I feel like I'm having raid-the-fridge meals a lot in quarantine! This particular soup gathered up a bunch of veggies that needed cooking, half a can of red beans I had in the fridge, some Gardein Italian saus'ages, the very last bit of a jar of pasta sauce, broth I made from Better than Bouillon, and a bit of alphabet pasta. I made it with some cornbread (I made a small loaf of cornbread when I was making that chili pie you saw a little while ago).
This soup tasted remarkably like the kind my mother used to make, probably because of the pasta sauce. She would sometimes turn leftover spaghetti into soup in a similar way if there wasn't enough spaghetti to feed everyone again, and she made endless batches of cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It tasted, in a way I didn't expect, like being five years old. It's amazing how flavors can transport you.
I haven't thought of using pasta sauce as a soup base, but that is a very clever idea. It is amazing how tastes can bring up such strong memories.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't even matter what you put in the soup in terms of the veggies and whatnot--just the spaghetti sauce-infused broth with pasta is enough for it to taste like childhood. And yes, isn't that something else?
DeleteLove the use of pasta sauce. I often use a bit in chili as well. Flavor elevator!
ReplyDeleteIt makes it a lot richer, to be sure!
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