Gypsy Soup

From a well worn copy of the Moosewood Cookbook, Lucy found this delicious and very easy soup recipe.  It’s a perfect soup for fall when gardeners are harvesting the last of this and that.  We enjoyed this recipe so much, we made it twice in one week!   Great way to use fall red and green tomatoes that aren’t as sweet but sure taste good stewed in a soup.

We kept it vegetarian, but if you want to use meat in the recipe, it would be excellent with ground pork dumplings.  Take well seasoned raw ground pork and drop in by the spoonful into hot broth.  The raw pork will slip off the spoon into the hot broth.   The dumplings cook quickly – 2 -3 minutes but be sure to keep soup at a very low simmer so meat doesn’t break apart.

3-4 T Olive Oil

2 c chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 c chopped sweet potato, winter squash and/or carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery or chard stems

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp turmeric

1 T fresh parsley, basil or oregano

1 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

1 T tamari or good quality soy sauce

1 – 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, green, red or some combination

3/4 c chopped peppers

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

In soup pot, saute onions, garlic, celery and sweet potato, squash or carrots in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add seasonings and stock and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and chickpeas. Simmer another 30 minutes – until all the vegetables are tender. Serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.