Straight from the Earth

SWEET SUMMER CORN SOUP

Perfecting this recipe required a mother-daughter collaboration. My mom started it off by cutting the kernels off the cobs, simmering the corncobs in the stock, and then scraping the cobs to capture every ounce of delicious corn flavor. Her friend Darryle Pollack taught her the trick of including potatoes and blending part of the soup to thicken it. I added warming spices like paprika and cayenne pepper to complement the sweetness of the summer corn and topped it with charred red bell peppers. Together we created a perfect soup. —MAREA

Serves 8

2 qt/2 L Easy Vegetable Stock (page 76) or low-sodium vegetable broth

6 ears fresh sweet corn

3 tbsp olive oil

2 large yellow onions, medium dice

4 large stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped, or 2 tsp dried thyme

1¹/₂ lb/680 g yellow potatoes (such as Yukon Gold), medium dice

Salt

¹/₂ tsp paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

Big pinch of cayenne pepper

Big pinch of ground coriander

1¹/₂ cups/360 ml plain, unsweetened soymilk

¹/₂ cup/15 g packed chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 red bell pepper for garnishing

Heat the stock in a large pot until it comes to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. While it’s heating, cut off the corn kernels from the cobs (cutting in a large salad bowl helps keep the kernels from flying all over). You should have about 4¹/₂ cups/680 g of kernels. Place the 6 cobs in the stockpot, and simmer them covered, while you prepare the rest of the soup ingredients (for at least 20 minutes).

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Add the celery and thyme and sauté for another 4 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Remove the cobs from the stockpot with tongs, and place them on a plate to cool. Add the sautéed vegetables, potatoes, 1 tsp salt, paprika, ¹/₄ tsp pepper, cayenne, and coriander to the pot and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, when the cooked cobs are cool enough to handle, take a sturdy knife and scrape down the sides of the cobs to collect the remainder of the kernels. This should yield about 1 cup/150 g of kernel bits.

After the soup has cooked for 25 minutes, stir in the soymilk, corn kernels, and corn kernel bits. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove 1 qt/960 ml of the soup and puree it in a blender or food processor until it’s very smooth. Return the puree to the soup pot, and heat until it returns to a simmer, stirring frequently.

While the soup simmers, hold the whole bell pepper with metal tongs over an open flame on the stovetop. Turn it frequently until the skin is charred all the way around, about 5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and let cool. Using a clean dishcloth, rub off the charred skin. Remove the stem and seeds and cut the flesh into a fine dice. Set aside.

Turn off the heat for the soup and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each one with some of the red bell pepper. Serve immediately.