Cream of Celery Soup with Cannellini Beans.

5 02 2012

Why is it that we can’t buy celery sticks individually? So many recipes ask for one or two sticks, but the only way of buying the stuff is to buy a whole plant and then work out what to do with the remaining seven or eight sticks. I remember my parent’s having dinner parties in the late seventies, serving celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese. Cool, crunchy and full of those horrible stringy bits.

Rather than a simple creamy soup I thought I’d add the beans to add some texture and interest. it wored well and just the thing to warm you up on a snowy February weekend.

This makes about 4 bowls
Knob of butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
2 3- small potatoes – peeled and diced
1 head of celery – remove the leafy parts and roughly chop the rest
Vegetable stock
100 ml single cream
1x 400g tin cannellini beans – drained
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the onion and fry gently until starting to soften. Add the thyme, celery and potato and fry for a minute or two, stirring to make sure everything is nicely coated in the oil and butter.

Add enough stock to just cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until everything is soft.

Blend until smooth then sieve to remove the stringy bits of the celery.

Put the sieved soup back in the pan, add the cream and beans then heat slowly. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve hot.


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Courgette and Dolcelatte Soup

29 01 2012

January means two things – the start of a healthy eating phase, and a trip up the M1 to take my daughter and her seemingly endless supply of washed and ironed clothes back up to Leeds for another term at University. After three hours of driving, carrying several heavy bags up three flights of stairs, and cleaning the kitchen of a student flat (yuk!), it was time for a well desrived lunch. We decided to try Salvo’s Deli in Headingley for a spot of lunch. This is based on the fabulous soup of the day that day. it’s kind of healthy, maybe more so with a little less cheese.

Serves 3 – 4 people

2 tablespoons olive oil
Small knob of butter
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – finely chopped
4-5 courgettes – cut into rough chunks
2 teaspoons pesto
100g creamy blue cheese – gorgonzola or dolcelatte work well
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When the butter has melted add the onion and fry gently until soft and translucent. Now add the garlic and continue to fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the courgettes, stir, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the courgettes are soft. Now add the pesto and just enough stock to come to the top of the vegetables. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until everthing is very tender. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Blend the osup until smooth. I use a stick blender but you could transfer everything to a food processor, blend and put back in the pan – it all depends on how much you like washing up.

Heat gently and season to taste.


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Pumpkin and Rice Soup with Za’atar Croutons

15 01 2012

From Sally Butcher’s fabulous guide to Middle Eastern meat free cooking – Veggiestan – this soup is a delight. Perfect for keeping those January frosts at bay.

This makes enough soup to feed four or five.

1 medium pumpkin or butternut squash – peeled, deseeded and diced
oil for frying – I used raw coconut oil
2 oinions – peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 red chili – chopped – deseed it if you don’t like the fire
175g pudding rice
1 litre vegetable stock
2-3 slices stale bread
1 tablespoon za’atar
3-4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pan then add the onion and fry until soft (about 5 minutes) then add the garlic, chili and spices, fry for a further 2 minutes then add the pumpkin or butternut. Add the stock and bring to the boil. When boiing add half the rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for half an hour.

While the soup is simmering, cook the rest of the rice in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and set to one side.

When the soup is done and the pumpkin cooked through, remove from the heat and blend. Add the drained rice and return to the heat to keep warm.

Take a large frying pan, add some more oil then fry the diced stale bread. When the bread starts to colour add the pumpkin seeds and za’atar. Fry for a further minute or two stirring all the time.

Serve the soup with hot croutons.


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Quick and Easy Chana Dal

8 01 2012

Well, when I say quick I mean it’s quick once you have done the prep. You can eat this as a side dish or almost like a soup with some warm nan bread.

2 large handfuls of chana dal (or yellow split peas)
2-3 cloves garlic – finely sliced
2 tomatoes – diced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder – vary the amount depending on how hot it is and how hot you like it
1 teaspoon salt
Large bunch fresh coriander – chopped

Soak the chana dal in cold water for a few hours – this is not essential but it reduces the cooking time a little.

Rinse the dal then cover with water, add a teaspoon of ground turmeric and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for half an hour or so until the dal is soft and soupy. If too wet, take the lid off and let some of the water evaporate off while cooking. If dry, add more water, a little at a time.

When the dal is done, heat a little oil in a small frying pan. When hot add the garlic and chili powder and fry until just starting to brown. Now add the tomatoes and salt. Fry until the tomatoes start to break up then tip the contents of the frying pan into the dal. Add the chopped coriander, stir well and serve hot.


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Pumpkin, Coconut and Noodle Soup

6 11 2011

After a cold and windy morning watching my son’s local football team going out of the cup after a hard fought fight what could be better than a satisfying bowl of spicey noodle soup.

This should feed about 4-6 depending on how much running around you’ve been doing.

2 tablespoons coconut or sunflower oil
Approx ¾ of a smallish pumpkin – peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice
1x400g tin of coconut milk
2 red chillies – finely sliced
About a 1cm piece of ginger – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, ground cumin, sugar and salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of mange tout
Large bunch coriander – chopped roughly
Vegetable stock
Ramen noodles
3 spring onions – finely sliced

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan then add the ginger, garlic and chili and fry gently until starting to soften. Now add the coconut milk salt, cumin, ground coriander, sugar and soy sauce. Add vegetable stock – about the amount that would fill the empty can of coconut milk. When starting to boil add the diced pumpkin. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the mange tout, lime juice and chopped coriander. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Then add the ramen noodle which need only a minute. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. Serve in bowls while piping hot and sprinkle a few chopped spring onions over the top.


