Chicken noodle soup

ingredients:

900ml / 1 1/2pt chicken stock
1 bay leaf
4 spring onions, sliced
225g / 8oz button mushrooms, sliced
100g / 4oz cooked skinless
chicken breast, thinly sliced
50g / 2oz soup pasta such as orzo or ditalini
150ml / 5fl oz dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh
flat-leaf parsley
salt and ground black pepper

How to cook?

1. Put the stock and bay leaf into a heavy pan, and bring to the boil. Add the spring onions and mushrooms to the simmering stock.
2. Add the chicken to the soup, and season with salt and pepper. Heat through for 2–3 minutes.
3. Add the pasta, cover and simmer for 7–8 minutes. Just before serving, add the wine and parsley, heat the soup through for 2–3 minutes, then check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve hot.

Clam chowder

ingredients

8 celery sticks, chopped
700g / 1 1/2 lb onions, chopped
1.8kg / 4 lb red potatoes, diced
900g / 2lb canned clams with juice
3 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
225ml / 8 fl oz fish bouillon
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
225g / 8 oz butter
250g / 9 oz plain flour
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1.2 litres / 2pt milk

How to cook?

1. Put the celery, onions, potatoes, clams, thyme, oregano, basil, bouillon and pepper in a large heavy saucepan. Gently cook for 30–45 minutes until the vegetables and potatoes are soft.
2. To make a roux, melt the butter in a small heavy pan, add the flour and garlic, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for a few minutes until slightly brown.
3. Combine the roux with the vegetable mixture and add the milk. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Chicken soup

ingredients:

1 leek, diced
1 parsnip, diced
225g / 8 oz chicken wings
1 onion, diced
6 whole black peppercorns
1 roast chicken carcass with meat left on

How to cook?

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/ Gas mark 2. Put in a large heavy saucepan with the chicken wings.
2. Add the onion, leek and parsnip, and bring to the boil. While the water is heating, add the whole peppercorns.
3. Once the stock has boiled, transfer to an ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for 2 hours. Skim off any scum from the surface using a slotted spoon, and strain the stock you have created. Discard everything except for the chicken.
4. When cool enough to handle, take out the carcass and shred the chicken before returning it to the stock. Serve hot.

Catalan soup

Ingredients
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
900g/2lb beef mince
2 carrots, chopped
25g/1oz plain flour
1.2 litres/2pt hot vegetable stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

How to cook?

1. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat. Saute the beef until it is just cooked, then remove and keep to one side. Sauté the carrots, onions and tomatoes in the same pan for a few minutes, stirring continuously to prevent sticking.
2. Blend in the flour using a wooden spoon, and cook for a few more minutes. Return the cooked mince to the casserole.
3. Cover the mixture with the hot stock, and simmer the soup gently for about 45 minutes. Serve hot.

Carrot coriander soup

Ingredients

175g / 6oz onion, diced
50g / 2oz butter
500g / 1 lb 2oz carrots, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1.2 litres / 2pt vegetable stock
2 teaspoons caster sugar
150ml / 5fl oz whipping cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh
coriander leaves
salt and freshly ground
black pepper

How to cook?

1. In a heavy saucepan, gently sweat the onion in the butter until soft and translucent. Add the carrots to the pan, and cook, stirring from time to time, for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and stock. Season with salt and pepper and the sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Pour the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor, and blitz to a puree. Pour back into a clean pan, and add the cream and coriander. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then heat the soup through gently, stirring. Serve hot.

Boston bean soup

ingredients – serves 4

850g/1 3/4 lb canned cooked pinto
beans, drained
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 celery stick, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
450ml/ 3/4pt beef stock
salt and freshly ground
black pepper

How to cook?

1. Put the beans, tomatoes, celery, onion, bay leaf and stock in a medium saucepan. Cover the pan, and bring the mixture to the boil over a medium-high heat.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are quite soft. Leave the soup to sit, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
3. Puree half the soup in a blender or food processor. Mix into the remaining soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Borscht

Ingredients – serves 6

900g/2lb large raw beetroot
225g/8oz onion, diced
225g/8oz leeks, sliced
2 celery sticks, chopped
50g/2oz butter
600ml/1pt chicken stock
1 bay leaf
150ml/5fl oz soured cream
salt and freshly ground
black pepper

How to cook?

1. Boil the beetroot whole in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water. Peel and cut into 2.5cm/1in chunks.
2. In a frying pan, gently sweat the onion, leek and celery in the butter until softened. Add the beetroot, stock and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, skim the surface, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Discard the bay leaf, and puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Return to a clean pan, season and bring back to the simmer. Remove from the heat, stir in the sour cream and serve.

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