This soup, originally by Dan Pelosi, was first seen in the cooking section of the New York Times. I read through the ingredients, mentally checking them off, and thought — I have everything. I don’t have to go the grocery store. This was a hit–loved it. I made a few changes (as always), and they are reflected in the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound loose sweet Italian sausage or sausage links, casings removed
• 1 medium white or yellow onion, finely diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried fennel seeds
• Salt and black pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (I use the kind from the tube)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (Cento is my favorite, but the puréed version of other brands can be used)
• 8 cups (64 ounces) vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 (20-ounce) package refrigerated tortellini, any variety (but I went with a sausage tortelloni to echo the flavors)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 bunch Tuscan (lacinato) kale, leaves stripped and chopped (I have used the regular curly kale, and it works fine)
• ½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1 lemon, juiced

Grated Parmesan, for serving

PREPARATION

1. If using the sausage, heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add the sausage in bite sized pieces and cook, breaking it up with a spoon as you go, until it is browned, 5 to 9 minutes. Push the sausage to one side of the pot and spoon out any excess grease, leaving about 2 tablespoons behind.
2. If necessary, adjust heat to medium, then add onion, garlic, paprika, fennel, 1½ teaspoons each salt and black pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the onion is just softened and everything is fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it darkens, 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust heat to high, stir in crushed tomatoes and stock, cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Add the tortellini and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the heavy cream, kale and basil, and cook, stirring, until warmed through and the kale and basil are just wilted, 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Stir to incorporate, then taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
5. Serve warm topped with grated Parmesan. Soup can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

I like the first corn chowder version on here, but I also like this second one; it’s a bit more brothy and the corn really stands out. I added a drizzle of cream to the above, but it was unnecessary. Just go with the recipe.

The only unusual ingredient here is Better Than Bullion, a type of flavoring base. I sometimes use it to ramp up the flavor, especially if I’ve used water as part of the equation (which I do).

Ingredients

8 small ears of fresh corn, or 4-6 large ears
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2 teaspoons Better Than Bullion Roast Chicken flavor
2 4-ounce packages of Trader Joe’s pancetta
1 large white onion, finely diced
2 large carrots (or 4 small ones), finely diced
1 lb. Yukon or equivalent potatoes, cut into 1/4″ slices (I used the small creamer potatoes, and was fine with that)
2 teaspoons salt — or to taste
several grinds of black pepper
medium pinch of red pepper flakes
chopped chives, for garnish

Instructions

One by one, place an ear of corn in a large bowl, and cut off kernels. Reserve kernels.

Place the chicken broth in a large pot, and add the corn cobs. Add water until the cobs are almost submerged; don’t use more than 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes, while making the rest of the chowder.

In a large saucepan, brown the pancetta until crispy, but not burned. Using a slotted spoon, remove pancetta to a bowl lined with a paper towel, and set aside for later.

To the pancetta fat, add the diced vegetables, stirring occasionally until they are soft, about 8 minutes over medium-low heat.

Now…back to the corn cobs. Using tongs, lift the cobs out of the large pot into a bowl, and then pour the broth/water through a strainer into a large clean bowl. Don’t throw away the cobs just yet.

Wipe out the large pot, and scrape the diced vegetables into the pot. Add the reserved corn kernels, sliced potatoes, corn broth/water, 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bullion Roast Chicken flavor, pinch of red pepper flakes, and the salt and pepper.

Stir well, and let simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 12 minutes). Meanwhile, go back to your cobs, and [if desired] scrape down the edges to extract the bits of the corn kernels that remain. Add to soup.

When potatoes are tender, and using a potato masher, crush the potatoes a few times to break them down and to thicken the soup slightly. (If the soup gets too thick, you can add more water or broth if needed.)

Season to taste, then add in the pancetta. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Serve in wide bowls, topped with the chopped chives and ground black pepper. My focaccia also goes well with this soup. This recipe makes a bunch — probably 8-10 servings — enough to share with a friend!

