As fall is right around the corner, it simply reminds me of pumpkins, halloween and warm stews. If you have some freshly harvested vegetables, making soups and stews is a great way to use up your harvest. Making a big batch of soup is great because then you can freeze it and then thaw it out when you are ready to eat it.
Best soups and stews for fall:
Pumpkin soup:
This soup screams fall, it is thick and really filling and the pumpkin taste is absolutely delicious!
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large potato
- 1 onion
- 4.5 cups of chicken broth
- 15.5 oz of pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp of cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg
- ½ pt of heavy cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat. Then you want to add potato and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, which should take about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Then stir in the pumpkin puree.
- Using an immersion blender, purée mixture until smooth. Add in salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and heat thoroughly.
Vegetable and beef stew:
Filled with lots of flavor, this soup will definitely be a repeat every year.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pounds of steak
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 2 large carrots
- 2 celery ribs
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large russet potato
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions:
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Season steak with salt and pepper. In small batches, add the steak to the stockpot and cook, until evenly browned, about 6-8 minutes, then set aside.
- Add diced onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes.
- Add diced garlic and mushrooms, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in flour and tomato paste until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the stockpot.
- Stir in beef stock, thyme, bay leaves and steak. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until beef is very tender, about 30 minutes.
- Stir in cut potato; simmer until potatoes are just tender and the stew has thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Vegetable barley soup:
If you are looking for a vegan/ vegetarian soup option this is perfect for you. Even non-vegans will love this soup!
Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Mushrooms
- Celery
- Potato
- Pearl barley
- Water
- Vegetable stock powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley
Directions:
- Heat oil in a dutch oven or large cooking pot, then add onions, garlic and carrots and cook until tender. Then add in mushrooms, celery and potatoes and saute for about 3 minutes.
- Add barley and add about 5-6 cups of water. Season the soup with vegetable stock powder, salt and pepper and bring it to a boil. Stir it occasionally to prevent the barley from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer for 1 hour until the barley is soft and you should see the barley expand and tripled in size. The barley should be soft but still chewy.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
- Then it is ready to serve. Finish it off by garnishing it with parsley.
