Parmesan Vegetable Soup

 If you feel guilty for over-indulging this holiday season, give this Parmesan Vegetable Soup a try! The Parmesan rind makes the soup flavorful and rich, and the cayenne pepper gives a bit of heat. If you can’t find real Parmesan still on the rind, feel free to add ¼- ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese to the pot of soup the last 5 minutes of its cooking time. This is the perfect soup to keep in your fridge for lunches, and it’s guilt free!

     I recommend tasting your stock before you add any salt to the soup. Some stocks are already salty, and some are bland as can be. It is very important to taste your soup and adjust for seasoning as it cooks. My soup was very flavorful because I added extra cayenne pepper, but if you don't like spicy food, use only a little bit, and add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end for extra flavor. A little bit of acid will do wonders for soup!

    Also, I am sorry for the quality of the pictures of my soup. I haven't got a great camera, and I have terrible luck when taking pictures of soup.You will just have to take my word for it- it's a delicious, guilt free meal!

Ingredients:

12 Cups chicken or vegetable stock*

14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 TBSP tomato paste

½ white or yellow onion, chopped

15 oz can corn

1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

¼ cup frozen peas

¼ cup small soup pasta (You can use more pasta if you like, but it expands quite a bit)

½ tsp Poultry seasoning

½ -1 tsp Cayenne pepper (start with ½ teaspoon, and work your way up-cayenne is fairly spicy)

Parmesan rind

Salt and Pepper to taste

Squeeze of lemon juice –optional**

*I used chicken stock, because I find it to be much more flavorful than vegetable stock. If you would like to use vegetable stock, you may have to increase the amount of seasonings in your soup so it won’t be dull.

**If you have added plenty of seasoning to your soup, but it doesn’t quite taste perfect, add a squeeze of lemon juice. One of the most frequent complaints with making homemade soup is that it tastes bland, no matter how well seasoned the soup is. The squeeze of lemon juice helps bring out the flavor of each ingredient and ties the dish together.

Instructions:

1 )In large soup pot, combine stock, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, corn, potato, carrots, seasonings, and Parmesan rind. Heat until a gentle boil forms, turn the heat down to medium low, and let simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

2) Give the soup a stir, and taste for seasonings.  Add pasta, and let cook until tender.

3) Add frozen peas to the soup, and let cook for 2-3 minutes.

4) Taste and adjust seasonings in soup. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and serve.

Just showing off my new (vintage) plates! They are Paul Muller Selb plates. I'm not sure what year they were made, but Paul Muller Selb started manufacturing these plates in 1917. The bottom reads "Paul Muller Selb 7".