Soup-tastic!

Blown away on the beach. Credit: Me 😊 

With all this cold, grey winter weather, I'm a bit obsessed with making soup at the moment. I'm not searching out new recipes, I'm just seeing what I've got lots of or what needs using up, then bunging it in a pot and seeing what happens!  That's the beauty of soup - as long as you have a decent stock base.
Luckily with Christmas, there comes a good deal of turkey bone! I was stocked up fully (excuse the pun!), but with the soup kitchen in full swing, it has reduced somewhat.

So, what have I been making?

Well, I've made three batches of Broccoli and Stilton soup:

1 whole broccoli chopped
200g stilton crumbled
1 onion
1 carrot
Anything else you have lurking..  to one, I added half a lettuce and half a leek.
I added a potato to one, but this made it too thick with the cheese. Obviously you can water it down but I personally think that takes something from the flavour.
About a pint of good chicken or turkey stock.
Season with a good pinch of salt and 4 or 5 grinds of black pepper.

Start by sweating your onions and carrots in a tbsp olive oil. Keep the lid on for 2-3 mins.
Add the broccoli and other veg. Stir.
Pour in the stock, and season.

Simmer for about 20 mins to ensure the vegetables are soft, then using a hand blender, whizz up the soup. If placing in a blender, cool slightly before blending to ensure there are no burning hot accidents!
Add the stilton allow it to melt a lttle and then whizz again.

That's it! Ready to serve 😊

I've made Mushroom soup:

1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small potato, chopped and sweated.
Add a punnet of  chestnut mushrooms, chopped.
Add a pint of stock and some herbs would work well at this point too.
Simmer as above, then blend.

Finally add 150ml of double cream. Stir, heat gently and serve.

And today I made Red Pepper and Carrot soup:

Chop and sweat 1 onion, 2 red peppers, 6 carrots and 1 potato.
Pop in 2 whole green chillis.
Add the pint of stock and season well.

Simmer for 20 mins, checking that carrots are soft. Remove chillies and chop the flesh of one, discarding seeds (unless you want some heat!!), then blend.

I topped mine with my pumpkin seed nibbles before devouring!

What a fantastic thing soup is. So quick and easy to do, and yet so satisfying to eat to! Perfect following a brisk and blowy walk on the beach with the dog!

Whatever you're up to this weekend, try making time to clear your fridge and experiment with flavours. It's soup-tastic!

Deb x

Of course, you must let me know of any flavour combinations you've tried! And don't forget to subscribe to keep up to date with my plans, projects and recipes x