Hearty Harvest Soup: A Cozy Fall Recipe with Garden Flavor
Inspired by pepper-pot and “three sisters” soups, this hearty harvest recipe blends sausage, beans, and spaghetti squash into a warming fall meal.
Inspired by a pepper-pot soup, a “three sisters” soup, and our own harvest vegetables plus a spaghetti squash from a friend’s garden, this turned out saucy and flavorful. Any kind of leftover cooked squash will do, but it’s a nice way to use spaghetti squash with cooked strands too short or soft to twirl. Depending on the sweetness of your veggies and the spiciness of your sausage, doctor the soup to your liking, balancing sweet and savory with a touch of acidity.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 2 sweet Italian sausages (or 1 strip bacon)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 small leeks, including tender tops, sliced (optional)
- 1 small to medium bell pepper
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1¼ cups shell beans plus ½ cup cooking liquid
- ¼ to ½ cup chopped
plum tomatoes - ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
- ½ cup tomato juice
- Small dash of Worcester-
shire sauce - 1 small bay leaf
- 2½ cups chicken or pork stock
- 1 cup roasted spaghetti squash, chopped
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon light brown
sugar or maple syrup - Freshly ground black pepper
- Cayenne or dried chile to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Remove the casing from the sausages (or slice the bacon into ½-inch pieces). Over medium heat, brown the sausage meat, dropping small knobs evenly around the pan (or fry the bacon pieces); cook until no longer pink, then remove from the pot and set aside. Sauté the onion and leek bulbs (if using), adding a little more oil, then add the bell pepper, garlic, and leek tops and cook covered, over low heat, until tender.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot and cook the shell beans until tender but not breaking apart. Drain, reserving about ½ cup of cooking liquid.
- Add the sausage back to the pot along with the chopped tomatoes, red wine vinegar, beans, and their cooking liquid. Add the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, and stock. Chop the cooked spaghetti squash into strands about 1-inch long and add them to the soup. Add the sugar (or maple syrup) and pepper to taste.
- Bring the soup up to heat and simmer, covered, 20 to 30 minutes, until the flavors marry and the squash and beans soften enough to slightly thicken the soup.
Recipes for a happy heart
Combine in a skillet two
complementary ingredients.
Bring up to heat, then
sprinkle with warm spice;
omit bitter herbs, sour grapes.
Cook together, stirring faithfully,
until tender, then simmer
gently as the flavors marry.
Of nature’s bounty
Pick when the time is ripe,
then trim, peel, and soak
in beautiful water
till light and translucent.
Drain on a warm towel
and bake until golden.
Savor al fresco.
Gather your garden plenty
Wash and dice, then place
in a lucky pot
with broth and healing herbs.
Cook over a spirit flame
till softened into a comforting stew.
Invite friends, family, neighbors
and share with a glad heart.
Recipe, poem, and illustration excerpted from Culinary Landscapes: A World of Delicious Discoveries in a Maine Mapmaker’s Kitchen by Jane Crosen.