Cold weather soups...

bonkey

Carrot & Parsnip soup

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- Chop 500g carrots, 250g parsnips, and 1 medium onion.
- Cover & sweat off onion in 25g butter for 2-3 minutes
- Add carrots, parsnips, large pinch of salt & same of freshly ground black pepper.
- Cover & sweat off for 5-7 minutes
- Add 500ml water & a chicken stock cube.
- Bring to boil and simmer for 10-20 mins.
- Blend, either in a blender or with a "wand"
- Add more salt/pepper to taste.
- Soup should be thick and smooth. If its too thick, just add more water (in about 5cl increments) and stir in.
- Serve

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cozmik

That soup sounds really good anytime.. I love carrot & parsnip!

Thank you

The Hill Billy

Here's another one...
It make plenty & freezes well.

2 un-smoked streaky rashers finely chopped
15 large very ripe tomatoes, skinned & roughly chopped
3 roasted red peppers, roughly chopped (the ones from a jar are fine)
3 leeks, quartered lengthways & finely chopped
garlic cloves finely chopped (I put in 8 or 9 - but I love the stuff)
good pinch of salt & pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
dash balsamic vinegar
knob of butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 litre stock - chicken or veg
Herbs (whatever you have/prefer - bayleaf, thyme, rosemary, etc.)
1 tsp sugar

To skin the tomatoes slash a cross in the top & dip for a 10/15 seconds in boiling water.
On a high heat fry the chopped bacon in the olive oil & butter until browned.
Lower the heat to medium & add the leeks.
Sweat for 5 mins on a medium heat.
Add the remaining ingredients & simmer for 40 mins.
Serve with chunks of crusty bread.

The Sweeper

Spicy parsnip - allow two parsnips per person. chop the parnships into lengths. In a little oil, fry the parsnips, getting as much colour on them without burning them as you can. Season well with pepper and salt. Add a teaspoon of tumeric and a half teaspoon of ground cumin. Stir through. Add a chopped fresh chili (to taste for spiciness). Add good chicken stock - just enough to cover the parsnips. Allow to simmer very gently until the parsnips are well done. Blend carefully in the pot using a hand blender.

One way to serve this soup is piping hot, with small cubes of crumbly apple smoked cheese, or very mature cheddar, floating in the soup - they'll melt as it cools to eating point.

Mr. Presentable

Lentil soup for 4

Ingredients
500g Lentils
2 medium or one large onion
one garlic clove, crushed
4-6 carrots
4 sticks of celery
4 large potatoes
3 pints of stock (use chicken, preferably, or veg if you must )

Instructions

Peel and roughly chop the carrots and onion(s). Sweat them off in a little oil with the garlic. Season.

Rinse the lentils well in cold water. This is important! If you don't rinse them thoroughly your soup will have a dirty looking foam as it cooks.

Put the lentils and stock into a large pot and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer gently for about 45 minutes.

This soup is better the second day, as are most soups after the flavours have been allowed to infuse.

quazzy

bonkey wrote:

Carrot & Parsnip soup

---

- Chop 500g carrots, 250g parsnips, and 1 medium onion.
- Cover & sweat off onion in 25g butter for 2-3 minutes
- Add carrots, parsnips, large pinch of salt & same of freshly ground black pepper.
- Cover & sweat off for 5-7 minutes
- Add 500ml water & a chicken stock cube.
- Bring to boil and simmer for 10-20 mins.
- Blend, either in a blender or with a "wand"
- Add more salt/pepper to taste.
- Soup should be thick and smooth. If its too thick, just add more water (in about 5cl increments) and stir in.
- Serve

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Just wanted to add that its also a good idea to roast off the Carrots and parsnips in the oven with a bit of garlic, olive oil (and sometime a drizzle of honey)

Everything else is as above.

Yum

Alun

... not to mention all the soups you can make with the cheap, special-offer, post Halloween pumpkins that'll be in the shops as of tomorrow

bonkey

Pfah. Pumpkin are cheap over here anyway

county

stew type soups is whats needed at this time of the year,chunky veg and meat

The Hill Billy

For a soup with a Thai flavour (2 servings):

1 chicken breast, thinly sliced
knob of ginger, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp Thai green curry paste
1 green chili, sliced into rings
2 pints good chicken stock
1 bunch scallions, roughly chopped
handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped (finely chop stalks)
dash soy sauce
dash fish sauce
juice & zest of 1 lime
1 tsp sugar
1 block of noodles, roughly broken

Bring stock to simmer, add chicken, garlic, ginger, chili, coriander stalks, lime zest & curry paste.
Simmer for 10 mins (ensure chicken cooked through).
Add remainder of ingredients.
Simmer for 5 mins, then serve.

Kolodny

I seem to always have a pot of soup on the go during the cold months so I’ll definitely be trying some of these. My contribution below is a just slight variation on basic leek and potato but it’s quite warming and filling. The recipe makes loads because I’m usually feeding the whole house but of course it can be made on a smaller scale. Keeps for about 3 days in the fridge.

The only tools needed are a couple of sharp knives, a blender/hand blender and a nice big saucepan.

