Gingered Very Veggie Soup

This is a lovely quick soup using any root vegetables and a great way to use up the odd one or two lurking in the bottom of the fridge. It is simple too, especially if you are using leftover vegetables, though I would rather spend a little longer and use freshly cooked. We rarely have leftover veggies anyway.  The addition of ginger makes the soup extra warming, but this can be adjusted to suit personal taste. I have made this more than once, the root vegetables being a selection from potato, carrot, parsnip, swede, sweet potato (though usually not all at the same time, which makes it a bit different each time I make it) – I’m not sure I would use beetroot, but it might be worth a try.  The colour would certainly be interesting!

The instructions came from a Winter 2009 free recipe card from Sainsbury’s supermarket and was originally called Very Veggie Soup, one from a series called Love your Leftovers.  I felt the word ginger needed to be included in the title and would reflect our taste for a fairly strong gingery flavour: the amount given below being for a medium flavoured soup.  I have heard it referred to as a ‘thumb’ of ginger, which I think is an apt description, though it must depend on hand size.  Fresh (or frozen) root ginger is preferable but I suppose ground ginger could be substituted.   Add ¼ pint/125ml/10fl ozs milk, single or soured cream for Cream of Gingered Very Veggie Soup.  The quantity given below for root vegetables is approximate, being the amount I used, as no weight was given in the original recipe.

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Gingered Very Veggie Soup
(Serves 4)

1½lb/750g mixed root vegetables, chopped small, leftover or freshly cooked
½pint/250ml/10fl ozs boiling water
½ vegetable stock cube
½ tin sweetcorn (full tin = 325g) , drained (remainder can be frozen)
1inch/2.5cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated (easy to grate while still almost frozen)
Salt & black pepper

1.  Cut the vegetables fairly small to help them cook quickly and cook in 1pt boiling water.  After 10-15 minutes when they are soft strain off and keep the liquid and place them in a liquidiser.
Alternatively
Place the leftover vegetables directly in the liquidiser.

2.  Add the drained sweetcorn and grated ginger to the liquidiser.

3.  Mix the stock cube with ½pint boiling water or with the vegetable cooking liquid made up to ½pint.  Add about half of this to the liquidiser. 

4.  Blend the ingredients until they are smooth and return to the pan.  Use the remaining stock in to help rinse out the liquidiser so all the soup and stock goes into the pan.  Two rinses should be enough.  Add a little more water if necessary but be careful not to add too much.

5.  Reheat soup to piping hot, stirring well.  Check seasoning.  Be sparing with the pepper until the strength of ginger flavour has been checked.  The pepper garnish may be enough.

6.  Serve garnished with a sprig of parsley, some ground black pepper and crisp hot toast, buttered if you wish.

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Thatched Cauliflower Cheese Soup

After a short walk in lovely Epping Forest, a friend and I ended up in The Forest Gate, a very traditional style pub at Bell Common near Epping with bare wooden floors, a cosy fire and a very friendly moggy.   Rather than a wide range of pub grub, on offer were simple filled baguettes and sandwiches and a choice of two or three home made soups.  This first time we just had a drink as we had not planned to eat, but I have since been back twice with the family, first trying the Autumn special of Pumpkin Soup and the next time the delicious Cauliflower Cheese Soup.  Such a simple idea.  We really like cauliflower cheese but I had never thought of making it into a soup.

I wanted a simple recipe and found one I could adapt in a library book, the Women’s Institute Soups for all Seasons by Liz Herbert: Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Roasted Cashew Nuts.  For an extra special version I would revert to the original and add the cashew nuts so I have included details for this below as well.  There is no reason why you cannot include cleaned cauliflower leaves and stalk!  Just remove any very tough parts and the base of the stalk plus any leaves that are past their best.  Its a good way of using up a cauliflower that has lost its freshness having hung around in the kitchen a little too long.  My version is ‘thatched’ with a garnish of strands of grated cheddar cheese and a  sprinkling of chopped chives or green spring onion tops.

