Carrot and Mango Soup

When my mum mentioned a few weeks ago that my cousin had made a carrot and mango soup for Christmas I knew this was something I'd like to try out. I bought a couple of mangoes but never got around to ask him for his recipe. With the mangoes overripe and threatening to go off I made up my own recipe. The soup is quite fruity with a lovely hum from the chili. If you prefer it less sweet use just one mango.

1 kg carrots
1-2 ripe mangoes
1 smallish red onion (ordinary's fine)
2-3 garlic cloves
1 red chili
1 inch fresh ginger
1 l vegetable stock
1 400 ml tin coconut milk
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
fresh coriander or parsley for serving, optional
toasted seeds for serving, optional

1. Peel and slice the carrots and set aside. Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh off the stone. Place into a bowl. If the mangoes are very soft squeeze out as much juice as possible from the remaining flesh into the bowl.

2. Use the chili with or without seeds depending on how hot you like your food. Peel the onion, garlic and ginger and chop finely. Heat some oil in a large saucepan and soften the veg over a low to medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile boil the kettle and make the stock or heat homemade stock.

4. Add the carrots to the saucepan and mix until coated. Add the mango. Season with pepper and add the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are just cooked. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and simmer at a low heat for 5 minutes.

5. Blend the soup. Check the seasoning and serve sprinkled with fresh herbs or toasted seeds.

Vegetable soup with tortellini and parmesan

My partner used this recipe for the cooking group she runs at her work and found it very tasty. Though not one of my own, I have to share it here. It will definitely become one of our staples. The original is finished off with pesto and served with garlic bread. We thought this sounded very rich and decided to use 2 packets of tortellini instead of garlic bread. We also grated the vegetables as it speeds up the cooking time and gives the soup a thicker consistency.

(serves 4 as main course)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or very finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 parsnip, grated
1 l vegetable stock
1 400-g tin of chopped tomatoes
250 g frozen peas
1 400-g tin of butter beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans or similar, including the liquid
400-500 g fresh tortellini, e.g. with spinach and ricotta filling
dried mxed herbs
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan to serve
pesto (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot and parsnips for about 5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

2. Add the stock and tomatoes, then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. With 5 minutes to go, add the peas and beans.

4. Once the veg is tender, add the tortellini. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes until the pasta is just cooked. (Tortellin and similar float when ready.)

5. Season to tast with pepper and salt.

6. Serve with a dollop of pesto (optional) and grated parmesan.

Carrot and Coconut Soup

Serving in matching coloured bowls is not mandatory ;)

1 kg carrots
300 g potatoes
1 l vegetable or chicken stock
1 can of coconut milk
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red chilli with seeds
1/2-1 tsp toasted and ground cumin
olive oil

1. Peel the carrots and slice into 5 mm thick pieces, peel and dice the potatoes.
2. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli.
3. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes without browning. Add the carrots, potatoes and cumin. Mix, then pour in the stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the vegetables are soft. Whizz and add the coconut milk. Heat through and check the seasoning.

Cauliflower and Carrot Soup

Served with a slice of yesterday's tomato topped courgette quiche

The last time I made chicken stock I added a red chilli including the seeds, which gave the stock and the soup a nice warming kick. Unlike vegetable stock it contained enough fat so didn't have to use any oil when making the soup. For a vegetarian version see 'Variation' below.

1 medium cauliflower
2 largish carrot
1/2 leek
1.5 l home-made chicken stock
sea salt
black pepper

If the stock is not freshly made, heat it and bring to a high simmer.
Meanwhile prepare the vegetables. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Peel and cut the carrot into 5 mm slices. Slice the leek. Add the vegetables to the stock, season with some pepper and cook at a high simmer until they're are soft. Blend and check the seasoning.

Variation:
If using vegetable stock, sauté the leek and carrots in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then add the stock and cauliflower and proceed as above.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Roasting the squash brings out the sugar in the veg. The result is a deliciously sweet soup.

