Spam Soup

Thick and hearty Spam “Stewp”

For a hearty meal, especially on a cold wintry day, this “stewp” will be welcome. A “stewp” is a soup that is closer to a stew in consistency.

This dish is loaded with vegetables. Besides the “quaternity” of fresh onion, celery, carrots, and green pepper, the Publix Vegetable Soup Mix adds tomatoes, potatoes, corn, lima beans and okra.

For protein this dish uses Spam.

Ingredients

• 1 onion – diced small
• 3 celery stalks – or the center part – diced small
• 3 carrots – diced small
• 1 green pepper – diced small
• 4 Tsp olive oil
• 1 box Chicken Broth – unsalted
• 1 bag Vegetable Soup Mix
• 2 Tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried Thyme
• 1 tsp Thyme powder
• 1 can Spam – Turkey Spam of Reduced Sodium Spam
• 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup – unsalted
• 1 soup can water
• 2 Tsp Roux mix
• 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s No Salt Seasoning Mix
• 1 cup Orzo pasta

Dice the fresh vegetables, the onion, celery, carrots, green pepper, small to meet the “easy to chew – easy to swallow” requirement.

Cook the onion in olive oil for about ten minutes, add the celery, carrots and pepper, and cook another 5 minutes.

Add the broth and other ingredients except the pasta.

Simmer for an hour or more.

Cook the pasta separately for about double the recommended time to make it soft and large. The reason for cooking the pasta separately is because it tends to sink to the bottom and stick unless stirred continuously. Cooking it separately reduces the work.

Add the pasta to the soup and continue simmering until ready to serve.

The recipe can be modified depending on what you have on hand. A can of tomato sauce is a nice addition.

You can also use Asini De Pepe pasta although because of its small size it is easier to add it to the soup pot and stir for several minutes. It will cook up to pea-sized little balls.