Leek and Asparagus Soup

I don’t know about you but when the weather starts to turn colder I always think of soup for lunch. It’s so comforting with a slice of fresh bread and butter to dip in. To be honest I couldn’t contemplate it without it.

This delicious leek and asparagus soup is healthy and low fat and it’s a great soup to make on repeat. Feel free to add a bit of cream to make it a bit more luxurious but that’s your call.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 leeks – chopped

4 large asparagus spears

500ml vegetable stock

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

1 knob of butter

100ml cream optional

Method

Chop your leeks into discs and your asparagus spears into inch long pieces.

Transfer to a large saucepan and pour over your vegetable stock.

Simmer for approximately 15 minutes until the veg is tender.

Season with salt and cracked black pepper and stir through your knob of butter until it has melted.

Blend to a smooth consistency.

Up to you if you want to add a little dash of cream at this point.

Serve piping hot with a chunk of fresh sour dough and butter for dipping.

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Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I was delighted when my cousin gave me this recipe. For years I’ve been borderline severing a digit hacking up the butternut squash, little did I know you can halve it and roast it in the oven. It turns out even better and you still have fingers left. Bonus!

The butternut is infused with the delicious chilli and garlic and has all the winter feels. Best eaten on a lazy day watching films on the sofa all snug and warm.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash

4 garlic cloves

Glug of olive oil

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

1 whole red chilli – sliced

500ml vegetable stock

Teaspoon chilli flakes

Method

Pre heat oven to 200c / 180C

Cut your squash in half and deseed. Place cut side up on a foil lined baking tray, score and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and cracked black pepper. Add your garlic cloves kept whole on top of the squash along with your chopped fresh chilli.

Roast in the oven for 50 minutes.

Remove from oven and scoop out the flesh and blend adding as much or little chilli flakes as you desire. I found 1 teaspoon just right.

Cream of Leek and Sweetcorn Soup

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This is such an amazing combination. Quick and simple to make and you’ve got lunch for a few days. This leek and sweetcorn soup tastes a lot more luxurious than it is. It’s surprisingly low in calories as it’s as it’s all veg and stock. The addition of a dash of cream would obviously up the calories but it does make it more silky and indulgent.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 large leek sliced into rounds

500g frozen sweetcorn

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

500ml vegetable stock

100ml cream (optional)

Tablespoon butter

x2 garlic cloves (minced)

Method

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the chopped leek, minced garlic and sauté for 5 minutes or so to soften the leek.

Now add the sweetcorn and cook for another couple of minutes, moving it round the pan with a wooden spoon.

Add your stock and stir to combine.

Simmer for 10 minutes over a lowish heat.

Allow to cool and blend until smooth.

Finally season to your liking with salt and cracked black pepper and add a swirl of cream if you fancy it.

Mushroom and Thyme Soup

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One for my vegetarian friends, this is such a gorgeous soup. It’s not easy trying to make a mushroom soup look pretty let me tell you, but don’t let that put you off. It’s so creamy and full of rich mushroom flavour with just the right hint of thyme.

As always with my recipes, quick and easy too. Hope you give it a go.

Ingredients

1 onion – diced

2 cloves garlic – minced

300g mushrooms – chopped

100ml Greek yoghurt

6 thyme stalks

1 litre vegetable stock ( you can use fresh or 3 veg oxo cubes)

Salt and cracked blacked pepper to season

Method

Pan fry your onions and after a minute of stirring add your garlic and sprigs of thyme. Keep stirring until your onions are soft and translucent. It will smell wonderfully fragrant.

Now add your chopped mushrooms so they can infuse in all the loveliness.

Pour in your stock and simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Now use a stick blender to blend to a smooth liquid or pop in your blender and blitz.

Swirl through your Greek yoghurt and season with salt and pepper.

Fact: Mushrooms are a rich, low calorie source of fibre, protein, antioxidants and selenium. Selenium supports the immune system and helps prevent damage to cells and tissues.

Tomato and Basil Soup

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This really is the best tomato soup I’ve ever tasted if I do say so myself. I’m so happy with the recipe and it’s effortlessly simple. It’s so rich and bursting with tomato flavour you could even use it as a pasta sauce or sauce for pizza bases as the texture would be perfect for them as it’s thicker than your every day soup.

I used sun dried tomatoes in oil (drained) as the base of the recipe which gives a richly enhanced tomato flavour. This honestly tastes like the flavours of the Mediterranean in a bowl.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tin chopped tomatoes

125g sun dried tomatoes in oil – drained

2 cloves garlic – minced

250ml vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon butter

Method

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat, add your minced garlic, stirring all the time.

Now add the sun-dried tomatoes, draining off any excess oil.

Stirring all the time add your chopped tomatoes, stock, sugar and dried basil.

Simmer over a low heat for approximately 10-12 minutes. Season to your liking and blend until smooth.

Tip: Adding fresh basil and a swirl of cream is optional.

Leek and Potato Soup

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Previously one to turn my nose up at this variety of soup until I made it that is. It is super quick and easy to make and so full of flavour. It’s a favourite served on a cold, rainy day with lots of fresh bread and butter, salt and cracked black pepper.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion – diced

225g potatoes diced

2 leeks – sliced

1.2 litres vegetable stock

150ml double cream or crème fraîche

Salt and cracked black pepper to season.

Method

Heat oil in a large pan, add your diced onions, leeks and potato cubes and pan fry to soften for about 4 minutes or so.

Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Season and simmer the veg until tender.

Whizz in a blender and finally stir through your cream to serve.

Tom Kerridge’s Butternut Squash and Parmesan Soup

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I love having lots of candles around our home and I was lighting one with my Cook’s Matches and I stumbled across this delightful soup recipe on the back of them. It’s a Tom Kerridge recipe and I was immediately inspired to make it as it seemed so Autumnal and fitting for this time of year. Recipe is from Tom Kerridge’s book Best Ever Dishes and it’s absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

100g butter

1 onion – diced

2 garlic cloves – ( I minced them)

1kg butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks approx 2cm ( recipe advises 500g of flesh)

800 ml vegetable stock

175g parmesan cheese – grated

2 tablespoons truffle oil

Recipe suggests 200g fresh cep mushrooms but I left these out as not everyone in our house is a fan of them.

200g vacuum packed chestnuts

10 sage leaves chopped and a couple for garnish ( I used a handful)

Salt and cracked black pepper

Method

Melt 50g butter in a large saucepan over a medium low heat. Add your diced onion and sweat for approx 10 minutes until soft, stirring all the time.

Now add the minced garlic for a minute or two more and stir in your butternut squash chunks. Cover the ingredients with your vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Continue to simmer gently for approximately 30 minutes or so ensuring the butternut squash is nice and soft.

Remove from heat and stir in your parmesan, truffle oil and season to your liking. Blend in a blender or with a hand blender and pass through a sieve to ensure a nice smooth consistency. It will be a glorious warm orange colour.

In a frying pan melt your remaining half of the butter and pan fry the ceps if you are adding them but if not just your chestnuts for 2 minutes or so. Stir in the majority of your sage and keep the rest aside for a garnish.

Once you’ve poured your soup into bowls you can finally spoon over some ceps if you like them and your chestnuts, then finally sprinkle on your remaining sage to garnish.

Pea and Ham Hock Soup

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This recipe was given to me by my cousin but I’ve tweaked it a little and instead of spinach I’ve added ham hock. Of course if you are vegetarian you can just leave out the ham and replace with a couple of handfuls of spinach.

It’s heavenly and I’ll definitely be making it again and again.

If you’ve got some frozen peas hanging around and some left over ham hock give it a go. It’s easy peasy! Sorry, couldn’t resist!

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 small onion – diced

30g butter

400g frozen peas – I used petit pois

500ml vegetable stock

Handful of ham hock

Salt and pepper to season

Method

Melt your butter in a pan and sauté your diced onions until soft not browned.

Add your peas, stock and salt and pepper to season.

Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Remove from heat and blend until smooth.

Add your ham hock, transfer to bowls and enjoy with a big hunk of crusty bread and butter.

Parsnip and Honey Soup

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When the weather starts to turn there’s nothing more warming than a bowl of soup. For me , the introduction of soup at lunchtime always signals Autumn which is my favourite season.

Full of honey and parsnip sweetness this soup really warms the soul. It’s also good for the waistline as it’s literally full of veggie goodness. You can of course add a swirl of double cream to make it a bit more luxurious but I’ll leave that thought with you.

Serves 4

Ingredients

800ml water

2 vegetable stock cubes

6 parsnips – peeled and chopped

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

1 tablespoon honey

Method

Put your parsnips into the stock and bring to the boil. Continue to simmer gently until softened.

Meanwhile, pan fry your diced onions in the olive oil.

Add your onions and your honey to the parsnips and stock.

Season with salt and cracked black pepper.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, blend fully to ensure a silky, smooth consistency. Have a little taste to see if you want to add any more seasoning or a dash more honey. Enjoy with bread and butter or just as it is.

Tip: Honey has long been used for medicinal purposes. It has similar antioxidant levels to apples, spinach, oranges and strawberries.

Spice Lovers Chilli and Sweetcorn Soup

I make this for my sister and brother in law because they love spice. I mean they snack on scotch bonnets all nonchelant like they’re bread sticks! If you’re a spice lover you’ve got to make this. It’s healthy and so simple to make. I add the chilli seeds to make it even hotter but you can adjust it to your desire.

I wouldn’t recommend going on any first dates after consuming this or your breath might take their eyelashes off, or yours for that matter! It’s delicious nonetheless and would be worth it.

Serves approx 6

Ingredients

1/4 large onion

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon hot chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

500g sweetcorn kernels

2 green chillis

1 litre veg stock ( I use 3 stock cubes for this)

2 large cloves of garlic

glug of chilli oil

Method

Dice the onions and green chillis and mince the garlic, then pan fry along with the chilli flakes and chilli powder in a glug of chilli oil to soften.

Transfer the sweetcorn into a cooking pot and add all your ingredients you just pan fried and stir to combine. Add your black pepper.

Add 1 litre of hot vegetable stock and mix well.

Let simmer for approximately 20 minutes.

Blend with a hand blender or blender of your choice. I find a hand blender easier for soups so I’m not pouring hot liquids to and fro. I like to keep a bit of the sweetcorn back so it doesn’t get blended and throw it in at the end as this adds a nice texture.

Chop up a bit more chilli to garnish if you need a bit more spice! Surely not!

Fact: Green chillis are full of vitamin c and beta-carotene and are great for healthy eyes, skin and immune system. They’re also said to speed up the metabolism for up to three hours after eating and contain virtually no calories. Remember to eat in moderation!