Ingredients / Shopping List
40g butter plus 1 tblsp oil1 potato1 onion plus one clove garlic100g other veg (carrots, parsnips, swede, peas)Herbs of your choice (such as 3 bay leaves and a good sprig of thyme)1 heaped tablespoon dry stuffing mix (sage and onion for example)800ml waterSea saltGround black pepperExtra for serving: 2 portions diced cooked boiled ham or chicken or turkey
40g butter plus 1 tblsp oil
1 potato
1 onion plus one clove garlic
100g other veg (carrots, parsnips, swede, peas)
Herbs of your choice (such as 3 bay leaves and a good sprig of thyme)
1 heaped tablespoon dry stuffing mix (sage and onion for example)
800ml water
Sea salt
Ground black pepper
Extra for serving: 2 portions diced cooked boiled ham or chicken or turkey
Prep to Cook: Get out chopping board, veg knife, peeler, large soup pan, long handled spoon, teaspoon, measuring jug, wooden spoon
Prep: Peel, chop and dice up all the veg
Put the butter and oil in the soup pan and fry off the onion and garlic until golden
Add all the other vegetables and allow them to frizzle for 5 minutes
Stir in the tablespoon of stuffing and mix well with a wooden spoon
Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and the herbs
Gradually stir in the water and pop in bay leaves and sprig of thyme
Bring up to the boil then turn down to simmer for 35 minutes with the lid on
To serve:
dice the meat into soup bowls and pour over the boiling soup. Add a swirl or cream and some chopped coriander
This is a delicious pour over soup that transforms leftover meat into a wonder hearty and flavoursome soup meal
Soup is a good way to use leftovers vegetables. You can use raw vegetables and also add cooked vegetable leftovers too. Check the seasoning and flavour as you go and adjust it by adding more if is seems to lack flavour. At the last minute, as you serve,add dregs of crème fraiche or double cream and chopped coriander. Toasted bread croutons finish the dish.
Cooks Know How: Soup making is fun and offers you all sorts of choice for flavour and colour and texture. In this recipe the frying is responsible for flavour development. The potatoes are starchy vegetables and they become sweeter as the starch breaks down into sugars during the frying. Onions too contain sugars in their cells and also develop a sweeter flavour as they fry. The colour change adds depth to the soup at the same time. After the frying comes the boiling, or rather the simmering. This gentle moist cooking causes a breakdown of all the vegetable cellulose and makes it soft, tender and easier to digest. Some vitamins are lost in steam but traces will remain in the juices which makes soup a nutritious meal.
Other aspects that make soup unique come via the use of extra flavouring from bay leaves, garlic and herbs. Whatever you do, do NOT skimp on these ingredients they really do make the difference. The heaped tablespoon of stuffing mix adds some texture and herby flavour and helps to slightly thicken the soups. Once cooked the soup will keep and can be reheated. Make sure it is piping hot and pour it over diced chicken, ham or turkey to create a hearty soup bowl with visible chunks of potato onion and other veg.