Ah yes, soup. A hot bowl of sopa always seems to hit the spot on a cold winter or early spring day (or pretty much anytime the mood strikes). Whether it is a hearty black-bean or a low-calorie winter vegetable blend, there is something inexplicably comforting about this all-season staple.

As Nelli Maltezos, the executive chef at award-winning Trattoria Nostrani, said about her favorite white-bean soup, "It's like putting on a nice bathrobe and just feels right." For her, it was the one thing she remembers her kitchen-challenged mother making well.

"It brings back warm childhood memories," Maltezos added. Along with its natural nutritious disposition and ease to prepare, Maltezos' words more or less sum up the feelings that surface when enjoying a cup or bowl of soup — a sense of home.

We asked four area chefs/restaurants to share their favorite cold-weather soup recipes, and each of them promises its own unique flavors. The first day of spring is only 10 days away, but in New Mexico, where it can snow in May, these soups will keep you cozy year-round.


This is a traditional recipe from Chef Gabriel Ruiz, who grew up on a ranch in Durango, Mexico. According to Café Pasqual's owner Katharine Kagel, this meatball soup can be styled to your taste depending on the sort of meat you prefer. She says it can be made heartier by adding potato, corn, tomatoes or whatever cut vegetables you prefer. Recipe courtesy Katharine Kagel, from the Café Pasqual's cookbook.

4 lemons, cut, deseeded, and juiced
4 quarts organic chicken stock
2 pounds naturally raised ground beef (or lamb, or pork or chicken or turkey)
2 teaspoons ground cumin, lightly toasted in a dry sauté pan over low heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (or 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves)
1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 limes, deseeded and quartered
Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish

Preparation: Put the lemon juice in a shallow plate with sides deep enough that the juice will not overflow (a glass pie pan works well). Put the chicken stock into a large cook pot and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, combine thoroughly, the meat of choice, cumin, mint (or cilantro), onion, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Dip your hands with palms down and flat out into the lemon juice and then immediately, by hand, form the meatballs in the size of a walnut, making sure that you dip your hands each time before forming a meatball. This will ensure that the meat is tender.

Carefully slip the meatballs into the stock. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes. Check whether it is done by cutting open a meatball. Meat should no longer be pink. Salt to taste. Ladle into warmed soup bowls. Serve with the cut lime and garnish with cilantro sprigs.


Trattoria Nostrani Chef Nelli Maltezos says white-bean soup is a fairly simple recipe, and "whatever you associate with a bean you can add to it." Some of the ingredients the chef has added to her soup are escarole, shrimp and fresh herbs.

2 cups dry white beans
9 cups cold water
1 cup finely diced carrot
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup fine diced yellow onion
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup roasted roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped small
Kosher salt, to taste

Preparation: Preheat convection oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit or conventional oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with 5 cups cold water. Place the pot on the stove top and turn the burner up to its highest setting. Bring the pot to a rolling boil. Allow the water to boil for a few minutes then turn off the burner. Remove the pot from the burner and transfer the contents of beans and water to a deep baking dish. Add the remaining 4 cups of cold water along with 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and cook in the oven for approximately 4 hours or until beans turn tender.

Place an empty stock pot on the stove top and turn the burner onto its lowest setting 30 minutes prior to taking the beans out of the oven. Allow the pot to sit empty over the low heat. Add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil followed by the onions, carrots and celery. Throw in a healthy pinch of kosher salt and allow the vegetables to sweat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the tomatoes and allow another 15 minutes to pass.

Remove the beans from the oven and discard the foil. Pour the beans and the cooking liquid into the pot with the vegetables. In the beginning, the cooking liquid will be relatively clear. As the soup cooks further the liquid will turn murky then creamy. It is at this stage of creaminess that the soup is ready. Adjust the seasoning to taste with kosher salt.


Recipe courtesy Terra at Encantado Chef Charles Dale. Dale's inspiration for the recipe was "all those wonderful winter vegetables." The bit of smoked trout he adds makes it "a little more Rocky Mountain and suited for our environment." Yet he says the best part is that you can easily buy prepared smoked trout at area grocers, including Whole Foods (753 Cerrillos Road, 992-1700) and Kaune Food Town (511 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-2629). Call stores for availability. Of course, this is New Mexico, where the trout fishin' is outstanding, so you could catch it and smoke it yourself, too.

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 leek, white part only, cleaned and sliced
3 garlic cloves, whole
1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped
1 small cauliflower head, leaves removed, roughly chopped
1 large turnip, peeled and chopped
1 large celery root, peeled and chopped
1 fennel bulb, green shoots removed, sliced
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups skim milk
1/2 lb smoked trout
1/2 cup crème frâiche or sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Preparation: In a 4-quart stockpot, melt the butter, and sweat the onion and the leek over medium heat. Do not brown. Add the rest of the vegetables, water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add the skim milk, bring to a boil, and cool slightly. Purée in a blender. Strain through a wide-mesh strainer. Keep warm until ready to serve.

To serve, spoon a dollop of crème frâiche in the bowl, break up the smoked trout into smaller pieces and place over the crème frâiche. Sprinkle on the chives, and serve the soup tableside.


Recipe courtesy Zia Diner's Peter Walsh. Walsh describes the soup as warm with exotic spice and hearty ingredients. He loves this soup "because not only will the name of it send you thinking of exotic places, its taste and spices will help transport you there. Perfect thoughts for winter."

2 (15 oz) cans chickpea/garbanzo beans, washed and dried
2 cans diced tomato pulsed in a food processor
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 stalks of diced celery
2 or 3 diced carrots
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
Splash of lemon juice
2 tablespoons each of ground cumin and coriander
2 handfuls of roughly chopped fresh spinach
Handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 teaspoons of Moroccan Harissa paste (important but not necessary, found in good specialty stores like Ziggy's in Santa Fe, 1005 Pen Road, 986-5054)
2 quarts of vegetable broth
4 tablespoons of butter

Preparation: Sauté onion, celery, carrot in melted butter until soft. Next add garlic, spices, bay leaves and continue to sauté a couple more minutes.

Next, add pulsed tomatoes, garbanzo beans, tomato paste and vegetable broth. Let simmer together for a while on medium-low heat 20-30 minutes. Add the splash of lemon juice, chopped spinach and cilantro and Harissa paste. Then salt and pepper to taste. Let ingredients and flavors mingle together.

Serve with warm pita bread or flatbread.