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Thatched Cauliflower Cheese Soup
(Serves 4)

1oz/25g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium potato, cubed
1 medium cauliflower, cut into small florets & chopped
1½pints/850ml vegetable stock
4ozs/115g cheddar cheese, grated – includes amount for garnish
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:
Grated cheddar reserved from the quantity above – about ½oz/25g
Chopped chives or chopped green spring onion leaves

1.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan with a lid and add the onion, garlic and potato.  Turn the heat to low and leave to cook very gently for 10 minutes.

2.  Add the cauliflower and stock, bring up to the boil and then reduce the heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.

3.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese reserving some as a garnish.  

4.  Once the cheese is melted into the mixture and it is slightly cooled spoon about half into a blender.  Return the blended mixture to the more chunky mixture in the pan and combine.  You can adjust the amount of mixture you blend to give a smoother or chunkier mixture.  For a completely smooth mixture liquidise the whole panful.

5.  Season to taste with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Return the soup to the pan and keep warm over a very gentle heat.  Avoid boiling the mixture as this could cause the cheese to toughen and separate.

6.  Garnish with a ‘thatch’ of grated cheese and a sprinkle of green chives or spring onion tops.  Serve immediately with fresh crusty bread before the cheese has time to melt.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Roasted Cashew Nuts:
My recipe is based on this one in the Women’s Instutute Soups for All Seasons
80g/3ozs roughly chopped cashew nuts were gently fried in the butter at Step 1.  Add the onion, garlic and potato and follow the remaining steps as above using all the grated cheese rather than reserving some as garnish.  At Step 6 when 2ozs/50g whole cashew nuts are fried in ½oz/15g butter before using as a garnish in place of the grated cheese and chives or spring onion tops.

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Erwtensoep – Dutch Pea Soup

On our visit to Amsterdam in October 2009 I was very keen to try Erwtensoep, or Dutch Pea Soup.  This is a traditional dish which I had read was widely available, especially in the colder months: in fact I was sure I remembered enjoying it on a previous visit.  One lunchtime we managed to find a restaurant with Pea Soup on the menu and we were not disappointed.  It was very warming and so filling we ended up having a snack rather than a main evening meal.  I decided I simply had to hunt down a good recipe once I was back in London so I could make it myself to keep out the British winter chill.

There was nothing in my recipe books or the library, but I found several versions online and this recipe is my own interpretation with ideas taken from three recipes.  The versions used for inspiration, along with some of the online comments, were: gourmettraveller, BBC Good Food & recipezaar.  The resulting soup was a substantial lunch style soup, but you could easily add more meat for a soup suitable for a evening meal (such as ham and/or smoked sausage and/or pieces of fried belly pork strip, all of which should be added after the soup is liquidised).  One recipe used leaves from the Lovage plant.  I had some seed, which I added as an experiment and I felt gave a distinctive flavour that I felt enhanced the soup. The potato is traditionally added, I understand, helping to thicken the soup and also reducing any scum from cooking the peas.

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Erwtensoep – Dutch Pea Soup
(Serves 3-4 depending on thickness of soup)

250g/8ozs green split peas (soaked overnight)
125g/4ozs streaky bacon, diced
½oz/15g butter
1 stick celery, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled & chopped
1 medium leek, cleaned & finely sliced
½tsp lovage/ajwan seed (available in ethnic supermarkets) or chopped celery leaf
Large pinch each of ground spices: coriander, chilli, nutmeg, clove & ginger, more if you wish
1 medium potato, grated
2pints/40fl ozs/900ml stock, ham if possible but watch it is not too salty, or vegetable stock
2-3 frankfurter sausages, grilled and cut into 4-6 pieces each.
Salt & black pepper, to taste, if required

1.  Soak the peas overnight in cold water.  If there is not enough time for a long soak this can be speeded up by putting the peas into a saucepan, covering with boiling water and leaving  to soak for 1hour.  Bringing the peas back to the boil once or twice speeds up the softening process. Do not add salt until the peas are completely cooked as it toughens them and can slow down the cooking time.

