I Make This Soup Whenever I Have Leftover Vegetables.
The cold and windy weather of the past week has inspired me to stay indoors. Many. I think I left home one day and hated it very much. At the end of the week, I didn’t have many ingredients left to make any particular dish. I looked around the kitchen, rummaged through the refrigerator and found five forgotten new potatoes, two chicken sausages and one zucchini. Divided between two people, this meal is underwhelming on its own, but like jumbotta, it can be a winter meal to look forward to.
“Giambotta” is also spelled “ciambotta” (and if you’re part of my partner’s family, pronounce it “jom-both”) and is originally from Southern Italy. This hearty vegetable stew is one of those great, flexible dishes that can be modified depending on what you have on hand and how your family likes to eat it. Although I only started eating it when my partner started making it for me, I already know how I prefer it. Personally, zucchini is a must here, and I like large vegetables. He likes the broth less watery, but I don’t mind.
However, you can change this soup a little to suit your taste. Your jumbotta may have a barely tomato-like broth that looks more yellow; your neighbor may prefer a thicker, brighter sauce with a tomato flavor. The consistent ingredients I always see are potatoes, onions, some kind of tomato additions, and zucchini.
Additionally, you can add chopped chicken, sausage, a can of chickpeas, wilted greens, or chopped carrots. Basically, whatever you have on hand. I love this soup for Thursday or Friday nights, when I use up bits and bobs that never made it into anything earlier in the week – baby zucchini, five new potatoes, frozen tomato sauce that lives in my freezer . This is the best soup to make when you need to buy time between trips to the grocery store.
This soup is delicious served as is, with a dollop of rice, or topped with short wavy pasta. Zucchini tends to get mushy when reheated the next day, so I like to finish the whole batch without leaving any leftovers.
Giambotta recipe
Ingredients:
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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½ small onion, chopped
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1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
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4-6 new potatoes, halved
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4 mushrooms, chopped
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2 chicken sausages, halved lengthwise and sliced
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1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
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¼ teaspoon salt
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½ cup seasoned tomato sauce
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2 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and add onion, potatoes and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onions begin to sweat and the potatoes are coated in oil and fragrant. This should take about three minutes.
2. Add mushrooms, pieces of chicken sausage and zucchini. Stir occasionally for another three minutes until they begin to cook and begin to color.
3. Add salt, tomato sauce and broth. Stir and then cover the pan with a lid. Leave the soup to simmer until the potatoes are ready. This will take about five minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.
Please note that I do not have any additional dry seasonings in this recipe – because I use homemade tomato sauce. I suggest using a pre-seasoned sauce or adding some dry seasonings (like garlic powder, onion powder or dry chili flakes) to suit your taste.