SOUP TO SAUCE

A couple of months ago, I made a delicious "green soup" - a recipe from Laurel's Kitchen. With a fridge full of squash, my mind went back to the soup. I also had my heart set on cold pasta. Instead of figuring out how to pair the two, I modified the soup to make a sauce.

The jist:
Cook down pre-soaked green split peas, green squash, onion, and garlic in enough veg stock to cover. Add a couple tablespoons of oil and season with s+p, oregano, and basil. After the ingredients soften and cool, add fresh parsley and basil. I would have liked to smooth my mixture in a food processor. Alas, I broke mine. Instead, I added a cup of unsweetened almond to the mix and hit it with a hand blender. This didn't work so well. I moved on and added a bit of ricotta cheese, sliced radishes, and almonds. I finished the dish off with a bit more s+p, a good squeeze of lemon, and shaved pecorino.

TASTES LIKE BUTTER

Even with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, I decided to make soup. Again, this venture began with what I had in the fridge. I cut up carrots, onion, and celery and tossed them in pot with water – 2:1 water to veg ratio. Adding some fresh parsley, dill, and s+p, I let that simmer throughout the day. Meanwhile, I left a bowl of beautiful orange lentils to soak in a bowl of cool water. After a few hours, I had a delicious stock. I removed the vegetables and added the lentils. While those cooked, I took a hand blender to the vegetables and added them to the lentils. The result was a fresh and delicious soup which Gideon said “tasted like it was made with butter.” I love that I was able to achieve such a rich result with minimal effort and ingredients.