Cream of asparagus soup

From The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook
Serves 4
Ingredients

6 bunches fine asparagus (total weight of approx. 1.2kg)
2 litres vegetable or light homemade chicken stock
300g trimmed and cleaned leeks
100g unsalted butter, plus 25g extra for drizzling
3 sticks celery, thinly sliced
65g plain flour
3 tbsp double cream
1 tsp white wine vinegar, for poaching
8 large, really fresh free-range eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:
Rinse the asparagus is cold water to rid it of any sand, then snap off the woody ends and roughly chop them. Put them into a pan with the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then strain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut the 4cm-long tips from half the asparagus spears. Roughly chop the remaining stalks.

Bring 2 small pans of water to the boil. Add some salt to one pan, drop in the asparagus tips and cook for 2 minutes until just tender. Drain, refresh under cold water and set aside. Add the vinegar and pinch of salt to the second pan and reduce the heat to low. Break one of the eggs into a teacup. Swirl the water with a spoon to create a whirlpool, drop in the egg and leave it to poach for 3 minutes, then carefully remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs, bringing the water back to the boil and then lowering again each time. Leave the poaching water over a low heat.

Cut off the really dark green leaves from the leeks (and discard or save for stock) and thinly slice the remainder. Melt 100g of the butter in a large pan, add the asparagus stalks, sliced leeks and celery, cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until soft but not browned.

Uncover, stir in the flour and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the asparagus-flavoured stock, cover again and simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and then liquidise the soup in batches until very smooth. Pass through a sieve back into a clean pan, bring back to a simmer and stir in the cream and some seasoning to taste.

Melt the remaining butter. Lower the poached eggs back into the simmering water and leave for 30 seconds, then remove and drain briefly on kitchen paper. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and scatter over the asparagus tips. Place a poached egg into the centre of each bowl, season the top of each one with a little salt and pepper then drizzle over the melted butter and serve.

Portugese Cabbage Soup

From The Hairy Bikers

Ingredients
2 fat onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
60ml/2¼fl oz olive oil
1 chorizo sausage
6 large potatoes
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz good vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
large bunch of greens or cabbage
smoked paprika and olive oil, for dressing
Preparation method
Gently fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until softened and translucent.
Chop the chorizo into small chunks and add to the pan with the onion.
Fry the onions and sausage for a few more minutes and then add the diced potatoes. They will absorb all the flavour from the sausage.
Transfer the mixture to a large pan, add the stock, seasoning and bay leaves, and cook until the potatoes are soft.
Meanwhile, very finely chop the cabbage (alternatively, buy a cabbage-shredding machine from the market as we did).
When the potatoes are ready, mash them into the broth to make a thick base. Blanch the greens in boiling water for one minute to take off any bitterness, drain, then add to the simmering broth.
Add as much cabbage as the broth will support – if you want heavy soup add loads of greens, if lighter, add less.
Simmer for a few minutes. The soup will go the colour of jade.
Mix the smoked paprika with some olive oil to make a dressing, and swirl this red magic into the vibrant green soup. Serve with some rustic country bread.

Winter soup with bacon, lentils and pasta

Waitrose recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g Waitrose Free Range Smoked Dry Cured Lardons
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
200g Waitrose Love Life Green Lentils
1.5 litres hot chicken stock
100g Waitrose Orzo
25g pack flatleaf parsley, chopped

1. Cook the lardons, chopped onion, garlic, celery and diced carrot in a large saucepan for 5 minutes until the bacon lardons begin to crisp – there should be enough oil in the lardons so you won’t need to add more.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes or until pulpy then stir in the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the orzo pasta and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until both the lentils and pasta are tender. Stir in the parsley then ladle into bowls and serve with plenty of black pepper.

