Soup Recipes

CUCUMBER AND TOMATO SOUP

350g tomatoes - skinned
350g cucumber, peeled and chopped
25g butter
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
570ml hot water, mixed with 1 tsp tomato puree
fresh basil
fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan with the oil and soften the onion in it for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cucumber, tomatoes and potato. Stir. Add seasoning and lemon juice. Put lid on. Over low heat sweat for a good 15 minutes. Add the hot water and tomato puree bring to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes until veg is soft.
Blend soup either in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in chopped herbs and serve with crusty bread.

TOMATO SOUP
One of our favourite soups is this tomato soup, much better than the tinned soup that we used to buy in the UK.
1.25kg ripe tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 small carrot
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp tomato puree
pinch of sugar
2 bay leaves
1 litre of veg stock
Cream

First, prepare the vegetables. Cut the tomatoes into quarters. Peel the onion and carrot and chop them into small pieces. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, when hot add the onion and carrot and mix together. Cook until soft on low heat. Add the tomato puree and stir. Add the tomatoes to this. Sprinkle in the sugar and a grind of black pepper. Add the bay leaves. Put the lid on and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Slowly pour in the stock, stirring at the same time and mix everything together. Turn up the heat and when bubbling, turn down to low again and simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat (remove the bay leaves) and either place in a blender or use a hand blender and blitz until smooth. Add a bit of cream to your taste if you wish. I like to then sieve my soup as I prefer to have a much smoother soup, but entirely up to you!

THAI PUMPKIN SOUP
1 tbsp veg oil
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 small red chilli peppers
1 tbsp lemon grass
500ml veg stock
1 kg pumpkin, peeled and diced
1 can of coconut milk
1 bunch basil

In a saucepan, heat the butter and oil over low heat, add shallots and garlic, chillies and lemon grass.
Stir in the veg stock, coconut milk and pumpkin, bring to the boil.
Cook until the pumpkin is soft and then blend with hand blender. Serve with sprinkled basil.

TOMATO AND ORANGE SOUP
I had this soup at a friend's house and fell in love with it! He was given this recipe by his son who is a chef and lives in Hawaii! Thank you Phil! Sorry I can't give you ingredients in kg but I'm sure you can convert!

4 large oranges
1lb ripe tomatoes
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
cinnamon stick
4 black peppercorns
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cups stock
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
I also added a bit of creme fluid
GARNISH:-
1 orange
crushed ice

Slice the oranges, 1/2 inch below the stem ends of the oranges and save the tops for garnish. Scoop out the orange, removing all the orange pulp and most of the pith. Save the orange juice for the soup. Wash the orange shells, wipe and wrap in cling film and place them in the freezer.

For the soup:- core, peel and chop the tomatoes. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook for about 4 mins to soften Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, peppercorns, ginger and stock. Simmer until the tomatoes are soft, about 8 mins. remove from the heat and pass the soup through a sieve, pressing with a wooden spoon to help get most of the tomato pulp out. Return the soup to the saucepan. Add the reserved orange juice and a touch of creme fluid, sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve. To make the garnish, peel the orange zest extremely thin and cut into a very fine julienne. Blanch and rinse in cold water.

To serve the soup: fill the soup plates with the crushed ice cubes and embed the frozen orange shells into them. Ladle the chilled soup into each orange shell and top with the orange zest and orange tops. Perfect!

GAZPACHO
This is another chilled soup, ideal for the summer and brilliant to use up a glut of tomatoes, cucumbers or whatever you wish from the garden or have in your fridge. I often add watermelon and celery as well as something a bit spicy i.e. tabasco or Worcester sauce.

1 kg ripe tomatoes
4 spring onions
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cucumber, peeled
75ml olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar

Put the chopped tomatoes, spring onions, garlic and cucumber into a blender and whizz until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve 2 or 3 times to remove most of the pulp. Put the mix back into the blender and slowly add the olive oil and sherry vinegar and season well. Chill in the fridge until required. I tend to serve this as a 'mise en bouche' so everybody gets a little glass of it before their 'entree'! This also freezes very well.

SPINACH SOUP

I made this soup the other day, first time that I'd done this and we both thought it was wonderful and seeing as we've loads of spinach in the garden at the moment, worked really well!

50g butter
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 large potato, peeled and diced
450ml veg stock
600ml milk....although I must admit, I used creme fluid and it worked well!
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Freshly grated nutmeg - to taste

Melt the butter in a large lidded saucepan, add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5-6 minutes until softening. Stir in the potato and continue to cook gently for 1 minute. Pour in the stock and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the potato starts to cook. Pour in the milk and bring up to a simmer, then stir in half the spinach and the lemon zest. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the spinach has completely wilted down. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Pour the soup into a blender (preferably) or food processor, add the remaining spinach (this will keep the soup bright green and fresh tasting) and process until silky smooth - you may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your machine.  Return to the pan and reheat. Taste and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. You may like to dilute the soup with a little extra stock if too thick. Ladle the soup into bowls and swirl in the cream

BLOODY MARY SOUP

This soup can be served as either a starter or a mise en bouche in small heatproof glasses.  Add a dash of Tabasco sauce and garnish with a celery stalk. 

Ingredients:

½ of a sliced onion

1 stick of celery, roughly chopped

1 tbsps olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp tomato puree

500g fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

175ml hot vegetable stock

2 tbsp vodka (optional)

Squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

Gently fry the onion, celery and a pinch of salt in the oil in a deep pan over a low heat for about 15 minutes until softened.  Add the garlic and tomato puree and cook for a further minute.

Stir in the chopped fresh tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and stock until boiling, then simmer, covered for about 10 to 15 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.

Allow to cool slightly, then whizz with a stick blender.  Then push the soup through a sieve into a clean pan.  Stir in the vodka if using.  Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice. Can be made ahead and heated up before serving.

I like to serve this soup warm.