Pureed Vegetable Soup Recipes

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion. Season with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add vegetable, broth, and enough water (4 to 5 cups) to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and simmer until vegetable is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Working in batches, puree brothand vegetables in a blender untilsmooth, transferring to a clean potas you work. To prevent spattering, fill blender only halfway, and allow heat to escape: Remove cap from hole in lid, and cover lid firmly with a dish towel. Adjust soups consistency with a little water if necessary. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

Steps:

• Sweat aromatics Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic (if using), stirring constantly, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Add base vegetables and stock Add potato, broccoli, and carrots along with enough stock (or water) to just cover. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add spinach and continue cooking until vegetables can easily be mashed with the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes more.
• Puree Reserve 1 cup liquid for thinning soup. Puree the rest of the contents in a blender, food processor, or food mill, working in batches as necessary (do not fill blender or processor more than halfway, and cover the lid with a kitchen towel while machine is running).
• Finish soup Return puree to clean pot, and set over low heat; whisk in cream (or buttermilk), if using, and add enough reserved liquid to thin soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or let cool completely, then refrigerate in a covered container. Reheat over moderate heat, just to warm through, thinning with more liquid as necessary.
• FOLLOW THE BASIC RECIPE, adding 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander when sweating the aromatics and using 1 pound cauliflower (1 head), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces and the same amount of potato for the base vegetables. Proceed with the recipe to simmer and puree. Serves 6.
• TO MAKE THE SOUP, FOLLOW basic recipe to sweat the aromatics, then add 1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes or 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled (page 381), as the base vegetable, and 1 1/2 cups stock or water. Proceed with recipe, simmering tomatoes 10 minutes (they should be soft and beginning to fall apart). Puree and finish with heavy cream, if desired. (serves 4)
• FOLLOW THE BASIC RECIPE, sweating 1 piece (1 inch) fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced, along with the onion and 1 small clove garlic. Then add 1 1/2 pounds carrots (8 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, as the base vegetable, and 4 cups water. Proceed with recipe to simmer and puree. Do not finish with cream or buttermilk. (serves 4)
• FOLLOW THE BASIC RECIPE, sweating 3 medium leeks, white and pale-green parts only cut into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons (2 1/4 cups) and washed well (page 32), for aromatics, then adding 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (2 large), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (4 cups), for the base vegetable, and 3 1/2 cups stock or water. Proceed with recipe, simmering for about 15 minutes, then remove from heat. Puree, then add 3/4 cup each heavy cream and buttermilk. Thin with water or stock to reach desired consistency. Cool soup completely before refrigerating in an airtight container, up to 3 days; thin with stock or water as necessary before serving. (serves 6)
• FOLLOW THE BASIC RECIPE, omitting garlic and sweating 1 Bosc pear, peeled, cored, and quartered, along with the onion. Then add stock or water and use 1 1/4 pounds winter squash (butternut, acorn, or kabocha), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks, for the base vegetable, and proceed with recipe to simmer until tender and puree. Finish with 1/2 cup buttermilk, if desired. (serves 4 to 6)
• FOLLOW THE BASIC RECIPE to sweat the aromatics, then add 3 1/2 cups stock or water and bring to a boil. For the base vegetables, add 2 pounds fresh green peas, shelled (2 cups), and return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until bright green and tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Then stir in 1 pound (2 bunches) fresh flat-leaf spinach (in batches if necessary, stirring until each is wilted) and cook until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Puree and finish, thinning with water as desired, then season with 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice along with salt and pepper. (serves 4)

Steps:

• In a large soup pot put the onions and oil and stir-fry over medium-high heat just to soften the onion a bit (do not brown the onion).
• After about four minutes, add the garlic and stir to blend.
• After two minutes add the cauliflower, potatoes and carrots.
• Add water and black pepper. Add salt to taste or 3-4 bouillon cubes (chicken or vegetable). I usually add the bouillon cubes.
• Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer for up to an hour.
• Let the soup cool for about 20 minutes, then puree.
• Thin the soup as needed with broth, milk or cream. Adjust seasonings.
• Variations: 1. When making the cauliflower soup, I usually add about 1 cup grated cheese after pureeing the soup. 2. To make zucchini soup, replace the cauliflower with zucchini and add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme. 3. To make asparagus soup, replace the cauliflower with 2 bunches of fresh chopped asparagus and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme. 4. To make spinach soup, replace the cauliflower with 1 pound spinach, and reduce the water. The spinach flavor was a little strong for me, so I added extra cream. 5. To make bean soup, replace the cauliflower with two 15 oz. cans of cannellini beans and add 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning blend. Cannellini beans are sometimes called white kidney beans and are often used in Italian cooking. Great northern beans or navy beans would also probably work well. 6. You can replace the cauliflower with broccoli, but I haven't enjoyed the soup when making it this way, as the soup tasted a little bit bitter. I have successfully made the soup using half broccoli and half cauliflower as the dominant vegetable 7. To make chickpea soup, replace the cauliflower with two 15 oz. cans of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) and add 1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning blend. When making this soup with beans or chickpeas, I sometimes also add 2 celery ribs if I happen to have them on hand. I usually peel the back of the celery rib to remove the tough stringy part, but that probably isn't necessary. 8. To make the soup with cabbage, use 1-2 onions, 1-2 leeks (optional), 2 celery ribs, 1/3 lb. carrots, 2 minced garlic cloves, 5 potatoes, 1/3 of a cabbage and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. 9 Finally, one of my favorites is to make the soup with the cabbage (#8), but I usually reduce the potatoes to 2-3. Do not puree the soup this time. Add 1/4-1/2 cup tomato sauce to the broth and 1 diced tomato (optional). Add one packed cup spinach or kale and one 15 oz. can chickpeas or white beans the last 2-3 minutes. After ladling soup into a bowl, add 2 teaspoons of pesto on top of each bowl for garnish, which adds an excellent fresh flavor to the soup.

Steps:

• Chop all the vegetables into small pieces for easier, faster boiling.
• Add the chicken stock and any herbs you want to use until soft.
• Let the vegetables cool.
• Add in batches to a blender with 1 big spoonful of sour cream.
• Put soup back into pot and reheat.
• I've also added some dried bread sticks or croutons on top!
• This is just an idea, you can add or subtract ingredients to your tasting.
• It makes a lot, but is good the next day!
• Enjoy!