Comforting Turkish Peasant Soup

Well, you don’t need to have a broken nose like me to enjoy this soup.

After spending the last couple days with a gigantic swollen nose, I just needed something soothing and comforting. This soup fits the bill.

Times like these are when I wish I lived closer to our families.

Mothers are supposed to care for their children whey they are ill, but since we live far away from our family members I made my own healing chicken soup. However, all the get-well email messages from them, friends and blog followers this week have cheered me up too. Çok teşekkürler!

I was looking through “The Sultan’s Kitchen” cookbook for inspiration and found a simple recipe that I had the ingredients for at home. Well, I didn’t have the turnips or leeks so I just omitted them and added the diced celeriac tops instead.

Cookbook author and Turkish chef Ozcan Ozan calls the soup köylü çorbası which I would translate to “village soup” since köy is the Turkish word for village. But in the cookbook, the title of the recipe is “Peasant Soup.”

No matter what you call it, this soup is simple and delicious. In fact, I often make versions of this kind of soup with whatever ingredients I have on hand in my kitchen.

Afiyet olsun!

Turkish Peasant Soup (Köylü çorbası)

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1          T.         sunflower or vegetable oil

1          T.         butter

1          med.    Onion, small diced

4-6       ea.        Garlic cloves, finely chopped

2          ea.        Carrots, small diced

2          ea.        Medium potatoes, small diced

2          ea.        Small celeriac (kereviz), peeled and small diced

1          ea.        medium green zucchini, small diced

½         c.         celeriac stalks or regular celery, small diced

Small handful  fresh parsley, finely chopped

500      g.         (1 #)     chicken or turkey, cut into small chunks

¼         c.         all-purpose flour

6          c.         (1.5 L.) chicken stock

To taste           salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:           lemon wedges

In a large stock pot, heat the oil and butter. Add the onion and garlic, cooking for a few minutes until they are softened.

Add the diced vegetables, chicken or turkey and parsley.

Stir in the flour and mix well until all the ingredients are lightly coated with the flour. 

Add the stock and bring to a boil. (I added a packet of tavuk suyu as well.) Then, lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and let cook for 30 minutes, or until are the vegetables are tender.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Like nearly all Turkish soups, serve a bowl of this soup with lemon wedges. The lemon adds a nice tartness to the soup.