Splash out with soup

SIMPLICITY, even in winter, is everything and nothing hits the spot quite like a hearty bowl of thick, chunky vegetable soup. You can even throw in a few fat lardons of bacon or generous cubes of chorizo to add extra oomph. How delicious does that sound?

I’ve got lots of recipes for winter bean and lentil soups. They are all easy as pie to make and full of inexpensive protein so they taste deeply satisfying. If you do decide to roll up your sleeves to make some, double or triple the recipe, it’ll take exactly the same length of time to cook but you’ll have a fine big pot of soup that will last for several days or can be frozen in batches for another time.

The trick is to freeze it in small portions rather than huge icebergs which are a nightmare to defrost if you are in a hurry. I have lots of small containers that hold generous helpings for two people. This is always a good plan, it doesn’t matter what size your family or circle of friends because small containers can be defrosted quickly even in an emergency, so you are never in a pickle when unexpected guests turn up or if you get caught up in a traffic jam on the way home.

There are also lots of inexpensive ways of making a bowl of soup into a pretty substantial meal. Buy a ham hock or a couple of lamb shanks, cook them long and slowly and when the meat is virtually falling off the bones cut it into shreds and add it to the soup. Noodles also add bulk and there are lots of bits that can be added as an edible garnish. Crunchy potato crisps or tortilla chips, grated cheese and lots of freshly chopped herbs add excitement and extra nutrients.

Fish soups, although delicious are often less popular. We occasionally salt some fish – cod, haddock, hake, ling and pollock all work well. Just scatter it lightly with high quality salt and allow it to sit for 8-12 hours, then soak it overnight in cold water. Cook in fresh simmering water for just a couple of minutes until the flesh turns from translucent to opaque.

Those who pop up and down to Belfast regularly will no doubt know Nick’s Warehouse on Hill Street in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. Nick Price follows the Slow Food philosophy of sourcing terrific, often local, ingredients and cooking them simply. He’s just published his first cook book – The Accidental Chef – in which he shares many favourite recipes from his menu.

Tojo’s Lentil Soup

Tojo cooked in the Garden Café one summer and his food was memorable. Tojo says that he uses no stock for his soups since many of his guests are vegetarian or vegan. This is the simplest soup to make – and it’s very nutritious and delicious. One could also add crispy bacon lardons or shredded ham hock to make the soup more substantial for carnivores.

Serves 6

120ml (4fl oz) extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil

6 large onions, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic

120ml (4fl oz) soya sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

500g (18oz) Lentils du Puy

2.3L (4pints) water

Garnish: Flat parsley or fresh coriander

Extra virgin olive oil

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium size pot.

Add the chopped onions, garlic, soya sauce, salt and pepper.

Put on a fairly high flame for about 10 minutes, then lower the heat and let simmer until the onions are cooked and have a slightly sweet taste.

Add water and lentils and cook for 15-30 minutes. When the lentils are cooked, taste and correct the seasoning.

Be careful not to let the lentils get mushy, it’s nice if there is a slight bite to them.

Serve in wide soup bowls with some snipped flat parsley and a little extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top.

Winter Root Vegetable Soup

Serves 12 approx

125g/4½oz celeriac

250g/84oz parsnips

250g/84oz Jerusalem artichokes or whatever combination of vegetables you fancy or have to hand

1.1kg (2 1/2lb) carrots, preferably organic, chopped

90g (3oz) butter

225g (8oz) onion, chopped

275g (10oz) potatoes, chopped

Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

Sprig of spearmint

2.4L (4 pints) homemade light chicken or vegetable stock

124ml (5 fl ozs) creamy milk (optional)

6 teaspoons freshly chopped spearmint

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

Garnish: A little lightly whipped cream or crème frâiche

sprigs of spearmint

Melt the butter and when it foams add the peeled and chopped vegetables, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add thyme leaves, cover with a butter paper (to retain the steam) and a place with a tight fitting lid. Leave to sweat gently on a low heat for about 10 minutes approx. Remove the lid, add the boiling stock and cook until the vegetables are soft. Alternatively add 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a little creamy milk if necessary.

Garnish with a swirl of lightly whipped cream or crème frâiche and some parsley sprigs.

Chunky Vegetable and Bean Soup with Spicy Sausage

WE make huge pots of this in the winter. I usually keep some in the freezer. Kabanossi is a thin sausage now widely available. It gives a gutsy slightly smoky flavour to the soup which, although satisfying, is by no means essential.

