My husband is not partial to brothy soups. Making this one required some convincing, but I was able to win him over by the inclusion of pasta and potatoes. By the way, he loved it. 🙂
This wonderful soup recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by David Tanis. I increased the onions, garlic, and kale, and added fresh lemon juice. I also used my homemade turkey stock. We ate it with a green salad, of course, and sliced sourdough baguette. It was surprisingly filling! Absolutely delicious too.
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for garnish
- 2 cups+ diced onion (I used 1 1/2 large onions)
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced fennel or celery
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 large thyme sprig or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- parmesan rind, optional
- 3 quarts/12 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (I used 2 quarts of homemade turkey stock and 1 quart of chicken stock)
- 2 pounds medium-size starchy potatoes, such as Yukon Golds or russets, peeled (if desired) and cut in 1-inch chunks (I skipped peeling the potatoes)
- 6 to 8 ounces kale or chard, stems removed, leaves sliced across into 1/2-inch ribbons (about 6-7 cups total)
- ½ pound dried pennette, orecchiette or other small pasta
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or marjoram, for garnish
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- In a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add onion, carrot and fennel, stir, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened and golden, 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the heat to prevent vegetables from browning or scorching.
- Stir in bay leaf, thyme sprig, garlic, paprika tomato paste, and parmesan rind (if using), and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add broth, potatoes and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a brisk simmer. Cook until potatoes are cooked through but still firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
- Stir in kale and pasta and simmer another 10 minutes, or until greens are well cooked and pasta is done. (Soup can be made up to this point, without the pasta, cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
- Add the fresh lemon juice and stir to incorporate.
- Ladle soup into bowls, and sprinkle with chopped rosemary and Parmesan. Drizzle each serving with a teaspoon of olive oil, if desired. Pass extra Parmesan at the table.
Note: If making ahead of time, do not add the pasta until reheating.
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Great soup! You are lucky to convince your family to eat non-meat meals. I’d have to add sausage or something to this to get my husband to eat it!
Too funny. 🙂 We eat several vegetarian meals a week- I guess I am lucky he’s so agreeable!
Fantastic soup, I have almost everything for it and making it for dinner tonight. Love a substantial soup like this.
You just made my day, Suzanne! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 🙂
I made this today! It was delicious!!! I added ground Italian sausage and slightly reduced the potatoes. It had such great flavor. Often soups end up being bland or not filling, but this wasn’t. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Yay! Your adaptation sounds delicious. 🙂
I’m with your husband on broths soups. I especially don’t get miso soup at Asian restaurants. (There are other foods I’d much rather fill up on!) But this soup does look wonderful!
I wouldn’t say that it converted him but he would definitely love to eat this one again. The potato and pasta starch actually make the broth quite thick.
I make a similar soup but with the addition of beans. I can’t wait to try your version and like that idea of adding fresh fennel.
My husband doesn’t eat fennel! I used celery instead but I’m sure it would be wonderful with fennel.