Four brilliant soup recipes to keep you warm

The nights are getting colder. The money is running low. There’s not much food left in your cupboard, what are you going to eat? Can I suggest, soup?

As the Lewis Carroll poem goes –“Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, game, or any other dish?”Soup really is the dish, for every season, none more suitable than the cold nights of winter.

Below you will find 4 of the easiest and tastiest soup recipes anyone can make, you don’t have to be a superhero in the kitchen.

1 – Carrot and Ginger soup

This Carrot and Ginger Soup brightens a winter’s day but is also perfect for the lighter months. With the tingling spices of ginger and a light sprinkling of curry powder giving this soup a nice warm kick, that’s well needed during the frosty evenings.

The ingredients

· 1 ½ lbs/700g carrots, peeled and chopped

· 2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped

· 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

· 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

· 1 tsp powdered ginger

· 1 tsp medium curry powder

· 3 pints /1.6 litres chicken or vegetable stock

· Sea salt and black pepper

Preparation

· Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the onions and carrots, cook for several minutes, stirring from time to time. Do not brown the vegetables.

· Then add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook for a further minute.

· Add the stock and half cover the pan with its lid, and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the carrots are tender.

· Cool slightly, then liquidise the soup until smooth.

· Taste and season with salt and black pepper.

2 – Curry Pumpkin soup

Believe it or not, pumpkin isn’t just for Halloween. This soup is great at keeping you and you loved ones comfortable during the cold nights.

The ingredients

· 2 tablespoons butter/margarine

· 2 medium onions, chopped

· 1 medium carrot, chopped

· 1 stalk celery, chopped

· 1 teaspoon curry powder

· 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

· 1 chicken stock cube

· 2/3 cup water

· 1 cup half-and-half or light cream

· 1 cup of fresh pumpkin or half a can

· Season to taster

Preparation

· In saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, and celery. Cook, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

· Add curry powder and pumpkin pie spice. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add pumpkin, stock cube and water.

· Increase heat to medium-high; bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

· In blender, add one-third of the pumpkin mixture at a time, cover, and blend until smooth. Return all pumpkin mixture to pan.

3- Chestnut Soup

A truly, special winter soup. Perfect for that extra cold night, it would go great with a glass of eggnog or warm milk.

Ingredients

· 250g cooked chestnuts

· 1 large shallot, peeled and finely sliced

· 1.25l fresh chicken or vegetable stock

· 150ml double cream

· Salt and pepper

· Olive oil for cooking

Preparation

Heat a medium saucepan over a medium heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Sweat the shallots down slowly until soft and then add the chestnuts. Season well, pour over the stock and bring to the boil.

Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes to soften the chestnuts and reduce the stock.

Blend the soup in a processor adding the liquid a bit at a time. You want a fairly thick, soupy consistency. Season to taste and keep warm.

And finally…

4- Left over soup.

The title says it all. Whatever vegetables you have in your fridge or/and cupboard use them to make a soup. You would be surprised with what you can do with a bit of unloved veg.

*All the ingredients mentioned can be bought from your local supermarket, or even better, your local fresh market stalls.

Have any recipes you want to share? Comment below.

Image: avlxyz