1,2 kg butternut squash or seasonal pumpkin, e. g. hokaido
1 large carrot
1,25 l vegetable stock
sea salt
freshly grated black pepper
1 onion
1 garlic clove
extra virgin olive oil

toasted pumpkin oil and toasted pumpkin seeds for serving

Cut the squash or pumkin in half, core and cut into wedges. I didn't peel my butternut squash because we normally eat the skin when I roast them. Cut the carrot into wedges as well. Season with pepper and salt. Place on a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes at 200-220 °C/gas mark 5 or 6 until the vegetables are browned and cooked.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. When the vegetables are ready, sauté the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, place the roasted vegetables on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil and add to the stock. Bring to the boil and purée. Check the seasoning. To serve drizzle a little pumpkin oil and scatter some pumpkin seeds on top.

Apple, Carrot and Celeriac Soup

Earlier this week, I felt like trying out some new stuff. The result was this soup and a salad made with apples, carrots and celeriac.

1/2 celeriac
6-7 carrots
2-3 Braeburn apples
750 g potatoes
1 onion
1 red chili
2-3 garlic cloves
1.5 l stock
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Ras el Hanout
Olive oil
1 tin of coconut milk or 250 ml single cream

Peel the celeriac, potatoes and carrots and cut into small cubes. Quarter the apples, core and cut into large cubes. Chop the onion, garlic and (optionally deseeded) chilli, then sauté in olive oil for 3-4 min. Add the Garam Masala and Ras el Hanout and sauté for a further minute. Add the vegetables, mix well and pour in the stock. Season with pepper and salt. Cook on a highish simmer until the vegetables are tender. Lastly, pour in the coconut milk/cream. Blend the soup and check the seasoning. Optionally serve with a tablespoon of freshly grated apple.

Soup of Jerusalem Artichokes with Nutmeg

Earlier this week, I bought a kilo of Jerusalem artichokes, half of which I roasted in the oven (halved lengthways) and served with for another dish. From the remainder I made this delicious soup that'll serve 4-5 as a starter or 2-3 as a light lunch.

500 g Jerusalem artichokes, unpeeled
1/2 a thin leek
1 carrot
1 celery stick
1 small onion
1 bay leaf
1 l vegetable stock
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
extra virgin olive oil
crème fraîche for serving

Peel the onion but leave whole. Trim the leek and celery, trim and peel the carrot. Chop into 5 cm/ 2 inch pieces. Wash the Jerusalem artichokes really well if like mine they're really dirty. Cut into 1 cm/ 1/2 inch slices.

Heat the olive oil, add all the veg and mix until they're coated with a little oil. Season with pepper and salt. Pour in the stock, add the bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for approx. 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Remove the onion and bay leaf. Blitz, check the seasoning and grate in some nutmeg. Stir and serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Vegetable Soup with Chicken Stock, Red Lentils and Coriander

This soup can be made with vegetable or chicken stock. I made it with chicken stock I prepared with the left-overs of a roast chicken, the woody bits of asparagus and a few more bits and pieces.

Chicken Stock

bones of an organic or free range roast chicken (including any bits of meat that won't come off, the garlic cloves I'd stuffed inside and the cooled olive oil still clinging to the carcass)
1/4 leek
1 small onion
10 g fresh thyme
the woody bits from 750 g green asparagus
250-300 g carrots
1 tsp black pepper corns
3 cloves
1.8 l boiling water

Peel the onion and stud it with the cloves. Slice the leek and dice the carrots. Place all ingredients into a large saucepan, add the water and boil with the lid closed for  about 45 minutes.

Drain through a sieve and squeeze out the vegetables. Discard the bones and vegetables once they have cooled off.

I don't add salt when I make home-made stocks, so I can use them with any recipe, even if I use lardons, pancetta and the like.

This stock is relatively bland and not suitable to enjoy on its own. The soup itself has a delicate chicken flavour, which I prefer. The stock is also great for risotto.

 

Vegetable Soup with Red Lentils and Coriander

1 medium onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2-1 red chilis
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
1 1/2 bunches of spring onions
3/4 leek
500 g carrots
1 large parsnip
2 large handfuls of red lentils
1 bunch of fresh coriander
20 g butter
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
1,5 l chicken stock

Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli, thinly slice the spring onions (which I used because they were almost past it) and leek and sauté all these ingredients in the butter.

