The winner was Carolyn Gulich’s BLT Soup! The Sweet and Nutty Potato Soup and Simple Butternut Curried Squash Soup and the Fiesta Chicken soup were also favorites! I personally liked all the pasta soups! They are all worth trying at home!
BLT Soup Winner
By Carolyn Gulich, Punta Gorda
20 slices bacon cut in 1” pieces
3 cans tomato soup
3 cans milk
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 hard boiled egg (optional)
1 tablespoon Chipotle Tabasco
1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
½ head lettuce shredded
Cook bacon till brown. (Take out enough for garnish about 4 strips) add tomato soup and milk, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, Dash and warm enough to eat.
In cut place a layer of shredded lettuce, now add soup and garnish. Top with tomatoes, bacon and hard boiled chopped egg.
Sweet but Nutty Potato Soup
By Daniel Artman, Punta Gorda
1 tablespoon of good olive oil
2 carrots, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 large onion, diced
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon grated, fresh ginger
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic, minced from a jar
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)
1 14 ½ ounce can diced tomatoes with their juices
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons honey
Garnish: ½ cup chopped scallion (about 3 scallions)
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper, and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in sweet potatoes, broth, and the tomatoes and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
Remove from heat and puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender, add the peanut butter and honey and stir over low heat until peanut butter is melted. Serve warm, garnish with scallions if desired.
Simple Curried Butternut Squash Soup
By Chris Scheib, Punta Gorda
2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 cups diced sweet Vidalia onions
1 tablespoon red curry powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
60 ounces of cook squash (Cris uses frozen)
28 ounces of low sodium chicken broth
¼ cup half and half
1 tablespoon dry sherry
¼ cup fresh basil, julienned
Heat oil in heavy pot. Sautee onions until tender. Add red curry powder and black pepper. Sauté a few minutes. Add ½ of the squash and the chicken broth. Puree with a hand blender. Add rest of squash, sherry, half and half and basil. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve hot, topped with a few croutons and fried fresh basil leaves.
Can also be served cold. Simple and easy! You can use less or more curry to control the heat.
Rosemary Chicken Soup with Roasted Vegetables
By Cathy Beatty, Port Charlotte
1 cup (1-inch) cubed carrots
1 cup (1-inch) cubed onions
1 cup coarsely chopped mushrooms
1 cup (1-inch) pieces celery
1 cup (1-inch) pieces of red bell peppers
1 box frozen artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup white zinfandel
¼ teaspoon salt
4 (14 ounce) cans fat free, low sodium chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into ½ inch pieces
2 cups uncooked tri-color fiori pasta
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle with oil, toss well to coat. Arrange vegetable mixture in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan lined with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until browned, stirring vegetables occasionally.
Combine water and next 6 ingredients (through chicken) in a large Dutch oven, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer form 30 minutes. Add roasted vegetables; simmer 30 minutes. Bring soup to a boil; add pasta, simmer 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Serves 8. Tastes good with garlic bread!
Mom’s Potato Egg Drop Soup
By Bonnie Boyd
3 or 4 large Idaho/russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 white (or yellow) onion, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 package Lipton Vegetable dry soup mix.
(Mom used Veg-beef until it was discontinued. I sometimes make a double batch and use 1 package vegetable and 1 package beefy onion to get the same flavor)
Homemade Noodles:
1 egg
Mix egg thin and add about 1 cup regular flour gradually until dough is almost like pizza dough). Roll it out thin like a pie crust on a floured pastry cloth (about 1/6” thick or less). Cut into 4 sections. Flip it over on pasty cloth to get flour on both sides. Roll up into rolls (like jelly roll) and then cut each roll into thin strips of noodles. Unroll and separate.
Boil potatoes, onion and a little salt in 4 cups of water. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add soup mix and salt & Pepper. Cook 10 minutes at a medium boil. Add noodles (loosely separated) and boil at a medium boil for 10 minutes more, covered but vented. Stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.
You can add carrots and left over beef broth with it’s gravy for variety.
Bonnie usually makes a double or even triple batch of soup when entertaining friends!
Macaroni Soup
By Virginia L. Vaughn, Punta Gorda
Virginia described this as a super simple comfort food!
1 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes (diced recommended)
2 ½ cups milk
1 8 ounce box macaroni
¼-1/2 stick butter
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Cook macaroni and drain.
Combine tomatoes, milk, butter and after they are hot mix in the macaroni. Top with parsley.
Yields 6-8 servings.
Tortellini/Garbanzo Soup (Serves 8)
By Carolyn Gulich, Punta Gorda
1 medium link of chorizo (5 ounces) quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 (19 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
½ cup water
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 ½ teaspoons pimento
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups of beef stock (can use bouillon)
2 cups chicken stock (can use bouillon)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 bags Lipton onion soup mix
4 teaspoons chicken broth (bouillon) dry
½ cup white wine
32 ounce package Tortellini
In a small skillet, cook the chorizo over moderately high heat until lightly browned and most of the fat has been rendered, 3-4 minutes. Drain the chorizo on paper towels.
In a food processor, puree half the chickpeas with the water until smooth.
In a soup pot, heat the olive oil until simmering. Add the carrots, onion and garlic, cover and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the chorizo, tomato past, pimento and cayenne and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
Add the beef and chicken stock and sugar along with the whole and pureed chickpeas and bring to a boil. Add the Lipton soup, dry broth and white wine and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes, add the Tortellini and cook another 5 minutes (or until Tortellini is cooked through).
Ladle the soup into deep bowl and serve with crusty bread and top soup with Romano cheese.
Fiesta Chowder (Crowd Pleaser) Serves 8
By Carolyn Gulich, Punta Gorda
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 (1/4 ounce) packet fajita seasoning divided
4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cubed
(or about 12-16 ounces grilled sliced chicken breast)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (15 ¼ ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 ½ ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chilies
3 cups of water
1/3 cup white wine (optional)
1 cup uncooked instant brown rice
1 (2-1/4 ounce) can sliced ripe olives (optional)
1 (10-e/r ounce) can condensed nacho cheese soup or nacho mild cheese whiz)
(Velveeta Pepper Jack cheese works as well)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
Combine flour and 2 Tablespoons fajita seasoning in heavy duty zip top plastic bag, add chicken. Seal and shake to coat. Cook chicken in hot oil in large Dutch oven over high heat, stirring often, 4 minutes or until browned. Reduce heat to medium high, add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in remaining fajita seasoning, corn, next 5 ingredients and if desired olives. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, over and simmer 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir in nacho cheese soup, chopped cilantro and lime juice. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with Breadsticks.
