Pesto Pasta Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Pesto Pasta Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This super easy soup depends on having a jar of pesto sauce in the refrigerator.  It is based on an Italian soup, but is a distant relative.

You want the pasta in this soup to be mushy not al dente.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth

-32 ounces water

-2 cup washed and sliced celery

-2 cups rotini pasta

-3 – 4 tablespoons pesto sauce

Steps:

1-Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes in a soup pot.

2-Add chicken broth, water, celery, and pasta to the soup pot.

3-Bring soup to a boil and let it boil for 30 minutes.

4-Stir in pesto sauce.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Prosciutto-Pasta Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Prosciutto-Pasta Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This soup is like an unassembled wonton soup when you have no wonton wrappers.  Pasta takes the place of wonton wrappers in this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1 head chopped cabbage (core by chopping off the four sides and then the top.  Throw away the core.)

-1 cup peeled and sliced carrots

-1/4 cup chopped prosciutto

-1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth

-32 ounces water

-1 cup rotini pasta

Steps:

1-Sauté onions, garlic, cabbage, and carrots in olive oil for 10 minutes in a soup pot.

2-Add prosciutto, chicken broth, water, and pasta to the soup pot.

3-Bring the soup to a boil and let boil for 45 minutes.

You can make this soup spicy with Thai Sriracha Sauce, which is made in California despite its name.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Great Photo of Fort Boyard in Charentes-Maritime, France

Laurent Paget Photographer

Chickpea-Sweet Pepper Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Chickpea-Vegetable Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This soup is really not hummus soup, because of the vegetables and tomato paste that I add to it.  It is full of iron and Vitamin C.  I jokingly tell my family that my cheeks are rosy from eating peppers.

You will need a crockpot and an immersion blender to make this soup.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 cup dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

-8 cups water to soak beans overnight

-8 cups water to cook beans + more water as needed

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large peeled and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-3 seeded and chopped sweet peppers (red, yellow, and green)

-1 tablespoon tomato paste

-1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth

Steps:

1-Soak dry chickpeas overnight in 8 cups water.  Drain and rinse chickpeas the next day and set aside.

2-Sauté onions, garlic, and peppers for 10 minutes in a soup pot.

3-Add chickpeas, water, chicken stock, and tomato paste to the onion-peppers mixture.  Bring soup to a boil and let boil for 1 hour or until chickpeas are soft.

4-Remove soup from heat and let boil.  Insert an immersion blender and purée the soup till it is smooth.

Serve with your favorite toast.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Shrimp-Coconut Milk Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Shrimp-Coconut Milk Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

I learned about red curry when I ate a Thai curry dish called Panang Curry at the Thai 55^th Restaurant when I was a student at the University of Chicago.  I loved the flavor and anti-oxidant properties of the red curry, which is why I have used it in this soup.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For Shrimp -

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 pound cleaned and shelled raw shrimp (can be previously frozen just do not refreeze it)

For Soup-

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large peeled and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-2 (13.56-ounce) can coconut milk

-1 (4-ounce) container Thai red curry paste

-32 ounces water

Steps:

1-Sauté shrimp in olive oil for 15 minutes in frying pan or until all shrimp have turned pink and curled.  Set aside

2-Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes in a soup pot.

3-Add shrimp with oil to the soup, coconut milk, curry paste, and water.  Mix till curry paste is fully incorporated into the water and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and let boil for 15 minutes.

Serve with rice on the side.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click her for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Curry-Turkey Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Curry Turkey Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

I do not keep jars of Indian clarified butter (ghee) at home, but still make this curry soup with a mixture of regular butter and olive oil.  I also make my own curry with cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 tablespoon butter

-1 large peeled and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

-1 teaspoon dry ginger

-1 teaspoon turmeric

-2 cups peeled and chopped carrots

-1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth

-16 ounces water

-1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk

-1/2 pound cooked and cubed turkey breast

Steps:

1-Sauté onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and cinnamon in olive oil and butter for 5 minutes in a soup pot.

2-Add chicken broth, carrots, coconut milk, and water to the soup and bring to a boil.  Let boil for 30 minutes or until carrots are soft.  Remove from the heat and let cool.

3-Insert an immersion blender, and purée the soup until it has a smooth consistency.

4-Add turkey cubes to the soup and reheat the soup for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with your favorite toast.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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