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Boston Globe
18-03-2025
- Lifestyle
- Boston Globe
Italian Wedding Soup is a perfect marriage of flavors
And now here's our final offering: Italian Wedding Soup, an old Neapolitan dish that has nothing to do with weddings. The traditional name, minestra maritata, which means 'married soup' — because the ingredients go well together — eventually became known as wedding soup. Advertisement Where once the pot simmered with a meaty bone and wild greens harvested from the surrounding countryside, modern bowls are filled with meatballs, greens, and tiny pasta. The original rural recipe, made by folks who lived off the land, gets its flavor from the bone in the pot, probably pork, and perhaps scraps of root vegetables. Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up Sign up for the Winter Soup Club newsletter at Ryan Huddle Today, we're likely to grab a box of chicken broth from the supermarket shelf. Buy the best brand you can find because it really determines the quality of what's in your bowl. If you roast your own chicken, or buy a rotisserie bird, scrape up the bits and juices at the bottom of the pan or container into a bowl, dilute with an equal amount of water, and use that as your broth, or to enrich store-bought stock. Collect it in the freezer and when you have enough, make soup with all homemade stock. Grandmas around the world will be proud of you. Some Italian Americans call this Escarole Soup because they add so many greens. Escarole is slightly bitter (in the most appealing way), as is chicory, another favorite green. A sweeter element in the pot would be Swiss chard or spinach. Meatballs here are mixed with ground turkey — you can use ground chicken, beef, or pork — Parmesan cheese, an egg, and enough fresh breadcrumbs (made from sandwich bread or a dinner roll) to bind them. Roll small meatballs with wet hands and refrigerate them on a rimmed baking sheet for half an hour, or overnight, until they firm up. Advertisement Cook everything in layers. Drop the meatballs into boiling broth and after a few minutes, add tiny pasta. That might be rice-shaped orzo, small tubes called ditalini, the tiny dots of acini de pepe, or fetching miniature bow ties labeled farfalline. The pasta start will give the soup body. When it's almost tender, add the greens and simmer just until they collapse. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with more Parmesan for sprinkling. There's something fun about a bowl of broth with delicious little meatballs. The greens give you crunch, and Parmesan adds a nutty umami bite. The Winter Soup Club team is signing off for now. We hope you found new ideas for nightly dinners in the last weeks. Take the recipes you like and roll them into your repertoire. Or use parts of recipes, or even just a technique. In New England, soup isn't a winter-only activity. Our pot is simmering for three seasons. Yes, we're happy when it finally thaws and nights are no longer chilly, but we hang up our ladle with great reluctance. Hot soup is inviting, it's nourishing, nurturing, calming. Sip by sip it slows you down. Thank you for coming along to see what's in our pot. ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP | BY SHERYL JULIAN SERVINGS: 6 SOUP INGREDIENTS 2 slices firm white bread or 1 small dinner roll, torn into ½-inch pieces or 1 cup fresh (not dried) white breadcrumbs ½ cup milk 1 egg 1 pound ground meat turkey (dark meat, if available) Advertisement 1 clove garlic, grated 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley ½ cup tiny pasta such as orzo (rice-shaped), ditalini (small tubes), acini de pepe (tiny rounds), farfalline (small bow ties) 2 quarts chicken stock or broth 4 cups (packed) escarole, chicory, Swiss chard, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces, or baby spinach Extra grated Parmesan (for serving) SOUP INSTRUCTIONS 1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Have on hand a bowl of cold water. 2. In a bowl large enough to hold most of the ingredients, combine the bread or roll or breadcrumbs and milk. With your hands, work the mixture to crush the pieces until they are all wet. Set aside for 10 minutes. 3. Add the egg, turkey, garlic, salt, pepper, ½ cup Parmesan, and parsley. With your hands, work the mixture until thoroughly blended. 4. Wet your hands in the bowl of water. Use a soup spoon to scoop out mounds of the meatball mixture and roll them in your palms to make 1-inch balls. The mixture is soft. If it's too soft to roll, add more breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons at a time; dried are OK here. Set the balls on the baking sheet. Continue shaping until the mixture is used. You should have about 34 balls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight. 5. Pour the chicken stock or broth into a soup pot. Bring to a boil. Carefully add the meatballs to the hot liquid. Let the liquid return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Advertisement 6. Add the pasta to the pot and cook, stirring once or twice, for 8 minutes, or until the pasta is almost tender. 