3 Easy Soups for Chilly Fall Days

Plus wine pairings for each.

Butternut squash and blue cheese soup.

Soup Kitchen

My daily walks have suddenly turned much colder. Just last week I was irritated by the heat, my skin a constant light slick of sweat. Now I’m bracing against the cold, my skin dry and shrunken and speckled by goosebumps.

Last weekend, the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, I walked everyday in the woods. The tall trees still have a regal plumage of leaves, the canopy blocks the sun in checker board patterns. It’s a cooling relief in the late-summer heat, but dreadful on cold days, which is now. When I walk along city streets, the tall buildings that spike through Toronto leave much of the sidewalks in shadow, and the wind, which can be almost terrifying as it tunnels through certain intersections, cools everything down to an uncomfortable chill.

I’ve been wearing my beloved down vest zipped up to my chin, but there have been many times I’ve wished I was wearing a heavier jacket.

Returning home, I light candles against the steel sky and snuggle into the couch with a good book. I’m cozy and happy. These are the days of simple soup for supper.

I drift in and out of vegetarian and vegan diets. I currently consider myself an omnivore, though I can go days without eating meat and not even realize it. The three recipes below are vegetarian, but, really, aren’t all soups? Sure, there’s a chicken noodle here and a beef and barely there, but I’d wager that most of us, even the most hardened of meat eaters, will eagerly slurp up a mushroom, tomato, or cream of broccoli when seeking comfort and joy.

A little note before we go on… I’ve been mentioning for a while now that the option to upgrade to paid membership will be rolled out this month. That time has come. Starting next week, the Wednesday posts will offer a free preview, with recipes going to paid. Saturday Weekenders will still be open to everyone, as will the archives of everything written since I began Quaintrelle in February.

Other benefits to paid membership include front-of-the-line access and/or discounted rates to online and in-person events; invites to free online meet ups with me, and occasional giveaways.

Premium membership is $6 CDN/month or $60 CDN/year.

Regardless of the membership plan you choose – free or paid – please know I am so delighted to have you as part of the Quaintrelle community.

Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup with Harissa and Spinach

Sweet potato and peanut, I’ve come to learn, is a popular flavour combination in western Africa, particularly Senegal, but was still very unusual in the 1990’s, in Guelph, Ontario, where I grew up and went to university – specializing in that high income bracket quadrant of theatre, history, English, and women’s studies.

The Carden Street Cafe – a bohemian downtown restaurant, where skinny professors wearing bold-framed eyeglasses would meet their beret-clad partners for an after work Chardonnay – served a peanut soup by the gallon. It was weird, but when you finally mustered up the courage to try it, eye rolling-ly delicious.

I searched for years for the recipe, as the cafe workers refused to share it even on threat of death – the unusual soup was a one of the biggest draws of the intellectual crowd that filled their mustard-yellow eatery everyday.

I eventually found this recipe in the early oughts on the Vegetarian Times website; it’s not identical to CSC’s, but the below recipe is also no longer identical to VT’s, either, as it’s been adapted to my preferences over the years. Still it’s captivatingly delicious and wondrously comforting after a chilly walk in the forest.

Makes: about 8 cups
Chef level: easy
Special Equipment: hand blender or stand blender

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 cups leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced

• 1 Tbsp garlic, minced

• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

• 2 Tbsp harissa paste (taste for spice level)

• 1 Tbsp ground cumin

• 1 cup white wine, such as Riesling

• 6 cups sweet potato, cubed

• 4 cups vegetable stock

• 2 cups baby spinach, washed well

• Juice of half a lemon

• Chopped peanuts and cilantro, for garnish, optional

How to Make It:

1. In a soup pot add the olive oil, leeks and garlic, set over medium-low heat, and gently bring up to heat and cook until soft and fragrant, with just a bit of colour, about 5 minutes.

2. Str in tomato paste, peanut butter, harissa paste, and cumin, stirring through to a very thick paste, and stirring constantly so as not to burn.

3. Pour in wine and stir through again, scraping any cooked on bits from the bottom of the pot.

4. Add the potatoes and broth, partially cover, and simmer gently for 45 minutes until the potatoes are very soft.

5. Using a hand held blender, or stand blender* blitz the soup into a smooth puree, about 3-4 minutes. Add splashes of water if the soup gets too thick.

6. Stir the spinach leaves and lemon juice into the soup and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes

7. Adjust for seasoning and serve, topped with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and lemon wedges.

*leave the centre piece out, and cover with a towel so steam can escape – hot liquid can blow the lid off a blender.

Wine Pairing:

This soup is rich and nutty with warming, earthy spices. I would pair a simple Chardonnay, with just a kiss of oak. Regional level Burgundy, Oregon, and Ontario all have streamlined, mid-weight styles with silky texture and orchard fruit flavours.

Asian-y Mushroom Soup with Coconut Milk and Rice Noodles

Do not be intimidated by the lengthy list of ingredients. These will all make the soup taste good, and that, my friends, is the point.

I have learned, after taking both Thai and Indian cooking courses, that the foods of South and Southeast Asia are actually quite simple to prepare, but the mis en place (the French term for gathering ingredients before cooking commences), is a lengthy journey. Often a teaspoon of this and a pinch of that adds up to an ingredient list dozens of items long! I would arrive to class at least 40 minutes in order to have enough time to get my stuff in order.

This soup isn’t authentic, so please don’t @ me. However, it’s really, really good, so if you’re reasonably comfortable with vagaries of flavours from a general area, and not caught up in the purity of a specific place, this soup is for you.

