A Great Soup for a Winter's Day

It's cold in Berlin. Really cold. And when it's this cold, it's so soothing to have a big pot of something yummy simmering on the stove. That was the idea yesterday when I decided to make vegetable soup.


I missed the Turkish Market on Tuesday (it was too cold to venture out) but found these goodies at the Turkish grocery store around the corner. Lovely and ridiculously inexpensive.

Vegetable Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup each diced onion, celery, and fennel
1 cup chopped leek (white part only)
2 tbsp minced garlic
6 ripe plum tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and diced)
salt and pepper to taste
6 cups fresh vegetable stock (recipe below)
2 large sprigs fresh thyme
4 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup torn basil leaves

Place oil in a pot over low heat. Wilt carrots, onion, celery, fennel, and leek, stirring for 15 minutes. Add garlic during last 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and season with salt and pepper; cook for 3 minutes. Add broth thyme, and 2 tbsp parsley; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the green beans, zucchini, and basil; simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in remaining parsley. Serve and enjoy!


Vegetable Stock

2 onions
2 leeks, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 carrots sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
2 parsnips, sliced
150 g (1 bunch) flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
6 peppercorns
4 sprigs thyme

Heat a large saucepan over high head and add the onions, leeks, and olive oil.

Stir until the onions begin to soften, then add the carrots, celery, parsnips and 3 liters (12 cups) of cold water. Ad the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmering heat. Continue to simmer for 3 hours. Remove from the heat and strain into a large bowl. Using the back of a large spoon, press the vegetables into the strainer to draw out most of the flavor. (from Zest by Michele Cranston)