My Favourite Soup............

[Dog House]

I thoroughly enjoyed the recent stew thread. The comment was made that a soup thread would be similarly successful, so here goes:

Pea Soup with Mustard

400g dried peas
25g butter
250g smoked bacon (or ham hock)
1 onion peeled and chopped
1 litre ham or chicken stock
2 tbsp dijon mustard

Soak the peas overnight.

Melt the butter and fry the bacon & onions gently for 10 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients plus salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer for 45 minutes.

Liquidise 80% of the mixture, re-mix and add stock if it is too thick.

Seve hot with added mustard to taste.

A real cheap treat with crusty bread!

Dog House.

[OverWyreGrower]

Minestrone Soup

A little oil to fry with
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
2 carrots (shopped)
2 sticks celery (chopped)
397g (14oz can) chopped tomatoes
1136ml/2pt vegetable stock
57g/2oz dried spaghetti (broken into short lengths)
113g/4oz peas (frozen are fine)
170g/6oz green cabbage, chopped (savoy works well)
1 leek chopped
1tsp basil
seasoning

Method
Heat a non stick pan with the oil and cook the onion for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and continue cooking for about 2-3 minutes

Add the tomatoes, stock and spaghetti and bring to the biol, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes

Stir in the peas, cabbage, leek and basil and simmer for a further 20 minutes, adding a little water if necessary. Season to taste.

Notes
This freezes really well!

[muckdiva]

My Mum's Bavarian Potato Soup

Sorry, never measure quantities, depends what's around:

Onions, Roughly Chopped
Carrots, sliced
Smoked streaky bacon (has to be smoked IMO)
Stock (homemade or I sometimes use Marigold powdered stock)
Potatos, cubed (about 1-2cm), about an equal quantity to onion/carrot combined - you will have to experiment
Salt (if needed), pepper, touch of parsley and other herbs if you want them.
Small amount of caraway seed if you like it.
I find the bacon tends to add enough saltiness and flavour.
You could add other bits and pieces such as celery or leeks if you wanted, I don't usually bother.

Fry the onions and carrots until slightly softened, add the bacon and brown slightly. Add the potatos and stock and simmer until potatos are tender. This is great freshly made, but even better the next day when the potatoes have gone a bit mushy!
Enjoy!

[JennieAtkinson]

Butternut Squash Soup

1 onion - chopped
1 glove of garlic - - chopped
half a reasonable size butternut squash - chopped
half of a red chilli - chopped and seeds removed
half a pot of creme faiche
pancetta bacon cubes

Fry onion, garlic and red chilli until soft in a little bit of butter, then tip in squash and stir fry until well coated. Pour in enough boiling water from the kettle to cover all well and simmer for 15/20 minutes. When the squash is soft, wizz with a wizzer and stir in creme faiche (add more hot water if a little too thick). Serve in warm bowls garnished with crispy fried pancetta bacon cubes and warm bread straight from the bread machine.

Delicious - we've just had it for tea! Its our favourite soup. (Serves 2)

[Lesley Jay]

Jennie that sounds lovely! I must make this one - thanks!

[wellie]

Red Onion & Red Wine Soup with Thyme Croutes

Now then! This soup uses a large quantity of red onions, is slowly cooked with tomatoes, red wine and garlic, seasoned with thyme and orange zest.
The result is a rich and mellow soup, and infinitely better heated up the next day....

4 tblsps. olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
1kg red onions, quartered and sliced finely
2 x 400g cans of tomatoes (no! use your own home-grown this summer)
4 large cloves garlic, crushed with half tsp. salt
Bouquet Garni made with 1 Bayleaf, 6 thyme sprigs and a 2" strip orange zest
300ml red wine
1.2 litres stock, made with garlic and herb or veg stock-cubes
S & P

and for the croutes:
12 thin ciabatta slices
3 tblsps olive oil
1 tblsp. fresh thyme leaves
xtra virgin olive oil to garnish

1. Using a large heavy-based pan with a good-fitting lid, heat the olive oil. Saute the chopped onion for about 10 mins, until soft and beginning to colour. Add the sliced red onions, stirring to coat them thoroughly with the oil. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally for 30 mins or until the onions soften and wilt.

