Filling Soups

I made some vegetable soup for lunch today, on a previous attempt it was just ok but I thought I would give it another go and it was nice. I just chopped an onion, a couple of carrots and a potatoe, added a small tin of chopped tomatos and a handful of red lentils in a saucepan with some chicken oxo stock made up to about a pint or so of water, let it cook away until it was soft then blitzed with a blender to get it nice and smooth. This made enough for two plus some for work on Monday. A result!

Oh and I forgot to say that I fried the onions in a little oil first before adding the other veggies and added a handful of peas too.

Our lunch time soup was 1 cauliflower, 1 leek, stick celery and potato. Simmered in a vegetable stock about 2pints with seasoning and nutmeg. Whizzed smooth then added about 5ozs grated cheddar -the recipe said bung on some bacon snippets but we had bacon for breakfast so didn’t bother.

Not bad at all

Garry Rhodes.

I've been trying to find some simple new soup recipes so this thread really fits the bill. I'll be trying these over the next weeks and months as I keep soup going throughout autumn and winter.

May I just say that I always use my pressure cooker for soups and stews. It really brings out the flavour of even the most mediocre vegetables and meat.

I make 'End of the Week' soup. Any vegetables left in the fridge go in with lentils and a good stock. Surprisingly every week it tastes much the same ????

Just finished a bowl of soup!

Fry chopped bacon, then add chopped carrots, sliced leeks and sweat for a few minutes.

Add stock and lentils, simmer until ready, blend if you wish.

Note: I always cook my lentils in a separate pan, skim off the scum, then rinse before adding to the rest of the pan. This saves scum/foam on top of soup.

Lunch for three from 2/3 rashers of bacon, 1 large leek, mug of lentils, 2 carrots, stock.

Have dug out my soup books as the weather gets cooler.

I've bought what I need to make the baked bean soup next week.

gillybob, I use spice salamella, the whole lengths and chop, saute my own bits (for smoked summer sausage in lentils or cheese beer soup). I never saw the cans of cheese soup either, I just make it to normal recipe.

Some lovely ideas.
Can anyone tell me how to use an immersion blender without spattering soup everywhere?

I've just made a pasta I fagioli from the Waitrose booklet which came this week. I made it exactly to the recipe. Looks nothing like the picture. Tastes fine.

I hold the stick blender deep in the pot, the pot in the sink. No splatters.

Triciaf You can buy splash/splatter guards for hand blenders - try Amazon.

I make soup for a luncheon club for the elderly twice a month and have learnt to sweat vegetables in oil for 5 - 10 minutes, then add stock and any herbs and seasonings, bring pan to the boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.

I use the beaker provided with my hand held blender, ladling the soup into it in batches until it's no more than half full and push the blender down to the bottom, switching it on in short bursts.

Have to go out now, will post my favourite recipe when I get back.

Butternut squash soup is one of our favourites! Onion, squash, potato, garlic and carrot if I have any, seasoned with chilli and cumin!

My mother's ham hough soup on the go at the moment. A smoked ham hough or smoked ham ribs, carrot, onion, leek and yellow split peas which have been soaked overnight. Sometimes I put a couple of potatoes in for DH. Bung it all in and simmer away. Don't put any seasoning until the end, as ham can be really salty. It's my favourite.

I recently made a soup of parsnips and leeks, with a little potato. It was a little bit bland and sweet, so I chopped some blue cheese into the bowl and poured the soup over that. Yum!

The easiest and most delicious soup I have made is broccoli soup . 1 pint of stock ( I have used water at a pinch) 2 whole heads of broccoli . Simmer broccoli until tender then blend . The soup is very thick as you use so much veg to liquid so doesn`t need thickening . Add salt and pepper to taste and a swirl of cream . I have done this with watercress and my guests said it was the best soup ever . Again you need a LOT of veg to stock S&P and cream stirred in on this occasion .

marydoll do you mean Ham hock ? I used to make it as a student , you could buy the hocks for a few pence then .

Yes, f77ms, in Scotland we call it " hough". I'm just finishing cooking it just now. The smell reminds me of my childhood. it was a cheap meal then, not now!

Some great soup recipes, although I don't eat meat a lot of recipes can be adapted.
I've just taken some butternut squash and sweet potato out of the freezer ( should have done it last night). Hope it's as nice as the last time as I'm feeding my friend lunch. Good winter fuel (I know its still Autumn but feels chilly today)

If you like Butter Beans, this is one of my favourites.

Butter Bean and Pesto soup

1tblsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2x cans butter beans
300 gm potato, peeled and chopped
1 litre stock. ( chicken or vegetable)
1 tblsp pesto, plus extra for garnish

Heat the oil over a medium heat; add the onion and fry until soft. Add the beans, potato and stock, and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Add the pesto, stir well, then liquidise the soup.
This can be made in a pressure cooker. Bring to pressure and cook for 8-10 mins.
Season to taste, then re- heat gently.
To garnish, thin a little pesto down with olive oil and drizzzle onto the soup.

That looks nice, auntieflo. I think I'll try it. I've made butter bean and mushroom soup a few times. that's good too.

Sounds good, pesto is a great way to add interest and richness to plain ingredients that might otherwise be a bit bland.

I make soup often, all sorts of flavours but the quickest and easiest is this very tasty tomato soup.
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin baked beans
1 tin carrots
1/2 pt veg. Stock
1 pickled onion.

Tip all into a saucepan, blend and heat. Serve.