it in a bowl and refrigerating until chilled. Then the congealed fat is simply lifted out and discarded.

A Word About Veggies

As always, use what you have.

I like celery and carrot in particular, so that’s what I use. But again, use what you like.

Pasta is a great addition to make the soup heartier. I used orzo here.

The Recipe

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Vegetable Beef Soup

What can be better than this hearty beef soup on a cold night

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Homemade Beef Stock (Instant Pot)2

Total Time35

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Making your own beef stock, vegetable beef soup, winter soups

Servings: 6

Calories: 172kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 quarts beef stock
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup diced celery
14 oz can diced tomatoes drained
1 cup cut up cooked beef
1/2 cup orzo
3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried from the jar

Homemade Beef Stock (Nice but not necessary):

2 lbs meaty beef bones
2 quarts water
1 small onion cut up
1 rib celery cut up
3 whole peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making the stock--place beef bones in a baking dish and preheat oven to 450F/220C. Roast bones for 30 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.
Place the bones in an electric pressure cooker. Pour about 1/2 cup of the water in the roasting pan and scrape up any browned bits; add this to the pressure cooker.
Next add the rest of the water, onion, celery, peppercorns, salt and bay leaf.
Seal the pot and cook on high pressure for 2 hours. Let pressure reduce naturally (don't release the valve) then strain the stock discarding all the veggies, but reseving the bones. Pour stock in a bowl and refrigerate until it's chilled and fat is congealed. Remove congealed fat.
To make soup--place the degreased stock in a dutch oven. Add the sliced carrots, diced celery and thyme. Cut about 1 cup of the meat off the reserved bones and add it to the pot. Add the drained tomatoes and heat to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until veggies are tender.
Add the orzo and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until orzo is tender.

Video

Nutrition

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Chicken Corn Chowder

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 23:00:17 +0000

Sometimes you just want soup. This chicken corn chowder can use up leftovers too.

Chicken Corn Chowder–Use Leftovers

This is the perfect dinner to use up leftovers.

So many of us buy rotisserie chicken at the store because it’s delicious and very convenient. Have any leftover? This soup is perfect for those. Made your. own chicken? Any way you made it, again the leftovers are perfect here.

Did you overbuy all that delicious fresh corn? I know I do because it’s just so darn delicious. Since I live very close to a local farm that produces it, I tend to overbuy. Because I buy so much I have quite a bit left over. Usually in the summer I grill it and it just tastes so wonderful in this soup.

Soup Still Satisfies

As I mentioned above, sometimes you just want soup–regardless of the outside temperature.

Sure summer is more for cookouts, salads and cold soups. However, this will still have the taste of summer with all the veggies that are in this chicken corn chowder.

Corn, and end-of-summer favorite is featured prominently in this. Roasted corn will taste the best in this soup so the next time you fire up the grill, grill some especially for this!

The original recipe called for two cans of cream-style corn. It’s very good with that but I made this with fresh corn; it’s much better in my opinion. I suggest you try it both ways. As I said, they’re both good but you can do the fresh corn version in the summer and the canned cream style corn in the winter.

Chicken

Again, the original recipe called for a can of chicken breast and again, I substituted leftover chicken that I had in the fridge.

Either way, the soup is very tasty. The best part is that you can rely on pantry items instead of leftovers and it still tastes wonderful.

The Recipe

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Quick Chicken Corn Chowder

So easy you can't believe it

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: hearty dinner soups, soups made with leftovers, soups using fresh corn

Servings: 4

Calories: 501kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 small onion finely diced
1 rib celery finely diced
1 small red bell pepper finely diced
2 tbs butter
2 cups fresh roasted corn or 2 cans 14.75 oz each creamed corn
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1 1/2 cup diced cooked chicken or 1 can (12 oz) chicken breast meat, undrained, large lumps broken up
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 slices crisp bacon for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and red bell pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until tender.
Add the corn, cream, milk, bouillon, chicken and it's juice (if using canned), salt and pepper. Stir to blend.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until it's hot but do not boil it.
Crumble bacon and top each serving with equal amounts

Nutrition

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Ham And Broccoli Cheese Soup

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:32 +0000

This soup is the best of both worlds. If you love broccoli cheese soup and cream of ham and potato, you’ll love this.

