Thursday 23 May 2013

Recipe: Chickpea & Tomato Soup

Its pretty cold at the moment so I've been enjoying soups a lot- this one is an old favourite which bub has happily embraced.

Chickpea & Tomato Soup

Ingredients
1/8 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
4 sprigs rosemary
400g tin diced tomatoes
2x 400g tin chickpeas
625ml vegetable stock
85g small pasta (shape is up to you, it just needs to be small- shells, spirals, risoni etc.)
Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and add garlic. Sizzle, then add rosemary and the tomatoes. Simmer for 20mins.

Drain chickpeas, then blend with the stock till desired consistency.

Cook pasta in salted, boiling water.

Add chickpea mix to the tomatoes, stir and cook together till desired thickness. Season with pepper.

Add pasta to bowls, then ladle soup over the top. Add a nice layer of parmesan cheese to top and serve with crusty bread.

Soup is great for freezing (without parmesan or pasta) and even I say its good heated up the next day (i usually HATE leftovers).
Enjoy!

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Recipe: Pumpkin Soup

With the cold weather I always crave a nice hearty soup to drive away the cold, this is a classic.

Pumpkin Soup with Croutons

Ingredients
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled & diced
1litre vegetable stock
2tsp sugar
2 bay leaves
45g cold unsalted butter, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 chunk of Turkish bread, diced
A handful of fresh continental parsley, finely chopped
200ml creme fraiche

Place pumpkin, stock, sugar & bay leaves into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer on medium heat for 20mins.

While this is happening, heat a frying pan till it is hot, then add butter, garlic, bread & parsley. Toss till crisp and golden.

Remove bay leaves from saucepan, then blend mix till nice and smooth. Return to the saucepan and simmer till it is quite thick (approx 5mins). Add creme fraiche and bring to the boil.

Season with some black pepper, serve into bowls and then add the croutons. This makes enough for hubby, bub and myself to all have a generous serve. Enjoy.