Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup
Mushroom, Barley, and Sage Soup
Spinach, Parmesan, and Garlic Soup
Butternut Squash Soup with Minced Bacon
Tomato, Bread, and Parmesan Soup
Extra-Smoky New England Clam Chowder
Mussels with Tomato and Saffron
I’ve noticed something about soup in every restaurant in which I’ve cooked over the years: Customers absolutely love it. Not just a particular soup—though everyone has his or her favorite—but soup as a category. As I’ve been cooking professionally for more than twenty years, I have to conclude that this is more than a passing fancy.
I attribute soup’s perennial popularity to the fact that even in today’s wildly experimental restaurants where there’s always a newly discovered ingredient just around the corner, soups exude a warm, homey aura. When a bowl of soup is placed in front of my customers, you can see the stress of the day lift from their shoulders as they settle a little more comfortably in their seats.
I, too, have a fondness for soups, even more as a home cook than as a restaurant chef, or even a restaurant-goer.
Among soup’s most enticing attributes in the home kitchen is that virtually all of them can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a month or more. Rare is the soup that doesn’t lend itself to advance preparation: Cream soups can be made ahead, if you don’t add the cream until after thawing and reheating, and even seafood soups, like chowders, can be revived after a period of suspended animation. (As user-friendly as soups are in this regard, there is one important tip to bear in mind: If you choose to make soups ahead and freeze them, stop the cooking a few minutes early, leaving the vegetables and other key ingredients a bit al dente; this will keep them from breaking down when thawed and reheated.)
Something else I just adore about soups is that even the simplest of them can be elevated into something special with the addition of fresh herbs, a drizzle of excellent extra-virgin or infused olive oil, or a dusting of grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese. Accompaniments such as a crouton spread with Aïoli (garlic mayonnaise,) or topped with melted cheese, can also make soup into more of an event.
Personally, I’m partial to soups that—as that commercial says—eat like a meal. Along these lines, soup can be turned into a bona fide main event with the addition of a generous dose of rice, couscous, millet, or other grains. (for more on this.) Pasta achieves the same end, but stay away from those that are excessively starchy, including pappardelle or other large-cut fresh pasta, for two reasons: (a) A certain amount of their starch ends up in the cooking liquid, which can cloud the soup, and (b) They can soak up more of the soup than you’d like, so you end up serving people bowls of bloated noodles. Small, dried pasta like pastina or orzo are the way to go here.
A number of the “Variations” and “Tomorrow’s Table” tips in this chapter outline specific ways to embellish a soup by adding vegetables or meats, or to extend a soup by simply adding more stock. But don’t limit yourself to my suggestions. Adaptability is an inherent quality of almost every soup on earth. Think about all of those famous soups of Italy and France such as Pasta and Bean Soup; Tomato, Bread, and Parmesan Soup; Twice-Cooked Vegetable Soup; and Lobster Bisque that differ from kitchen to kitchen, but are always recognizable nonetheless. I encourage you to follow that spirit yourself, experimenting with soups by altering them according to your own taste.
Soup’s Magic Wand
Without a doubt, the most useful soup-making tool to arrive on the market in recent years is the immersion blender, which goes by a number of names, such as hand blender or blending wand. You’ve probably seen this lovely little gadget: It’s a handheld stick with a little dome on the end that covers a blending blade. Its first incarnation was as a professional kitchen tool, but affordable home models are readily available today and I urge you to buy one as soon as possible.
When it comes to soups, the usefulness of the immersion blender cannot be overstated. If making a pureed soup, you can puree the ingredients right in the pot, eliminating the need to transfer them to a blender or food processor. No more working in batches! Or, if you want to puree just a portion of the solids to thicken a soup—such as Potato and Leek Soup or Ham Hock and Split Pea Soup—give it a few zaps with an immersion blender and you’re all set.
There’s something else I love about this gadget: I have an intense fear of litigation, and immersion blenders assuage my anxiety over home cooks putting hot liquids in a blender or food processor, which can be dangerous for even professional cooks. Heat can force the lid right off, spraying extremely hot soup all over you (and your walls).
As with all rules, this one has its exceptions. Some soups, such as Butternut Squash Soup with Minced Bacon and Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup benefit from being pureed in a blender or food processor, where the circulation of the liquid and solids helps integrate the flavors better. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know when this is the case. When using a food processor or blender, don’t fill the bowl more than one-third of the way to the top, and remove the lid’s central piece to allow steam to escape. For extra measure, cover the lid with a towel to keep any hot liquid from escaping.
