This week’s Fusion of Food and Friends recipe almost didn’t happen.  The only reason it did happen was because it was easy enough to customize for time and ingredients. To be honest, I was so tempted to leave the soup whole, no puree.  The look of the chunky potatoes and other vegetables was too appealing.

Just in case I failed to “launch”, Peggy decided to make this soup and put up a fabulous recap of her version. Check it out PANTRY REVISITED.

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A recipe by Auntie Mary Ferreira is found on page 24 of Carla Vavala’s book

Carla Vavala.

Serves 6 – 8

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  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped (I used 1/2)
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 3 tsp. minced)
  • 2 carrots, peel and chopped (I used 4 since I didn’t add the sweet potato)
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped (I used 4 because we enjoy celery)
  • 2 TBS fresh celery leaves, chopped (used the leaves that were on the 4 stalks)
  • 2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
  • 3 medium white potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used a bag of gourmet red potatoes, quartered.)
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (see above about the carrots)
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube
  • salt and pepper to taste

The following directions are from the book. I customized the recipe by ingredients as indicated in parentheses above.  The only change I made to the directions was to keep the pot at a medium boil for 50 minutes, uncovered. This cooked the vegetables just in time for dinner.  I added 6 cups of water which is why I left the pot uncovered so as to reduce the liquid.

Carla’s Auntie Mary Ferreira’s directions:

In a large pot add olive oil, onions, garlic and cook until fragrant and onions are transparent.  *You may want to add minced garlic when the onions turn transparent otherwise it will over cook and taste bitter.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cover with water (4 – 5 cups), about an inch above the vegetables.  Cook at a simmer to low boil for 1 1/2 hours until vegetables are tender.  Remove from heat and puree with a hand blender (immersion blender) or in a food processor.

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This soup was thick and very flavorful.  It was our vegetables and starch all in one dish.

We all had 2 servings (I might have had 3 but I’m not going to tell! Embarrassed smile).

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Next week:  Asian Salad.  Edamame, water chestnuts, Japanese noodles…I can’t wait!

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