Thanksgiving 2022 was spent at my daughter’s home in a small town in Arizona. While we were there, two farm-to-table brown paper sacks were dropped off. I thought it was like Christmas with all this fresh produce from Rosebud Farms: pomegranates, red potatoes, cilantro, fresh baby greens, apples and several perfectly small ears of corn — baby corn. We served a salad that night with the fresh greens and arils, as earlier that afternoon I’d taught the charming granddaughter how to cut and submerge the pomegranate to pull out the tiny bits of red without getting it all over her.

As we were leaving the next morning, my daughter graciously gifted me the small ears of corn. We drove across the Mohave/Mojave, unpacked, and tired that night, I wanted something easy for dinner: Corn Chowder with fresh tender kernels of corn.

Fall Corn Chowder
4-5 small ears of corn, shucked, sliced off the cob (about 3 cups)**
2 slices of maple bacon, cut into small pieces
4 white rose potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 large onion (or 1 small onion) finely chopped
1/2 red or yellow pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup flour
approximately 6 cups chicken broth (three 14-oz cans), divided
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium saucepan, place the potatoes, covering with about 3 cups of chicken broth. You just want to cover the potatoes. The other chicken brother will be used later. Bring to a boil, then let simmer while you start the soup.
2. In a heavy soup pot, cook the bacon, stirring to separate, but pulling just before it gets too brown. Remove bacon to drain on a plate topped with paper towels.
3. To the bacon grease, add the onion and the pepper, and sauté until tender, without letting it burn or get brown.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the top of the vegetables. We’ll be making a type of roux, where you cook the rendered fat from the bacon with flour, to take out the floury taste of the thickener. Stir, and add salt and pepper. It will thicken up really quickly.
5. Using about 1/4 cup of reserved chicken broth at a time, add to the roux and vegetables. The first batch will be absorbed quickly. Add some more. And more, until you start to have a thickened paste.
6. Check the potatoes for doneness, then pour the entire pan (potatoes and hot broth) into the soup pot, stirring all the while. It should separate, then thicken back again.
7. Add more chicken broth until you like the consistency (I used all 6 cups), and simmer on low while you add:
   • cut corn
   • pinch of red pepper flakes
   • 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
   • salt and pepper to taste
8. Serve when corn is tender but still has some bit to it. We like to grind more pepper over the top, and sprinkle it with soup crackers.

**NOTE: If you are using summer corn, go for the most tender ears you can find, or cut back on the amount of corn to 2 1/2 cups or thereabouts.

A light, refreshing and delicious soup. I add a little bit of sriracha sauce to liven it up, but my husband liked it just as it was, although we agree that this should be salted to taste (in other words, add more). According to the New York Times, from where I adapted this recipe, donabe refers to the clay pot in which it is cooked as it keeps the soup hot longer. My enameled cast iron pot did just fine.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and halved
• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced into 1/8-inch-thick strips
•  Kosher salt and black pepper
• 8 ounces tender mushrooms, such as maitake, beech or enoki, or a combination, stemmed and broken into large clusters
• 6 ounces napa cabbage, chopped into 2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 6 ounces daikon, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise 1/4-inch thick 
• 3 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
• 2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup ponzu
• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• Chinese wide noodles, cooked according to package directions, then drained

PREPARATION

1. In a large Dutch oven, combine broth, garlic and ginger. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and add to pot. Bring to a boil over high, skimming the foam and fat that rises to the top and discarding it. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, occasionally stirring and skimming, until foam no longer appears in the broth, about 5 minutes. 
2. Add mushrooms, cabbage, daikon, scallions and carrot to the pot, arranging them in sections, and season with salt. Cover and simmer over medium to medium-low heat (maintain a good simmer, but do not boil) until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Discard ginger. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ponzu, sesame oil and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes, and mix well.
4. Also meanwhile, cook your noodles. We liked the version shown below.
5. Divide donabe among four bowls. Drizzle with some of the ponzu sauce and serve warm.

The noodles were first put in the bottom and the soup was ladled over it. This donabe is even better the next day, we think. We have also developed an affinity for daikon radishes, that when cooked remind us of a cross between a mild radish, a turnip, and a potato.