the mark bittman minimalist club: soup no. 2

Before we get started here, I'd like to ask that you consider the soup I'm about to share—soup no. 2, Escarole Soup With Rice—with an open mind. Because I fear that you're biased against it. I fear that by confessing in my last post that this soup, soup no. 2, would probably lose in a soup deathmatch to soup no. 1, Asparagus, Pancetta, and Rice Soup, you've already decided you'll never make it. Which, to be frank, is terribly judgmental of you. And while it's fine to be judgmental of teabaggers and hipsters in skinny jeans and books based on their covers, let us not judge food before we've tasted it, shall we, bitches?

Or shall we?

A confession: I judged this soup as soon as I read the recipe. For starters, I'd just spent nearly a week eating soup no. 1, which is so tasty I was sure this one couldn't compare. And the spring vegetable featured in this soup is escarole, which is basically bitter lettuce,


whereas the spring vegetable in soup no. 1 is asparagus, which is basically delicious. Also, the asparagus soup contains pancetta, and it's pretty hard to top pancetta, unless you are topping it with bacon, and there is no bacon in soup no. 2.

But it turns out soup no. 2 has its own secret weapon: toasted garlic.


And it turns out the escarole sweetens as it cooks, so the finished dish isn't full of bitter lettuce, it's swimming with tender ribbons of greens. This soup's only flaw may actually be aesthetic—the escarole is delicious after it's been sautéed with the onions and braised in the broth, but its color turns to army green.

Overall, soups no. 1 and 2 are very similar: broth is host to some rice, a spring vegetable, and a secret weapon, and both soups are enhanced by a good dose of Parmesan. And they're both easily modified, either to look more like each other, or something else entirely: use pancetta here; enhance the asparagus soup with toasted garlic; substitute the white for brown rice; add bacon. No, seriously: Why not add some bacon?

Escarole Soup With Rice
From the New York Times

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely minced, plus 4 or 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
½ cup chopped onions [I used one medium yellow onion.]
4 cups coarsely chopped escarole (about one head) [my head of escarole yielded more than 4 cups, closer to 6 or 8, so I upped the quantities of everything else.]


6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or water [I used a combination of Imagine No-Chicken Broth and my favorite bouillon, for a total of about 8 or 9 cups]
¼ cup short-grain white rice, like arborio [I closer to ½ cup of arborio, but I think any white rice would do.]
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Put 2 tablespoons oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add onions and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 more minutes [I went closer to 10]. Add escarole and cook, tossing gently, until it begins to wilt, about another 3 minutes.

2. Add stock and rice to the pan, bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and cook about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

3. Meanwhile, put remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small skillet. When oil is hot, add sliced garlic and cook over medium-low heat until it turns golden brown and begins to crisp. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside.

4. When rice is cooked through, season soup with salt and pepper, top with a grating of Parmesan and garnish with garlic slivers. [I added plenty of Parm and ended up crumbling the garlic slivers into the soup.]

soup no. 1

I recently made a couple of similar soups, both of which feature an early-spring vegetable, rice, and a secret-weapon ingredient. I'd originally planned to pit the two soups and their secret weapons against each other in a match to the death on this bl*g, but I actually really like them both, and why does everything have to be a contest all the time, anyway?

Then I thought I'd take the best of both soups and combine them into a super soup—a souper!—but I'd like full credit for having made them both and am not up for the math and Sophie's-Choice-type decisions involved in combining them. So I present to you no. 1 of 2, Asparagus, Rice, and Pancetta Soup.

[If there was in fact going to be a soup deathmatch, I think this one would win—I'm quite smitten with it, even after eating it for a week straight. It's certainly delicious and good looking enough to serve to guests, plus the flavors are more complex than soup no. 2. I love the little bits of pancetta and grains of rice in every bite, and the cheese adds an unexpected richness. But this is not a contest.]

A few notes:

1. The original recipe calls for a "small bunch of thyme, leaves only." The first time I made this soup I had the yachtsman remove the leaves from the stems of the thyme; there was a lot of complaining, because it turns out this is a very irritating job. The second time I made this the yachtsman was out of town so I had to do my own menial labor, and I was able to get about 2 tablespoons of thyme leaves before I went insane, hence the measurement in the recipe. Do what you can, as the thyme does add a nice flavor.



2. The original recipes calls for chicken stock; I used Imagine's No Chicken Broth, because though I apparently have no problem with the pig (which is, in fact, this soup's secret weapon), I'm still disturbed by poultry. Any good stock will do, but it really should be good, as it's the backbone of this dish.

3. I translated this recipe from the British, however both times I made it I forgot to measure my weighed cheese before I dumped it in the pot. Let's just say it's a lot of cheese. Maybe ¾ cup? Does that seem excessive? Could everyone just buy a scale already? The next time I make this I'll update the recipe; in the meantime, use the power of the Force or the ghost of Julia Child or whoever as your guide. But do add the cheese—the first time I made this I tasted the soup pre-cheese, and it was so good I couldn't imagine the cheese would improve on it. But it does. Just ask Yoda or Julia Child or whoever.

Asparagus, Rice, and Pancetta Soup
Adapted from My Favourite Ingredients by Skye Gyngell



2–3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme (leaves only)
s&p
5 slices of pancetta, chopped into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup white rice
4 cups good stock
2 cups water
~15 asparagus spears
75 g freshly grated Parmesan

1. Warm enough olive oil to cover the bottom of your Dutch oven over medium/medium-low heat. Add the onions, thyme, and a pinch of salt


and sweat for 10 minutes or until the onions are soft, sweet, and translucent.

2. Add the pancetta pieces and the garlic and cook for another 10 minutes or so, then add the rice and give everything a quick stir. Add the stock and water, and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan, and cook until the rice is done but still chewy, ~20 minutes.

3. While the rice is cooking, prepare the asparagus. Snap off and discard the ends, then slice the stalks into short pieces. Add the asparagus to the soup and cook for 2–3 minutes until just tender. Add the parmesan and stir. Season with s&p.