This Is the Soup I Make Whenever I Have Leftover Veggies

This past week’s cold and windy weather inspired me to stay inside. A lot. I think I left my home one time and I hated it so much. By the end of the week, I didn’t have many ingredients left to make any particular dish. I peered around my kitchen and rummaged through my fridge to find five forgotten baby potatoes, two chicken sausages, and a single zucchini. Split between two people, this alone is not a meal to get excited about—but as giambotta, it could be a winter meal to look forward to. 

Giambotta is also spelled ciambotta (and if you’re in my partner’s family then you pronounce it something like “jom-both”), and it hails from Southern Italy. This hearty vegetable stew is one of those gorgeously flexible dishes that can be modified depending on what you have on hand, and how your family prefers to eat it. Although I only started eating it when my partner started making it for me, I already know how I prefer it. Personally, there needs to be zucchini involved and I like the veggies chunky. He likes a less watery broth, but I don’t mind it. 

All that to say, you can modify this soup a bit to your liking. Your giambotta might have a barely tomato-tinged broth that looks more yellow; your neighbor might prefer a thicker, bright, tomato-forward sauce. The consistent ingredients I always see are potatoes, onion, some sort of tomato addition, and zucchini. 

Beyond that, you can add sliced chicken, sausage, a can of chickpeas, wilted greens, or chopped carrots. Basically, whatever you have on hand. I love this soup for a Thursday or Friday night when I’m using up the bits and bobs that never made it into something earlier that week—the small zucchini, the five baby potatoes, the frozen tomato sauce that lives in my freezer. It’s the best soup to make when you need to buy time between grocery store runs. 

I didn’t have fresh tomatoes for the sauce, so I broke off clumps of the frozen sauce I often keep in the fridge.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

This soup is absolutely delicious served as-is, over a scoop of rice, or with the addition of short, wiggly pasta shapes. The zucchini has a tendency to over-soften when reheat the next day, so I prefer to finish the entire batch without leaving any leftovers. 

Giambotta Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• ½ small onion, minced

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

• 4-6 baby potatoes, halved

• 4 button mushrooms, chopped

• 2 chicken sausages, halved lengthwise and sliced

• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup seasoned tomato sauce

• 2 cups chicken, beef, or veggie broth

1. In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion, potatoes, and garlic. Cook over medium low heat until the onions begin to sweat, the potatoes are coated in oil and it’s fragrant. This should take about three minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms, chicken sausage pieces, and zucchini. Stir occasionally for another three minutes to start cooking them and gain some color.

3. Add the salt, tomato sauce, and broth. Stir and then cover the pot with a lid. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are cooked tender. This should take about five minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. 

Note that I don’t have additional dry seasonings in this recipe—that’s because my tomato sauce was homemade. I suggest using a pre-seasoned sauce, or add some dry seasonings (like garlic powder, onion powder, or dry chili flakes) to suit your taste.