Tis the season for frigid temperatures and family gatherings. If you’ve hosted meals for friends and family during the holiday season, then you know nothing feeds the masses like homemade soup.
Not only is soup affordable, nutritious and tasty, it’s also very simple to make. What’s more, nearly all soup recipes can be prepared in advance, so you aren’t left chained to the stove in the kitchen while the rest of family is partying in the living room.
The following are some of my family’s favorite winter soups:
SIMPLE RAVIOLI SOUP
Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
2 stalks diced celery
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup diced zucchini
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained
4 cups chicken broth
1 (9 to 12 ounces) small cheese ravioli, cooked
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh chopped basil
Directions:
In a large pot, brown sausage with celery and onion. Season with garlic salt, basil and oregano. Cook until meat is crumbly and no longer pink. Add olive oil and saute zucchini for a minute or two. Add broth and canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer for a few minutes. Add ravioli. Place soup in bowls and top with Parmesan cheese and basil before serving.
GRANDMA’S CHICKEN AND PASTA SOUP
Ingredients:
4 pound chicken
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon salad oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
2 quarts water
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1/2 pound vermicelli, broken into halves
Directions:
Remove skin from chicken. Season chicken with salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
In a large pot, heat oil; add garlic and chicken and brown chicken on all sides. Add onion; cook until transparent. Add tomato sauce and water, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove bones from chicken and chop chicken meat. Return chicken to pot.
Add celery, carrots, and potatoes; cook for 10 more minutes.
Add the 1 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper, and vermicelli; cook for another 10 minutes or until done.
Makes 12 servings.
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