2. While the onions are cooking, drain the canned tomatoes (!), reserving the juice. Squeeze the pips out of the tomatoes and roughly chop the flesh. Measure 300ml of strained tomato juice.

3. When the onions are ready, stir in the salty garlic paste, the chopped tomatoes, bouquet garni and tomato juice. Cover the pan and leave to stew over a gentle heat for 15 mins.

4. Add the wine and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half. Pour on the stock and simmer, partially covered, for 25 mins.

5. Meanwhile, paint both sides of the slices of ciabatta slices with olive oil, sprinkle each slice with thyme leaves and place them on a wire rack that's resting on a baking sheet, and bake them for 4-5 mins until crisp and golden in an oven prehated to about 200c/400f/gas6..

6. Put the croutes into a bowl, pour on the soup, minus the bouquet garni and drizzle with olive oil.

No word of a lie. To die for....

[Silverfox]

A chance to win £750 to spend on your garden plus RHS Flower Show tickets

For your chance to win, choose your favourite crop from your vegetable plot and explain why you think it would make a great seasonal soup ingredient for November soup of the month in no more than 100 words. Also send in any growing tips and, if possible, a few photos. The winner will be the entrant with the vegetable that most inspires the judges to give it the New Covent Garden Food Co. treatment to become the soup of the month in November 2007. This soup will be on supermarket shelves nationwide and the winner’s name will feature on the pack. The winner will also win £750 worth of National Garden Gift Vouchers and VIP day tickets to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on 08.07.07. Two runners up will receive £100 of gift vouchers each and tickets to the show. Send your entry by 31.05.07 to New Covent Garden Food Co, C/O Brand Solutions, C100 Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London, W12 0TT, along with your name, address and daytime number. Winners will be notified by 30.06.07.

[shirlthegirl43]

Baked Potato Soup

A variation on a soup served in Houlihan's restaurants in the USA. Recipe found and adapted from a website with american crockpot (slow cooker) recipes.

Ingredients:

1 medium bulb garlic with a quarter inch cut off the top
6 large baking potatoes (about 1.5 kilos), washed
1 1/4 litres of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Wrap the garlic in some tinfoil and put in the oven while the spuds are baking. Remove garlic after around 40 mins or when it is soft. Cook spuds till tender.

Peel half the potatoes and mash in a pan with the garlic (squeeze it out of the 'skin'). Blend the chicken stock into the potato and garlic mash gradually and season to taste.

Place the pan over a medium heat and cook until it is hot, stirring occasionally.

Cut the remaining spuds into chunks (with skin still on) and stir into the hot soup. Cook till heated through.

Serve as it is or with crumbled bacon, turkey or chicken or cheese - basically whatever you have to hand.

Yummy!!

[Polly Fouracre]

The loveliest soup I ever made was the day after a barbeque.I had,left over a quantity of home-made lentil burgers,salad(lettuce,toms,cuc,spring onions)and I put them all in a pan together with a few cloves of garlic and a couple of tins of toms.Boiled it up,whizzed it.Very tasty.

[Birdie Wife]

Ham and lentil soup (makes a vat! but freezes really well!)

1 smoked ham hock
1 swede
2 big onions
few sticks of celery, half a doz medium carrots
and any other roots you've got lying around to boost the colour and texture!
Packet of yellow lentils

Soak the lentils according to the instructions. Chop up the onions and celery and sweat them down in some butter until softened but not browned. Chop up the vegetables and put in a large pan with all the other ingredients, and top up with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are soft. Let cool a little, then remove the ham hock and pick for meat. Add the meat baack to the pan and season to taste. Hearty soup for hearty appetites. Works brilliantly in a pressure cooker too.

[wormlady]

Spicy red lentil soup
125g red lentils rinsed & drained
1 litre veg stock (I use that Knorr liquid stuff in bottles)
1 carrot chopped
1 spud shopped
1 stick of celery chopped
1 onion chopped
few cloves of garlic, crushed
couple green chillis chopped
teaspoon of cumin seeds

Fry the onions till softened, add the rest of the veg, chillis, cumin and garlic. Stir about a bit. Add the lentils and stock, bubble away for about 30 mins.
Easy peasy and tasty too x

I like the sound of the pea soup - am gonna add that to my soup list!