Tag: soup

Lions head meatball soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Big juicy meatball lions heads with Chinese cabbage manes, floating in a lovely savoury broth. Feeds 2-4, depending on hunger and wish for leftovers.

  • 500g pork mince
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 tbsp grated ginger
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 6 water chestnuts, finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp ground white pepper
  • 50ml shaoxing rice wine
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and bashed
  • 2″ ginger, sliced into thick coins
  • 4 spring onions, cut into 3″ pieces
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • Chinese cabbage leaves, cut into vertical quarters
  1. Mix meatball ingredients (the first 12 listed) together well and form into golfball-sized meatballs
  2. Lower into boiling water, turn to a simmer and cook for 5 mins, then remove. Keep the cooking liquid
  3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep frying pan and fry the meatballs briefly on each side until golden, then remove and set to one side
  4. In the same pan, add the next 1 tbsp oil and then fry the garlic, ginger, spring onion until softened but not brown
  5. Add soy sauce, shaoxing, sugar and stock. Stir together, then add 1 litre of the meatball water (topping up with boiling water from the kettle if there’s not enough)
  6. Bring to the boil then add the meatballs back in, curling the cabbage leaf strips around the meatballs in the pan (voila lion+mane)
  7. Simmer until the cabbage is cooked and the meatballs are hot through

Peanut miso chicken noodle soup

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Warming and super-quick for a chilly weeknight supper, and such a good way to use up leftover chicken

  • ½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • ½ tbsp chilli crisp
  • 2 cloves of garlic, grated
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • Zest and juice of ½ lime
  • 4 spring onions, finely sliced – whites and greens separated
  • 1 tbsp miso paste
  • 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 400ml coconut milk
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Noodles for 2
  • Cooked chicken, cut into bitesized pieces
  • Toasted sesame seeds
  • Fresh coriander
  1. Heat the veg oil and chilli crisp in a saucepan over medium
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, lime zest and white parts of the spring onions to the pan and fry for a couple of mins
  3. Add the miso, peanut butter, tahini, coconut milk, chicken stock and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a bubble
  4. In the meantime, cook the noodles separately in boiling water
  5. Split the noodles and cold chicken between 2 bowls, and ladle over the soup
  6. Sprinkle over the green spring onion, coriander and sesame seeds, plus some extra cricpy chilli if you like
  7. Squeeze over the lime and serve

Ramen soup base

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The ultimate quick weeknight soup for noodles

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil
  • 1 stock cube of your choice
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  1. Combine ingredients and decant into the bottom of two bowls
  2. Add about 400ml boiling water and stir together
  3. Add cooked noodles
  4. Top with all the toppings – try rare steak, blanched mange tout, soft boiled egg, coriander, chopped spring onion

Tortellini soup

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Comfort in a bowl. Warm, savoury, and so simple it’s a great weeknight meal. Feeds 2 hungry people

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 4 sausages
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • ½ onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, finely diced
  • 1 stick celery, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 chicken stock cube (plus 750ml boiling water)
  • 250ml white wine
  • 250g fresh tortellini
  • Salt and pepper
  • Fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 50 ml cream
  • 100g young spinach
  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat
  2. Pinch off small pieces of sausage, drop them into the pan and brown them on all sides
  3. Scoop the sausage out of the pan and put on one side
  4. Lower the heat and put the onion, carrot, celery and garlic into the pan
  5. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins until everything is soft
  6. Add the stock cube and tomato puree, stirring into the vegetables until everything combines
  7. Pour in the white wine and turn the heat to medium. Bubble until the wine has almost disappeared
  8. Add 750ml boiling water, sausage pieces and some fresh thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper and stir everything together
  9. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down low and simmer for 7 mins
  10. Tip in the fresh tortellini and cook for a further 3 mins (or as per the directions on the packaging)
  11. Mix the cornflour with a little water and pour into the soup, stirring as you add it
  12. Cook for another 2 mins until the soup thickens, then turn the heat off and add the cream and spinach (the spinach should just wilt in the heat of the soup – turn the heat on to a low simmer if you need to give this a helping hand)
  13. Serve immediately in a big, deep bowl, maybe with a grating of parmesan and a sprinkle of finely chopped chives

Creamy sweetcorn soup

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Sunshine in a bowl. Perfect with a big chunk of buttery bread. Feeds 2

  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • ½ stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 285g tin sweetcorn (or 265g frozen corn or corn cobs from 2 cobs)
  • 1 potato, peeled and diced
  • 500ml chicken stock (1 stock cube and boiling water)
  • 100ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • Handful chives, snipped into bits
  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat
  2. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 7 mins, stirring occasionally, until completely soft
  3. Add the potato to the pan and stir into the buttery veg
  4. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
  5. Turn up the heat, add the sweetcorn (including the liquid from the tin) and heat for a further 5 mins
  6. Take off the heat and use a hand blender to whizz until smooth
  7. Add the cream and season well. Re-heat gently until piping hot (don’t let it boil) and taste to check seasoning
  8. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup

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Soup-erb. Fragrant, warm and deeply comforting. Feeds 4.

