Come Heat or High Water, I’m Making This “Tuesday Nights” Soup the Rest of Summer
Welcome to Milk Street Souper Club, a series dedicated to the die-hard soup lovers out there who eat it all year long, no matter the weather.
Look, I don’t want to hear it. Yes, it’s summertime. Yes, it is close to 90 degrees. Yes, the humidity hasn’t dipped below 60% in months. None of that matters. The soup is calling, and I must make it.
The general consensus seems to be that when the temperatures are high, your food should be cool. I don’t entirely disagree, but just because I’m choosing to actively ignore the fact that I don’t live in a year-round autumnal utopia doesn’t mean that I don’t still want to celebrate our warm weather’s bounty. This fresh, simple Tuscan-Style Spring Vegetable Soup from Tuesday Nights Mediterraneanhelps me do just that. And in 30 minutes, no less.
It’s based on Garmugia, a Tuscan springtime staple that marries beef and veal with spring-ready vegetables—artichokes, peas, fava beans and asparagus—to create a hearty, veggie-packed broth that is rich, flavorful and filling, but still light.
To make this soup more of a year-round affair, Milk Street’s version only relies on fresh asparagus and scallions, opting for convenient and cost-effective frozen peas and canned artichokes. Though beef and veal are found in traditional Garmugia, the meat plays more of a supportive role in building the soup’s flavor, and easy-to-source pancetta works as an excellent stand-in. And for an extra kick of umami, we throw in a parmesan rind.
How to build a better broth
Store-bought broth, be it chicken, beef or (most of all) vegetable, is absolute garbage. Think about the last time you shelled out $3+ dollars only to open the container and pour out what looks like murky tap water with just a hint of chicken, beef or veggies.
To remedy this, we introduce a few “broth boosters” to punch up the flavor. In Tuscany, they use veal stock, but we found that store-bought pancetta was able to pull double duty. First, pancetta is rendered in olive oil, providing flavor and the perfect cooking fat for the scallion whites and thyme. The broth also gets secondary seasoning from what the pancetta is cured with: salt, peppercorns and juniper berries.
The second “broth booster” might surprise you. Good Parmesan doesn't just taste better than the pre-grated stuff, it comes with a bonus flavor enhancer. Once you've grated every last bit of cheese, the rind can be added to your soups, stews, risottos and even pasta water for an instant jolt of umami. Just be sure to remove it before serving though—it will melt, and not in a good way.
(Pro-tip: If you’re strictly on the store-bought grated Parmesan train but still want the benefit of a Parm rind, many grocery stores like Whole Foods sell packs of rinds in the specialty cheese and meat section for a reasonable price.)
Fresh asparagus brings a lot to the pot
It’s not technically asparagus season, but a big perk of moving South is that I now reap the benefits of longer produce timelines. Farmer’s markets are still in full swing, so what better time to snap up what’s left of the harvest?
I also have a newfound appreciation for asparagus. Until I reached adulthood, asparagus was a wet, limp, flavorless stalk; Now, I understand that, if treated properly, asparagus can be incredibly versatile, and downright delicious.
Here, asparagus and peas put the springtime in this spring soup, and the tender-crisp asparagus provides crunch to contrast the other softened vegetables in the pot. Adding it at the very end is critical, unless you want floppy bites; “al dente” is a term that applies to asparagus as much as pasta. (For best results, avoid stalks thinner than a pencil.)
Not only does the asparagus bring much-needed texture to the mix, it also offers grassy, herbaceous, slightly bitter flavor in every spoonful. It’s the perfect contrast to the meatiness of the pancetta, sweetness of the frozen peas, slight tang of the artichoke and heat of the freshly-cracked black pepper. Fresh asparagus and scallions may be crucial to the soup, but it’s the frozen peas and canned artichokes that add bulk and make it a full meal.
The real star is the Parmesan toast
It doesn’t get much simpler than slices of crusty country bread brushed with generous glugs of olive oil (make sure you’re using the best you can find), sprinkled liberally with grated Parmesan and briefly set under a broiler. And yet, the accompanying toasts are the the key to elevating this recipe from just another soup to one I truly cannot stop thinking about.
The little toasts act much like croutons, only with a layer of savory cheese that melts into the bread. It’s the perfect symphony of the flavors built in the broth, the Parm and the bread melded together into every bite. You’ll have plenty of soup for leftovers, but the toasts? Those’ll be gone the same day.
For even more elevation, drizzle each bowl with olive oil just before serving. Not only will it provide extra richness, it’ll also give the soup one more note of subtle fruity flavor.
This Tuscan-style soup is the perfect example of one of Christopher Kimball’s core beliefs: Cooking should be a pleasure. And it is. Ten minutes of prep (if you chop fast), 20 minutes of active cooking, simple and satisfying flavors. I’ve already got the ingredients in my cart, queued up for next week.
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Sydney Manning
Sydney Manning is the Managing Digital Editor at Milk Street. She holds a BS in Marketing Communication from Emerson College, and an MLA in Gastronomy from Boston University. For the past five years at Milk Street, Sydney has worked as a social media editor, blogger, podcaster, project manager and book marketer. In her free time she enjoys cooking with friends, reading and antiquing. She lives in South Carolina with her family.
