everything but the kitchen sink

one of the many perks of our profession is leftovers. sometimes i'll come home from a shoot with grocery bags full of leftover ingredients and then need to figure out what to do with twenty onions, two acorn squash and five boxes of fresh thyme. soup! better yet soupe au pistou with some crusty bread to soak up the flavorful broth on a cool autumn evening while watching the presidential election results and enjoying a nice bottle of pinot noir. pistou is just like pesto but without the pine nuts and adds great flavor to any vegetable soup. hopefully you'll use whatever random ingredients you have in your pantry to make some soup soon too!

Leftover Soupe au Pistou

5 sweet italian sausage, removed from casing

2 medium onions, chopped

2 carrots, peeled & chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 zucchini, chopped

1 acorn squash, peeled, seeds removed and chopped

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 cloves garlic, smashed

about 6 cups chicken stock (or half stock & half water)

1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes

2 cups cooked brown rice

In a large pot, saute sausage until brown. Drain and set aside. Saute onion, carrot and celery 5 minutes until soft and then add zucchini and squash. Cook 5 more minutes and then add rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Cover with stock, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add cooked sausage, tomatoes and brown rice and simmer until you're ready to eat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with a spoonful of pistou and grated parmesan cheese.