Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup

My "Granny Caerphilly" was a prolific soup maker. And the concept of a "recipe" would have had her scratching her head, as she just used what ever was hanging around in the fridge/larder. So in other words, if there is anything in this you don't like, just substitute it for something else you do. And it'll be fine! Also, this recipe makes 3 Litres of soup. enough for 10 servings. Obviously if you don't want that much soup, reduce ingredients proportionately. However, it keeps for up to a week in the fridge and you can freeze it.

Ingredients:

1 Carrot, peeled and sliced

1 Leek, Sliced

1 Turnip, peeled and sliced

2 Celery Stalks sliced

1 Onion, peeled and sliced

(All the above vegetables should add up to about 1kg)

1kg of Potatoes, Peeled and Sliced (or the same weight of potatoes as you have veg)

3 Litres of Vegetable or Chicken Stock

3 Bay Leaves finely chopped

The leaves from a sprig of Thyme

1/2 a handful of Parsley, finely chopped

4 Basil Leaves, finely chopped

The Cooking:

After you've done all your peeling, slicing and chopping, put a tablespoon of vegetable oil in the bottom of a pot big enough to take all this lot. Then add your vegetables and potatoes and fry them over a medium heat, stirring as you go. Once it has started to brown and soften add the 3 litres of stock (if you are using stock cubes/pots that equates to 4 dissolved in 3 Litres of boiling water) along with your fresh, chopped herbs. Cover it with a lid and bring to the boil. Then let it simmer for 20 minutes. 5 minutes before the end, season with freshly ground salt and black pepper. Finally, blitz it in a blender to your desired consistency (I like it really smooth, some prefer it more chunky - follow your preference on amount of blitzing).

Serve up with a dolop of creme fraiche and some freshly torn parsley leaves.

This is a very simple and quick recipe that makes delicious soup. It is also incredibly good for you. It contains 5 portions of veg, it is very low in both calories and fat and (thanks to the spuds) is also filling.