Dice the carrots and parsnip and add to the above. Season with pepper and salt and add the stock. Lastly, pour in the lentils. Bring to the boild and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Optionally blitz with a handheld blender and check the seasoning. Chop the coridander and stir into the soup.

I like to serve this with a dollop of harissa-flavoured soured cream.

Asparagus and Nettle Soup

As you'll have noticed from my other posts this spring, I've discovered foraging and am loving it. So there's a second idea for a nettle soup.

250 g nettle tops (top four leaves)
300 g green asparugs
3 shalots
1 garlic clove
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
freshly ground nutmeg
1 l vegetable soup
150 ml soured cream
1-2 heaped tsp. flour
olive oil

If you like, fry a handful of the nettles, dry them on paper towel, lightly salt them and scatter them over the soup when serving.

Wash and spin the nettles. Bend the asparagus spears so they break at the woody part, wash and set aside. Cut the remaining asparagus into 1 cm pieces. Finely chop the shalots and garlic.

Heat some oil in a saucepan, sauté the shalots and garlic for  2 minute, mix in the asparagus, then add the nettles. Mix together, season with pepper and salt. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Place the asparagus tips into the inset of a steamer, close the lid and simmer the soup for 5 minutes. Place the asparagus tips on a plate to prevent further cooking. Blitz the soup. Dissolve some flower in a little cold water, add to the soup and bring briefly to the boil to thicken. Season with nutmeg, add the cream and check the seasoning. Divide into portions and add the asparagus tops. 

Nettle Soup

The second dish I prepared with our foraged food was a nettle soup for Monday lunch.

(serves 4)

500 g stinging nettles
750 ml vegetable stock
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
nutmeg
extra virgin olive oil
150 ml soured cream

Using tongs, place the nettles into a collander and wash well. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan. Finely chop the onion and garlic, add to the saucepan and sautée for about 5 minutes. Add the nettles and mix with the onion and garlic. Sauté for 3-5 minutes before adding the stock. Bring to the boil, season with pepper, salt and nutmeg and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and purée. Check the seasoning, then add the soured cream and serve.

For a slightly more substantial soup, add a handful of breadcrumbs along with the stock.

Garlic Soup

It seems that everyone needed soup this week to get warm from the inside as winter has returned with a vengeance, much more so in Germany, where some people are practically drowning in snow. I remember a friend of mine talk about garlic soup but never really made one, though pretty much all my dishes used copious amounts of garlic. So when I saw this recipe in a German blog called Querschnitt, I decided it was high time to try it out for myself. And, OMG, was it good!

1.25 kg potatoes
750 ml - 1 l vegetable stock
250 ml milk
1 tub of soured cream
2 whole bulb garlic bulbs
1 small onion
1/2 - 1 red chilli
1 bay leaf
freshly ground nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
freshly chopped herbs

Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. Finely chop the onion and chilli and coarsely grate the garlic. Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes without letting them brown. Add the potatoes and stir until they're coated with the garlic mix. Add about 3/4 of the stock, the milk and bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaf and blitz the soup. Season with some nutmeg, check the seasoning and stir in the soured cream. Serve sprinkled with freshly chopped herbs and/or some dukkah.

Chestnut Soup

As it's been really, really cold again this week, I made a variety of soups.

(serves 4-6 as a starter)

500 g preecooked chestnuts (from the supermarket)
2 small banana shallots
2 garlic cloves
750 ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

optional ingredients for serving:
bread for croutons
parseley or coriander
butter bean paté
dukkah

Finely chop the shallots and garlic, heat the oil and gently sauté for 2-3 Minuten minutes until the shallot have become transparent. Meanwhile coarsely chop the chestnuts and add to the saucepan. Mix, add the stock and season. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. When the soup is hot, take out  4-5 tablespoons of chestnuts. Chope a little more finely and set aside. Blitz the soup, check the seasoning and stir the chopped chestnuts back in.

Serving suggestions:
1. Make croutons by browning diced bread in a little butter and olive oil. Scatter onto the soup and sprinkle some chopped coriander or parsley over the top.
2. Toast some baguette slices, spread with some butter bean paté and sprinkle with dukkah (see photo).

