Kesakeitto, Finnish Summer Vegetable Soup
Kesakeitto means summer soup, and in Finland it is cooked the week the first new potatoes and baby carrots come out of the ground. It is pale, light, and barely thickened, the vegetables simmered just to tenderness so each one still tastes of itself. The traditional version is finished with whole milk and sometimes an egg yolk; here unsweetened soy milk gives the same soft richness plus real protein, and mashing a scoop of the cooked potato thickens the broth with no flour at all. Dill and a little white pepper are the only seasonings it needs, since ripe summer vegetables and a squeeze of their own starch carry the flavor without salt. Serve it warm the day the garden is at its peak.
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb Potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 2 wholes Carrots, sliced into thin coins
- 2 cups Cauliflower, broken into small florets
- 1 cup Green beans, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) lengths
- 1 cup Frozen peas
- 1 whole Leeks, white part sliced
- 1 tbsp no-salt vegetable bouillon
- 1 cup Unsweetened soy milk
- 3 tbsp Dill, chopped
- 1/4 tsp White pepper
Method
- Sweat the sliced leek in 0.25 cup (60 ml) water in a wide pot over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Kesakeitto is a delicate soup, so the leek goes in gently and never browns: you want its sweetness, not a fried onion flavor.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, the bouillon, and 3 cups (710 ml) water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are just tender, about 12 minutes. This soup celebrates the first tender vegetables of the Finnish summer, so cook them only until a knife slides in, not to collapse.
- Scoop out about a cup of the cooked potatoes and vegetables, mash them smooth against the side of a bowl, and stir them back in. Mashing part of the pot is how the broth gets its light body with no flour and no cream, the vegetables thickening their own soup.
- Stir in the peas and the soy milk and warm through for 2 minutes without boiling hard. The soy milk carries the richness a Finnish cook would once have gotten from whole milk, and it adds the protein that makes a bowl of vegetables into a meal; a rolling boil can make it look curdled, so keep it gentle.
- Off the heat, stir in the chopped dill and white pepper. Dill is the herb of the Nordic summer table, and adding it at the very end keeps it green and fragrant. Taste, and loosen with a splash of water if you like it brothier.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 150 calories, 6 g protein, 6 g fiber, 90 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
