Early summer minestrone with pesto
Leave a CommentThis recipe is adapted from one in The River Café cookbook. It is a fresh green soup, perfect for late spring or early summer. I actually prefer it luke warm to hot, or even chilled.
Archive
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Mum’s chilled pea soup
Leave a CommentMy mother sent me her favourite pea soup recipe in time for one of my Secret Kitchen dinners, assuring me everyone would adore it. I played with it just a bit, and the result was absolutely delicious. Thank you mum!
If you’re making your own vegetable stock – simmer chopped carrots, onions, leeks and celery with bay leaves, parsley stalks, a sprig of thyme, several peppercorns and a pinch of salt for an hour or more until its flavour has really developed. You can serve this soup hot or chilled. I like it chilled, in early summer when English peas are in season. Buy a big bag, find a friend, pour yourselves big G&Ts, and get podding. (Add the pods to the stock pot.)
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Beetroot gazpacho
Leave a CommentI had this twist on the traditional Spanish tomato and bread soup at La Taberna del Pindal in Arenas de Cabrales in Asturias, Spain. The trick, I discovered later, is to roast half the beetroot to bring out its lush sweetness, and grate the other half raw to keep its vibrant colour and fresh taste. Combined with the usual tomatoes, peppers and onions it makes a fantastic purple gazpacho, which is even better the day after it’s made.
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Carrot soup with orange flower cream and spicy almonds
2 CommentsI’d say this soup was Moroccan, although I’ve never had it in Morocco. In fact I’ve only ever had it in my own kitchen, after experimenting with several flavours which are often combined in Moroccan cuisine. Travelling in Morocco we often found carrot combined with oranges and orange flower water for desserts. Carrot is also mixed with cumin, garlic and parsley in the common cooked carrot salad you will get as a starter. Almonds are found in many Moroccan dishes, sweet and savoury. I think this soup works brilliantly, but I’m biased, so you’ll have to let me know…
For an easier version, simply omit some or all garnishes, or make carrot soup with ginger as described below. This simple carrot soup was one of the dishes I made while helping out chef Mona Talbott at the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome last June. The trick with any puréed carrot soup is the amount of time you cook the carrots; too short and the soup will not purée silky smooth; too long and you will lose the bright carrot colour and flavour. So keep checking the carrots as they cook.
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Jerusalem artichoke soup with prawns and piment d’Espelette
1 CommentWe had something like this at Mon Vieil Ami, an excellent bistro in Paris, during the first week of our culinary travels. Jerusalem artichoke has to be one of my favourite soups; it’s just so delicious. This combination with sweet shellfish, fresh herbs and slightly hot, bright chilli is a winner. In the bistro they performed some table theatre for us by pouring the soup over the garnishes artfully placed in the bowl. You could just put the garnishes on top, as usual; the prawns will just about stay on the surface without sinking.
Piment d’Espelette is a red chilli grown in a small area in southern France, traditionally northern Basque Country. The dried flakes have a small amount of heat and almost smoky flavour with some acidity. You could substitute a mix of hot and sweet paprika, perhaps with a dash of smoky Spanish ‘pimentón’ if you have it. Piment d’Espelette has its own AOC status and was all the rage in Parisian bistros when we were eating our way round them in February 2008.For a much simpler Jerusalem artichoke soup, simply omit all the garnishes – it’s still fabulous. Or see the variation at the bottom which is from my Chez Panisse intern days – a perfect marriage of celery and ‘sunchoke’, as they call it there. This soup also featured on our road trip: the owner of Lalla Mira organic restaurant and hotel in Essaouira agreed for her chef to teach me the Moroccan speciality ‘pastilla’ on condition that I reciprocated by teaching her some new dishes. I found some lovely Jerusalem artichokes in the souk, and this soup was a big success.
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Jerusalem artichoke soup with prawns and piment d’Espelette
1 CommentWe had something like this at Mon Vieil Ami, an excellent bistro in Paris, during the first week of our culinary travels. Jerusalem artichoke has to be one of my favourite soups; it’s just so delicious. This combination with sweet shellfish, fresh herbs and slightly hot, bright chilli is a winner. In the bistro they performed some table theatre for us by pouring the soup over the garnishes artfully placed in the bowl. You could just put the garnishes on top, as usual; the prawns will just about stay on the surface without sinking.
Piment d’Espelette is a red chilli grown in a small area in southern France, traditionally northern Basque Country. The dried flakes have a small amount of heat and almost smoky flavour with some acidity. You could substitute a mix of hot and sweet paprika, perhaps with a dash of smoky Spanish ‘pimentón’ if you have it. Piment d’Espelette has its own AOC status and was all the rage in Parisian bistros when we were eating our way round them in February 2008.For a much simpler Jerusalem artichoke soup, simply omit all the garnishes – it’s still fabulous. Or see the variation at the bottom which is from my Chez Panisse intern days – a perfect marriage of celery and ‘sunchoke’, as they call it there. This soup also featured on our road trip: the owner of Lalla Mira organic restaurant and hotel in Essaouira agreed for her chef to teach me the Moroccan speciality ‘pastilla’ on condition that I reciprocated by teaching her some new dishes. I found some lovely Jerusalem artichokes in the souk, and this soup was a big success.
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Corn and courgette soup
Leave a CommentThis soup might sound too plain and simple to be very interesting, but
it is very delicious. It is the first soup I was asked to make at Chez
Panisse, and I’ve made it several times since at work and at home. (It
was not the soup that ended up in the compost, so you can trust me on
this one.) It is creamy, sweet and delicious. The trick is to get a good balance between corny and courgettey flavours. You might be tempted to substitute tinned corn for cobs, but please don’t.
We are still getting corn here, but I guess the season may
have ended in the UK – ? Judging by the Halloween decorations ALREADY
out on our neighbours’ houses, it must be ‘fall’, so I guess recipes
will be moving over to the celeriac/potato/roast meat variety quite
soon. I’m going to have to send you one more corn recipe first though,
as there are just too many important corn facts I feel compelled to
write up. For instance, did you know that one quarter of the c.45,000
products sold in the average American supermarket contain corn? Find
out more about corn’s domestication of the human race next week… -
Roasted aubergine soup with garlic cream
Leave a CommentYou guys voted it into third place, but it had a few particularly
passionate supporters, so this week I’m sending you the aubergine soup.
It’s one I learnt at school and then played with at home. .It’s great for a cold autumn night. Don’t omit the garlic cream – it’s essential. Roasting the bulb first makes the garlic flavour sweet and smooth.The aubergine
is simply a marvellous vegetable. Do send me your own aubergine recipe
favourite if you have one.