Beetroot Soup

I got the idea for this recipe from Katja who writes the German blog Glücksmomente and altered it slightly. It looks stunning and is simply delicious. Raw beetroot works just as well but I would recommend coarsely shredding and not just dicing it as it takes quite a long time to cook. You'll probably also need more stock.

1 kg precooked beetroot without vinegar
750 ml vegetable stock
500 g potatoes
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
a thumbsized piece of fresh ginger
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
soured cream
1 heaped tbsp hot horseradish sauce

Peel and wash the potatoes. Dice the potatoes and beetroot. Finely chop the onion and garlic, peel the ginger and grate.

Heat the olive oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add the potatoes and beetroot. Stir until well coated with the onion mix. Season with pepper. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and  simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Blitz and add the horseradish sauce. Check the seasoning. Add salt if required. Serve with a nice dollop of soured cream.

Chicken Soup

When my other half came down with a cold that seemed twice, if not three times as bad as the one I've just left behind, I decided to bring on the heavy armoury – real chicken soup. After consulting the internet for recipes and phoning my mum, I knew just what to do. Even though we're not Jewish, I love this expression, so here comes the Jewish penicillin! Don't be a "Suppen-Kaspar" but eat up and stay healthy. ;)


Since there are just two of us and there never is any room in the freezer, I used only half a roasting chicken. Otherwise, we'd be eating chicken soup for a month. You can also use a broiling chicken but free range or organic broiling chickens are not easy to get hold of here, hence the free range roasting chicken. The other half, I seasoned with pepper, salt and sweet Hungarian paprika and roasted in the oven at gas mark 5/200 °C for 50 minutes.



1/2 free range or organic roasting chicken (approx. 750 g)
2.5 l cold water
1 whole onion
1 celery stick
1 leek
2 large carrots
2 parsnips
1/2 - 1 chicken stock cube
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
5 whole cloves

boiled vermicelli or boiled rice

1. Place the chicken in a large saucepan and add the cold water. Cover and slowly bring to the boil, Then reduce the heat to a simmer. Skim any scum off the water surface. (There wasn't any on mine.)

2. Meanwhile peel the vegetables and cut them into 1 cm cubes. Stud the top of the onion with the cloves.

3. Once the broth is clear, add all the vegetables and season with pepper and plenty of salt. (I learned the hard way that a meat soup needs lots more salt than a veggie soup, but you can always add more at the end.)

4. Cover again and simmer for about two hours. Check the taste and add either half or the whole stock cube. Simmer for a further hour. Check the taste and adjust if necessary. Remove the onion and discard.

5. Take out the chicken, discard the skin and remove the meat from the bones. It should just fall off the bones. Tear the meat into irregular chunks and return these to the soup.

6. To serve, add some boiled vermicelli pasta or rice to a bowl and top up with the soup, meat and vegetables.

Soup of roasted courgettes with fennel seeds

We love not having to think about lunch and in winter this means we make a large pot of soup to sustain us during the week. But before it's time for the really filling, warming soups I'm making soups that still remind me of summer. Today, I roasted courgettes for a soup. It doesn't take long to put all the ingredients together but it takes a fair amount of time in the oven. The combination of caramelised onion, garlic and celery and fennel makes this soup truly scrumptious.

4 large courgettes
1 large onion
2 whole clove garlic bulbs
2 celery sticks
1 tsp fennel seeds
1.8 l vegetable stock
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
herby tops of three carrots
extra virgin olive oil
2 handfuls of fresh (or frozen) home-made breadcrumbs

1. Wash the courgettes, cut off top and bottom and half lengthways. Place cut side up into a roasting tray.

2. Peel and half the oninion and cut into thickish slices. Peel the garlic cloves and cut into about 4-6 pieces each. Cut the celery into 3 cm long bits. Crush every piece with the ball of your hand. Scatter onion and garlic over and around the courgettes.

3. Season with a little salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Sprinkle the fennel seeds over the top. Drizzle with olive oil and mix everything with your hands.