Makes: about 2 litres
Chef level: easy

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup dried wood ear mushrooms (easily sourced online), rehydrated in hot water and sliced (alternatively: fresh shiitake)

• 1/2 cup sliced shallot

• 1 Tbsp grated ginger

• 1 Tbsp minced garlic

• 1 red Thai chili pepper sliced, to taste, optional

• 2 Tbsp white miso 

• 1/4 cup Mirin or dry white wine 

• 2 Tbsp Tamari or soy sauce

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk (preferably organic and sustainably sourced)

• 2 cups stock (veg, chicken, or mushroom)

• Handful rice noodles, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

• 3-4 cups sliced baby bok choy

• 1 lime (zest & juice)

• 2-4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, to taste 

• 2-4 Tbsp sliced fresh basil, to taste

• 1/4 cup sliced green onions

How to Make It:

1. Into a soup pot, warm the oil over med-low heat.

2. Add mushrooms and shallot, sauté until mushrooms are soft, about 3 minutes.

3. Add garlic, ginger, hot pepper, and miso and stir until fragrant and miso has melted into the veg.

4. Pour in mirin or wine and stir together.

5. Add broth, coconut milk, tamari and the soaked noodles and allow to cook gently for about 10-15 minutes until noodles are soft.

6. Add in all the lime zest and half the lime juice plus most of the cilantro, basil, and green onions, reserving some for garnish.

7. Taste. Hopefully it tastes good to you. If not, adjust for seasoning if needed (salt, pepper, lime juice, etc.)

8. Ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkling of fresh herbs and onion and a wedge of lime.

Wine Pairing:

I always find dry rosé to be a fantastic pairing with full flavoured foods of South and South East Asia. The juicy red fruit flavours compliment the spicy notes of the soup, while the bright acidity brightens the rich coconut broth.

Butter Bean, Kale, and Ditalini Soup.

This deceptively simple soup is so addictive, it’s probably the one I make the most out of all the soups I make. And I make a lot of them.

I believe the original “recipe” calls for escarole, but not a lot of stores in Toronto stock the bitter, stemmy green, so I go for the easier to source, and just as hearty, kale. I usually resort to frozen, too, just because it’s easier.
 
My secret ingredient that makes this soup so delicious? Miso. I understand this depression-era, “peasant” dish, as one Nona described it, has its roots in southern Italy, but Japanese miso really adds a flavour-boosting umami comfort element. Trust me, you don’t want to skip the miso, and once you try it, I bet that just like me you’ll start throwing it into all your sauces, stews, and soups. I do. I put that sh!t on everything.
 
Also, if you haven’t yet discovered the culinary beauty of nutritional yeast (sometimes shortened to “nooch”), this will be a journey of delicious wonder for you. Nutritional yeast, easily found in the healthy food section of any grocery store, is a cheesy-tasting relative to baker’s yeast, and looks like yellow flakes. It’s often used as a base for vegan cheeses and is super healthy with loads protein and vitamin B12. But most importantly, it’s freaking yummy.
 
Makes: about 3 litres
Chef level: Easy
 
Ingredients:

• Olive oil

• 5 cloves of fresh garlic, diced fine

• 1 large bunch of kale (or 2 small bunches), torn from the stems onto bite-size pieces

• About 1 cup of dry white wine

• 1 finger red hot chili pepper, sliced, to taste, and optional

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 2 ½ litres vegetable or chicken stock

• 2 Tbsp white miso

• 1 can butter beans, drained

• 1 cup nutritional yeast, divided

• Juice of one lemon

• 2 handfuls ditalini pasta 

How you do it:

1. In a large soup pot, pour in the olive oil and garlic and warm over medium-low heat.

2. Once you can smell the garlic, and it’s barely taken on any colour, add the optional chili pepper, and cook for another minute.

3. Now add the torn kale in handfuls, stirring to coat in oil and garlic (the pot may be alarming full of kale, don’t worry it will cook down in a few minutes).

4. Once all kale is in and stirred, add in the white white wine.

5. Season carefully with salt and pepper (you can adjust later).

6. Add in the stock, the pasta, the miso, and half of the nutritional yeast and bring to a gentle simmer, uncovered.

7. Once the pasta is nearly cooked, about 8 minutes, add the butter beans and stir through.

8. Finish with the fresh lemon juice to brighten, taste and adjust for seasoning: add more nooch and S+P as you see fit.

9. Serve topped with more nutritional yeast, hot Calabrian peppers and a side of good, crusty bread.

Wine Pairing

A crisp white wine from central Italy such as a Verdicchio would be lovely here. Verdicchio is a mid-weight wine from the Marche and has up-front mineral and citrus with a subtle note of green, herbal flavours. This would compliment the soup’s flavours while also matching its weight.

One Last Thing …

A quick reminder I will be hosting food and wine workshops every Thursday evening in November at Vantage Venues, downtown Toronto.

If you’re in the area, and are interested in learning about food and wine pairings, tasting great wine, sampling excellent food, and, hanging with me, please join in the fun. (These classes also make for fun holiday events with co-workers!)

November 7 – oyster shucking lessons and wine pairing

November 14 – tasting tour of Italy

November 21 – tasting tour of France

November 28 – cocktail party basics

Thank you for reading Quaintrelle.

This newsletter is written by me, Erin Henderson, journalist-turned-sommelier-turned-entrepreneur. I literally drink and throw parties for a living, and every Wednesday, I share my best tips and tricks to easy, elegant entertaining.

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