Alright, so it’s getting pretty cold out and we’ve already had our first snow, which for me, means that it’s officially time to start making soups! There’s something so comforting about a hot bowl of soup in the winter and I have the perfect recipe to start the season!
Italian Orzo Spinach Soup
**recipe from www.gimmesomeoven.com**
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) whole wheat orzo pasta
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 4 cups loosely-packed spinach
- Salt and black pepper
- Optional toppings: freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes
Directions:
Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 4 minutes, until soft. Add carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for an additional 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, orzo (pasta), thyme, oregano, rosemary and stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente. Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is bright green and wilted. Taste, and season with salt and black pepper as needed. (Also feel free to add more of the thyme, oregano and rosemary, if you’d like.) Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.
This soup is super easy and delicious. The great thing about this recipe is that once you’ve made it, you can play around with the ingredients a little bit depending on what you like. For instance, I tend to not measure the ingredients and just throw a bunch of extra carrots and celery in because it’s healthy, filling, and I love the veggies. You can add other veggies that you like and even beans or chicken for extra protein. One change that I always make is I cook the orzo separately rather than in the soup. I make a big pot of this soup to make sure I have some for lunch and extra meals so it stays in the fridge for a few days. I notice that when the pasta is sitting in the soup for a longer time, it tends to absorb a lot of the liquid and it ends up being less soupy. So I cook the orzo separately and store in a separate container. This way, when I’m reheating, I just add the amount of pasta I want to the bowl and then I can make it as soupy as I want!
So warm your family up with a big bowl of soup!
She discovered her passion for the neurologic pediatric and adult population during her clinical affiliation at a special services school in Cape May, New Jersey. She is an active member of the APTA and continues to take post-graduate course work related to treatment methods for neurological diagnoses.
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