This time of year, all I want to eat all day long is soup and bread. No joke, this morning I had a mug of Vermont cheddar cheese soup and a slice of ciabatta for breakfast. That same meal will likely be lunch and dinner today, and I am not the slightest worried I will lose interest in the combination.

When this cheesy pot runs dry, next up will be my favorite lentil soup, followed by this pantry tomato soup, a family favorite. I’ve rounded up all of my favorite soups for winter below along with a few of my favorite breads to eat alongside. And if you’ve yet to make a bread bowl this season, I think it’s time 🎉🎉🎉 Find guidance below.

Happy Souping, Friends.


This post is organized as follows:

The Soups

Two Stocks

Using good, flavorful stock will ensure you produce a good, flavorful soup. For many years, I used homemade chicken stock exclusively, but more and more, I find vegetable stock to be just as effective, and in a pinch, I’ll simply use water. Here are the two stock recipes I use most often:

Bread for Soup

Below you will find recipes for a few of my favorite “soup” breads: ciabatta, focaccia, and peasant bread. And if you love the peasant bread, you will love transforming it into a bread bowl. Pictured below is one of the peasant bread loaves, innards removed and drizzled with olive oil, the cavity filled with spinach-artichoke dip. For soup, leave the cavity empty and toast the croutons and the bowl together for roughly 10 minutes at 450ºF. Fill the bowl with soup out of the oven.

A sheet pan filled with a peasant bread bread bowl filled with spinach-artichoke dip.
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15+ Warming Soups for Winter: White Bean & Escarole Soup

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Description

Inspired by a soup served at Gershon’s, a famous deli just down the road. If you have cooked beans on hand and homemade chicken stock on hand, this soup comes together in a flash, and, like most soups, tastes better with time. Here the flavor of the sausage infuses the broth slowly, making it tastier with each passing day.

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 cups homemade chicken stock
  • 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. escarole, depending on tastes
  • 1 lb. hot Italian sausage, removed from casing
  • 2 to 3 cups cooked white beans (or two 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed)
  • kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • Parmigiano Reggiano for serving

Instructions

  1. Place stock in a large soup pot and bring to a very gentle simmer. If you have a rind from a wedge of Parmigiano or Pecorino or something of the like, drop it into the stock. Meanwhile, cut the core end of the escarole off and place the leaves in a large bowl filled with cold water. Let sit for at least 5 minutes. Scoop the leaves out and place in a colander. Roughly chop the leaves — you don’t want the leaves to be teensy, but you don’t want them to be so large that they are falling out of your spoon either.
  2. Meanwhile, brown the sausage over medium heat in a skillet. (No need to add any oil to the pan to brown it — the fat from the sausage should be enough.) Once it is mostly cooked through, transfer it to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
  3. Add 2 cups of white beans to the soup pot. Add a half pound of the escarole to the pot. Pat it down with a wooden spoon so that it’s submerged. Once it has wilted, add the sausage. Stir. If the soup looks like it needs more beans and greens, add them; if you like your soup on the brothier side, let it be. (Note: I add the full pound of greens and 3 cups of beans.) Simmer 15 minutes.Taste the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note: This soup gets better with every passing day. As it sits in the fridge, the sausage (and the Parmigiano rind if you are using it) really flavor the broth.
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: Italian