Kale & Porcini Winter Soup
Kale & Porcini Winter Soup
January is National Soup month! We’re warming up with a cozy porcini mushroom soup. Earthy, umami rich porcini, kale, cannellini beans and your favorite root veggies make a nutritious & delicious vegetarian dinner. We tweaked it adding ground turkey & ditalini pasta for a heartier winter-time version. Makes abundant 6 servings
Easy Ingredients:
1 cup dried porcini
5 tablespoons Villa Graziella Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil + extra 2 tablespoons for drizzling
3 cups hot water
1 cup or bunch fresh kale, washed stemmed & shredded, Swiss chard fine too
1-pound ground turkey, ground, chicken or pork fine too
1-14 ounce can plain, unflavored, unseasoned diced tomatoes, plus juice
½ cup fresh cherry tomatoes sliced
8-ounce dried white or cannellini beans, sorted & soaked overnight. Or 1-14 ounce can, cannellini beans drained. Drained & rinsed, no salt canned chickpeas fine too
8-ounce dried pasta; ditalini, macaroni or tubetti cook better in a heftier soup instead of a light broth
4 cups organic vegetable broth or stock
1 ½ cups diced yellow onion
2-3 fresh carrots, scrubbed, sliced
2 gloves fresh garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, dried fine too
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, or more as needed
1 teaspoon sea salt, or more as needed
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, hard goat or other hard cheese fine too
Simple Directions:
Soak porcini mushrooms in very hot water 30-45 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside the soaking water. Rinse mushrooms in cool water to remove any grit. Pat dry with clean dish or paper towel.
Strain mushroom soaking liquid through a cheese cloth or paper towel lined sieve or with a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, set aside.
In a Dutch oven or stock pot, melt olive oil over medium heat, when hot, add onion, cook so it starts to soften.
Add carrots, garlic, mushrooms cover pot & cook over medium-low heat 10-15 minutes, stirring often as liquid dissipates, veggies soften, onions & garlic become translucent but not brown.
Add ground meat, cook uncovered, stirring often, scraping bottom until meat & veggies are evenly browned.
Add both fresh & canned tomatoes, beans, kale, reserved mushroom liquid to pot, generously salt & pepper, bring to a boil uncovered.
Reduce heat, add vegetable broth, cover with lid askew, simmer slowly over a gentle, low heat 30-45 minutes.
Bring cold water in a large pot to a boil, add pasta stirring occasionally until 3 minutes prior to cooking instructions so pasta not fully cooked, very al dente.
Drain pasta well, add to soup, taste & season with additional salt & pepper if needed.
Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle Parmesan cheese shavings as desired serve & enjoy hot with Villa Graziella wine made made with organic grapes.
Inspirational Recipe found at River cottage Veg -Hugh Faernley-Whittingstall, Ten Speed press, 2011.
Cooking Begins-Carla Lalli Music, Published By Clarkson Potter, March 2019
Soup suggestions:
Use seasonal winter vegetables for optimal flavor and good value
Take the time to slowly cook or sauté vegetables-carrots, celery, garlic, onions over medium heat. Finely chopped aromatic veggies slowly “sweat” releasing liquid while gaining rich flavors. Also known as soffritto (under fried or fried slowly in Italian) or mirepoix (named for the French diplomat and Duke de Mirepoix).
Add fresh herbs towards the end of the cooking time to retain aroma & flavors
Soup too salty? Add a thin sliced potato to absorb salt, slowly simmer for 10-15 minutes, remove slices before serving
Don’t take a short cut and cook pasta in soup, it absorbs liquid resulting in a gummy like texture
For fully blended flavors, prepare soup 1 day prior, make smaller portions & refrigerate for next day lunch or freeze for a quick dinner later in the week