Soup-A-Palooza!

We present to you Soup-A-Palooza 2025. A collection of PCFMA staff soup recipes and the stories behind them. The weather and market offerings are a-changing! That fall nip in the air means it's time to bust out the big pots and shift into soup season. Motivated by the promise of tasty soups and stews and the opportunity to share our experience with our farmers' market farm-ily, we rallied our community for recipes and got together to bond over our bowls. 

Emma, our Community Engagement Manager, cooked up a Mushroom & Kale Quinoa Comfort Soup, about which she says, "I love this soup, a dear friend of mine and I made it together, and it always makes me think of her!"

One of our most innovative soups came from Chris, our Assistant Director of Marketing. Here's what he had to say about his Roasted Squash & Sweet Potato Tempura Soup, "I made this recipe up based on what sounded good and what I've been seeing at the market. There are so many good things you can make with some squash and a sweet potato or two!

One of the crowd favorites at Soup-A-Palooza was Regional Market Manager Jason's Pozole Verde. The pot was empty within an hour!

An Italian Wedding Soup recipe comes to us from Stella, one of our stellar Marketing Specialists. "My Oma and Opa are German but learned to cook via Italy, and they love to make Italian wedding soup with fresh meatballs from their local butcher!"

In the spirit of fall seasonal produce, we had multiple butternut squash soups. One of them is cooked by Maureen, our Director of Finance and Administration. Here is what she shared along with the recipe: "Every Halloween for over 25 years, the family gathers at my sister's house before the trick or treating starts, and we have always made some sort of soup or chili. This recipe has consistently been one of the favorites!" 

Chef Andrew shared a butternut squash recipe with a chipotle twist, "This is a soup I started making for my family during Thanksgiving after years of asking to make something for the holiday. And since then, it's been a staple of our thanksgivings with family. "

If you can find tomatoes at the market, look no further than Marketing Specialist Johanna's Roasted Tomato Soup. "A simple staple for soup season, this recipe has been a family favorite for years. Made almost entirely out of roasted farmers’ market tomatoes, it proves that fresh produce doesn’t need anything extra to shine. Just pure, comforting flavor without any tricks or frills." 

Lis, our Director of Operations, shared an Italian Pasta E Fagioli recipe: "This recipe comes from Carla Lalli Music, a great Italian chef whose recipes remind me of my great-grandmother's cooking."

This Chorizo Soup recipe comes from Brian, one of our Administrative Assistants. "The best part of this soup is that it is versatile; you can use any vegetables available or add any protein you want. Any sausage is great here, but chorizo has so much flavor on its own that you rarely need to add more spice." 

Soup-A-Palooza brought joy and delicious aromas to our PCFMA office lunch hour, and we hope that these recipes will bring you the same!