What is more comforting than a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter's day ? These tasty soups are packed full of nutritious produce like parsnips, chestnuts and pumpkin.
Spiced pumpkin soup
An easy, quick soup to make - the mild, sweet pumpkin combines well with the coconut milk and is enhanced by the spices - delicious ! Serves 4 - 6.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 1 level teaspoon turmeric
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 2cm piece of ginger peeled and grated
- 1 kg (2.2 pounds) pumpkin, peeled and cubed
- 2 dried chillis
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 600ml vegetable stock
- 400ml coconut milk
- salt to taste
- a little lime juice
Directions:
- Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan and fry the coriander, fennel and turmeric until the aromas are released. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 3 - 4 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin, dried chillis and lemongrass (bruise a little to release the flavour). Stir well, season with a little salt and add the stock.
- Cover the pan and simmer until the pumpkin softens, then stir in the coconut milk. Do not cover the pan to reduce the risk of curdling.
- Bring the soup back to simmering point and cook until the pumpkin is soft enough to crush with a wooden spoon.
- Remove the lemongrass and chillis and blend the soup. Add a little freshly squeezed lime juice to sharpen the flavour.
Roast Parsnip and Chestnut Soup
Roasting the parsnips and garlic brings out the sweet, nutty flavours and the creamy chestnuts give a full rich flavour to the soup. Serves 4 - 6.
Ingredients:
- 3 large parsnips cut into chunks
- 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 stick celery, sliced (remove strings)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 250g cooked vacuum packed chestnuts, cut into small pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1.25 litres hot vegetable stock
- 2 small pieces fresh ginger , cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C or 400 F.
- Arrange parsnips and garlic on a baking tray, drizzle with half of the olive oil and roast for approximately 30 minutes.
- Heat remaining olive oil in a large pan and gently fry the carrot, celery and onion. Add garam masala, parsnips , garlic with skin removed and chestnuts.
- Add the hot stock, season to taste and simmer for 30 - 35 minutes. Blend and pour into individual bowls.
- Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan until very hot. Fry the strips of ginger quickly until it becomes crisp (approximately 1 minute). Remove from the pan and sprinkle on top of each bowl of soup to garnish.
The copyright of the article Winter Soup Recipes in Healthy Cooking is owned by Corinne Lutton. Permission to republish Winter Soup Recipes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