Ingredients:
4/5 large potatoes
3 large leeks (or 2 leeks and 1 small onion)
Small head of broccoli
2/3 cloves garlic
2 fresh basils leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
2/3 vegetable stock cubes
1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder (or more if you like it to have a real kick!)
½ cup of fresh cream
Salt and ground black pepper


Peel and quarter the large potatoes.
Bring to the boil in a large saucepan, half filled with slightly salted water then simmer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the leeks/onion and broccoli then add when the 5 minutes is up.
Let the whole thing simmer with a lid on the pot for about 20 minutes then blend until it’s as smooth or chunky as you want it.
Stir in the chilli powder.
Dissolve stock cubes in a quarter filled cup of hot water, stir thoroughly then add to soup mix.
Peel the garlic cloves then finely chop/crush them and the fresh basil (or just add the dried basil) and stir in.
Finally, add the ½ cup of fresh cream and stir through then give one final whiz with the blender just before serving.

Nicest when served with crusty brown bread and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

catspring

nigella lawson's minestrone is absolutely delicious if not altogether traditional (it doesn't contain any tomatoes)

8 tablespoons olive oil, preferably Ligurian
40g butter
3 large onions, thinly sliced
5 carrots, diced
2 sticks celery, chopped fairly small
300g potatoes, peeled and diced
3 courgettes, diced
100g French beans, cut into 1cm lengths
225g Savoy cabbage, shredded
1 ½ litres stock, beef, chicken or vegetable, as you wish
rind of a finished piece of parmesan cheese, optional
400g tin of cannelloni beans or 120g dried white beans, soaked and cooked
150g small tubular pasta, such as ditalini
40g parmesan, freshly grated


Melt butter in the oil in a large pot, add onions and cook until soft but not browned. Add carrot and cook for 3 minutes. Do the same with the celery, potatoes, courgettes, and French beans, cooking each for a few minutes at a time. Add shredded cabbage and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring now and then.

Add stock, rind of parmesan, give it a good stir, taste for seasoning (remember that parmesan rind is salty). Cover and cook at a gentle boil for 2-2 ½ hours.

Remove lid, add white beans and cook for 5 minutes. Turn up heat and add pasta. It should cook in about 15 minutes.

Remove parmesan rind, add grated parmesan, and stir well.
Serve with extra cheese.

tk123

Quick and easy Butternut Squash soup - my fav

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1 BN. Squash
1 large onion - (Tesco do 3 large ones in a net)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 pint of stoclk - I use M&S chicken stock
4 fluid ounces of milk
2 teaspoons of Olive oil

Peel, deseed and cut the squash into cubes. Its easiest to use a peeler and peel before you cut it up.
Slice the onion and fry in the oil for 2-3 mins
Add the squash and sliced garlic to onion and fry for about 2-3 mins
Add the stock, cover and simmer for 20 mins until the squash is soft
Add the milk and stir for 1 min

Blend with hand blender and your left with a lovely creamy soup. Deeeelish!

Diogenes

On a slow cook soup/stew theme, I recommend you pop down to your larger tescos as they have good deals on slow cookers at the moment.

For things like stews and soups they're fantastic, prepare the ingredients the night before, shove into the cooker before you go to work, leave it on low, and viola you come home from work to a lovely stew or soup perfectly cooked.

Really brings out the flavours

neuro-praxis

Makes 8 hearty bowls. All vegetables should be roughly chopped. This takes just under an hour in total.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of good olive oil
2 large leeks
2 onions
3 carrots
2 green peppers
1 courgette
Handful mushrooms
1 can tomatoes
1 can chickpeas (drained)
Handful green lentils
Handful red lentils
1 large potato (optional)
1.5 - 2 litres bouillon stock (get some organic stuff from the healthshop - stock cubes are so salty)
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat the oil in a very large saucepan. Sweat the leeks and onions in the oil until soft. Add the carrots, peppers, courgette (optional potato) and mushrooms to the pan and stir well, cooking for a minute or two. Add your tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils and stock to the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Blend your soup to a consistency you like. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne, and taste. Adjust to suit.

Serve with good brown bread. This is an amazingly comforting and healthy meal.

stop animal cruelty

Kolodny wrote: »

I seem to always have a pot of soup on the go during the cold months so I’ll definitely be trying some of these. My contribution below is a just slight variation on basic leek and potato but it’s quite warming and filling. The recipe makes loads because I’m usually feeding the whole house but of course it can be made on a smaller scale. Keeps for about 3 days in the fridge.

The only tools needed are a couple of sharp knives, a blender/hand blender and a nice big saucepan.

Ingredients:
4/5 large potatoes
3 large leeks (or 2 leeks and 1 small onion)
Small head of broccoli
2/3 cloves garlic
2 fresh basils leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
2/3 vegetable stock cubes
1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder (or more if you like it to have a real kick!)
½ cup of fresh cream
Salt and ground black pepper


Peel and quarter the large potatoes.
Bring to the boil in a large saucepan, half filled with slightly salted water then simmer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the leeks/onion and broccoli then add when the 5 minutes is up.
Let the whole thing simmer with a lid on the pot for about 20 minutes then blend until it’s as smooth or chunky as you want it.
Stir in the chilli powder.
Dissolve stock cubes in a quarter filled cup of hot water, stir thoroughly then add to soup mix.
Peel the garlic cloves then finely chop/crush them and the fresh basil (or just add the dried basil) and stir in.
Finally, add the ½ cup of fresh cream and stir through then give one final whiz with the blender just before serving.

Nicest when served with crusty brown bread and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

l know this is old thread, just looking for some potatoe and leek soup recipes......just questioning when adding in the garlic.....l would usually put this in first with an onion and chilli....does it make a huge difference anyone?

The Hill Billy

It wouldn't make a huge difference, but just be sure not to burn the garlic. If you add it towards the end of cooking you will probably get a stronger garlic flavour. Including it at the start tends to give a more subtle flavour.