4. Place into a preheated oven and cook at gas mark 7/220°C until all the vegetabels are lightly browned. Our oven isn't great so I put it up to full whack after about 35 minutes and also turned the courgettes cut side down.

5. When the courgettes are cooked, make the sock either fresh or from powder and add the coarsely chopped leafy parts of the carrot tops.

6. Transfer all the veg into a saucepan, add the breadcrumbs and stock and purée. Check the seasoning and serve or leave to cool and refrigerate in portions ready to pack for lunch.

Spinach soup with tahini and chickpeas

Normally I don't add salt to soups as I find that there is enough salt even in the reduced salt vegetable stock powder I usually use. However, the stock for this soup was home made without added salt.

500 g fresh spinach, washed
1 tin of organic chickpeas, drained
2-2.5 l vegetable stock
2 heaped tbsp of unsalted tahini
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large handfuls of fine wholemeal oat flakes
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
dried herbes des Provence

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and herbs over a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes until softened but not browned.

2. Add the stock, oat flakes, tahini and half of the chickpeas. Season with pepper and salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the oat flakes have softened.

3. Add the spinach and let it wilt. Then check the seasoning and blend.

4. After blending, check the seasoning again, add the remaining chickpeas and heat through.

Roasted Aubergine Soup

This is a wonderfully sumptuous soup that is great as a starter or for lunch. Next time I'll try using ground cumin instead of the herbes.

2 large aubergines, halved lengthways
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, very finely chopped
Herbes de Provence
1 l vegetable (or other) stock
1 handful of bread crumbs

1. Season the aubergines with pepper, place them cut side down into a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes to an hour in a very hot oven until they have softened. Take out and leave to cool before roughly chopping them up.
2.Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions, garlic and herbs until softened but not brown. Add the aubergines, bread crumbs and stock. Season with a little black pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer till hot. Blitz and serve.

Parsnip and Spinach Soup

On Sundays in winter, we usually make a large pot of soup that'll serve us for lunch throughout the week. Today, my partner had a look in the fridge and came up with this stunner!

2 largeish onions, chopped
1 whole clove garlic, chopped
dried basil
1.5 kg parsnips
750 g carrotsSend
200 g spinach leaves
2 medium potatoes
2 l low-salt stock
black pepper
1 chilli, chopped and deseeded
olive oil

1. Sauté the onions, garlic, chilli and basil until the onions become translucent. Add the parsnips, carrots and potatoes and mix together until the veggie are coated (2-3 minutes).

2. Add the stock and season with black pepper. Bring to the boil and add the spinach.

3. Simmer for 20 minutes or until all the veg are soft, stirring from time to time as the spinach tends to float to the surface. Blend when ready.

Variation:
For a less sweet flavour, try this with fewer parsnips and more potatoes.

Roast Tomato Soup

I've recently started making soups with roast vegetables and have found that they're easy to make and very tasty.

1.5 kg vine tomatoes, halved
1 small red chilli, deseeded (optional) and finely sliced
5 large garlic cloves, greated
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
extra virgin olive oil
500 ml vegtable stock or stock of your choice
2 handfuls of breadcrumbs

1. Scatter the thyme sprigs into a non-stick roasting tray.

2. Place the tomatoes cut side up into the roasing tray. Seasson with pepper and salt. Scatter the garlic and chilli on top. Drizzle with olive oil.

3. Place in a pre-heated oven and cook at gas mark 6-7, 200-220° C, for 15 minutes. Then turn the tomatoes cut side down and cook for a further 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft.

4. Transfer everything into a saucepan. Add the breadcrumbs and stock, then purée. Check the seasoning and serve.

Parsnip Soup with Grated Apple

This is quite a thick and filling soup. You may have to add more stock or water to use it as a starter.


1 kg parsnips, peeled and diced
250 g potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp coriander seeds, ground very finely
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground very finely
1.75 l vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
pinch of saffron, optional
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated apple

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sautee the onion, garlic and chilli over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the spices and sautee for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the parsnip and potato and mix until coated with the spices. Season with pepper
4. Add the stock and saffron, if used, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
5. Puree and serve each portion with a heaped tbsp of freshly grated apple.