Shepherd’s Pie Soup

Everything about this soup is the ultimate comfort for the fall and winter season. The classic chicken-broth flavour, soft, pillowy gnocchi, and all the hearty soup veggies to complete it.

Original credit for this recipe goes to Gina Homolka of Skinnytaste (the One & Done cookbook), but I’ve redone it with a few plant-based tweaks, and a little extra veg since I love my soups more like stew.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 8-oz block tempeh, crumbled
• 1 tsp dried minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup chopped button mushrooms
• 2 tbsp all-purpose or gluten-free 1:1 flour
• 5-6 cups water
• 4 tbsp vegan chick’n broth bouillon
• 2 tsp organic ketchup
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp each dried rosemary & thyme
• 600g gnocchi, store-bought or homemade (can be frozen)
• 1/2 cup each frozen corn & peas

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and stir until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the crumbled tempeh, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Continue to stir to brown the tempeh, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the chopped mushrooms and stir an additional 3 minutes to soften.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir 1 minute to cook.
5. Add the water, bouillon, ketchup, Worcestershire, rosemary, and thyme. Stir together and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce to medium heat and simmer about 10 minutes.
7. Stir in frozen gnocchi, peas, and corn. Bring heat back up to high and cook about 5 more minutes to finish.
8. Enjoy with a fresh piece of sourdough toast!

Recipe notes:

• If you’re really in a pinch, you could easily sub a bag of frozen mixed veggies (2 cups – corn, peas, carrots, beans) to save chopping time. Just don’t skip the fresh onion.
• The original recipe used tomato paste instead of ketchup. If you’re like me, you open a can of tomato paste to use a couple teaspoons, then it molds in your fridge waiting for the next use. Organic ketchup usually has less sugar than regular, so I just use that in place, because it’s always handy!