New Pi Eats

Cheap Eats – Perfect, Simple Italian Soup

18 Feb 2011 4 Comments

by New Pi Eats in Entrees, Soups Tags: cheap eats, easy soup, simple Italian soup, vegetable pasta soup, vegetarian

About a year ago my partner and I were in the snowy hills near Urbino, Italy, visiting a farm he had previously worked on through WWOOF. This time when we arrived the undulating hills were blanketed with wet snow – remember, it’s still February at the moment, despite the gorgeous 50-60 degree weather we had in Iowa yesterday. Man are we lucky this February.

Anyway, Italy. Americans love Italian food, myself included, although our renditions tend to vary a bit from the Italian made by Italians. Experience there teaches you to value something oft overlooked around here: true simplicity.

with Gigia & Carlo in Feb. 2010!

Gigia and Carlo, the wonderful Italians we stayed with, made something delicious out of thin air. Let me tell you the ingredients: one onion, two small potatoes, some tiny bits of broccoli and cauliflower leftover from a previous meal, a handful of small pasta, water, and some smoked cheese.

Now in Italy that works – really, it does. Does it sound like not much? Because the ingredients laid out looked like not much. But somehow, somehow in that beautiful world of unpretentious simplicity, it made a meal that not only fed but satiated four hungry people.

At the moment I’m not in Italy, and I’m not Italian, so I had a feeling it wouldn’t work out as beautifully. Considering this, I made some additions, and we loved it – the sick ones and particularly the well ones too.

If your pantry is well-stocked, this is perfect week-night food. It’ll be done in under an hour, inactive time included, takes only one pot, and will last for another lunch or two. Ideal eats, in my book.

I used stelline – little star shaped organic pasta from Bionaturae, my favorite pasta brand, which conveniently is on sale right now through March 2. I take the opportunity of Co-op sales to stock our pantry. If you get twelve of the Bionaturae pastas that are all the same price (we get a variety), you’ll get an additional 5% case discount on top of the sale price (this goes for buying cases of anything), and you’ll never be without a whole, relatively quick dinner option.

Vegetable & Stelline Soup

Chop the carrots, onion, and celery (mirepoix, as in the Shepherd’s Pie), heat a couple generous tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot, and start sautéing. Finish chopping your leeks and as the vegetables just start to soften, throw them in. Stir occasionally and cook them a little more, then add in the potatoes and any other root vegetables, a couple bay leaves, and lots of water. The water will both evaporate and be soaked up by the pasta, so start with a lot – you’re basically making a really good vegetable stock – season it well with pepper and some salt, which you’ll want to adjust up later. If your stock disappears, feel free to extend it with more water.

Simmer for about half an hour, taste and re-season, adding a hint of nutmeg and other herbs if you’d like, though I wanted to keep mine simple. Add in about half a pound of pasta, stir, and boil slowly for about five minutes. The starch from the pasta (and potatoes) will give body to the stock. Ladle into bowls, grind a little pepper on top, and generously grate in hard cheese. Enjoy!