Kale & Porcini Winter Soup

Need warming up? How about a cozy porcini mushroom soup for a meatless Monday! Earthy, umami rich porcini, kale, cannellini beans & your favorite veggies make a healthy & delicious meal. Add ground turkey & ditalini pasta for a heartier winter-time version. Makes abundant 6 servings

Easy Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

• 5 tablespoons Villa Graziella Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil + extra 2 tablespoons for drizzling

• 3 teaspoons Villa Graziella Organic Tuscan Seasoning blend for vegetables + extra to taste

• 3 cups hot water

• 1 cup or bunch fresh kale, washed stemmed & shredded, Swiss chard ok

• 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 & rinsed. No salt canned chickpeas ok

• 8-ounce dried ditalini, macaroni or tubetti pasta optional

• 1-pound ground turkey or chicken optional

• 4 cups organic vegetable broth or stock

• 1 ½ cups diced yellow onion

• 2-3 fresh carrots, scrubbed, sliced

• 2 gloves fresh garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons sea salt, Kosher ok

• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, hard goat or other hard cheese ok

Simple Directions:

1. Soak porcini mushrooms in 3 cups of hot water 30-45 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside soaking water. Rinse mushrooms in cool water removing any grit. Pat dry with clean dish or paper towel, set aside.

2. Strain mushroom soaking liquid through a cheese cloth or paper towel lined sieve or with a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, set aside.

3. In a Dutch oven or stock pot, melt olive oil over medium heat, when hot, add onion, cook so it starts to soften.

4. Add carrots, garlic, mushrooms, cover & cook over medium-low heat 10-15 minutes, stirring often as liquid dissipates, veggies soften, onions & garlic become translucent not brown.

5. Add ground turkey, cook uncovered, stirring often, scraping bottom until meat & veggies evenly brown.

6. Add both fresh & canned tomatoes, beans, kale, reserved mushroom liquid to pot, add Tuscan vegetable seasoning blend, bring to a boil uncovered.

7. Reduce heat, add vegetable broth, cover with lid askew, simmer slowly over a gentle, low heat about 60 minutes.

8. As soup simmers, add cold water to a separate pot to a boil, add sea salt, add pasta stirring occasionally until 3 minutes prior to cooking instructions so pasta not fully cooked, but very al dente.

9. Drain pasta well, stir into soup, taste & season with Tuscan vegetable seasoning blend.

10. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle cheese, serve & enjoy!

Helpful Hints:

 Use seasonal winter vegetables for optimal flavor and good value, if bagged, make sure to still wash & dry.

 Slowly cook or sauté vegetables-carrots, 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), mirepoix with celery (French).

 Add Tuscan seasoning blend also at end of the cooking time to retain aroma & flavors.

 Soup too salty? Add a thin sliced potato to absorb salt, slowly simmer 10-15 minutes, remove slices before serving.

 Short ditalini, elbow or quill pasta, blends better in a heftier soup instead of a light broth.

 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.

To download this recipe click here

Eating From The Ground Up-Alana Chernala, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2019

River cottage Veg -Hugh Faernley-Whittingstall, Ten Speed press, 2011.

Cooking Begins-Carla Lalli Music, Published By Clarkson Potter, March 2019

Tried, Tasted & True

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