Rachel Allen - Minestrone Soup Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

150g (5oz) bacon, cut into approx 2cm dice

1 onion, peeled and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large tomatoes, chopped

100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) red wine

1.5 litres (2 1/2 pints) chicken or vegetable stock

Pinch of sugar

1 x 400g tin of cannellini or flageolot beans, drained and rinsed

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

1 potato, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

1 stick of celery, trimmed and cut into 1cm dice

1/4 small cabbage, such as Savoy, cross removed and leaves shredded crossways

75g (3oz) dried spaghetti, broken into pieces

1 tsp chopped thyme leaves

2 tsp chopped parsley

4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve

Method

Pour half the olive oil into a large saucepan on a high heat and, when hot, add the bacon and fry for 4 minutes or until the fat has rendered and the bacon is golden. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining olive oil and stir in the onion and the garlic. Season with salt (but not too much as the bacon will be salty) and pepper and cook for 6-8 minutes or until the onion is soft but not browned.

Add the chopped tomatoes, red wine and stock and season with salt (again, not too much) and a pinch of sugar. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the beans and carrots, bring back up to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, then add the potato and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Season with a little more salt, then add the celery, cabbage and spaghetti. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is tender, then remove from the heat and stir in the herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Taste for seasoning and serve with some more freshly grated Parmesan cheese scattered over the top.

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James Kavanagh & William Murray -  Spring Leek Soup Recipe

A bowl of this is more of a healing broth than a soup, its magic lies in the simplicity of using just a few very good, very ordinary ingredients which come together with good stock to make you feel brighter. The leek in particular has a certain clarity in this broth, not being laden down with cream or cheese or bacon. It is allowed to just be a leek, being delicately green, herbaceous and sweet. I tend to use as good a vegetable stock as I can find or make but you can also use a good chicken stock. Add a tablespoon of light miso paste to give your soup an added earthy complexity.

Ingredients:

1. 1litre of good vegetable or chicken stock, heated

2. 3 medium sized leeks, white only, sliced into medium thick rounds

3. 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped

4. 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

5. 4 spring onions, thinly sliced

6. a handful of washed and roughly shredded spinach or chard leaves

7. 1 tablespoon of olive oil or 30g butter

8. zest of half a lemon

9. sea salt and black pepper

10. 1 tablespoon of light miso paste (optional)

In a heavy based saucepan or casserole, heat the olive oil or butter in a medium high heat and add the leeks and spring onions. Season lightly and cook until they soften but be careful not to let them brown too much. add the carrot and celery and add to the pan, cooking for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Add the hot stock next and leave to simmer for roughly 20 minutes until the carrots and celery have softened. If you are using miso paste, stir it in at this stage. Add the shredded leaves last along with the parsley and lemon zest, simmering for 2 minutes. Check seasoning and serve hot with crusty white bread.

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Kevin Dundon - Spiced Coconut and Butternut Squash Soup Recipe  

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

2 onions, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

800g / 10oz butternut Squash, peeled, chopped

1 tsp. red curry paste

500ml vegetable stock

400ml coconut milk

50g butter – optional

salt and pepper

Method

Drizzle some oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the squash and curry paste and sauté for a further 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.

Remove from the heat and blend the soup with a handheld blender until smooth. Check the texture (add extra water if too thick) and seasoning.

Add the butter until smooth.

Serve the soup with extra drizzle of coconut milk.

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Lilly Higgins - Tomato and Basil Tortellini Soup Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 x 400g tins whole plum tomatoes

400ml stock

100ml cream

1 handful basil leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

Quarter of a green cabbage, finely shredded

400g fresh tortellini

Parmesan 

Method

Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about five minutes. Add the garlic and stir till fragrant, watch that the garlic doesn't burn. Season with a little salt and pepper and add the balsamic vinegar. Cook for a minute then remove from the heat.

Blitz the cooked onions, tinned tomatoes and half of the basil leaves together till smooth. I use a Nutribullet for this and do it in batches. Any strong blender will do.

Return the tomato soup to the pan, along with the stock, and heat gently. Add the cream and check the seasoning, add more salt and pepper if you need to. Simmer gently on a low heat, but don’t bring to the boil. 

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Neven Maguire - Poached Chicken and Orzo Soup

Serves 4–6

Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta that is brilliant to use in soups, salads and all kinds of pasta dishes. It looks like a type of grain and is categorised as pastina in Italy, which means 'little pasta'. It’s actually, a very popular ingredient all over Europe, particularly in Greece, where it’s called kritharaki.

Prep 15 MINS

Cook 55 MINS

FREEZER FRIENDLY

Ingredients

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 bay leaves

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme, plus

extra to garnish

1.7 litres (3 pints) water

2 chicken stock cubes

4 boneless, skinless chicken fillets

175g (6oz) orzo (see the intro)

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh flatleaf

parsley

sea salt and freshly ground black

pepper

TO SERVE

sourdough baguette and butter

Method

To make the stock, place the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a large pan with the water.

Bring to the boil, then crumble in the stock cubes and simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetables have released their flavour.

Reduce the heat to low, then add the chicken fillets and poach for 12–15 minutes, until tender. Transfer to a plate and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir the orzo into the pan and simmer for 8–10 minutes, until tender.

When the chicken has rested for 5 minutes, shred the meat using two forks and return to the soup while the orzo is finishing cooking.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle the chicken and orzo soup into bowls (discarding the bay leaves) and scatter the extra thyme and the parsley on top.

Serve with chunks of sourdough baguette spread with butter.

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Gina Daly  - Cheesy Sweetcorn Chowder Soup Recipe

Thick and creamy sweetcorn soup, absolutely delicious. Garnished with smoky bacon crumbs and charred sweetcorn for an extra depth of flavour this will become a weekly winner in your gaff. For extra protein add in some shredded chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

4 smoked bacon medallions or American style bacon

2 large tins of sweetcorn (roughly 350g each)

1 carrot diced

1 onion finely diced

2 sticks celery diced

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 large sized potato cut into cubes

60 g cheddar cheese

1 tbsp flour

200mls milk

600mls chicken stock

½ tsp dried thyme

Method:

Pop the bacon under the grill or in the airfryer until crispy brown, chop up super fine and set aside.

Pop half a tin of sweetcorn in the airfryer at 190°C until golden and crisp or under the grill turning occasionally so it doesn't burn until charred and golden then set aside until the soup is ready.

Next sauté the onions, celery, carrot in a large pot with a little spray oil until tender and add the flour and mix (the flour will thicken the soup)

Then add in the cubed potato, 1 and ½ tins of sweetcorn and fry off for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the chicken stock, milk, cheddar, smoked paprika, garlic powder and thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 10-12 minutes until the cheese has melted in and combined with the stock and the potatoes are tender enough to blend.

Taste and add more seasoning if needed, using a hand blender, blend until you have a smooth consistency.

Serve in warm bowls and sprinkle with the bacon crumbs and charred sweetcorn on top.

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Marco Pierre White - French Onion Soup Recipe

Ingredients

4-5 large onions

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

100g butter

1 sprig thyme

1 pint of ale

1 pint of chicken stock

100ml veal stock

200g Gruyére cheese, grated

8 croutons

Method

Finely slice the onions.  In a large saucepan and on a low heat, slowly cook them along with the garlic in the butter and thyme for 45 minutes.

Add the ale. Continue to cook until the soup reduces in volume by half.

Add the stocks of chicken and veal.  Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. 

Taste and season.

Pour into bowls with croutons.  Place the grated Gruyére on top of the soup and pace the bowls under a high grill – if the grill is too low the cheese will dry out, which you don't want!  Serve.

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