I’ve got soup on the brain. I know, the weather is still warm and muggy, but the calendar has flipped to November, it’s getting darker earlier, and there is a crazy amount of inspiring ingredients emerging from local farms. This time of year yields incredible produce, and one of the easiest ways to enjoy it is in a yummy bowl of homemade soup with ingredients from the farmers market.
Here are five simple and delicious soup ideas using regional raw materials:
1. Pasta e fagioli (pictured). This thrifty Italian peasant soup is made with tiny pasta and red beans. Ponchatoula farmer Eric Morrow is selling fresh red beans right now that cook beautifully in soup, and local pasta shop D’Agostino’s has tiny birdseye pasta that pairs perfectly.
2. Corn and poblano pepper. You can find fresh corn at the market from a couple of farmers, as well as poblano peppers and big beefy tomatoes. Make chicken stock from a fresh market bird, and combine it with sautéed onions and celery, roasted corn, roasted poblanos, diced tomatoes and bits of cooked chicken. Top with crumbled chevre or ricotta salata (also available at the market), chopped cilantro and a squirt of fresh lime.
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3. Shrimp and corn. Market vendor Lance Nacio of Anna Marie Seafood has preservative-free shrimp that are frozen on his shrimp boat. Pick up fresh corn, tomatoes and local milk or cream to make one of south Louisiana’s favorite soups.
4. Cream of shiitake mushroom. Greenwell Springs Produce vendor David Spiess was back this past Thursday at the mid-week market at Pennington with fresh shiitake mushrooms. Sauté them with onions and garlic, combine with beef stock and cream, and top with fresh scallions.
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5. Summer and winter squash soup. This is what I love about mid-fall. Our mild climate allows for a final crop of summer produce at the same time that winter crops are in play. Pick up butternut and other varieties of hard-skin squash at the market, as well as yellow summer squash and zucchini. Bake and puree the winter squash, and combine with chicken stock as your base. Add lightly sautéed yellow squash and zucchini and fresh herbs or chopped scallions for color and textural variation.
Enjoy!
Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and author of Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey, a romp through eight of Louisiana’s most emblematic foods. Reach her at hungryforlouisiana.com.