Quick vegetable soup with lovage

Quick Vegetable Soup with Lovage

Most of the time, when I want a quick soup and don’t have time to chop many vegetables, I use a food processor. It works very well, and the soup is ready in half the usual time. I’ve noticed that you can adjust how large the pieces remain, depending on your preferences. It’s a recipe I often turn to, especially when I have leftover chicken soup or scraps in the fridge.

Quick Info

Total time: approx. 20-25 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes (with food processor)
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Servings: 4
Difficulty: easy
Recipe type: quick, everyday soup

Ingredients

1 liter chicken broth
1 onion
1 carrot
1 potato
1 parsnip
1 piece of celery root (about the size of a small egg)
1 tablespoon bell pepper paste
A handful of noodles
Fresh parsley
Fresh lovage
3 tablespoons sour cream
Borscht, to taste (for sourness)

Preparation Method

1. Put the chicken broth in a pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, peel the onion, carrot, potato, parsnip, and celery root. Put them in the food processor and coarsely chop them. You can adjust the size of the pieces according to preference; sometimes I leave them larger for texture.

3. When the broth starts to boil, add all the chopped vegetables and the tablespoon of bell pepper paste. Stir gently. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. If you have larger pieces, you can extend the time by a few minutes.

4. Add the noodles to the soup and let it boil for another 5 minutes. The noodles cook quite quickly, so don’t add them from the start.

5. Chop the fresh parsley and lovage.

6. The souring agent is added at the end. Pour in borscht to taste, depending on how sour you want the soup to be. Stir.

7. Take a ladle of hot soup and put it in a bowl. Mix it with the sour cream, then pour the mixture back into the pot. This way, the sour cream won’t curdle.

8. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the chopped parsley and lovage on top.

Why I Make the Recipe Often

It’s one of the simplest and quickest soups I can prepare anytime. You don’t need many ingredients, and if you use the food processor, the vegetable part goes very quickly. It’s a flexible recipe and good for days when you want something light, without complications.

Tips and Variations

Tips
If you have older vegetables in the fridge, you can use them without any issues.
If you want a thicker soup, cut the vegetables larger and don’t boil them too long.
If you want to keep the soup’s bright color, don’t let the vegetables boil too long.

Substitutions
Chicken broth can be replaced with vegetable broth or even water, although the taste will be less rich.
Borscht can be replaced with lemon juice for a different sour note if you don’t have borscht on hand.

Variations
You can add other vegetables to taste (bell peppers, zucchini).
For a noodle-free version, omit the noodles or replace them with separately cooked rice.
If you want a heartier soup, add a few small pieces of leftover meat from the chicken soup.

Serving Ideas
The soup is good both hot and reheated. You can serve it simply, with fresh bread or with hot peppers, if you like.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I make the soup without a food processor?
Yes, but it will take longer to chop the vegetables. You can dice them or grate them.

2. What do I do if I don’t have borscht?
You can sour the soup with lemon juice or vinegar if you don’t have borscht on hand. Taste and adjust gradually.

3. How long should the vegetables be boiled?
Usually, 5-7 minutes is enough if they are chopped in the processor, but it depends on how large you leave them. The potatoes should be soft at the end.

4. Can I add meat to this soup?
If you have boiled meat from the chicken soup, you can add it at the end, before putting in the noodles.

5. Can the soup be made only with water, without chicken broth?
Yes, it’s fine with water, but the taste won’t be as rich. In this case, you can increase the amount of vegetables or use a vegetable cube.

Nutritional Values

Estimate for one serving (out of 4), with sour cream:
Calories: ~120 kcal
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Fat: 4 g

Values may vary depending on the amount of sour cream, type of broth, and how much noodles you use. The soup is generally light, suitable for a light meal.

Storage and Reheating

Lovage vegetable soup can be stored in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 3 days. When reheating, stir gently so the noodles don’t stick. I don’t recommend freezing, as the texture of the vegetables and noodles doesn’t hold up as well. The added sour cream may separate, so if you know you’ll be storing the soup for a longer time, add the sour cream only to the portions you serve immediately.

We put the chicken soup in a pot and heat it up. In the meantime, we clean all the vegetables and chop them in a food processor. We leave the vegetables as large as we want them to be. When the soup starts to boil, we add the vegetables and let it cook for about 5 minutes, or depending on how large the pieces are. We add the noodles and let it cook for another 5 minutes. We chop the lovage and parsley. We sour the soup with borscht. In a bowl, we take a ladle of soup and mix it with sour cream. We put it back in the pot. We turn off the heat and add the greens.

 Ingredients: 1 liter of chicken soup, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 potato, 1 parsnip, 1 piece of celery root, pepper paste, a handful of noodles, fresh parsley and lovage, 3 tablespoons of sour cream, borscht

 Tags:  soup vegetable soup