Food & Drink
Build beautiful flavours in delicate or hearty soups, recommend restaurateurs and authors Rebecca Seal and John Vincent
Brilliant soup recipes, plus Rose Murray Brown on fortified wine Topaque
Is there anything more homely than a pan of chicken stock bubbling away the evening after a Sunday roast?
We love making our own stock – we know exactly what’s gone into it, we can tailor it to our favourite flavours and it lasts almost forever in the freezer (especially as ice cubes).
If you’re making your own stock, don’t add salt. This allows you to control how much you add to a dish when you come to cook later. (Technically, only broth should be seasoned.)
Add herbs that complement whatever you plan to use the stock for, but be sparing – you don’t want a rosemary or thyme infusion. When cooking, keep stock at a low simmer and skim off the fat, rather than letting it boil hard. A fast boil will cause the fat to emulsify into the water and make the stock cloudy.
Of course, sometimes, there just isn’t time to make stock from scratch. But some powdered and cubed stocks or bouillons contain a lot of salt, so if you’re using these, choose a good-quality, low-salt, no-salt or lowsodium product, partly for health and partly so you can choose how much to season your soup. n
Lohikietto
This Finnish salmon, dill, allspice and potato broth adds up to way more than the sum of its parts – it’s really full of flavour, and easy to see why it’s such a favourite in salmon-rich Finland. Get sustainably sourced salmon and if possible, use fresh fish stock. If you can’t, use a chicken or vegetable stock cube instead, rather than a fish stock cube.
Serves two
2 knobs of butter 1 onion, finely diced 300g waxy potatoes, about 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces 600ml fish stock or hot chicken or vegetable stock 1 bay leaf a tiny pinch of allspice 300g sustainably sourced salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 3cm cubes 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill 4 tbsp double cream salt and freshly ground black pepper buttered rye bread, to serve
1 Place 1 knob of the butter in a heavybased saucepan with a lid, set over a low heat.
2 When foaming, add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook gently, stirring, until the onion is just translucent. Don’t allow to brown. Add the potatoes, stock, some black pepper, the bay leaf and a tiny pinch of allspice – its flavour is fairly strong, so go easy, as you can always add more later if you want to. Bring up to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
3 Add the salmon and half the dill and simmer until the salmon is just cooked. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the cream and the remaining knob of butter.
4 Serve garnished with the rest of the fresh dill with slices of buttered rye bread on the side.
Red lentils with spinach, yogurt, pomegranate and crispy onions
Pomegranate seeds sit like little jewels on top of this Turkish-inspired soup.
Serves four
1 tbsp vegetable oil 3 tbsp any flavourless oil 3 onions, one finely chopped and 2 finely sliced into half moons 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 stick of celery, finely chopped 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 clove of garlic, crushed 1.25 litres good-quality hot vegetable stock 200g split red lentils, rinsed 150g baby leaf spinach, roughly chopped salt 4 tbsp Greek yogurt 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds salt
1 To make the crispy onions, pour the flavourless oil into a wide frying pan set over the lowest heat possible. Add the finely sliced onions and cook really slowly, stirring often, until deep brown, nutty, sweet and really crisp, up to 35 minutes.
2 Lift out and drain off any excess oil on kitchen paper. Toss with a little pinch of salt before using.
3 Place a large heavy-based saucepan with a lid over a medium-low heat. Add the vegetable oil, finely chopped onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of salt, and sweat the vegetables gently for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
4 Meanwhile, toast the cumin and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes in a hot dry pan until fragrant, then tip into a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder.
5 As the vegetables begin to brown, add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring, then add the ground spices, hot stock and the lentils. Bring to a fast boil and leave for 3 or 4 minutes, then turn the heat down to a simmer and skim any scum which has formed on top of the liquid. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are completely soft.
6 Remove the soup from the heat and blend until completely smooth. Taste and add a little more seasoning if necessary. If the soup seems too thick, add a splash of hot water to thin it.
7 To serve, return the soup to the pan and add the spinach. Stir it in and allow it to wilt, then divide the soup between 4 bowls. Top each with a spoonful of yogurt, the crispy onions and the pomegranate seeds.
Shakshuka
Shakshuka is an Israeli breakfast or brunch dish, but has been adopted (and adapted) as part of the worldwide breakfast-for-dinner trend.
Making it with a soupier texture means there’s more delicious sauce for dipping hunks of bread into. In summer, swap the tinned tomatoes for fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped. The harissa isn’t essential but its heat makes this a truly hangover-busting shakshuka.
Serves two
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced 1 red pepper, cored, seeded and roughly diced 4 cloves of garlic, crushed ½ tsp ground cumin 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 300ml hot chicken or vegetable stock 1-2 tsp harissa, or 1 tsp sweet or hot paprika 1 tsp soft brown sugar 2 eggs 50g feta or other salty crumbly cheese a handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped a handful of fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped toasted bread, crusty white rolls, toasted flatbreads or pitta bread salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the oil in a large, wide heavybased saucepan with a lid, set over a medium heat.
When hot, add a pinch of salt, the onion and red pepper and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes, until the pepper is beginning to soften and the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the cumin and cook for a further minute.
Next add the tomatoes, stock and harissa, if using, or paprika. Use a potato masher or the back of a large spoon to crush the lumps of tomato until the sauce is pulpy.
Add some black pepper and the sugar, turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Break the eggs into the broth, keeping a gap between them, and cover the pan. Cook on a low heat for about 7 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Scoop the eggs and some of the chunky broth out with a ladle and place gently in bowls.
Season the top of each egg with more salt and pepper, then scatter over the feta, coriander and parsley. Serve with bread for dipping into the yolks and mopping up the broth.