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Chick Pea, Tomato and Bread Soup

5 10 2011

From Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty. This reminds me of a vegetable stew and paprika dumpling recipe I used to make as a student – in the days when vegetarian food hadn’t really been invented! – only this is simpler as the bread acts like a dumpling wihtout having to do any of the work.

Serves 4-6
1 onion – halved and finely sliced
1 fennel bulb – finely sliced
120ml or so of olive oil
1 carrot – peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
2-3 sticks of celery – finely sliced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
250ml white wine
1 x 400g tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
approx 160g stale bread – sourdough, ciabatta, anything will do really – remove the crusts
1 x 400g tin chick peas – drained
salt, pepper
4 tablespoons pesto

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and fennel until softened. Add the carrot and celery, soften for a few minutes then add the tomato puree and wine and bring to boil for a couple of minutes.

Next add the tomatoes, herbs, sugar, stock and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil again, cover and simmer for half an hour.

While you wait, break the bread into rough chunks, toss in a little oil and salt and place in a roasting tray in the the oven at 180C for 10 minutes until dry. Set aside.

Now drain the chick peas, mash them slightly with a fork so some are crushed while others remian whole then add to the simmering soup. Once the soupd has simmered for a further 5 minutes add the bread, stir, cook for a further 5 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide into 4-6 bowls and finish with a blob of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.


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Sweet Potato and Three Bean Stew

30 08 2010

This year I decided to break with the norm on our allotments and not grow runner beans. Instead I’ve been growing borlottis, and two types of french – one purple and one green. This recipe uses all three though you could substitute runners or any tinned varieties.

A cross between a soup and a stew this is one of those few dishes I make that doesn’t have garlic or cheese (or both) in them. I ate this two days running. Day one as a stew with saffron infused basmati rice and day two as a soup with olive focaccia. My advice is to make too much as it tastes better if left in the fridge for a day.

3-4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 onion – finely chopped
2 sticks celery – finely chopped
½ yellow pepper – diced
½ red pepper – diced
1 sweet potato – peeled and diced
1 chilli – finely chopped – de-seeded if you don’t want it too hot
beans – I used about 40 french beans and the beans from about 20 borlottis
4-5 tomatoes – chopped
a tablespoon each of thyme, oregano and basil
vegetable stock
teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish then fry the onion and celery until soft. Add the sweet potato, peppers, chili and herbs and continue to fry, stirring occasionally until the peppers soften. Add the tomatoes and beans, stir for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to break up then add enough stock to just come up to the same height as the vegetables. Put the lid on and transfer to the oven at 180C. Leave in the oven for about an hour. Remove and add salt as required.


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Celeriac Soup with Red Pepper Salsa

10 01 2010

As the cold weather continues, the population continues to panic buy at the shops. Having found the local supermarket shelves empty of fresh vegetables I rummages around the bottom of the fridge and found an old celeriac. Must have been in there about 3-4 weeks I guess, but was still quite firm so thought I would turn it into soup. There isn’t much else you can do with celeriac other than soup or perhaps remoulade.

Having made the soup, it looked a little pale, especially as all my soup bowls are white, so I jazzed it up with a hot and spicy red pepper salsa.

For the soup
Knob butter
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
2 sticks celery – chopped
1 celeriac – peeled and diced
1 medium potato – peeled and diced
Vegetable stock
Splash of single cream
Salt

For the salsa
2 roasted red peppers – from a jar
2 cloves garlic – from the same jar
2 small dried red chilis – or you could use chopped fresh chili
pinch of salt
black pepper
olive oil

Melt a large knob of butter in a large pan then fry the onion, garlic and celery gently until it starts to soften. Add the celeriac and potato, cover with stock, bring to boil then simmer until all the vegetables are soft. Blitz in a blender or puree with a stick blender then return to pan. Add a generous splash of sibgle cream and season to taste. Heat gently.

To make the salsa, simple put everything in a blender and whiz until smooth – adding olive oil as you go to ensure it isn’t to lumpy.

Serve the soup with a blob of salsa in the middle.


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Split Pea Soup with Moroccan Spiced Butter

4 01 2010

My friend Liz shared this with me a a couple of years ago. I think it’s a Nigel Slater recipe. Absolutely delicious….. but not very easy to make it look appetising in a photo. The soup base can be a little grey, but the addition of the spiced butter transforms the soup

For the soup
5 handfuls of split yellow peas
1 onion – roughly chopped
2 sprigs of mint
olive oil

for the butter
2 spring onions – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped or crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
handful of mint leaves – chopped
handful of coriander leaves – chopped
50g butter

Soak peas over night, drain the cover with fresh water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer with the onion, mint and a glug of olive oil. After about an hour the peas should be tender enough to squash on the side of the pan. If not, cook for a little longer, adding boiling water if needed. Remove two thirds of the peas and blend until smooth then return to the pot and simmer until thickened.

To make the butter, just mash all the ingredients together with salt. Ladle the soup into bowls and add a generous dollop of butter to each.


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Bean & Tomato Soup

18 11 2009

I recently visited the Blue Tomato Cafe in Rock and ate the most delicious (and stupidly expensive) tomato and butter bean soup. Here is my attempt at recreating it.

couple of tablespoons olive oil
1 onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – chopped
2 sticks celery – finely chopped
1 red pepper – diced
1 x 800g tin tomatoes – blended until smoooth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 whole red of green chili – sliced
vegetable stock
salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 x 400g tin butter beans – drained and discard loose skins
1 x 400g tin red kidney beans – drained

Heat oil, fry onion, garlic, celery and oregano until starting to soften. Add the pepper and chili, stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add the blended tomatoes. Add a teaspoon of Marigold bouillon then fill the tomato tin with water and add the water to the soup.

Add the beans, bring everyting to a gentle simmer and simmer with a lid on for around 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and serve piping hot.


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