Almost anything can go into a farmer’s soup. The only caveat they must all be fresh. Farmer’s soup derives its name from the practice of cooking soup with ingredients fresh from the farmer’s market. Or, if you prefer an even fresher version with ingredients fresh from the farmer’s garden. Either way, there is no room for canned vegetables in farmer’s soup. Use the freshest vegetables you have and in whatever combination you fancy.
Buttered toast
The base for my farmer’s soup was leeks and spicy sausages. The broth was made with ham bones. The vegetables consisted of carrots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and cauliflower. Superb. Speedy loved it. The soup was so chunky and filling that it was all we had for lunch. With buttered toast on the side, of course.
Ingredients
3 tbsps. of butter
3 spicy sausages (Polish, Hungarian, and Italian all work well; native spicy, garlicky longganisa will work well too)
3 leek stalks, sliced (see how to prepare the leeks)
6 c. of broth, preferably homemade
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, cored and cut into very small florets
the kernels from two sweet yellow corn cobs (see how to cut corn the kernels off the cobs)
salt and pepper, to taste
chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
Sausage Meat
First, press the sausage meat from the casings. Discard the casings. Heat the butter in a thick-bottomed pot. Add the sausage meat and cook over medium-low heat until lightly browned. Add the leeks. Stir. Set the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook gently for about five minutes. Pour in the broth. Mine was still frozen so I just dumped it in and let it thaw and melt in the pot.
Once the broth boils, it’s all just a matter of adding the vegetables. Add the one the takes longest to cook. With my combination of vegetables, the carrot and tomatoes went in first (I wanted the tomatoes to soften well). After five minutes, the potatoes and corn kernels. After another five minutes, the cauliflower. Once all the vegetables are in the pot, season with salt and pepper, simmer for another ten minutes and the soup is done.