Courgette and cheese soup

2 tablespoons vegetable (or light olive) oil

1 large onion (or 2 shallots) chopped

1 clove garlic

3 or 4 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped into small chunks

1kg courgettes, chopped

2 litres chicken stock (see recipe)

250g hard cheese (that will melt without going grainy), grated

Salt and pepper

In a large pan, gently soften the bacon, onion and garlic, without browning them. Add the courgettes, and fry for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes (or until the courgettes are soft).

Add half of the cheese, and blend well in a liquidiser of with a wand blender. Check and adjust the seasoning, and add more cheese to taste. The cheese shouldn’t overpower the flavour of courgette.

Serve with a swirl of double cream, if you prefer.

Bluebell spicy parsnip soup (with or without apple)

(All vegetables from Bluebell Organics)

1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon Yellowfields rapeseed oil

1 tablespoon curry powder

500g parsnips, peeled and cubed

1/2 a cooking apple, peeled and cubed (optional)

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

100ml double cream (optional)

In a large saucepan, fry the onion until glossy in rapeseed oil. Add the curry powder, and fry for 1 minute.

Add the parsnips (apple) and stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat, liquidise until creamy, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and serve.

Gazpacho

½ a stale white crusty loaf

1kg very ripe tomatoes (halve them, and remove the pips)

1 cucumber

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

500g ice cubes

200ml really good olive oil

Tear the loaf into chunks, flash each chunk under running cold water, then put each piece into a large bowl. Let it stand for 5 minutes, while you chop the veg.

Chop, and add to the bowl, the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and garlic. Add the vinegar, and a good twist of salt and pepper. Stir, and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Blend the whole lot to a puree, adding ice cold water or ice cubes if it’s too thick. You can do this in an ordinary blender or liquidiser, in batches, or with a ‘wand’ blender. The soup should be smooth, but not stodgy.

Refrigerate in the bowl, or a large jug, for at least half an hour. Check the seasoning, and add more salt and pepper as required. Before serving, add the olive oil. Swirl it across the top of the big bowl, or the serving bowls.

Leek and potato soup

50g butter

4 leeks, sliced

1 onion, chopped

3 medium floury (mashing) potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes

1.5 litres white stock (see recipe)

60ml double cream

Salt and pepper

Put a large pan onto a medium heat. Melt the butter in the pan and, as soon as it sizzles, add the leek and onion. Fry gently, until glossy but not brown. Add the potato, and stir, to coat in the oil. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

If you want a chunky soup, remove half of the vegetables to a bowl. Blend the soup. Return the reserved vegetables, if you took some out. Place the pan back on the hob, turn the heat back to medium, and add the cream. Stir, and check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, as required. Bring back to a simmer, but do not boil.

Cauliflower cream

2 tablespoons vegetable (or light olive) oil

1 small onion (or half a large one)

1 medium cauliflower

Salt and pepper (a good twist of each)

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

100ml double cream

Chop the onion finely. Break all the florets off the cauliflower stem, and cut into 1cm chunks. Cut the stalk (but not the green bits) into ½cm chunks. Throw the green bits away.

Gently fry the onion in the oil, until soft. Add the cauliflower, salt and pepper, and enough water to cover the cauliflower by about 1cm.

Bring to the boil, then simmer until the cauliflower is soft (about 10 minutes). Blend until smooth. Return to the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes, adding water until the soup is the texture of double cream. It’s soup, not wallpaper paste.

Add the cream and nutmeg. Warm through, but don’t boil. Check seasoning and adjust, if necessary.

This soup is nice served with big French bread croutons covered in melted Gruyere cheese. Then again, most soups are.

Chicken soup

2 tablespoons vegetable (or light olive) oil

 1 large onion

1 large carrot

1 stick celery

250g new potatoes

1L chicken stock (see recipe)

100-200g roast chicken leftovers

1 tablespoon fresh or dried herbs (mixed, parsley, thyme, whatever)

100ml double cream (optional, but you know you want to)

Chop the vegetables and chicken finely. Pick the herbs of their stalks (if fresh) and chop finely.

In a large pan, heat the oil. Fry the onion over a medium heat, until glossy but not browned. Add the chopped carrot, celery and potatoes, and fry gently for 2 minutes.

Add the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer gently (for about 10-15 minutes) until the carrots are soft (they take the longest). Add the chopped chicken, and herbs, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Check seasoning, and add salt if necessary.

If you like a clear soup, serve it now. If you want to keep the soup, it will last a couple of days in the fridge, or freeze well.

If you prefer a creamy soup, remove half of the bits and blend the stock with the remaining bits. Return the bits you removed, and stir in the double cream. Don’t boil the soup after you’ve added the cream, or it might split. Oh, and don’t freeze soup with cream in it – it goes weird.

You can add other vegetables, or change the ones in the recipe. Sweetcorn is nice, as are leeks. Not cauliflower, though, unless you like grey soup with the texture of glue. If you really want to make cauliflower soup, check out the ‘cauliflower cream’ recipe. Oh, and if you use mushrooms, add them with the chicken and herbs or you’ll get brown soup.

Basic chicken stock

A roast chicken carcass

1 large onion

1 large carrot

1 stick of celery

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

Chop the onion, carrot and celery, and place in a large pan with the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, put the lid on the pan, then simmer gently for 4 hours. Check the water level occasionally, and top up with extra water if required.

Check seasoning, and add salt if required. Allow the stock to cool, then skim off any fat if you really, really must. However, remember that the fat has a lot of flavour and gives the stock texture.

Strain the stock through a sieve, into a clean container, then discard all the bits. The meat that’s left on the bones won’t have much flavour, so it’s better to add some cooked chicken, at a later stage, if you want to make chicken soup.

You can make stock by a similar method with any meat bones. If you want a darker stock, roast the bones in a hot oven for 30 minutes before adding to the stock pot.

Stock can be kept in the fridge for a few days, or frozen until needed. Try reducing the stock down until it’s dark and almost syrupy, then freezing it in an ice tray or ice cube bags – your very own stock cubes!