Random Pot Soup

Since I started blogging on a semi-professional weekly basis Rainbow Grab Bag has suffered. I know I can't keep up with a weekly recipe and so I am going to give you some special ones I've cooked up recently and a few ideas to make up for my sad, sad hiatus.

THIS SOUP I MADE TODAY
Today, I made a soup. After over a year of making soup on a daily basis I feel like I know a thing or two about soup. However, once I had all of the pans in front of me, I panicked a little and started making things up on the fly. This is what happened:

Pot 1:
A large silver cooking pot. I chopped up an onion and 5 cloves of garlic were minced. I let them simmer and turn slightly brown in a big 'ol unmeasured gulp of olive oil.

Pot 2:
A small black pot where I cooked up a handful of penne pasta.

Pan 3:
Here is where I simmered the meatballs. Yes, you read right. Fucking meatballs. Beef, rolled with breadcrumbs, onions, spices, and some parmesan cheese. They cooked on low in a pan filled with olive oil and browned rosemary/sage/red pepper (I let them get really crisp and brown on the outside. They were of mini-size).

Pot 4:
This pot was filled to the brim with chopped potatoes, diced carrots, and minced broccoli florets. They boiled with water and a whole ton of salt.

What did I make? I made a really, really poor (and creative) man's version of Italian Wedding. I threw the strained veggies in with the onions and garlic and stirred. Then the pasta. I then added 5 cups of water, 4 bullion cubes, and salt/pepper. Then, my secret crazy made-up roux:

2 cups milk, brought to a slow, roiling boil
1 cup grated cheese
1 handful of flour
whiskwhiskwhisk and dump it in the pot.

Serve in a bowl with halved meatballs and a little cheese on top. So much win. So filling, and you can freeze it to last for YEARS.

I've got a whole bunch upstairs in the fridge now, as I type this, and I want more but my stomach cannot take it. Just 1 measure cup of this soup destroyed me. I was warm and full and happy and my tongue was burned.

I didn't measure a single thing throughout this soup and neither should you. Throw in pinches and handfuls of whatever you want. I used tons of salt, more than enough pepper, a little dill, rosemary, thyme, basil, and red pepper flakes. And it was all good. Spices are meant to be experimented with.


As you can see here, I did not get my degree in Food Photography. This unappetizing thing is my delicious soup. Take my word for it, it was pretty good.