Colm O'Gorman's comforting cream of vegetable soup with cheese soda bread

Try this nostalgic dish with a twist

Irish Cream of Vegetable Soup is a wonderfully nostalgic, comforting dish.

Traditional Irish Cream of Vegetable Soup, also known as ‘Funeral Soup’, is a wonderfully nostalgic, comforting dish. Everyone will be familiar with this soup given how often is served at functions here in Ireland, most notably after funerals.

There are countless variations of course, but here in my part of the country it is usually a smooth, creamy vegetable soup seasoned with just salt and white pepper. It is always made with seasonal vegetables, the fresher the better, which pack in loads of flavour. Vegetables, a good quality stock, salt, and pepper; it really does not need more than that. You can vary the vegetables to suit whatever you have to hand. Turnips would also work, as would cauliflower or butternut squash, though I would avoid broccoli as it tends to overpower the flavour of the root vegetables.

If you have had this served at a function, it more likely than not came with crusty white bread rolls on the side.

While I have stayed true to the original ingredients for the soup, I have opted for a beautiful freshly baked Cheese Soda Bread to accompany it instead of the crusty bread. This soda bread is beautiful. It is also very easy to prepare and makes this a more substantial supper or lunch. If you wish, you could add some bacon or spring onions, or even both, to the bread. That would be delicious. Simply cook off some streaky bacon, but don’t let it get crispy, then cut it into strips crossways and add it to the bread mixture at the same time as I add the cheese in the method given below.

Do the same with some spring onion if you fancy. Just wash, trim, and chop two to three spring onions, adding them to the dry ingredients for the bread before you add the buttermilk and mix the dough.

Cream of vegetable soup and cheese soda bread

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A wonderfully nostalgic, comforting dish.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Cream of Vegetable Soup

• 1 medium onion

• 2 sticks of celery

• 250g carrots

• 150g parsnips

• 150g leeks

• 300g rooster potatoes

• 25g butter

• 500ml vegetable stock

• 2 tbsp Sated Butter

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp ground white pepper

• 100ml double cream

• Cheese Soda Bread

• 400g plain flour

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 1 tsp mustard powder

• 125g vintage or extra mature Irish cheddar cheese

• 300ml buttermilk

• A little milk to glaze before baking.

Method

1. Get your soda bread in the oven before making the soup. Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius for a fan oven, or 200mCelsisus for regular oven. Crumble the cheese into pea sized pieces. This will give you better flavour and texture than grating the cheese.

2. Put the flour into a large bowl and add the baking soda, salt, and the mustard powder. Stir to combine the dry ingredients and add the cheese. Stir again to mix that through and add the buttermilk.

3. Mix into a smooth dough. I start with a big spoon or spatula to combine the buttermilk and then finish mixing the dough with my hands to get everything well combined. As this is a soda bread, there is no need to knead or proof the dough.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a round, about 20cm in diameter. Use a sharp knife to mark the loaf into quarters, cutting at least halfway though. Pop the loaf onto a nonstick baking tray and brush it with a little milk.

5. Place the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for thirty-five to forty minutes until the surface is golden and crisp. Tap the bottom to check if it is fully baked. If it sounds hollow, it is done. Allow it to cool on a wire rack for twenty minutes or so before slicing it.

6. While the bread is baking, make the soup.

7. Peel and slice the onion. Wash and chop the celery. Wash and peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them into 3cm chunks. Peel the potatoes and cut them in quarters. Carefully wash the leeks, earth can get deep into the stalks, so give them a little extra attention, and then slice them.

8. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat until it begins to foam. Add the onion and cook until they begin to soften. Add the celery, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and finally the leeks. Stir to mix everything through, reduce the heat a little and pop on a lid. Cook gently for five to six minutes. You want to soften everything a little, but not add any colour. This will also bring out the natural sugars in the root vegetables and the leeks and deepen the flavour of the soup.

9. Add the stock and bring the pan to a soft boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables and potatoes are cooked through and soft, about twenty to twenty-five minutes will do it.

10. Now use a hand blender or food processor to blitz until the soup is totally smooth. Bring back to temperature, add the salt and pepper and taste to check the seasoning. Add more pepper to taste if needed. Finally, stir through 100ml of double cream.

11. Serve the soup in warm bowls with a little swirl of cream to finish and slices of warm, fresh baked soda bread with plenty of butter on the side.