It’s Soup Weather

In the winter, my thoughts turn to soup for dinner since it’s a warm bowl of comfort on cold days.

This ham and broccoli cheese soup fills the comfort bill many times over. It combines two of my favorite cream soups–cream of broccoli cheese and cream of ham and potato. Another good thing about this soup is it uses up bits and pieces you may already have on hand already. I used up the last of my New Years ham, the remains of a bag of chopped broccoli and that bit of shredded cheddar I had in the deli drawer.

Have A Souper Super Bowl

As many of us are aware, the Super Bowl is right around the corner and if you’re having a little party you’re thinking of food for that.

In addition to that big crockpot full of chili, why not have a big crockpot full of this soup as well? Even though this ham and broccoli cheese soup isn’t made in the slow cooker, you can use the cooker as a buffet server because of the warm setting. It offers another choice for those who are not fans of chili.

It’s Easy Too

The surprising part of this soup is how quick and easy it is. There’s no “all-day” cooking involved here. From start to finish it should only take about 30 minutes. But don’t let that on to anyone who raves about the great flavor. Let that be your secret!

I always use heavy cream in my cream soups because it tastes wonderful and an old chef friend once told me that heavy cream is a must in a cream soup. That may sound redundant, but I got what he meant. You don’t need much and it’s worth it. Honest!

I like cream soups pretty thick, but if you don’t, omit the thickening.

The Recipe

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Ham and Broccoli Cheese Soup

A soup that's a meal

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Course: Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy cream soups, main course soups, soups with leftovers

Servings: 4

Calories: 570kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 cups diced cooked ham
3 tbs chopped onion
2 tbs butter
1 cup diced red potatoes or yukon gold
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese white preferred
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp pepper

Thickening:

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan or stock pot. Add the onion and cook until it's translucent.
Next add the potatoes, broccoli salt, thyme, basil, pepper and chicken stock. Cover, reduce heat and cook until potatoes are just tender; about 10 minutes.
Mix the thickening ingredients well so there's no lumps (thinkening is optional) and whisk into the soup. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to cook the flour.
Stir in the cream and shredded cheese. Simmer until cheese melts.

Nutrition

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Zucchini Sausage Soup

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 23:00:15 +0000

Use up some of that summer zucchini in this delicious and hearty soup.

Use That Summer Zucchini

Still have some of that zucchini left from the summer garden? Or maybe it was a neighbor who unloaded some excess on you?

I’ve heard lots of jokes about zucchini’s abundance. To be honest, my late husband and I never had any success with growing it. One year’s yield was one. The next year we grew a round zucchini variety since it claimed to be a “prolific grower.” The year we grew that, we got two. For us it was prolific.

Since we loved zucchini, we relied on the kindness of others to give us what they couldn’t use. Besides the usual minestrone, I wanted to incorporate it into a nice creamy style soup. Cream soups are my passion.

Sausage Makes It A Meal

I might add at this point that zucchini freezes well after it’s been blanched and dried. When it’s been frozen, it’s perfect for soups.

My husband and I were fond of making soups a meal along with a crusty roll and a salad.

The types of soup I regard as a complete meal are hearty and stick to your ribs. Mind you, this quality isn’t dependent on meat. Adding beans, rice and potatoes are excellent options if you’re vegetarian. I’ll get to the vegans later in the post.

This soup uses meat. Bulk Italian sausage to be exact. Sausage also flavors the soup since it’s full of herbs and spices. That way there’s no complicated seasonings besides the basic salt and pepper.

I used sweet Italian sausage meat in this, but you could use the hot variety or any other specialty variety that your store stocks. If you do use the hot sausage, then omit the red pepper flakes unless you want to make it more zippy. I only used a pinch since my husband was not into “zippy.” A pinch will impart a nice flavor and won’t be hot at all.