English onion soup

From Jamie at home
Serves 4

Ingredients
a good knob of butter
olive oil
a good handful of fresh sage leaves, 8 leaves reserved for serving
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
5 red onions, peeled and sliced
3 large white onions, peeled and sliced
3 banana shallots, peeled and sliced
300g leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 litres good-quality hot beef, chicken or vegetable stock
8 slices of good-quality stale bread,
2cm thick
200g freshly grated Cheddar cheese
Worcestershire sauce

Put the butter, 2 glugs of olive oil, the sage and garlic into a thick-bottomed, non-stick pan. Stir everything round and add the onions, shallots and leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Place a lid on the pan, leaving it slightly ajar, and cook slowly for 50 minutes, without colouring the vegetables too much. Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes – your onions will become soft and golden. Stir occasionally so that nothing catches on the bottom. Having the patience to cook the onions slowly, slowly, gives you an incredible sweetness and an awesome flavour, so don’t be tempted to speed this bit up.

When your onions and leeks are lovely and silky, add the stock. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. You can skim any fat off the surface if you like, but I prefer to leave it because it adds good flavour.

Preheat the oven or grill to maximum. Toast your bread on both sides. Correct the seasoning of the soup. When it’s perfect, ladle it into individual heatproof serving bowls and place them on a baking tray. Tear toasted bread over each bowl to fit it like a lid. Feel free to push and dunk the bread into the soup a bit. Sprinkle with some grated Cheddar and drizzle over a little Worcestershire sauce.

Dress your reserved sage leaves with some olive oil and place one on top of each slice of bread. Put the baking tray into the preheated oven or under the grill to melt the cheese until bubbling and golden. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t burn! When the cheese is bubbling, very carefully lift out the tray and carry it to the table. Enjoy.

Don’t worry too much about what onions you have. The thing is to use as many varieties as you can, but if you have just normal onions that’s fine as well. I have gone for the rustic look with this dish which explains the burnt marks on the side!

Vichyssoise (Leek and potato soup)

Ingredients

600g leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
250g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1.5 litres of chicken stock
butter

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and cook the leeks, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until they are soft but not browned.

Add the potato chunks and cook over a low heat, uncovered for a few minutes.

Stir in the stock with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and partly cover the pan. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

Cool, then process the soup until smooth in a blender. Sieve the soup into a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning and add a little water if the consistency of the soup seems too thick.

One of my favourite French soups and one that I make on a regular basis. I think this is supposed to be a cold soup; I am just a bit apprehensive about having it that way…

Chickpea, Kale and Rice Soup

Lovely for a cold spring day.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced or diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• a dash of paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
• 4 pieces of chicken drumsticks (or whatever chicken parts you prefer to use)
• 4 cups of water and 4 cups of chicken stock.
• 1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
• 1/2 cup of brown rice or grain of choice.
• salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven. Brown the chicken pieces and remove to a plate.

Add onion and cook until onion becomes soft. Add all other vegetables and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

Add spices and cook for a minute.

Add water and chicken stock. Make sure you deglaze the Dutch oven to get all the goodness stuck at the bottom into the soup. Add the chicken, chickpeas and rice.

Simmer for about 30 minutes or until chickpeas are soft and chicken pieces are cooked.

Remove chicken pieces from the pot. Shred the meat on the chicken pieces and set aside.

Add kale and simmer for another 10 minutes or until kale is soft. Return shredded chicken into the soup. Add salt and pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.

I love kale, and I love chickpeas. And being Cantonese, I love soups, all kinds of soup. I came up with this recipe after reading so many recipes online and not liking anything I’ve read. I decided to invent my own soup with whatever I have in my kitchen and it was perfect for a rainy Spring afternoon. Even the soup-hating husband loved it as a meal. And by the way, don’t trust my measurements, when I cook, I usually measure by instinct, not with cups and spoons unless I’m following a recipe.

Sweet potato, butternut squash and chorizo soup

From Jamie’s Ministry of Food
Serves 4
Ingredients

2 carrots, roughly sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 onions, peeled & roughly chopped
800g sweet potatoes, peeled & roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
200g chorizo sausage, peeled & sliced
Small bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon curry powder
2 chicken or vegetable cubes (with 1.8L of boiling water)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh red chilli, finely diced (as garnish)

Chop carrots, celery, onions and sweet potatoes. Peel and slice garlic and chorizo. Finely chop parsley leaves and stalks.

Bring a large pot to medium-high heat. Pour in the olive oil and add all the chopped and sliced ingredients (including the chorizo) into to pot. Add curry powder and mix with a wooden spoon.

