Soup/Stew

More like fall-in-love-with soup.

One rainy day I called my mom from the road. I was getting a cold and I really wanted soup for supper. She said she didn’t know what she had on hand, but she’d come up with something. This was it. (And you don’t have to be sick to enjoy it.)

Food Network is located at Chelsea Market, in Manhattan. The Lobster Place is a great seafood shop within this huge market. I made up this meal one night during a run of taping for 30-Minute Meals. I stopped into the market and took home pure white scrod, some tiny Manila clams, and a little pack of saffron powder as my inspiration. It was so delish that John and I ate it three nights in ten, sharing it with family and friends two of those evenings as the simplest, tastiest way we could think to entertain a crowd. Whether you’re feeding one or some, make a whole pot of this stoup (thicker than soup, thinner than stew), as the leftovers get even better!

Pancetta gives the soup its deep flavor. It is rolled cured pork that is similar to bacon, but not smoked. It is widely available at the deli counter in larger supermarkets or small Italian import shops.

This stoup is a one-pot Swedish meatballs and egg noodle supper, but soupier!

When it comes to this one-pot wonder, even Campbell’s never made it this good! Use a large, deep-sided skillet or medium soup pot for this recipe.

The restaurant La Tupina in Bordeaux, France, serves a soup that’s slow cooked for four hours. The last few delicious spoonfuls are combined with red wine and swallowed back. These are my kind of people! This is an adaptation my way, minus three hours and thirty minutes. This peasant can’t wait!

Here’s another example of “stoup”; a meal in a bowl that’s thicker than soup, thinner than stew.