Turkey and Cabbage Soup with Potatoes Recipe
As it happens, turkey is an exotic bird for me personally. My grandmother in the village didn't raise turkeys, mostly chickens and geese. I remember the neighbors' turkeys sometimes walking down the street, big as horses and bad-tempered as little puppies. Not much of a bird, then, but it does make a good turkey and cabbage soup.
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large bird. The wild turkey comes from America and is a close relative of the pheasant. Wild turkeys can weigh up to 8 kg, and domestic ones, they say, can reach 35 kg (!).
Turkey meat is very tasty and nutritious, although not especially tender. It's more like young veal than chicken. In live weight the turkey is second perhaps only to the ostrich. I once saw a domestic turkey weighing over 20 kg. A single leg can feed the whole family, and even the cat.
Turkey meat is considered lean and contains a lot of easily digestible protein.
But turkey isn't only good roasted; it makes excellent soups. Turkey meat gives a wonderfully rich broth. American cuisine has plenty of turkey soups. My favorite is turkey soup with cabbage: tasty and clear, a great option for breakfast. This turkey soup follows a recipe shared by a friend from Canada.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Turkey meat 300 g
- Cabbage 300 g
- Carrot 1
- Onion 1
- Garlic 1 clove
- Potatoes 1-2
- Celery root and parsnip 50 g each
- Dried herbs, olive oil, salt, ground black pepper, bay leaf, parsley to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- Since a single turkey leg can hold up to a kilogram of meat, it's better to cut the meat into pieces beforehand and use them as needed. Trim off membranes and skin; you can leave the bone. Cut the meat into portion-sized pieces. One leg is enough to make turkey soup three times!
- Bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil in a pot and add the turkey meat. Make a turkey broth. Simmer the turkey for about half an hour, then let the broth stand for another hour. Or, if you're short on time, simmer the turkey for an hour and use the broth for the soup right away.
- Peel the carrot for the turkey soup and cut it into large pieces. Peel the celery and parsnip roots and cut them into thin strips. Peel the onion and cut it into thick strips lengthwise, along the grain. That way the onion won't cook down to mush and will stay whole. Peel the garlic and crush it with the flat of a knife.
- In a deep skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and let it get quite hot, until it gives off its characteristic smell. Fry the carrot, onion and roots in the oil, stirring constantly. The onion should start to brown and the carrot should soften.
- While the vegetables fry, add 1-2 bay leaves and the crushed garlic clove to the broth. Season the broth lightly with salt and pepper and add a couple of pinches of dried herbs used in Mediterranean or Provençal cooking. Stores usually sell decent blends of these herbs with no additives, but you can make your own by mixing a pinch each of basil, marjoram, sage, savory, oregano, mint and thyme, to your taste. This blend is great for soups.
- Add the fried vegetables to the broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat. Then remove the bay leaves and add the potatoes cut into large cubes. Cook for another 15 minutes.
- For the turkey and cabbage soup, shred the white cabbage very thinly. You can do this with a special shredder, which I don't have, or with a very sharp knife.
- Add the shredded cabbage to the turkey soup and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper of the turkey and cabbage soup to taste.
- Ladle the finished turkey soup into bowls and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
| Serves: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 33 |
| Prep: | 60 mins |
| Cook: | 30 mins |
| Total: | 1 h 30 mins |
| Category: | Soups |
| Cuisine: | American cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.4
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