Cook for about 10 minutes or until the carrots have softened but are not falling apart and the onions are translucent in colour.

Pour 1.8L boiling water into a large jug over the two stock cubes. Stir to dissolve the cubes and add to the vegetables. Give soup a good stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pot with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potato is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and allow soup to cool slightly. Using a food processor or hand blender, blend soup in batches until smooth.

Divide into bowls and top with finely diced chilli, salt and pepper.

Ultimate combination of sweet and savoury! And it’s so easy to make. As you can see I choose not to blend it till it’s smooth because: (i) i like rustic soups; and (ii) I think it’s a waste of chorizo to blend it! I want to taste the chorizo in its full glory!

Indian chickpeas and vegetable soup

From BBC More One-pot recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion , chopped
1 tsp finely grated fresh root ginger
1 garlic clove , chopped
1 tbsp garam masala
850ml vegetable stock
2 large carrots , quartered lengthways and chopped
400g can chickpeas , drained
100g green beans , chopped

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, then add the onion, ginger and garlic. Fry for 2 mins, then add the garam masala, give it 1 min more, then add the stock and carrots. Simmer for 10 mins, then add the chickpeas. Use a stick blender to whizz the soup a little. Stir in the beans and simmer for 3 mins. Pack into a flask or, if you’ve got a microwave at work, chill and heat up for lunch. Great with naan bread

For a soup that’s a bit different and packs a bit of a kick, this is a pretty good recipe. And if you are like me and you love all things spicy, this is brilliant!

I didn’t use a stick blender to whizz the soup so it’s not as thick as it should be at least according to the recipe. Reason is simple. I don’t have one (which leads on to the next question which is should I get one? Jury is still out on this.) Anyway if you want something less thick, the obvious answer is don’t use a stick blender!

To make it a bit meatier and because I have leftover bacon from the coddled pork, I added two slices of bacon to the soup. FYI.

Broccoli (and cauliflower) soup

From Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares
Ingredients

1 large or two medium broccoli clusters (as fresh as possible)
Salt (3 tsp.)
Ground Black Pepper (4-5 turns on the grind wheel)
Water
Olive Oil

Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add a large pinch of salt (1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp.). Add broccoli and boil rapidly.

Your broccoli is finished cooking when you can pierce it with little or no effort. Remove the stock pan from the stove burner. DO NOT POUR THE WATER OUT! Use a slotted spoon to add broccoli to a blender but be careful because it’s boiling hot! Pour enough of the water left over from cooking the broccoli to fill the blender half way. Add a pinch (or more) of salt. Use several pulses on your blender to break the broccoli up and then puree for several seconds.

Pour soup into shallow bowl. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve at once!

Anyone who thinks making soup is difficult should try this recipe

My modifications is (as always arising from the leftovers in my fridge) adding a grilled slice of ciabatta topped with pancetta and parmesan cheese to the soup.

Classic minestrone

From Let’s Cook Italian & Pasta
Serves 6-8
Ingredients

25g butter
3 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers streaky bacon
1 large onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 celery stick, trimmed
2 carrots, peeled
400g canned tomatoes
1.1 litre chicken stock
175g green cabbage, finely shredded
50g French beans, trimmed and halved
3 tbsp frozen petits pois
50g spaghetti broken into short pieces
salt and freshly grond black pepper
Parmesan cheese to garnish

Heat the butter and olive oil together in a large saucepan. Chop the bacon and add to the saucepan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.

Finely chop the onion, garlic, celery and carrots and add to the saucepan, one ingredient at a time, stirring well after each addition. Cook and cook gently for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are softened.

Add the chopped tomatoes, with their juice and the stock, bring to the boil, then cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage, beans, peas and spaghetti pieces. Cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes, or until all the ingredients are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Return the cooked bacon to the saucepan and bring the soup to the boil. Serve the soup immediately with Parmesan cheese and plenty of crusty bread to accompany it.

I have always thought that the distinctive taste of minestrone soup is from beef stock. I only realised that it is actually the bacon that gives it that wonderful flavour when I first cooked it. I think my minestrone soup definitely tastes better than the canned ones!