Giada's "House" Soup

With fall comes a craving for soup.  The warm spoon takes an edge off of the thought of the coming cool weather.  Root vegetables match the colors of the coming leaves and the often healthy ingredients

seem medicinal against some of the poorer eating habits of August or the rest of the previous summer for that matter.  Giada's, like seemingly all the great soups, is simple in its own way, but includes a variety of vegetable and protein to create a complex dish.  When looking through a soup recipe, I look for type of bean and type of meat to see if I think it will be popular.  If these two main ingredients are good, and the stock is water and chicken, then all the rest of the ingredients should melt away and turn into supporting flavor, which is exactly the perfect description for this simple Italian recipe.  The supporting cast here are what give the soup complexity and Italian earthiness: 1 leek, finely chopped, a

Leek

fennel bulb, also finely chopped, a dash of pepper flakes (adjusted according to audience), a can of diced tomatoes, carrots, turkey kielbasa, a small pile of kale and, if chosen, a parmesan cheese rind.

Fennel Bulb

The bulk of the soup, then, becomes chunky spoons-ful of beans, kielbasa and carrots; but the essence of the soup is extremely rich in taste and nutrients.  Leeks are a smoother, more absorbent alternative to straight onion, and fennel is one of the more unique aromatic (anise) cooking ingredients that exist.  Red pepper flakes add a subtle flash of heat.  The kale, so crisp and hard going on the top of the soup,

quickly collapses and adds not only the green contrast, but is considered a superfood because of its nutritional value.  I imagine that this soup is called "house" for a few reasons.  One would be that it is a reliable and hopefully popular family style soup; the other is that, because it is a soup, ingredients can easily be tinkered with depending on taste and literally what's on hand.  If you didn't have

standard white beans, really any bean would do and quantity easy to adjust.  If you didn't want turkey kielbasa, ham, sausage, pork could do.  No kale? Add some other leafy green at the end.  All can be spontaneously re-arranged as long as there is the stock, carrots, and some form of chopped tomatoes.  Cut into large chunks a baguette, smother in olive oil, dash with garlic, bake to brown, and you easily have home-made croutons to dip over the top.