Cauliflower,thyme and potato soup with cheesy mustard croutons
The mustard cheese toastie bites bring a touch of the old cauli bake flavour profile to this soup and are a wondrous addition. You could,of course,just stick to some simple toast,but they are a very worthy,and I’d lean towards necessary,addition. This soup is spectacularly easy to make and requires very little babysitting while it chugs away on the stove. It freezes well so make in bulk to pull out on those days you fear you might be going down in a blaze of glory.
Ingredients
It’s probably clear that I love a soup I can stand a spoon in,and this is the epitome of soup with structure. It’s thrown-together,but in the very best way. I don’t like the grey colour that so many mushroom soups can turn,so I prefer to leave a lot of the fungi large and lovely. You can of course blitz all of this down into a smooth soup.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 brown onions,diced
- 6 garlic cloves,finely chopped
- 750g mushrooms (I used a mix of what I could find fresh at my local greengrocer),sliced
- 1 litre chicken stock (you may need more)
- 1kg baby potatoes,halved
- 350ml thickened cream
- 350g bacon rashers,roughly chopped
Method
- Place a large pot or high-sided frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil,and once foaming,add the onions and cook for 2-5 minutes or until completely soft. This is where a lot of the sweetness for this soup comes from so don’t rush this step.
- Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have softened and look significantly reduced in volume. Add the chicken stock and potatoes and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes can easily be pierced with a knife. (If the stock has reduced too significantly in this time,add more stock,½ a cup at a time.)
- Add the cream,stir gently to combine,and cook for a further few minutes until warmed through.
- As soon as you have added the cream,place a frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon rashers and cook for 1-3 minutes,or until cooked through and crisp.
- Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with crispy bacon and season generously with salt and pepper. Serve piping hot.
Serves 6-8
Spiced carrot and lentil soup
This is why soup exists. It is soul-restoring,simple,uses cupboard staples,is cheap and healthy. Winning on all fronts.
Ingredients
Quick red curry and noodle soup
This is the most glorious throw-it-in-and-call-it-dinner slurpy,soupy goodness. Add a few crunchy peanuts and the tang of lime and this is nothing short of spectacular. I now eat it on repeat. While I love the texture the noodles provide,you can ditch them entirely if all you crave is soup without the bother of accoutrements.
Talking of noodles,this is the soup that wants whatever you have lurking in the pantry. Udon,soba,ramen,egg noodles,your kids’ Maggi 2-minute noodle packs – all will work just fine. It’s a noodle judgment-free zone.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp good quality red curry paste
- 1 onion,diced
- 2 tbsp very finely chopped lemongrass,white part only
- 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (plus more to taste)
- 1 tbsp honey
- juice of 1 lime (plus more to taste)
Crisper zuppa
The list of ingredients below is a guide only. This soup exists as a means for using up your leftovers − it’s how the Italians run with it,and how you should run with it,too. The pasta makes the soup gloriously starchy and a bit thick and luscious. A squeeze of lemon juice to finish never hurt anyone either. Often sausage and cream is also added,but here I’ve kept it packed full of veg and it is just as flavoursome.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions,diced
- 2 garlic cloves,finely chopped
- 1 stick celery,finely diced
- 4 carrots,sliced
- 4 zucchini,sliced
- 2 potatoes,chopped
- 4-6 cavolo nero leaves,roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley,chopped
- 2 cups white wine
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups short pasta (ziti works well)
- salt and pepper
- shaved parmesan to serve