From all the sprouting greenery in the garden, Spring is finally on it’s way, although it appears to have been delayed somewhere! Zesty yellow daffodils brighten up frost-bitten hedgerows & windowsills, giving a bit of hope that warmer weather is approaching. When it’s frosty & frozen outside, food tends to become more like a comfort blanket to pacify our need for warmth & contentment. There are those chilly days where it’s barely above zero on the thermometer & you just want to wrap yourself head to foot in the duvet, like some cocooned caterpillar, inside & out. All you need is a little warmth to take the edge off the chill & bring a little sunshine into your day.

Soup isn’t something to be sniffed at, it’s to be savoured & relished, almost smugly, as you dunk thickly cut, thickly buttered, crusty fresh bread in a bowlful. It’s heavenly, hearty & wholesome – perfect for luscious liquid lunches or steamy suppers. Wandering around the kitchen one lunchtime, opening all the cupboards & the fridge while looking blankly into their abyss for inspiration, I decided to make soup. There were various little tubs of leftovers, some fresh vegetables that needed using up & plenty of pots of chicken stock in the freezer. Just over half an hour later, I had a blissfully beautiful bowl of spicy soup to tuck into! So why go for that tin of ready-made when you can have your own made ready? It’s one of the easiest things to make, uses up all those bits of veg you were going to chuck out & will give you a boost for the rest of the day. Whether you’re at work or at home, if a lunchtime sandwich just won’t cut it, this sumptuously sunny little number will get your engine revving until dinnertime & brighten your day. So, aprons on & hands washed, let’s get started!

What you need:

5 large Carrots

1 large Parsnip

4 small Potatoes (I used baby ones, but just use whatever you have)

1 medium Red Onion

1 litre of Vegetable or Chicken Stock (homemade preferably)

(or use half boiling water from the kettle & half stock if you like)

Quarter of a teaspoon Cumin

Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper for seasoning

1 small knob of butter

1 – 2 tablespoons Cream Cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (just a spoonful)

Chopped fresh Parsley or Coriander (to garnish – optional)

What to do:

Get yourself a nice, large saucepan with a lid. Prepare your vegetables by peeling, topping & tailing them. Chop the carrots, parsnip, potatoes & onion into small chunks. They don’t need to be perfect, but they will cook faster if they are cut smaller (meaning you get to eat quicker). If there are any other veg you want to add, chuck them in the pan (if you’ve got a handful of frozen sweetcorn, they can go in too).

Heat a teaspoonful of the olive oil in the saucepan, add the onions & stir fry for a couple of seconds, just to get them softened.

Add the rest of the vegetables & stir fry them for about a minute.

Carefully pour your stock (or water & stock) into the pan, gently stirring the vegetables into the liquid & reduce the heat.

Simmer with the lid half on, for about 25 minutes or so, stirring occasionally – make sure you get that spoon to the bottom of the pan & get everything mixed in.

Once cooked, test the vegetables – the potato should crumble under the back of a spoon, so just press it against the inside of the pan. The carrots should be firm, but easy to cut.

Take half the mixture at a time (put the rest into a jug or another pan) & pour into a blender very slowly – use a ladle to do this if necessary, so that you don’t splash yourself. Be careful not to over-fill your blender & only go up to halfway, otherwise you’ll have a soup shower! Whizz up for a few seconds at a time or pulse until it’s the consistency of textured yoghurt – if you want your soup more silky smooth, just give it another quick whizz up. The vegetables will give up their colour & turn everything into an gorgeously golden liquid.

Pour the soup back into the saucepan, on a medium heat & bring it back up to a gentle simmer, then turn the heat down to low.

Sprinkle the Cumin across the top, along with a pinch of sea salt & black pepper – not too much though, you’re just seasoning it a little. Give the soup a gentle stir to mix them in.

Add the knob of butter (around a thumb-sized chunk should be fine), along with the cream cheese. Gently stir them through the soup until thoroughly melted. The butter & cheese will give your soup a lovely creamy consistency & add a little thickness.

Have a taste. If you think it needs a bit more seasoning, add another pinch of the sea salt & black pepper, then taste again. When you’re happy with the taste, turn off the heat & serve. Simply spoon your soup into a bowl & serve with a warm, freshly baked bread roll or baguette, smothered in cold butter, ready to dunk. If you’re serving it as a starter, perhaps decorate with a little chopped fresh Parsley or Coriander & a couple of Parmesan shavings.

Any leftovers can be frozen in a couple of freezer bags or plastic pots with lids on, or you could stash some in the fridge in jars to take to the office – just warm it up when you need it! Soup is a great portable one-pot lunch if you’re working & can be made in advance, so you can just grab one as you’re leaving the house. It also makes a perfect pasta sauce too – ricotta stuffed ravioli draped in this silky soup & sprinkled with grated Parmesan will definitely warm you through!

So when you need a bit of sunshine in a bowl to warm up a wintry day, just soup it up! Stay hungry 😉 Aimee x