At least once a fortnight, I’ll cook pasta soup.
I’ve blogged about this before, but it’s constantly evolving.
Last night I used nitrate-free bacon offcuts from our friend Johnny, half a packet of leftover pasta, garden beans, onion, carrot, potatoes and a tin each of lentils and chick peas. It was seasoned with a little paprika and topped with garlic croutons made from stale sourdough. The entire pot cost me under $5.
This dish is a house staple – we call it “pasta soup” and occasionally “survival soup”. When we moved into our house more than 25 years ago, we had very little cashflow and pasta soups even sparser than this were what kept us going. We’ve made a variation of this weekly or fortnightly ever since, and Small Man has been known to eat six bowls at one sitting. For all of us, it is quite literally the taste of home.
You know, we don’t need to eat this frugally anymore.
But I keep making our pasta soup, not just because everyone loves it, not just because I can assemble it in my sleep, and not just because it’s a reasonably healthy vegetable and legume laden meal.
I also make it because it’s good to practise frugality and because it’s good to remember when times were a bit harder. It’s good to teach our sons that food made with love and eaten together as a family is grand, regardless of how “humble” it might be. It’s good to cook large, generous dishes that can be shared with anyone who walks in the door at the last minute.
Pasta soup night, at least for me, is always a time for reflection and gratitude. I remember when our elderly neighbour brought over that first covered bowl of peas, spring onions and broken spaghetti. I watch with joy as Big Boy and Small Man eat their bowls of soup with the same excitement as they would an aged steak. And I feel incredibly grateful that not only have we always had enough to eat, but that it’s always been delicious and nourishing. Even when it’s a simple pasta soup. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I love homemade soup. The fact that they are frugal makes it even better. Thanks for your post!
Very timely. Frugal is always good. Thank you for the reminder.
Looks yum, I will make it. Frugal is always better when it is not a necessity but a reminder.
That is exactly the kind of thing I grew up on, Italian “peasant food” style soups. I make it for my boys all the time and they love it.
Wow.. looks yummy.
There is *always* a pot of soup going on here, even in the boiling heat of our tropical summer. Home made stock, vegetable scraps, meat scraps, onions fried in bacon fat, leftover curry, whatever comes to hand. You taste, you salt, you spice, you adjust; a bit of balsamico, a bit of anchovy paste, a glug of pomegranate syrup, and there’s a bowl of happiness waiting for whoever needs feeding. Frugal tastes wonderful!
This is a lovely, timely post. Reflection and gratitude are words that spring to my mind.
Life has been busy. I have not visited your blog for some time. Love the comments from your readers.
I sed to make pasta soup when my son was a baby but have forgotten it for a while. Thanks for the lovely reminder!
The soup you show is like the pasta fagioli at the Olive Garden restaurant here in the USA..It is not cheap to eat it at all, I finally figured out how to make it and we love it – it soothes our soul, more rain here now rainiest weather since Oct 2016 than 50 years or so, we have only lived here in our home since September 1978 so almost 40 years, dreary and depressing and we got lots of snow tooo..Soup soothes a persons soul, I find it great..Love your blog!
I love the comfort of soup (all year round) and always have some in our fridge and freezer. It’s a reliable lunch for us retirees. My standby recipe is a bit more flexible though … it goes like this … open the fridge door, rummage around for the tired bits from the veggie drawers, add some home made stock paste and whatever else takes my fancy to give taste and texture, boil ‘er up for a couple of hours and that’s it. The pressure cooker version gets a bowl on the table more quickly. My go to ingredient at the moment is large couscous, very nice. We are enjoying bacon and veggie soup (with large couscous) and bacon, potato, leak, sweet corn chowder at present. We are off on our mobile home travels in a week so have frozen soups as well as casseroles in our freezer to provide comfort food on our travels. I’ll be following your inspiring posts along the way, thank you
Cucina Povera sustained many a body and soul and it’s the kind of food that welcomes many to its table. I think i may have told you once before that in the early years of our marriage the Butcher thought our dog ate very well! In fact, i was cooking the things my parents had cooked. As you say, Celia, it”s good to be reminded of when times were harder for us and also that we are very fortunate.
Such wise words Celia, and I love the community of like minded folks you have gathered via your blog.
Soup is always welcome in my house regardless of how frugal the means. Often inexpensive ingredients make the best meals.
Sage words and philosophy indeed, lovely. xx
Love homemade soup….great for using leftovers and I always have some in the freezer for a quick meal with some bread and cheese
With the quality of the produce you use that does not look in any way frugal! It actually looks like a bowl of soup from a smart Italian Trattoria,