An Unusual Find In My Food Cupboard
I found this can of Heinz Tomato Soup in my food cupboard.
What happened to it?
- It looks like a half-eaten tin of meat.
- It is dated March 2014.
I never usually buy tomato soup.
A Simple Ham And Vegetable Soup
I cooked this on Friday, using the leftover vegetables from the fish pies, I cooked earlier in the week. The recipe was based on this soup from Nigella.
I started by chopping up an onion, two garlic cloves and a fresh chilli and sautéing them in olive oil until they were soft.
Onion, Garlic And Chili
I then added a diced carrot, two diced sticks of celery, one bubble of some of Waitrose’s ham hock, some chicken stock and some water. I brought it to the boil and then simmered it for an hour.
Simmering The Soup
After that, I added a few sliced courgettes, half a cup of frozen peas, a small tin of three bean mix and a generous handful of pasta and then cooked it for ten minutes, until it was nice and hot.
Cooking The Courgettes, Peas And Pasta
The only problem, was that I made it a bit thick, but it tasted good.
A Big Bowl Of Soup
I think next time, I’ll make a bigger pot of it and work out how to freeze it for later.
Delia has a page here about freezing soups and a whole list of soups. But beware, the page is full of annoying adverts.
The Minestone Soup Is Back!
Carluccio’s amazing minestrone soup has returned as a special for this week. It used to be on the menu and I think the last time I had it, was the day Ipswich played at Brighton.
So there are no prizes for guessing, what I will be eating for lunch this week.
There are rumours that it might go back on the main menu. So let’s do a bit of research.
Feel free to vote.
Chunky Minestrone Soup
This recipe comes from Sybil Kapoor in The Times.
I’ve posted it not because I’ve done it yet, but because it looks good and I don’t want to lose it. She says it is very adaptable and you can use any canned pulse, apart from lentils. As I need more pulses, that’s fine by me.
This is what you’ll need for 4.
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 sticks of celery, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, diced
- 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
- 2 courgettes, chopped
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- Piece of parmesan rind, plus grated parmesan to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 410g can cannellini, kidney or borlotti beans
- 2 generous handfuls chopped green cabbage
And this is the method you’ll use.
- You can prepare the vegetables as you’re cooking the soup. If possible, try to cut them into roughly the same size. Set a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the oil and, once hot, mix in the diced onion. As the onion softens, prepare and add the carrot, followed by the celery, garlic, potato and courgette. Stir occasionally.
- Let the courgettes soften for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes. Fill the empty tin 3 times with water and pour it into the soup. Add the parmesan rind and some freshly ground black pepper. If you don’t have any parmesan rind, just add a little chunk of parmesan. Do not add salt at this stage.
- Increase the heat and bring up to a simmer, then cook gently over a low heat for up to 2 hours. The longer it cooks, the thicker and more flavoursome it will get. If the soup gets too thick, just add more water.
- Drain and rinse the canned beans, and chop the cabbage into easy-to-eat pieces. Set aside. About 30 minutes before the end of cooking, add the drained beans. Then, 20 minutes before you want to eat, mix in the cabbage.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes and serve with grated parmesan and crusty bread. This tastes even better the following day.
I wonder if it’ll freeze for the winter.
The Anonymous Widower 