Fall isn’t one of my favorite seasons as it reminds me, much too often, that winter is coming soon. However, although it’s not my favorite season, I still appreciate the comforts that it brings after a hard working season in gardening and urban homesteading.
One of those comforts is homemade soup. I really enjoy making a good soup. Rich, and nourishing – they’re so simple to make your own.
All it takes is a variety of fall and winter vegetables and most importantly, homemade broth.
Homemade Vegetable Broth – click on image for recipe
Homemade broth is the base that makes an ordinary soup into something worth remembering. Yes, it has many nourishing benefits, but besides all of that, its flavor, rich and deep, enhances and elevates the humblest of soups.
I make my chicken and beef broth with both bones and meat, then allow it to simmer for 12-24 hours. This ensures that both my chicken and beef broth gel and that it leads to the deepest, richest flavor.
I make large batches of homemade broth. I allow the broth to cool, then strain and freeze it to use for a month or so at a time. It’s during this season, that I like a freezer filled in homemade broth.
For my vegetables, during the early Fall, I start to stock up on mini pumpkins, squashes, and root vegetables from my gardens and at the farmers market that I store in my basement for the winter.
Once I have a good supply of nourishing broth and vegetables, my family is able to enjoy soup all season long.
A simple and comforting lentil soup with fall vegetables and guanciale made with nourishing homemade vegetable broth.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbls extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large orange beets, peeled and diced
- 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3 carrots, sliced on the diagonal or in coins
- 1 zucchini, cut in 1/2” slices
- 1 cup lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 tomato, whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbls fresh thyme, remove leaves from stems
- 2 tbls fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup white Basmati rice
- 3 large handfuls, beet top greens (substitute spinach)
- 4 tsp large granule sea salt (kosher), divided
- pepper
- 4-6 pieces thick cut guanciale (sub bacon)
Method:
- In a dutch oven, gently bring 3 tbls of olive oil to heat. Add the onions and 2 tsp salt. Saute until the onions just start to turn transluscent, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the carrots and beets to the onions; then, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and sweat for 10 minutes.
- To the pot, add the zucchini, lentils, vegetable broth, water, whole tomato, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Add the rice, beet top greens, the remaining 2 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until the lentils and rice have cooked through.
- While the soup is cooking for the last 20 minutes, brown the guanciale (Italian cured bacon from the pigs jowl or cheeks) in a skillet or cast iron pan.
- Serve the lentil soup in a large bowl garnished with the browned guanciale.
Other Soups of Interest Made with Nourishing Broth
- A recipe for homemade chili – the real food way
- Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Carrots and Roots Soup
Do you enjoy making homemade broth? Tell me, whats your favorite fall soup made with homemade broth?
Do you substitute broth for the water in this recipe?
Thanks for catching that, Elizabeth. Yes, I used 4 cups of vegetable broth and 3 cups of water.
I’m a little confused. While you mention how you make the Chicken & Beef Broth. I don’t see how you make vegetable broth. Isn’t the Chicken & Beef broth better for you nutritionally?? Can I use the Chicken Stock instead of vegetable?? This recipe sounds wonderful and I want to try this soon!! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Deb, yes, you can definitely use chicken broth. I just happened to have vegetable broth in the freezer that I make with scraps of vegetables. If you look at the broth picture in the post, click on it. It will take you right to my post on how I make vegetable broth. Vegetable broth is great nutritionally as it has a lot of vitamins and I love it because its economical as I make it with all of my leftover vegetable scraps. I don’t like to waste. Chicken and beef broth on the other hand have more minerals as they’re extracted from the bones. I like to make all three but use more chicken and beef broth in the fall and winter. Hope that helped a little!
True comfort food: chicken broth with thinly sliced carrots, celery & farina dumplings garnished with fresh parsley!
I made the chicken broth – it took a while. I made the lentil soup which everyone liked (a nice change from the tomato lentil soup we usually eat). Then I used the chicken fat when making dinner tonight. My daughter asked if I’d used the chicken broth again (no) because it was so flavourful! I’d always thrown away fat from broth before. No more! Thanks.
That’s great to hear, Linda! Thanks for sharing 😀