7. Add the escarole, chicory, Swiss chard, or baby spinach to the pot. Submerge it with the back of a ladle. Cook for 2 minutes, uncovered, or until the greens are wilted, the pasta is tender, and the meatballs are cooked through. (Total simmering time is 13 minutes.) Taste the soup for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. 8. Ladle the broth, meatballs, and greens into bowls. Serve with grated Parmesan and crusty bread. RECIPE TIPS Try to use any ground meat within a day of buying it, since it deteriorates quickly. In the case of ground meat, the sell-by date is usually accurate. Add more greens to the pot (perhaps another 2 cups chopped). When the soup is done, set on the cover and let the pot sit for 10 minutes to plump the pasta. Instead of crusty bread, you can also serve bowls with thick slices of toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil and flaky salt. Sheryl Julian can be reached at
Boston Globe
25-02-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Lemon artichoke soup: A cure for the cold
Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up Once the mixture meets the heat, the sizzle is immediate. The heat and butter pull out even more of their essence, releasing scents both fragrant and soft. I stir, watching as the paste darkens slightly, intensifies, and sets the layered base of the soup in motion. Advertisement Sign up for the Winter Soup Club newsletter at Ryan Huddle I always seem to have brown rice and a can of artichokes tucked away somewhere in the cabinet, a lemon or two piled in the citrus bowl on the counter, and a tub of miso waiting in the fridge. Because of that, after the vegetables saute, this soup almost makes itself. I add a handful of the uncooked brown rice — it's better than pre-cooked because it gives me something to toast and turn nutty. Then, later, it absorbs flavors from the broth instead of simply swimming about, bland. Once I add the broth, the toasted rice is ready to take on new form, turning into something plump and substantial. But first, miso is added in — it's the magic hack. Its umami depth is more complex than mere salt, rounding everything out, and tricking my mouth into believing the soup's been simmering for hours instead of minutes. (More to come on miso in next week's Advertisement Scan this code to sign up for Winter Soup Club. Globe staff After it simmers, and before I slurp away, I add a quick shower of fresh parsley for brightness, plus some puckery lemon juice. And I don't forget the lemon's zest, arguably more impactful than the juice itself. Versions of this soup have always nourished me. The first bowl is packed with flavor, but the second — after a night in the fridge — is even better. The flavors get time to settle and intertwine, and the rice manages to absorb even more broth, turning the soup into more of a stew. Sometimes I add spinach or frozen peas, or stir in beaten eggs for something akin to LEMON-ARTICHOKE SOUP WITH MISO & GINGER Serves 6-8 SOUP INGREDIENTS 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks 3 celery stalks, cut into chunks 1 4-inch piece of fresh ginger (2 ounces/60 grams), peeled and cut into chunks 6 cloves garlic, peeled 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional, for color) 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste 1 cup uncooked long grain rice (preferably brown), rinsed 1 tablespoon white miso paste 8 cups vegetable broth 1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts in brine (not marinade), drained and roughly chopped Zest and juice of 1 large lemon, or more to taste Advertisement 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped SOUP INSTRUCTIONS 1. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the onion, carrots, celery, ginger, garlic, and turmeric, if using. Puree on high until the vegetables turn to paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. 2. In a large pot, heat the butter or oil over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and begins to bubble, add the vegetable puree and a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and darken slightly, and most of the liquid has evaporated. 3. Add the rice and toast, tossing frequently, until brown bits begin to accumulate on the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes. Add the miso paste, breaking it up into the rice grains to incorporate. Add the broth, scraping off the bits on the bottom of the pan, then the artichokes. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the soup continue to cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, or according to instructions on the rice package, until the rice is cooked through. 4. Remove the lid and stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste and adjust, adding more salt and pepper and lemon juice as desired. Jerrelle Guy is the author of a James Beard Award-nominated cookbook, and the creator of , a newsletter exploring the intersection of cooking and spirituality. Her forthcoming cookbook, 'We Fancy: Weeknight Dinner Dressed Up,' reimagines the weeknight meal as an opportunity for creativity, gratitude, and mind-body connection. Advertisement Did you make this soup? Send us an e-mail at to let us know how it turned out.
