50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker - Lynn Alley [19]
Salt
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (see Note)
In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer.
Transfer the mixture to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the beans, water, carrots, celery, Parmesan rinds, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours, or until the beans are tender.
About 1 hour before serving, stir in the ditalini and add the salt to taste. Cook for about 1 hour, or until the ditalini is cooked al dente.
Ladle your soup into bowls and serve each with a dusting of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of parsley.
Note: A typical Italian finish for a soup is to drizzle fruity olive oil over the top of each serving at the table. You could do that instead of or in addition to the parsley and Parmesan.
Soupe au Pistou
Serves 4 to 6
This soup contains all the delicious flavors commonly found in the summer dishes of southern France and Italy: basil, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, and zucchini. The vegetables give it a hearty base, and the pistou—a classic finish for Provençal dishes (akin to Italian pesto)—gives a burst of flavor that gets swirled in just before serving. Best recommendation of all? Make this soup with vegetables straight from your summer garden.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Parmesan cheese rind (optional)
6 cups water
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 cup Mediterranean-style olives, halved
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 to 2 sprigs fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pistou
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 large cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil
Salt
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Transfer the onion to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the eggplant, Parmesan rind, and water. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the eggplant is quite tender.
Add the zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, olives, thyme, and basil and cook for 1 hour longer, or until the vegetables are soft.
Remove the Parmesan rind and the sprigs of thyme and basil from the soup, then add the salt and pepper to taste.
To make the pistou, place the basil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic in the work bowl of a food processor and let it run until the basil and garlic are finely chopped. Turn off the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then turn the machine back on, and drizzle the olive oil slowly through the feed tube, letting it run until smooth. Add the salt to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls. To serve, drizzle some of the pistou over the top of each bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Real Cream of Tomato Soup
Serves 4 to 6
Practically every person I know ate Campbell’s Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches when they were a kid. Even Oprah. You might think of this recipe as cream of tomato soup gone uptown. It is simple and delicious, especially when made with tomatoes straight from your garden. For a little more kick, add some chile flakes.
2 to 3 pounds tomatoes (homegrown, if possible), quartered
½ medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic
1 cup cream
Salt
Chile flakes (optional)
4 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (see here)
Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a 7-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours, until the tomatoes are soft and falling apart.
Using a handheld immersion blender, puree the mixture until the desired texture is achieved. Stir in the cream and add the salt to taste. If needed, you can add some water, but this will most likely not be necessary. Add the chile flakes to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with the basil.
Red Posole
Serves 4 to 6
Posole (or pozole)