Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Soup recipe

It’s quite difficult to find something to blog about every day. My life is not very exciting.

So instead of describing my day, today I will describe how I make soup – because I’d like to think I make a pretty fine soup. And in my defense, a good friend once asked me for the recipe. And so, for you M, and for anyone else who is interested, here is my soup recipe. Completely informal. Varies every time. Gets better with practice – and usually tastes better the second day too.

Because I like to cook quickly, this recipe is designed so you can, for the most part, prep as you go. No need to chop everything up before hand – there is time to chop while other ingredients start cooking.

1. Raid the fridge and cupboards for vegetables: carrots, peppers, celery, zucchini, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, etc. Some things like squash and sweet potatoes are best roasted, so I might throw them in the oven to roast during the afternoon or the night before.

2. Chop up an onion, a stick of celery and one or two cloves of garlic. Heat some olive oil in a big pot and throw these things in. Chop up a pepper and toss it in. When onions are translucent, add a shaking of chilli peppers and some salt.

3. While onions et al. are cooking, chop up other veggies in order of cooking time needed. Throw them is as they are ready or depending on how long you want them to cook. (I usually start with the carrots.)

4. When you are ready to add liquid (i.e. when veggies are starting to get soft) toss in about ½ or 1 cup of ready-made tomato sauce, about 6 cups of water (more if using a lot of veggies) and a stock cube or two. Suggested spices to add: basil, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, parsley.

5. Simmer until veggies are soft. If adding pre-roasted veggies such as squash or sweet potatoes, those can usually go in at the last minute.

6. Blend everything together with a hand-held blender.

7. Spruce it up with a dollop of butter or cream.

8. Serve and enjoy.

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