The Souper Soup Thread [Merged]

Zuiderzee wrote: »

Try Borsch, without the ham - use sun dried tomatos instead.
I did a version using black pudding to give it an Irish twist but again this is optional.

1.5 lts water
600 grms Fresh beetroot, peeled and diced. Mine were Bolthardy
200 grms Fresh red cabbage - finely shredded.
Mine was Rodeo, but can easily be replaced by other veg.
100 grms Carrot (1 large carrot) peeled and diced. I used Lisse de Mieux
100 grms Onion (1 large onion) Peeled, chopped roughly. I used a good old Ailsa Craig type
100 grms Sun dried tomatos
4 cloves Garlic peeled and crushed
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp sea salt
Bay leaf
Knob of good butter
Tbls olive oil

The above is the basic, and you will get a very nice soup out of it.
But to adjust it to my own taste, and to give it a bit of a twist I altered it a little.

1 tsp caraway seeds (I just like this flavour with cabbage)
100 grm root parsley, Atika, that I grew in the garden. Very typical of eastern European cuisine, Czech in particular and it adds tremendous depth and flavour.

METHOD
Get the veg washed, chopped and ready to go and prep meats.
Dry roast the caraway seed in the pan
Add butter and olive oil, get it to a good high temperature
Chuck in your sun dried tomatos, carrots, cabbage, onion and garlic.
Sweat them off for 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, keep them sweating for a further 5 minutes.
Add 1 litre water and the bay leaf - don't forget, reserve 500ml of water.
Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes
Then add chipped or cubed beetroot, and optional Atika.
Bring back to the boil for 5 minutes
Add the remaining 500 ml of water, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf.
Using a strainer or slotted spoon transfer the solids to a blender - whizz until liquefied and return to liquid.
Let it sit on a low heat for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Dressed with soured herby cream (whip cream, lemonjuice, chives and parsely)

Another option is Caldo Verdi - a Portuguese staple, this is mine - just modified again for veggies.


500 gm Potato, peeled and diced
100 gm Milan Purple top - mild white turnip, cleaned and diced
300 gm turnip top, kale or other greens
200 gm Onion, chopped
4 cloves Garlic
100 gm sun dried tomato for the veggie version
1.5 litres of veggie stock
2 bay leaves
Level teaspoon Paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil, about half a cup for drizzle

Method

1. In a large pot, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat until they are translucent.

2. Add the garlic, paprika and sun dried toms and cook until the onions are transluscent.

3. Add the diced potatoes and turnip, sweat them a little, they will absorb the flavours

4. Add the stock, seasoning and bay leaves, and bring to the boil, then simmer until potatoes are soft.

Season to taste, don't be afraid of the salt with this one.

5. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the greens and very finely chop the greens, really fine. I just used the turnip tops in this soup, but kale, cabbage and other greens are good as well.

6. When the potatoes and turnip are soft, whisk the broth to make a thick base.
Some people say to use a blender, but I like some texture in soup

7. Blanch the greens with boiling water to take off any bitterness, i.e put them in a strainer and pour over some boiling water, they wilt quickly.

8. Add as many greens as the soup will support - if you want heavy soup add loads of greens, if lighter, add less.

9. Simmer for a few minutes. The soup will go a really nice golden colour with a jade.
The more greens you added, the greener it will go - my limit was what I pulled from the garden with three baby turnips.

10. Ladle to a bowl - Swirl in a little olive oil into the soup. You can liven this up by adding a little Paprika, Tabasco or piri-piri which gives it an exotic red dash, and more spiciness.


The final drizzle of olive oil when serving is essential.

Serve with some crusty rustic bread, or as I did a salty soda bread, and - as the lads say - wallow in praise!


As they say in Portugal, Bom apetite!