Soup recipes

thriftlady_2

This might help

Basic Formula for making smooth vegetable soups.

I also make use of my freezer veg hash when making soups.

rachbc

I think the key is to slowly sweat (fry in a little oil or butter with a lid on) the onions and then the veg before you add the stock - this seems to really bring out the flavours and prevents it basically being baby food! Also have fun experimenting with diff seasonings and veg combos. Try stirring a drizzle of oil, balsamic, cream or yog into soups as you stir or top with grated cheese, crumbled crispy bacon, chorizo, croutons or toasted seeds and nuts onto your soup as you serve to add variety and interest

smarties84

I was going to make it today but have cleaned the house instead so didnt get chance, however i will be doing my first home made soup and shall report back to you all! Thanks for the tips, links and advice x

coco1980

i use ham stock, i also try not to use onion as i find my soup goes off quicker if i do but i may be making it wrong

tiff

I tend to not use a recipe as I usually use veg on offer or what I have left in the fridge.

If you fry onions/garlic and simmer veg in stock, blend and then add more water/stock to desired consistency, that is basically it! So easy and so tasty.

Glitterari

In order to start my living out of the freezer during Jan (as mentioned in my previous thread) I have taken out quite a bit of chopped pumpkin and currently defrosting it - hoping to make soup with it.

Firstly - is defrosted pumpkin ok? I recently found out I love pumpkin, but generally as you can only get it in October, i decided to put some in the freezer for use at later date. I'm reckoning it should be ok in a soup?

Secondly, I want to use some red lentils with it I have in my cupboard - should I soak these before hand or just chuck them in whilst cooking the onion and pumpkin? I bought lentils ages ago but have never ever used them so don't know how they work!

Thirdly, I'd like to make a vegetable stock for the soup - real stock, not stock cubes - how do I do this? Just basic recipe would be good!

Thanks everyone!

jc2703

Can I recommend Swiss Boullion Veg STock - its in a green tub with the stock cubes usually and I feel it makes all the difference in soup. 4 Tsps per litre of stock and its lovely. Even nice as a hot drink. There is a low salt version for those that need to watch the salt intake.

Good Luck!

J x

[Deleted User]

once you get the hang of it you will be wanting to have a go at lots.I love HM soup and my friend treated me to The Soup Bible for Christmas as I was always borrowing hers.Great way to use up past-it veggies.I usually chuck mine into my Sc overnight if I'm doing thick veggie or Leek and Potato (my favourite) its great to freeze as well.I always have at least 2-3 litres in the freezer.I always use up the chicken stock from a chook ,but you can use Tesco's or Sainsburys stock cubes.They're cheap as chips to buy if you havn't got any HM stock, about 20p for 6-8 cubes

purpleheather2810

Glitterari wrote: »

In order to start my living out of the freezer during Jan (as mentioned in my previous thread) I have taken out quite a bit of chopped pumpkin and currently defrosting it - hoping to make soup with it.

Firstly - is defrosted pumpkin ok? I recently found out I love pumpkin, but generally as you can only get it in October, i decided to put some in the freezer for use at later date. I'm reckoning it should be ok in a soup?

Secondly, I want to use some red lentils with it I have in my cupboard - should I soak these before hand or just chuck them in whilst cooking the onion and pumpkin? I bought lentils ages ago but have never ever used them so don't know how they work!

Thirdly, I'd like to make a vegetable stock for the soup - real stock, not stock cubes - how do I do this? Just basic recipe would be good!

Thanks everyone!

Yep defrosted pumpkin will be fine for soup (it might be a bit softer than fresh but thats ok).
No need to pre-soak lentils, just throw them in - you might need a bit more liquid than normal as all pulses absorb a lot.
To make veg stock collect together any ropey looking veg and/or peelings such as onion, garlic, celery, carrot, green veg, old herbs etc. Don't bother with potato peelings though and go easy on cabbage, broccoli and other deeply green stuff. No cooked veg either. Also chuck in some peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves (or just mixed herbs). Pour over a couple of pints of boiling water and simmer for a while. This is deliberately vague because tbh it doesn't matter that much exactly what you put in imho.

BitterAndTwisted

I've made two version of butternut-squash soup in the last couple of weeks: the first one was with a litre of tomato juice which was hanging around in the fridge well past its sell-by date and the other with a carton of passata bought when it was on offer at the supermarket. To both I added two tins of mixed beans (haricot, kidney and borlotti, I think) in addition to sweating off chopped onion and celery. The killer ingredient was a couple of teaspoons of pesto sauce. Actually, this is great in any kind of soup with tomatoes in.

I've been on a bit of a soup-making craze recently: to date I have made the aforementioned butternut-squash, cauliflower, root veggies with broth-mix (barley, lentils and split peas) and last night made my first ever mushroom soup which was so easy a three year-old child could do a decent job of it and it's really, really tasty and I'll be having that for my lunch tomorrow. I just have a look in the supermarket and buy whatever it is that's on special offer or reduced to clear and into soup it's made.