Holy Trinity Soup

One of my all-time favorite soups consisting of the "holy trinity" of garden vegetables: carrots, leeks and celery

 

The key here is to have equal parts of each vegetable.  I usually double the proportions (2 cups of each) since I usually make my own chicken stock in larger quantities.  These vegetables are cheap but good butter and good stock can be more pricy.  I buy kitchen basics stock for $3.99/qt.  That's a good brand.  Substitute with broth for less money.  I never use broth, though, given the high levels of sodium.

 

About the herbs: these are also pricy if bough fresh.  Ideally that's the way to go.  Otherwise, substitute with dry herbs (but NEVER use dry parsley.. under no circumstances is this cool).  

 

Here goes:

 

1 stick unsalted butter  

1 cup celery, cleaned and diced

1 cup carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup leeks, cleaned and diced

1 cup onion, peeled and diced

1 qt (4 cups) of chicken stock

1 bouquet garni consisting of a few sprigs of thyme, parsley and 1 bay leaf  

salt, pepper

 

In a soup pot, melt the butter at medium-high heat.  Add half the butter and stir with onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add all other vegetables and the rest of the butter.  Stir for a few more minutes until all the butter is absorbed by the vegetables (here using 2 sticks instead of 1 would not hurt one bit!)  Add the stock.  Add dry herbs or bouquet garni. 

 

Once the liquid starts boiling, reduce temperature to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes.  

 

Remove bouquet garni, if using, and puree the vegetables in the pot with a rotor blade, or in a blender (note: prefer the rotor blade as putting hot liquids in blenders can be pretty disastrous!)     

 

Strain the soup.  Discard all solids (or keep it for high-quality baby food!).  Season with salt, fresh black pepper and a hint of cayenne pepper (latter is optional).   

 

Return the soup to a boil, then cut heat.  Correct seasoning.  Serve immediately on soup plates, add a dollop of cream (or, even better, creme fraiche) and garnish with parsley.

Comments


Login or Sign Up to join the discussion.