European Peasant-Style Vegetable Soup Model

Name: European Peasant-Style Vegetable Soup Model
Yield: Makes about 3 Quarts (12 First-Course Servings or 8 Main-Course Servings)
Cuisine: Europe
Ingredients: Finely chopped fresh herbs such as mint, tarragon, or parsley; Garlic, minced and then crushed with the flat side of the knife; Sorrel, chopped; 4 confit Pekin duck thighs or 2 confit mullard duck thighs, meat pulled off the bone and coarsely chopped; ½ pound prosciutto end, cut into ½-inch dice; 3 tablespoons olive oil, rendered duck fat, or the fat rendered from the pancetta; ½ pound pancetta, cut into 1-inch strips; Herb butter; Pesto or pistou; Broth or water; 2 cups dried beans, soaked for 4 hours in cold water and drained; Tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped; 1 large carrot, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced crosswise; 2 onions, chopped; 1 turnip, peeled and diced; 1 to 2 cups dried pasta such as macaroni, orecchiette, or ziti; Peas, shelled, or if frozen, thawed; Green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch sections; 1 cup long-grain rice such as basmati or jasmine; Bouquet garni; Kale, stems removed and leaves shredded; Swiss chard, stems cut into cubes and leaves shredded; Spinach, chopped or cut into chiffonade; fresh shell beans such as fava or lima

Preparation info

Makes about
3 Quarts

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Cooking

By James Peterson

Published 2007

About

This is a model for a soup, rather than a replica of something traditional. The list of ingredients is long, but you can use as few as three vegetables with good results.

Ingredients

Meats (choose one)

4 confit Pekin duck thighs or 2 confit mullard duck thighs, meat pulled off the bone and coarsely chopped
½ pound prosciutto end, cut into ½-inch dice</

Europe
Main course
Starter
Soup

Method

Choose one of the meats and cook it in your fat of choice with the slow-cooking vegetables (except the beans, which, if you are using, are added along with the liquid) for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft and shiny. Add the liquid to cover and the dried beans (if using), nestle the bouquet garni in the middle of the pot, and simmer partially covered gently until the vegetables and