Sourdough starter is a finishing touch

I’m admittedly a little lazy. If I can figure out a way to not do something in the kitchen and get by with an easier way, I will do it. If I’m too slow to use up fresh garlic, ginger, turmeric or onions and it starts to sprout, I throw it into a pot of soil or into the garden. Even the root ends of garlic, onions and scallions have the potential to keep producing new plants very easily when stuck into a bit of water or damp soil. When spring arrives, alliums produce the most wonderful blossoms, so there is that extra bonus.

As someone who cooks and photographs food for work, every little kitchen hack is a lifesaver and time saver (by reducing trips to the store). Now these little tricks seem to be more useful than ever.

A few years ago, I came across an interesting way to use up extra or leftover sourdough starter when I read Claire Thomson’s book “The Art of the Pantry” (Quadrille Publishing, 2017): Add it to soup. It’s a brilliant idea because you take advantage of two things. The starch in the flour thickens the soup, and the acids — acetic and lactic acids produced through fermentation— add a note of sourness. You just have to make sure you stir the starter well before you pour it into the hot liquid so there are no lumps.

I wrote this recipe so you can take advantage of the ingredients you might have in your pantry, including any type of bean or lentil. If you start

from dried beans, soak and cook them the way you normally do and then add them to the soup. If you don’t have scallions on hand, you can add 2 tablespoons of fresh or dried herbs like mint, parsley, dill or cilantro. If you don’t have starter, make a slurry of 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of flour mixed with 4 tablespoons of cold water.

The building blocks of flavor in this soup are simple. Onions are roasted to make them sweeter and also to create some of those wonderful flavor molecules through caramelization and Maillard reactions. Garlic, ginger and a few spices add the next layer of flavor, while the beans add creaminess, and tomatoes an extra note of sourness and sweetness.

Nik Sharma This soup makes use of whatever beans or lentils are in your pantry. The addition of sourdough starter thickens the soup and adds a sour tang.