2.  In a large saucepan, fry the diced bacon in the butter until it is cooked through but not crisped. Remove and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

3.  Use the fat remaining in the pan to fry the celery, onion, carrot and leek over a gentle heat until soft. Stir in the lovage/ajwan seed along with the ground coriander, chilli, nutmeg, clove & ginger (these can be adjusted more or less to personal taste). 

4. Drain the peas and stir into the cooked vegetable mixture. Stir the grated potato. Add the stock, bring to the boil, turn down heat and simmer until the peas have softened. Stir occasionally to make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a little water if necessary if the soup starts to get too thick. 

5.  Blend the mixture until smooth.  Adjust seasoning, if necessary.  Stir in most of the smoked cooked bacon and sausage, leaving a little to garnish the finished soup.  Return the soup to the pan to reheat.  (The reserved frankfurter and bacon can be reheated if necessary by a short burst of heat in the microwave or in a sieve placed over the steam of the reheating soup.)

6.  Serve soup garnished with reserved frankfurter sausage and bacon, plus parsley or celery leaf if you wish, along with crusty bread.

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Cream of Tomato Soup with Basil

The first soup of the New Year: lovely colourful creamy warming tomato, with just a little (optional) basil – because we like it.  The basil gives just a subtle hint of extra flavour but if you want a basic cream of tomato then just leave it out.  Lots of people have a soft spot for tinned Cream of Tomato, but this home made version beats tinned, or packet, hands down.  The original recipe uses a tin of tomatoes which is a quick inexpensive shortcut (unless you have a glut from the garden) with the soup being ready to eat in around 30minutes. You can’t get home made quicker than that!  As everyone, well almost everyone, seems to love Cream of Tomato soup it would be just as good served as part of a special meal (it could be made in advance with the cream added at the last minute) as at a quick family lunch.  For a spicy cream of tomato soup just add ground spices to taste: choose from cayenne pepper, ginger, cumin, coriander plus some fresh coriander in place of the fresh basil.

This is another excellent recipe from The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook. (Original recipe Cream of Tomato Soup.)  However, I have completely reworked the method, simplifying the recipe to avoid having to make a separate thick sauce which is later combined with the sieved/liquidised vegetables.  I don’t mind cutting corners if it makes life easier as long as the taste and quality is not compromised!

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Cream of Tomato Soup with Basil
(Serves 3/4)

1 medium sized carrot, scrubbed & diced
1 onion, peeled & diced
1 stick celery, washed, peeled & diced
25g/1oz butter
25g/1oz plain flour
400g/14oz tin of peeled plum tomatoes
1tsp sugar
600ml/1pt hot vegetable stock
Salt & black pepper
1tbsp tomato purée
150ml/¼ pint single cream (Elmlea low fat)
1tbsp chopped fresh basil (optional)
To finish:
Small swirl of cream (reserved from above quantity)
Basil leaf (if using)
Freshly ground black pepper

1.  Put the diced carrot, onion and celery into a pan with the butter and gently cook over a low heat for 10minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.

2.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour.  Gradually add the juice from the tin of tomatoes, stirring so it combines with the flour and vegetable mixture.  When the tomato juice is all added, stir in the vegetable stock, stirring all the time.

3.  Add the plum tomatoes, sugar and tomato purée.  Return to the heat and bring to the boil stirring all the time until the soup starts to thicken.  Check seasoning

4.  Tip the contents of the pan into a liquidiser until smooth (or pass through a sieve).  Return soup to the pan and over a low heat stir in the chopped basil, if you are including it, almost all of the cream, reserving a little to decorate the bowls if you wish.  Reheat very gently but it must not boil.

5.  Serve in warmed bowls, decorated with a swirl of cream, a basil leaf and freshly ground black pepper, along with a hunk of crusty bread.

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