Soup’s On!

By Marilyn Kitzes

Sous vide is the ideal method for preparing rich and complex soups. Thanks to the slow-cook method, you’ll taste the subtle flavors of each and every ingredient. Here’s a roundup of some wonderful dishes you’ll want to keep in your cooking arsenal.

Pumpkin Soup with Cranberry Coulis

The cold-weather season demands an outstanding pumpkin soup recipe—and this one delivers. Our version starts with diced pie pumpkin that gets immersed sous vide for two hours, and then simmered on the stovetop with salt and pepper. Once cooled, the pumpkin mixture is pureéd with chicken broth and water. It’s then garnished with trumpet mushrooms and drizzled with cream as well as a sous vide cranberry coulis made from cranberries, sugar, water, and orange zest. The real showstopper? The serving bowls made from scooped-out acorn squash—yes!

Poblano Corn Velouté with Charred Pea Salsa and Parmesan Crisp

Looking for a corn soup with kick? Thanks to poblano peppers and minced jalapeño, this rich soup will light up your taste buds. The fresh corn and poblano peppers are first broiled in the oven and then boiled over a flame for 30 minutes. Mixed with olive oil, butter, onion, garlic, and chicken stock, the mixture gets the sous vide treatment for 12 hours. Upon serving, it’s combined with a heavy cream and garnished with a Charred Pea Salsa—made with French peas and fava beans—and a Parmesan crisp. Note that recipes for both of these garnishes are included.

Smoked Mushroom Soup

If you love the earthy taste of mushrooms, you’ll enjoy this recipe featuring cremini mushrooms, which are first cured in a sous vide pouch and then smoked using a smoker or smoking gun. The mushrooms are then combined with leeks, garlic, spices, and kaymak or labneh (or double cream) and cooked sous vide for four hours or until tender. Finally, the mixture is blended with vegetable stock and served drizzled with olive oil. 

Bone Broth with Tumeric, Thai Basil, and Coconut Milk

Healthy and delicious, this bone broth recipe incorporates fresh organic chicken or beef bones, which are roasted until browned. Placed in a sous vide pouch with water and coconut oil and cooked for 15 hours, it creates a wonderful broth base that’s kept on medium-high heat until ready to serve. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine coconut milk, basil leaves, kaffir lime leaves, green curry paste, nuts, shallots, galangal (Thai ginger), turmeric, lime juice, fish sauce, and salt. Add to bone broth and garnish with basil leaves and red peppers, if desired. Brilliant!