Eating In: Greek Orzo Soup
By Rachelle Bowden in Food on Dec 8, 2004 12:53PM
It is a cold, gray rainy winter day in Chicago, the kind of day that calls for soup. Good homemade soup. Chicagoist likes soup but lacks the time to do the legwork of making soup from scratch on a weeknight after work. So here’s a cheat version of a simple, tasty, nurturing soup that is a version of a soup that Mrs. Chicagoist used to get in Greektown when she worked nearby. Just so everyone understands, we don’t measure when we cook, so everything here is a rough estimate. This takes about 15-20 minutes to make.
What you need:
1 large white onion
4-6 cloves of garlic (depends on how much you like garlic)
1 lemon
1 package of frozen chopped spinach
3 cans of chicken broth (vegetable broth will also work) 12oz can more or less
1 cup orzo (rice shaped pasta)
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
In a large pot or saucepan, heat up the olive oil. Chop the garlic fine and toss it into the pan. Medium dice the onion and in it goes, sweat the onion until it turns translucent. Add the broth (3 cans) reuse a broth can to add 1-2 cans full of water. Bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer. Let the spinach thaw, or defrost it in the microwave then toss in the spinach (or you can toss it in frozen and set the burner at medium to help it thaw). Zest half the lemon and add the zest to the pot. Toss in the orzo (you can use other pasta types, but orzo works really well.) Stir occasionally until the orzo is cooked. (This is when you can prep the garnish, see below) Salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze the lemon at the last minute and ladle into bowls.
Variations:
Add fresh thyme, rosemary or parsley if available.
Add carrots, if you want more vegetable goodness.
Once when we were both sick, I used a whole head of garlic.
Hot pepper flakes can spice it up.
Garnish:
Get a baguette, slice into _ inch thick slices then brush with olive oil. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven until toasted. Sprinkle toasted slices with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and put under the broiler until browned (this won’t take long)
Enjoy.
Thanks, Kevin!