For The Vegans

You can use the suggestion in the above paragraph when you don’t use meat at all. And for the cream, nut milks–any variety–would be a great substitute. Vegan butter or olive oil can stand in for the regular butter and a high-quality vegetable stock is a good sub for the chicken stock.

The Recipe

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Zucchini Sausage Soup

Hearty and comforting soup

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: soups that are a meal, using excess zucchini, zucchini soup

Servings: 4

Calories: 432kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 medium onions chopped
8 oz sweet Italian sausage meat
2 tbs butter
6 medium zucchini sliced (1 1/2 lbs)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half cream or light cream. See NOTES
1/8 tsp salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Thickening:

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and the onion and cook until the sausage is no longer pink, breaking up into smaller bits as it cooks.
Add the zucchini, chicken stock, salt and pepper flakes. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender.
Add the cream and heat through.
If you wish to thicken the soup, mix the flour and water and gradually stir into the soup. Heat until the soup gently bubbles then cook, stirring frequently, until the flour is cooked--about 5 minutes.

Notes

For UK and EU--"half and half" is equal parts of whole (full fat) milk and single (light) cream.

Nutrition

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Crack Chicken Noodle Soup

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 26 May 2020 23:00:32 +0000

If you have some leftover chicken and odds and ends, crack chicken noodle soup makes a great dinner.

Great Use For Leftover Chicken

We all have leftover chicken at times and there’s lots of ways to use it.

I got into a rut using mine. I’d forget it sometimes and I didn’t like that because I’d have to toss it out.

This recipe caught my eye on my friend Lisa’s site. I knew I had to make this–with my own touches–because it looked simply delicious.

The Forgotten Veggies

It’s also a great way to use up any odd veggies you have in the crisper, especially celery and carrots. That’s a couple of other things I have to end up tossing because I forgot about them; especially when I’d already used the lovely green outer stalks of the celery and only the anaemic inner stalks were left. In this soup, the color doesn’t matter much, unlike a salad. As for carrots, if there’s a couple left, they tend to get buried under the newer stuff in the crisper (yes I know about rotation LOL, sometimes I’m just too lazy).

This recipe sort of encourages you to use those bits and pieces you tend to forget. That also includes odds and ends of pasta.

As for the ranch seasoning, you can make your own. I give a link to a reduced-sodium recipe in the ingredient list.

Pasta

Who doesn’t have small amounts of pasta that don’t quite make up one serving?

I don’t like to throw anything out so I hold onto those odd bits telling myself I’ll add them to the new box I’ll buy. That works out well most of the time.

However, you can use those bits in this soup. The recipe calls for spaghetti or similar-shaped pasta. But who says you can’t use elbows if that’s what you have? I don’t know if that’s a radical idea or what they call “thinking outside the box” (no pun intended here). It does use up what you have and it’s all the same regardless of shape.

The Recipe

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Crack Chicken Noodle Soup

This chicken soup is more like a meal

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: main course soups, quick chicken soup, using leftover chicken

Servings: 6

Calories: 589kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 carrots diced
2 stalks celery sliced
1 small onion sliced
2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs ranch seasoning mix see NOTES
2 tsp dill weed
32 oz chicken stock
1 can 10.5 oz condensed cream of chicken soup
3 cups cooked chicken diced
6 slices crisp bacon crumbled
8 oz spaghetti
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups half-and-half -OR- light cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat oil in a large, deep stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the celery, carrots and onion and cook until the veggies begin to get tender.
Add the ranch dressing/seasoning, stirring to make sure the veggies are coated. Stir in the stock, condensed soup, chicken, bacon, dill weed and spaghetti (break the spaghetti in half).
Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low and cook until spaghetti is tender. Add the cheese and the cream. Heat through, about 5 minutes.

Notes

1 envelope of store-bought ranch seasoning/dressing may be substituted

Nutrition

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