Serves 8-9

225g (8ozs) rindless streaky bacon, cut into ¼ inch (5mm) lardons

2 tablespoons olive oil

225g (8ozs) onions, chopped

300g (10½ozs) carrot, cut into ¼ inch (5mm) dice

215g (7½ozs) celery, chopped into ¼ inch (5mm) dice

125g (4½ozs) parsnips, chopped into ¼ inch (5mm) dice

200g (7ozs) white part of 1 leek, ¼ inch (5mm) slices thick approx

1 Kabanossi sausage, cut into one-eight inch (3mm) thin slices

400g (1 x 14ozs) tin of tomatoes

Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

1.7L (3 pints) homemade chicken stock

225g (8ozs) haricot beans, cooked * (see recipe)

Garnish: 2 tablespoons parsley, freshly chopped

Blanch the chunky bacon lardons, refresh and dry well. Prepare the vegetables.

Put the olive oil in a saucepan, add bacon and sauté over a medium heat until it becomes crisp and golden. Add the chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cover and sweat for five minutes. Next add the parsnip and finely sliced leeks.

Cover and sweat for a further 5 minutes.

Slice the Kabanossi sausage thinly, and add. Chop the tomatoes and add to the rest of the vegetables and the cooked beans. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar, add the chicken stock.

Allow to cook until all the vegetables are tender (20 minutes approx). Taste and correct the seasoning.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with lots of crusty brown bread.

* Haricot beans

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Next day, strain the beans and cover with fresh cold water, add a bouquet garni, carrot and onion. Cover and simmer until the beans are soft but not mushy – anything from 30-60 minutes.

Just before the end of cooking, add salt. Remove the bouquet garni and vegetables and discard.

Nick Price’s Minestrone

Serves 10

Oil

100g bacon chopped (if using instead of ham hock, if veggie, ignore)

2 onions sliced

3 cloves garlic crushed

2 potatoes cubed

½ cauliflower in florets

¼ drumhead or hard cabbage sliced

2 tblsp tomato purée

2 courgettes sliced into sticks

2 carrots sliced

1 tblsp chopped fresh basil

2 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

3 celery sticks peeled to remove stringy bits and cut into batons

400g tin of white beans, cannellini are good

Basil and Parmesan to garnish

2 litres chicken or veg stock, depending on your preference

If you want to be a real star you have to boil a ham hock and make a stock that way (ie using the water you have cooked the hock in).

I add some ingredients after I have made the soup as they deteriorate in colour and texture if cooked in the soup – green beans trimmed and lightly cooked peas, fresh ideally, but frozen are fine.

Cooked pasta like farfalle or some other small attractive shape.

Put the oil in a deep saucepan and warm up over a moderate heat. Cook bacon, if using, then add onions and garlic until softened.

Next add the cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, add the tomato purèe and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the tomatoes, the beans and stock. If you have a cooked ham hock it goes in now. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Remove the ham hock and shred the meat, put it back into the pot to serve.

Add the peas, green beans and cooked pasta. Warm them through. Put a portion into a deep bowl and sprinkle with chopped basil. Serve with a side of parmesan. Just don’t expect your guests to eat anything else.

hottip

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group presents “Produce your own fruit”. Learn how to grow all types of fruit with Con Traas from The Apple Farm in Cahir and John Howard from Sunnyside Fruit Farm. Thursday, January 28, 7:30pm, Crawford Art Gallery Café, Cork. The €6 entrance fee includes tea or coffee.

- Salmon Watch Ireland is holding a seminar “What is the future for our spring Salmon?” at Limerick Strand Hotel on the Ennis Road, Limerick on Saturday, January 30, at 2.30pm.

Contact Bob Wemyss at 087-2512562 or email [e-mail].

- Kinsale Health Food Store at 129 Market Street stock a good range of gluten free cereals, flours, biscuits, and sauces. Boost yourself against winter colds and flu and get some west Cork Echinacea grown in west Cork by Bandon Medicinal Herbs. They also do Ecover refills and eco-nappies. Telephone [phone].

- Learn how to cook delicious gluten-free meals for coeliacs with Rosemary Kearney. There are two one-day courses at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Friday, January 22, 1pm to 5pm and Saturday, Jan 23, at 2pm to 5pm. Telephone [phone] or email [e-mail]

- Ardrahan Lullaby Milk: Good news for the growing number of people who like to be able to source non-homogenised milk. Lullaby Milk from Ardrahan in Kanturk is pasteurised but non-homogenised and is available in most branches of Supervalu around the country. (www.ardrahancheese.ie/lullaby.htm)