Try this soup for a nourishing weeknight meal.
It takes inspiration from an Italian minestrone soup, with a tomato-based stock and a wedge of a hard cheese rind.
Yes, that’s right: A chunk of a hard Italian cheese rind is a great trick to boost flavor and depth in your soup stock. It’s also an efficient no-waste use for any dwindling pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino Romano cheese stashed in your fridge.
These pieces are flavor bombs, imparting salty, piquant, umami goodness into your soup. When a hunk is added to the stock, the rind softens and begins to break down, infusing its essence into the broth, deepening its flavor and slightly thickening the soup while it simmers.
In this recipe, sweet and nutty butternut squash balances the tomato acidity of the broth. Hearty farro grains are added for a vegetarian infusion of protein and texture, and nutrient-rich kale leaves dutifully wilt and soften, winding throughout the warm broth.
All together, this soup provides a healthy and comforting respite on a winter day.
When choosing farro for this soup, use semi-pearled farro, which cooks in about 30 minutes and retains some of its nutrients. Whole farro requires overnight soaking and up to one hour to cook. Pearled farro cooks the fastest (15 to 20 minutes) but is the least nutritious.
Farro, Kale and Butternut Squash Soup
Active Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup semi-pearled farro, rinsed
6 cups chicken stock, plus additional stock as necessary
2 cups (1/2-inch cubed) butternut squash
1 (15-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes with juice
1 (2-inch) chunk of rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino Romano cheese
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups coarsely chopped green kale leaves
Finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino Romano cheese for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft without coloring, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the farro and stir to coat.
Add the chicken stock, squash, tomatoes, cheese chunk, bay leaf, thyme, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat, partially cover the pot and simmer until the squash is tender and the farro is cooked, about 30 minutes. (If the soup is too thick, add more stock to your desired consistency.) Taste for seasoning.
Add the kale leaves and stir until the leaves brighten in color and wilt, about 2 minutes. Discard the cheese rind and the bay leaf. Ladle the soup into bowls and pass the grated cheese for sprinkling over the soup.
Lynda Balslev is an award-winning writer, cookbook author and recipe developer based in Northern California. Visit TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.
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