Soup for the Soul

For me, soup is one of the most comforting foods in the winter. As soon as the leaves start to turn red, my vacuum flask comes out of the cupboard and I start trawling for quick simple recipes. I get really cold at work and soup keeps my cockles warm and my cheeks rosy, plus its cost effective to make in batches and a whole lots more imaginative and exciting then my packed lunches.

Here is the soup I am having today:

Jamie Oliver’s Spicy Parsnip Soup - Serves 4

Ingredients

Olive Oil
Knob of Butter
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks
500ml milk
1 litre vegetable stock
Sa salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Optional: a handful of fresh coriander leaves
Crusty bread, to serve

Heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and garam masala. Gently fry for around 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and sweet.

Drop in the chopped parsnip and stir together so that everything gets coated in the oil and flavours. Pour in the milk and stock, season well and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on.

After half an hour, check that the parsnips are cooked by sticking a knife in. If you’re happy, remove them from the heat and carefully whiz up using a hand blender or liquidizer. Taste the soup to see if it needs a little more salt or pepper.

Serve with a sprinkling of sliced red chilli, a few coriander leaves if you like, and a good chunk of crusty bread.

Tip: Use coconut milk instead of regular milk for a twist.

Sarah

Nigella’s Pea and Pesto Soup

This is a great recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Express book (a great one to have on the shelf for inspiration). It is so quick to make, and I am a soup addict in the winter and love nothing more then taking my flask to work knowing I have a yummy soup it eat... much more inviting then an instant one. I love making soup as well as I find it extremely therapeutic, however I can’t be bothered with straining or any faffing around, which makes this soup perfect. I would however stress that it is rather ‘flavoursome’ and not ideal if you have a meeting planned, or plan on getting close to anyone. But if you love pesto you will LOVE it.

Pea and Pesto Soup – Makes enough for 2 bowls

Ingredients:

750ml water
375g frozen peas
2 spring onions, trimmed but whole
1 teaspoon Maldon salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
4 x 15ml tablespoons fresh pesto

The quickest way to proceed is to fill a kettle first and put it on to boil. When it’s boiled, measure the amount you need into a pan and put on the hob to come back to the boil.

Fill a thermos with the remaining hot water.

Add the frozen peas, spring onions, salt and lime juice to the pan and let everything bubble together for 7 minutes.

Discard the spring onions and blitz the peas and their liquid with the pesto in a blender.

Empty the thermos flask that you’ve left filled with hot water and then pour in the soup, making sure you screw the top on securely.

That recipe is from Nigella.Com, there lots on there to search through – definitely a good resource.

Sarah