Roasted Sweet Potato, Ginger and Cinnamon Soup

Recipe serves: 4
A Little Background This is a great winter soup. At a time of year when we are probably eating a little bit too much of the good stuff in life such as butter, cream and rich desserts, this soup is the perfect option to lighten our dietary load. You’ll find that thanks to the sweet potato’s much lower glycaemic rating than regular potato you won’t find the inevitable post eating blood sugar spike and subsequent crash of many energy rich winter meals. Add to that ginger’s excellent properties as a digestive aid and you have a great start on helping your body deal with a lot of those richer meals you’ve been eating. Then take the ultimate comfort spice; cinnamon and your soul will also thank you for making this soup as tonight’s dinner. Not to mention that it is such an easy recipe to make your hands will thank you too. What you'll need 150 grams (5.3 oz) diced onion (approx 1 medium sized onion) 2 tbsps finely chopped ginger 2 tsps finely chopped garlic 900 grams (2 lbs) (approx 2 medium sized) sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped 60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine 1.5 litres chicken stock 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ½ tsp ground cinnamon Sea salt Freshly cracked black pepper
What to do In a large saucepan or stockpot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté until translucent while stirring continuously (approx 3 minutes). Turn heat to high for 1 minute, while continuing to stir. Add the wine and deglaze the pot. Add the sweet potato and sauté a further 4 minutes. Once the sweet potato is starting to colour, add a splash of the stock and deglaze the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the remainder of the stock and the cinnamon. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and simmer for 30-40 minutes (until sweet potato is soft and mushy). Remove from the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly. Transfer to a food processor or use a hand held stick blender, process the soup until smooth. Return to heat to warm up. Taste for seasoning and adjust as required. Serve with crusty bread, and a dollop of low fat yoghurt or light sour cream in each bowl. Can be made as a vegetarian soup, using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Roast Vegetable and Basil Soup

Recipe serves: 4
A Little Background This is not so much a recipe as a guideline, as every time I make it, it is slightly different depending on what's in the fridge. The quantities however stay the same but allow your imagination to run when making this soup. I know that personally I enjoy the different flavours every time I make it. What you'll need 2 x 400 g tins of whole peeled tomatoes 4 cloves of garlic 2 onions 300 grams (11 oz) solid roasting vegetable (pumpkin, sweet potato etc) 200 grams (7 oz) softer roasting veg (zucchini, squash, mushrooms etc) 6 sprigs rosemary 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock 2 tbsps chopped basil leaves Blue cheese Extra virgin olive oil Sea salt flakes Black pepper corn mill
What to do Preheat oven to 180 degrees (350 fahrenheit). Peel and roughly chop the solid roasting vegetables and cover liberally with olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. Meanwhile roughly chop the softer roasting veg. Peel the onion and garlic and dice finely. After the solid vegetables have been in for 30 minutes turn them and add the softer vegetables after tossing them in oil, roast a further 40 minutes. Meanwhile in a large pot over medium heat, soften the onion and garlic in a splash of olive oil until soft. Add the tinned tomatoes and the stock. Tie the rosemary sprigs together and leaving one length of string long, tie it to the handle of the pot. Bring the contents of the pot to boil and then reduce to simmer. Once the vegetables have roasted remove them from the oven and add to the pot and simmer for 3 hours (you may need to add some water over those hours as the soup may dry up slightly). Once it has all cooked for the 3 hours, using a stick blender or a food processor puree until the soup is a smoother consistency (although not too long as you want to maintain a slightly chunky consistency). Serve with crusty bread on the side and crumbled blue cheese and chopped basil on top.

tomato and chilli soup

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly choppeda bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped

• olive oil

• 750g ripe tomatoes

• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock

• 1 xjar tomato and chilli pasta sauce

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 4 tablespoons cream fresh.

Method:

Put your onion, garlic, carrot and coriander stalks into a large pot with a couple of lugs of olive oil. Cover the pan, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to stop it from colouring too much. While that’s going on, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for a minute or two. Take them out and — once they’re cool enough to touch — pinch the skins off, discard them then roughly chop the flesh. Add this to the pan then pour in the stock and the jar of tomato and chilli pasta sauce. Simmer for a further 20 minutes with the lid on.

Use a blender to purée your soup then pour it back in the pan and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Divide the soup up between your bowls then swirl a nice tablespoon of crème fraîche through each. Finish by scattering over your coriander leaves and enjoy!

Serves 4-6

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

• Olive oil

• 4 rashers smoky bacon, finely chopped

• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 x 400g tins good-quality plum tomatoes

• 1 x jar red onion and rosemary pasta sauce

• 1 courgette, roughly chopped

• 2 x 400g tins cannellini or borlotti beans, drained

• a small wineglass of red wine

• 1 pint chicken stock.

• 1 handful of baby pasta or spaghetti broken up into small pieces

•2handfuls of spinach washed and spun dry

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepperextra virgin olive oilParmesan cheese, to serve

Method:

Heat your oil in a saucepan and add the chopped bacon, onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Sweat very slowly on a low heat for around 15 to 20 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add tins of tomatoes, jar of red onion and rosemary pasta sauce, courgette, drained beans and the red wine. Give everything a good stir, and then let it all simmer for 15 minutes.

When it’s simmered for 15 minutes add your stock and baby pasta. Stir and continue to simmer until the pasta is cooked.

Add your spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the spinach has wilted down.

If you think the soup looks a bit too thick, add a splash more stock to loosen it. Have a taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil over the top. Put the block of Parmesan on the table with a grater and let everyone help themselves. Heaven!