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, sliced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 small butternut, peeled, deseeded and diced
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat
  2. Cook the onion and garlic for 5 or 6 mins until soft
  3. Add the diced butternut squash and sweet potato and stir together
  4. Cook for a couple of mins then add the spices, seasoning and the stock cube
  5. Stir together, before pouring over around a pint of boiling water to just cover the contents of the pan
  6. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 mins until the squash and sweet potato is soft when you poke it
  7. Use a wand blender to whizz the soup until smooth, then check the seasoning and serve. Maybe with a little dollop of plain yoghurt or creme fraiche in the middle and some crusty bread on the side.

Tomato soup

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Rich, intensely tomato-y and flavourful. A lovely thing to share with friends after a bracing walk in the woods. Just make sure you have crusty bread on the side for dunking.

  • 1 kg ripe tomatoes, halved
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 stick celery, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 500ml veg stock
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Pre-heat oven to 200C fan (220C) and put the tomatoes on a baking tray cut side up
  2. Roast for 30 mins or so until completely soft, caught round the edges and collapsing in on themselves
  3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a low heat and cook the onion, celery and garlic for around 10 mins until completely soft
  4. Scrape the contents of the baking tray into the pan, add the oregano, vinegar and seasoning and pour over the stock
  5. Bring to the boil, take off the heat and whizz up in the pan with a wand blender
  6. Taste, adjust the seasoning and serve piping hot. If you are feeling fancy, swirl a bit of single cream into each bowl as you serve

Green minestrone soup

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A wholesome, springtime, green version of the traditional tomato-based soup. Feeds 4.

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 leek, washed and finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 800ml veg stock
  • 200g mini soup pasta shapes
  • 150g green beans, cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 100g frozen peas, defrosted (just pour some hot water over them)
  • 100g spinach, chopped
  • 1 tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • Salt and pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • 4 heaped tsp pesto
  • Handful pinenuts, toasted
  • Parmesan, grated
  1. Melt the butter in a large pan
  2. Add the leek and garlic, and cook over a low heat until soft and translucent
  3. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, season and add the pasta and green beans
  4. Bring back to the boil and cook at a bubble for 5 mins
  5. Add the peas, spinach and haricot beans. Cook for another 2 mins. Add a bit of boiling water if all the liquid has disappeared
  6. Once piping hot, add a squeeze of lemon, taste and adjust the seasoning
  7. Serve in deep bowls topped with a tsp of pesto, a sprinkle of pine nuts and a small cloud of parmesan

Use other greens if you have them – diced courgette, broad beans, baby kale. Bring your steaming soup to the table with a loaf of fresh bread for dunking. This will make everyone happy.

Beef ramen

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I’m a big fan of a noodle packet, but this is for when you want something a bit more special. Not completely authentic, but quick and simple to make. And very delicious – deep, rich and savoury. Endlessly adaptable, and always good. Change it up with grilled chicken, slow cooked meat, gyoza, tofu, salmon, vegetables. Feeds 2.

  • 900ml beef stock (I like to use one of these and one of these – because who has time to make stock?)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp black vinegar
  • 2 thick slices of ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, left whole and squashed a bit with the flat of a knife
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 400g rump steak
  • Veg oil
  • Salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 300g mange tout
  • 200g noodles, whichever sort you like. I like wheat udon because they’ve got a lovely texture
  • 2 spring onions
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp Szechuan chilli oil
  1. Heat the beef stock in a large pan with the soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, garlic, ginger and the green ends of the spring onions. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 mins. Taste it – it should be beefy, aromatic and delicious
  2. Rub the steak with oil and sprinkle with salt
  3. Heat a frying pan until very hot and cook medium-rare. For a 1 inch thick steak, give it 2 mins on each side and then rest. Slice thinly and add any juices into the soup
  4. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and lower the eggs into it. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 6-7 mins, depending on egg size. Remove the eggs and run under cold water until cool. Peel and keep on one side until the soup is ready
  5. Cook the mange tout for 1 min in boiling water
  6. Finely slice the spring onions
  7. In the bottom of each soup bowl, put 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp chilli oil
  8. Fish the flavourers out of the broth and bring it to the boil
  9. Add the noodles to the soup and cook them for as long as they need. Then it’s time to construct the soup!
  10. Use tongs to divide the noodles between the 2 bowls
  11. Pour over the stock then arrange the other ingredients on top – sliced steak, mange tout, spring onion. Finally, cut the egg in half lengthways and place on top

Ready, steady, slurp!

Broccoli and blue cheese soup

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Happily simple and quick to make, softly green and deeply tasty. If you don’t like blue cheese, just leave it out – it’s still delish as a plain old broccoli soup.

  • 1 head of broccoli
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 stick celery, chopped
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp garlic oil (or 1 clove garlic, chopped)
  • Around 400ml stock
  • 200g blue cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Chop the broccoli into small bits, including the stalk
  2. Melt the butter over a low heat, add the garlic oil and dump in the onion and celery
  3. Stir together and cook gently for 7 or 8 mins until soft but not brown
  4. Add the broccoli and stir in
  5. Pour in the stock until just covering the vegetables, turn the heat up and bring to the boil
  6. Simmer for 7 or 8 mins until the broccoli is soft
  7. Take off the heat and use a wand blender to whizz up the soup until thick and mostly smooth
  8. Heat gently until piping hot, take off the hob and crumble the cheese in. Stir until melty but not completely blended – it’s nice to come across some slightly cheesier bits as you eat. Taste it and season. You probably don’t need salt, but black pepper is good.

Serve straight away with some lovely fresh walnut bread to dunk in it