Soup Sunday: Creamy Cabbage Soup with Gruyere

So far this winter has been giving us a lot of good soup and stew days! So last Sunday when it was in the 20s and windy, I went in search of a hearty soup recipe. I found this one on the New York Times web site for Creamy Cabbage Soup and instantly decided to give it a try.

I made a few changes, noted in italics in the recipe below.



Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 russet potato, peeled and grated (don't do this until you are ready to use it as the potato will become discolored if grated too early)
• 3/4 lb cabbage (about 1/2 medium head), cored and grated (Grating it was annoying me, so I sliced it and then chopped it. I liked the consistency, and it took less time than grating would have)
• Salt to taste
• 5 cups water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock (I used vegetable stock)
• 1 Parmesan rind
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 c low-fat milk (ok, so I know they were trying to make it healthy, but using low-fat milk in a soup doesn't do anything for me. I used heavy cream instead. Normally I'd use light cream, but heavy was what I had in.)
• 1 c grated Gruyere cheese
• For garnish: homemade croutons, minced chives

Directions

• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot.
• Add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add the potato, cabbage, and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir together for a minute, taking care that the potatoes don't stick to the pot.
• Add the stock, Parmesan rind, and salt/pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
• Add the milk (cream) to the soup. Stir to combine well and heat through without boiling.
• A handful at a time, stir the Gruyere into the soup and continue to stir until the cheese has melted.
• Taste, adjust seasonings. Remove the Parmesan rind.
• Serve, garnishing each bowl with some croutons and minced chives.

Croutons: I took sourdough bread leftover from the previous night's dinner, cut into cubes, and tossed it with some olive oil and a few pinches of thyme. I put them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until golden and toasted.

This soup was so creamy, delicious, and full of flavor. On top of that, it was ridiculously easy to make, even with chopping the cabbage. I loved the addition of the thyme to the breadcrumbs, and felt that the flavor mixed perfectly with the soup. I ate this one for lunches all week!