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Meat and vegetable soups, either freshly prepared or made from leftovers, are endless in their possible variations. While meats are often repurposed into hash with the addition of onions and potatoes, they also make exquisite soups, even if all you have is the bones. I found this recipe of Marion Cunningham’s in an edition of Saveur magazine years ago and had to try it. The idea of putting the gravy and stuffing into the soup seemed odd. In fact, it’s fabulous.
I did make one major change. Putting the broken-up turkey carcass in with everything else doesn’t make sense, as then you can’t remove the bones from the soup. They’re key to the flavor of the soup, but I made stock with them first. Simply put the carcass into a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook over low heat for a minimum of two hours (four to six is better) before straining and proceeding with the recipe as written. And of course, if there’s turkey left over, chop and add that too after the soup’s cooked about an hour.
- 1 turkey carcass, broken into pieces
- 2 1⁄2 cups leftover turkey stuffing
- 2 cups turkey gravy
- 3 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
- 3 ribs celery with leaves, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled
- Salt to taste
- Put all the ingredients with 10 cups of water into a large soup pot over medium heat, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer
- Stir to break up all the clumps of stuffing and mix well
- Let the soup simmer for about 1 1⁄2 hours
- Add another 1 1⁄2 cups of cold water and let simmer for 10 more minutes
- Taste for salt and adjust the flavoring if necessary
- Serve hot
