So we have spoken together so many times about soup, you and I, about how if you want to get a lot of flavour out of it, first you must put a lot of flavours INTO it, and this very simple little one pot soup is a perfect example of that.
First, to the name, well, in the early stages of its gestation, Mr T walked into the house, crinkled up his nose and said, What’s that? Old footy socks? I myself thought it smelled more like wet dog, so much so that we nearly didn’t eat it, but then, waste not, want not, and it was absolutely delicious! Not sure if it was the salami I used or what, but it was very stinky to begin with, so if yours does that, please, persevere.
Looks great doesn’t it! It is reminiscent of a minestrone, but if you look closer, the broth is clear.
Ingredients
This really is at it’s heart, a garden soup, so you can use whatever you like, this is what I used.
A little olive oil
50g salami, shredded
1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
1/2 red onion , finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 spring onions, sliced
1 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
2 button squash, quartered and sliced
4 large or many small tomatoes, I used a mixture from the garden, just chopped into chunks
8 olives, pitted and chopped into rough chunks
1 carrot, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup raw buckwheat
1 small can drained and rinsed four bean mix
chopped chives and chilli (optional) to top
So in a medium sized pot heat your olive oil, add your salami, sizzle for one minute, add your brown and red onion, cook until the brown onion is translucent, add garlic and spring onion, cook for half a minute, until everything starts to release it’s fragrance (hopefully not wet dog, like mine did), stir in your vegies and olives, cover with water, use a generous amount, the buckwheat (we add that next) will suck some up, you know how I sometimes say, cover with water? Maybe this time, cover with water to an inch above. Cook for five minutes, simply to get the carrot started.
Add the buckwheat and beans, simmer now until the buckwheat is tender all the way through, but not falling apart.
Season to taste, stir through the chopped chives and decant into bowls, this made four serves for me, but that depends on how hungry you are, Mr T did have two bowls full, so that proves the footy sock smell had definitely abated.
Top with chilli if you are having it, and there you go, wet dog soup.
*no dogs were harmed in the making of this soup.