Fix-me-up Soup
I promised to include this recipe for one of my lovely bloggie followers who supped on it during her pregnancy – this is for you Rose. (Previously called “Welcome Home Soup”.)
1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 leek, trimmed, halved lengthways
and chopped sea salt and freshly ground pepper 1 large agria potato, peeled, chopped 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 litre good-quality chicken or
vegetable stock 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets 1 cup frozen peas 120 grams baby spinach leaves ½ cup cream ½ cup basil leaves (reserve a few
for garnish) ¼ cup mint leaves sea salt and freshly ground pepper ½ cup natural Greek-style yoghurt ¼ cup dukkah (see recipe below)
Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook onion and leek for 10 minutes (season with salt during this time).
Add potato and garlic, cook for 2–3 minutes then add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15–20 minutes until potato is soft.
Add broccoli and peas and cook for 5 minutes, add spinach and remove from the heat allowing spinach to wilt into it – give it a bit of a poke of encouragement.
Still off the heat, whizz with a stick whizzy (or transfer to a food processor which is more of a faff).
Add cream, basil and mint and whizz again until smooth, taste for seasoning and add sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Serve with a swirl of yoghurt, some fresh basil leaves and a sprinkling of dukkah. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Makes 3 sad-arse dinners
Dukkah The crunch 1 cup walnuts ⅓ cup each pumpkin seed, pine nuts and
sunflower seeds 2 tablespoons sesame seeds The flavourings 2 tablespoons each cumin, coriander and
fennel seeds 1 teaspoon each freshly ground pepper,
red chilli flakes 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put “the crunch” ingredients on one tray and “the flavourings” on another tray.
Bake together in the oven for 10–12 minutes until “the crunch” ingredients are lightly toasted and “the flavourings” are fragrant. Cool on trays then put “the crunch” in a food processor.
Grind “the flavourings” in a mortar and pestle then add to the food processor and pulse briefly so they are all combined and “the crunch” is ground into chunks – I like them to have some texture, not be completely sandy butter!
Stir in the black sesame seeds and transfer to an airtight container, then use for sprinkling on anything that takes your fancy.
Dukkah will keep stored at room temperature for around 1 month. Makes 2 cups