Soup it up Heartwarming dishes for chilly evenings
As the evenings grow chillier, hearty, warming soups are the order of the day, says Nicola Galloway.
How we have been blessed these past few weeks with incredible autumn weather. I’m not sure if I’ve been noticing it because we are home more than usual, but it is a welcome reprieve all the same. However, the nights are cool and hearty soups have been finding their way onto the dinner table, served with thick slices of sourdough.
The success to good soup lies in the quality of the stock base. It is easy to make stock at home using roasted chicken bones (or preroasted chicken carcasses). I keep leftover chicken bones in the freezer until I have 2 or 3 carcasses worth then cover with 3 litres water, add a handful of vegetable scraps including onion skins, carrot tops and parsley stalks (that I also keep in a bag in the freezer) and simmer gently for 1-2 hours into a flavoursome stock. Hold back seasoning until making the soup or it can concentrate during the slow simmering. Strain through a sieve, then use to make soup or freeze into portioned containers.
To make vegetable stock, use triple the vegetable scraps (including mushroom offcuts and broccoli stalks) and simmer for 40 minutes.
Roasted vegetable soup
This soup can be made with a variety of autumn vegetables with pumpkin as the hero ingredient. Ku¯ mara, swede and celeriac would also be nice additions.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes Serves 6-8
1 large onion, cut into eight pieces 1.5kg crown pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into
quarters
2 medium agria potatoes, peeled
and cut into 5cm chunks
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper 6 cups (1.5 litres) quality vegetable
or chicken stock
Sour cream to serve
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Arrange the prepared vegetables in a single layer on a large roasting tray – or use two if needed. Drizzle with the olive oil and season generously. Cook for 20 minutes then flip the vegetables and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until tender.
Scoop the roasted vegetables into a large saucepan and add the stock. Puree with a stick blender, adding a splash of water to thin, if needed.
Bring to a simmer, check seasoning and serve with sour cream and buttered toast.
Lentil, bacon and greens soup
The salty, smoky bacon lifts the flavour of the earthy lentils in this soup, as does a good squeeze of lemon at the table.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes Serves 4
1⁄2 cup (100g) brown lentils (or 400g
can of brown lentils, drained) 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 large carrot, roughly chopped 4-5 rashers (about 100g) streaky
bacon, roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme or rosemary,
finely chopped
6 cups (1.5 litres) quality chicken
stock
2-3 leaves silverbeet or kale, shredded
(about 1 cup firmly packed) Salt and pepper to season
Fresh parsley to garnish Lemon wedges, for serving
Pre-soaking the lentils will make them more digestible and cook faster. Cover with 3 cups warm water and leave to soak for 6 hours (or soak overnight). Drain and rinse well in a sieve.
In a large, heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil over a moderate heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bacon and herbs and saute for 6-8 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Pour in the stock, add the lentils and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes until the lentils are soft (if using canned lentils cook for 10 minutes). Add the silverbeet or kale and season to taste, cook for 5-6 minutes until the greens are wilted.
Serve the hot soup sprinkled with parsley and lemon wedges.