Recipe: Vegan Ravioli Soup

 

I've been wanting to make this soup for a long time, but it took my holiday break for me to actually do it--not because it's hard (it is pretty easy), but because I had to agonize over what to put it in it (as usual). I was really happy with this soup, though--the flavors are so nice together, and it's not that time consuming--that I decided to share more than the photo with you, and give you the recipe.

If you already have vegan sausage crumbles on hand, or an Italian sausage link, feel free to use those instead of making the TVP sausage, but I think it might ultimately taste better if you make your own with TVP, because this is a really flavorful mix. This sausage is inspired by this recipe, and I looked at seemingly countless omnivore ravioli soup recipes before coming up with this.

This is the era of coronavirus, of course, and you may not be able to get vegan ravioli, either. Although this wouldn't be ravioli soup without ravioli, I think this would also taste pretty great with some pasta of your choosing and about a cup of cooked white beans if you can't get ravioli.

Vegan Ravioli Soup
Serves: 4

For the TVP Italian sausage:

1/4 cup TVP
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (add more to make the soup cheesier, if you want)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon maple syrup

For the soup:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 small celery stalk, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 batch of the Italian sausage above, or 1/3 cup frozen vegan sausage crumbles, or one vegan Italian sausage link, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups chicken-style vegetable broth (I made mine with Better than Boullion)
1 cup water
1 package (13 oz.) vegan ravioli (I used Soy Boy)
A few handfuls of baby spinach

For serving:

Vegan Parmesan cheese (optional)

To make the sausage:

Stir together TVP, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, sage, fennel seeds, thyme, and black pepper. Set aside.

Bring the water, liquid smoke, soy sauce, and maple syrup to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in TVP mixture and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer for five minutes and remove from heat.

To make the soup:

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion, carrot, and celery, then season a bit with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic, tomato paste, and sausage and allow to cook for about 1-2 more minutes, or until fragrant.

Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add frozen ravioli and stir gently to ensure they don't clump up. Use package directions to determine how much cooking time they need.

When the ravioli is cooked, stir in a few handfuls of baby spinach. Serve soup with some shredded vegan Parmesan and crusty bread or garlic toast.