Seconds Soup

By Amy Pennington

Photo by Della Chen Photography

Serves 2 as a main dish

The beauty of this soup lies in its use of kitchen scraps. Save your carrot peels for this fragrant broth, and add in any leftover meat. Here, small pulls of short ribs are used to deepen the soup's satisfying nature. Carrot peels are cooked in a broth alongside a few slices from an onion and a stalk of celery, if you have them on hand. If not, skip them and toss in another vegetable to flavor the broth-scraps of fennel frond, parsley stalks, anything. To intensify the flavor, this stock is heavily scented with whole spices like cinnamon stick and star anise. While not absolutely necessarily, they most definitely take the soup to another level.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
Half an onion, cut into slices
½ teaspoon salt
1 celery stalk, chopped
Peels from 4 or 5 carrots
2 tablespoons white vermouth
1 cinnamon stick
10 whole allspice berries
1 whole clove
½ -inch piece of ginger, cut into coins
2 whole star anise
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin, even sticks
1 cup leftover short rib pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt, cooking and stirring until the onions soften and start to brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot peels and let sit, without stirring, for 2 minutes to brown. Deglaze the stockpot with the white vermouth, scraping up the bits.

Add water to the stockpot, high enough to just cover the peels. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour and remove from the heat. Strain out the vegetables, reserving the broth.

Return the broth to stockpot and add the aromatics-the cinnamon stick, allspice berries, clove, ginger, and star anise. Cook over low heat, covered, for 20 minutes to allow the spices to infuse. Add the carrot sticks and short rib pieces, and cook until the carrots are al dente, about 20 minutes.

Divide the soup evenly into two bowls and serve immediately.

PANTRY NOTE: You can also use leftover roasted chicken or even fish in this soup, making sure to adjust the cooking time. (Fish would be added in at the last minute of cooking, only to warm through.)

Click here to see Amy's tip

Reprinted February 2015/originally February 2014