Bottom of the fridge soup suggestions

Slinky

Obviously some things go better with others when cooking. I thought it might be useful to post recipes of things which had worked well, and perhaps others can suggest things they'd tried to get to work that hadn't been so successful.



I've just made Carrot & Cauliflower soup from the bottom of my fridge:


Tablespoon oil
3/4 large cauliflower
1 onion
3 large carrots
Half teaspoon dried thyme
Teaspoon lazy garlic
1 veg stock pot
1 1/2pts boiling water.
Double cream
Grated cheese.
Salt and pepper to taste



I chopped and sweated off the veg then added everything bar the cream and cheese, simmered for about 30 mins, blitzed with a stick blender then stirred in the cream and cheese. Makes enough for about 6 small or 4 large bowls.

Primrose

If you make stock from chicken carcasses, or boiling ham joints you can make a tasty soup out of many vegetables

Ham stock + split peas or lentils. With a combination chopped leeks, onion,s carrots, celery

Chicken stock + onions, leeks, green beans, peas, celery, carrots makes a good vegetable soup. Or with choppedonions & mushrooms makes a nice mushroom soup

Frozen tomato purrree + onions, peas, celery, green beans makes Minestrone

My winter soups vary every time depending on what vegetables are available. I always have various stock cubes available for emergencies but a really good home made stock adds a background base to whatever version you're making. Even savingnthe water in which you cook your vegs will help add a little flavour.

Also, the dreg gravy ends of meat casseroles can be used with vegs and beef stock cubes to make a beef broth which can be bulked up with a tin of butter or cannelloni beans to make a tasty meal. In my view somebody who can produce a meal out of virtually nothing in this way is actually a very skilled cook.

TravellingAbuela

I've just been flicking through Delia's frugal recipes and spotted one for Leek and Carrot Soup. I wouldn't have thought of combining those two veg together in a soup. I can't imagine it but might give it a go if I have a surplus of the two.

redfox

this weekend I made some cauliflower and stilton with odds and ends from the fridge. Wouldn't have thought it would go together but I thought it was worth a try and the end result was really nice and very creamy. I added a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard at the end for just a hint of warmth.

Brambling

Broccoli also works well with Stilton or cheddar

Add a sharp eating apple to butternut squash soup, alternatively i roast the squash first blend with stock and add a tbsp of wholegrain mustard.

trailingspouse

I can't think of any veg that wouldn't work in a soup - once you've blitzed it, you won't know what's in there anyway!!
I fancied making Brocolli and Stilton Soup once, but all I had in was cauliflower and brie. It was delicious, and I'm not even that keen on brie!!

VfM4meplse

I love having soup in the freezer as a quick standby so usually batch cook in my huge vat of a stockpot before portioning it up. The reason I don't make it little and often is because cooking it is a highly smelly business

The only thing I'm not keen on in soups are parsnips...and potatoes.

JIL

I often look at the fresh soups for sale and then make my own.

Just made a roasted cauliflower, cheese and kale soup.

I just sauteed a leek in some butter, with a little bit of celery and parsley.
Whilst I was doing that I roasted a chopped up cauliflower in the oven. I used the stalk and leaves.
I reserved s few bits of the roasted cauliflower, for texture in the finished soup.

I added stock made from Knorr stock cubes, a small diced potato, and the cauliflower. Simmered for 15 mins. Added the kale for the last five, I'm not a big fan of completely blitzed soups, so I only blended half.
I then melted in some strong cheddar, and some cream cheese with chives, added in the reserved cauliflower, seasoned, and ate it.

I really enjoyed it.and it's £3 per carton in the shops!

JingsMyBucket

JIL, that sounds like an excellent idea for a soup. Thank you!

Savannah02K

I keep a Tupperware box in the freezer and at end of the week any left over veggies get chopped up and thrown in there. Ditto any jar sauce or tin washouts. Eventually when the box gets full, the multi coloured ice cube gets put in the soup pan alongside some veggie stock cubes, chilli flakes, paprika, water, and red lentils or split peas or potatoes. Cook, blitz and then what's known in my family as 'Never the Same Flavour Twice soup.' Always tastes good and feels like free food! I let the cooked soup cool and then blitz it in my Nutribullet (never, ever do this with hot liquids), as this kind of emulsifies it so you end up with a creamy texture/flavour soup but without adding any cream.

Slinky

trailingspouse wrote: »

I can't think of any veg that wouldn't work in a soup - once you've blitzed it, you won't know what's in there anyway!!

Has anybody ever tried using up sprouts in soups? I had some in the fridge but didn't include them, not sure if they'd be bitter.