Boston Globe
17-02-2025
- Lifestyle
- Boston Globe
Turkish red lentil soup: delicate and delicious
There are so many reasons to make it part of your kitchen repertoire. Red lentils cook down into a puree in just half an hour, the soup is impossible to harm when you go to reheat it, the mixture has a little heft from chickpeas and rice or bulgur, and it's barely spicy (at least my version isn't). At the table, top your bowl with fresh mint, crushed red pepper, and a jolt of lemon juice, a winning, zesty finish. Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up Red lentils are the jewels of the lentil family. For soup, the tiny, split, coral-colored legumes are simmered in water (though some cooks use meat or poultry stock) with a handful of root vegetables. It's lighter, less rich, and less dense than the lentil soup you may already know. Advertisement If you prepare soup with small brown lentils, you may be using some version of a recipe in the ' Red lentils are far more delicate. A pot of soup, seasoned with crushed red pepper and a little cumin and paprika, has a pleasing array of flavors, none so forward it takes over. Made with water, which is all you need, the soup is vegan. The spices you add to the pot determines its color. Sprinkle something red into the pot – paprika or tomatoes, for instance – to get a coral color. The puree can also be a yellowish hue when turmeric is in the mix. Advertisement Scan this code to sign up for Winter Soup Club, or visit Globe staff The Middle Eastern version of the soup, Shorbat Adas, made in Lebanon, Syria, and neighboring countries, is often eaten to break the fast during Ramadan, the holy Muslim South Indian cooks turn red lentils into Masoor Dal, a spicy puree served with rice. At the Turkish restaurant, My Turkish red lentil soup is pink from paprika, though there's only a tablespoon in it, along with a tablespoon of ground cumin. It simmers with a chopped jalapeno, softened in olive oil with onion and celery at the start of cooking. But the pot is only mildly spicy because the red lentils absorb the heat. I add chickpeas and a little long-grain white rice (other cooks add bulgur), the first for texture because chickpeas don't fall apart in the pot, the second to give the red lentils some body. The plain soup is nourishing and delicious. The lemon-mint-pepper topping makes it soar, especially with Turkish-grown Still need to sign up for the Winter Soup Club? Go to to receive upcoming installments. Ryan Huddle Still need to sign up for the Winter Soup Club? Go to to receive upcoming installments. TURKISH RED LENTIL SOUP SERVINGS: 6 INGREDIENTS 2 tablespoons olive oil Advertisement 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped 1 jalapeno or other chile pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon Maras pepper or crushed red pepper, or more to taste 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained 2 cups red lentils 1/4 cup long-grain white rice 1 1/2 quarts water, or more if needed Extra Maras pepper or crushed red pepper (for sprinkling) 1 bunch fresh mint, leaves chopped (for garnish) 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges (for serving) INSTRUCTIONS 1. In a soup pot over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil. When it is hot, add the onion, celery, and jalapeno or chile pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. 2. Add the cumin, paprika, and Maras or crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 3. Add the chickpeas, lentils, and rice. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 4. Pour in the water, turn up the heat, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the red lentils are almost pureed. If the soup seems too thick during cooking, stir in more water, 1/4 cup at a time. The consistency should be like thick cream. 5. Taste the soup for seasoning and add more salt, if you like. 6. Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with Maras pepper or crushed red pepper and mint. Serve with lemon. Note: The soup tastes better the following day but will solidify in the fridge. Use the edge of a large kitchen spoon to cut the block into large pieces. Transfer the mixture to a soup pot. Add about 2 tablespoons of water and heat over medium heat, stirring often, and adding more water a few spoons at a time, until the soup is a loose puree. When the soup comes to a boil, let it simmer over very low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to heat through. Advertisement RELATED RECIPES This Jennifer Abadi's Syrian Singapore cook Swasthi Shreekanth, offers this recipe for RECIPE VARIATIONS Add more chickpeas (an extra can) to make a chunkier soup. Garnish bowls with toasted French bread croutons, as cooks do at Halva Mediterranean Grill in Watertown. Toast small squares of pita bread and add as a garnish. Use chicken or vegetable stock in place of water for a more robust taste. Did you make this soup? Send us an e-mail at to let us know how it turned out. In this week's newsletter: Chef, author, and photographer — and special guest writer of the Winter Soup Club newsletter! — shares her recipe for lemon artichoke miso & ginger soup. Sheryl Julian can be reached at
Boston Globe
14-02-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Love, slow zones, and Dunkin' iced coffee: Read our Boston-inspired Valentine's Day cards
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