It’s winter here in the north of Italy, and nothing is better than a soup in cold weather.
I know some people associate soup, especially vegetable soup, with bad memories, like being sick, or just as a nutritious but untasty meal, yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
This soup was invented by my wife a couple of years ago when I actually fell sick, and it was in summertime, but it was so delicious that I anxiously started to wait for winter to have the proper environment for it.
This soup is extremely easy to do.
Creamy vegetable soup
Ingredients
- 1 big Carrot
- 150 grams of Broccoli
- 2 Tomatoes
- 2 medium Potatoes
- 1 small red Bell Pepper
- 1 small yellow Bell Pepper
- Half an Onion
- Chopped Garlic
Directions
Boil for about 30 minutes in just enough water with salt and a little of extra virgin olive oil. Pass everything through the blender or the food processor, including the cooking water. Serve topped with chives and parsley.
Keep in mind that when you boil vegetables, part of the nutrients dissolve in the water, so if you put too much and have to dump a part of it, you’ll be dumping part of the nutrients as well. It is always better to add more boiling water later, if needed.
Also, there is no magic on the combination on these ingredients, you can change proportions, add a different one or take away one from the list. Just keep in mind that the potato is the one responsible for the creamy texture.
Have fun, and you are totally welcome to leave us your comments and add your picture to the Mediterrasian Flickr Group.
7 Comments
That’s a beautiful soup, Guilherme! Creamy soups are a lovely change from a ragout or traditional “chunky” soup — and here it is also traditional to make a similar soup in the autumn with buttercup squash instead of bell peppers, not quite as rich a colour but a very hearty soup… Now I feel so sad that my very-very-very-old blender finally burned out its motor, just last week! I should probably get a food processor this time, because it’s more versatile than a blender, but I was really hoping to delay spending the money for a little bit — ah, but now you and your soup are tempting me to rush right out and go shopping!
Hi, Jen, nice to have you here.
Buttercup squash sounds like a nice variation, I should try it out.
By the way, you can try to do this soup puréeing the vegetables with the potato smasher after cooking them in the pressure while you don’t buy the food processor.
Anyway, food processors are so versatile, It will probably be a great investment.
This is a great recipe, Guilherme. It’s such a simple method, yet I’ve never thought of it before. I made some soup of my own just last night, using this method (but with different ingredients), and it turned out great.
I’ll definitely be making soup like this more often, and I’ll try to make a version closer to the recipe you’ve listed here in the near future so I can let you know how it went.
Great stuff, Adam!
You don’t really have to follow the exact recipe, variations are all good. I am, myself, very random with ingredients and proportions when I’m not taking notes for sharing.
What did you put into yours?
I’m normally pretty random when I cook, too.
I don’t know the exact proportions, I used, but it was something like this:
2 medium potatoes
2/3 of an English cucumber
1 tomato
1 can of yellow beans
Several cups of peas (I didn’t measure, I just sort of poured them in)
I also added some salt, pepper, and a little bit of Cajun spice & herb seasoning that I have to give it some extra zing.
Normally, I would have used carrots, too, but I didn’t have any, and didn’t want to go to the grocery store just for some carrots.
@Adam Snider -
Lol, I like this spirit
Adam, if you are so much into peas, you might also like Heidi Swanson’s Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
I must confess I didn’t cook it yet, but the picture alone fills my eyes.
That pea soup does look good, and sounds very simple. I may have to try that sometime. Thanks for pointing it out.