Basque Soup

Here is a soup I made Friday night and served with freshly baked Seven-Grain Bread. We loved this!


Basque Soup

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage (either links or bulk -- I used bulk)
1 cup chopped onions
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes (don’t drain)
3 medium potatoes, cubed, skins on
1 cup chopped celery (include some celery leaves)
1/4 cup snipped parsley (or use 1 Tblsp. or so parsley flakes)
4 cups water
2 tsp. beef bouillon granules (or use 2 beef bouillon cubes)
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Slice or crumble the sausage -- slice it if it’s in links, crumble it if it’s bulk sausage. (I often have trouble finding bulk Italian sausage when recipes call for it, but my supermarket sells Italian sausage patties which can be used the exact same way.) Brown the sausage and the onion together in a Dutch oven. Add all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer the soup for 1 1/2 hours. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

This recipe comes from my favorite cooking newsletter, COOK & TELL (see link in sidebar). It was in the September 1998 issue and is just delicious. I am not sure whether or not it’s completely authentic, but it does taste reminiscent of some Basque food we have had, and we absolutely loved this soup. Last summer in Nevada we had the opportunity to enjoy some authentic Basque food. We had dinner at a Basque dinner house and also ate lunch at a restaurant in a Basque hotel. In both cases the soup we had with our meal was a Basque vegetable soup. It was good, but this is even better!