Being a confident soup maker

[cjt110]

...Reading threads on here where people just chuck X, Y and Z in to make a soup. I don't have the confidence to do it and not follow a recipe.

How do you know what goes with what and if you find you like it, how do you remember quantities etc?

I love this one...

Fry some onions ịn butter.. 99p tesco freezer section.
Add some chopped mushrooms....
Cook on low for about 10 mins till everything is done.
Add a can or 2 of chopped tomatoes....
Simmer for 10 mins...
Cool and pulse with blender...
Store in fridge, add some to pan, add milk till thickness you want, a bit of salt to taste and heat....
Before you add the milk you can use it as a pasta sauce base.

I make brilliant quick chuck-in-anything soup due to slavishly following the basic soup recipe from Darina Allen's cookery book. The recipe is 1 volume potato + 1 volume onion + 3 volumes any raw veg you have. You cut everything into 1cm cubes. You put the onion & potato into decent amount of melted butter in a pan, sprinkle on salt & pepper, sweat with lid until onion is translucent and it looks delicious (about 6 mins). Then you put in the other veg, stir it around. And add in just enough hot stock to cover it - I usually use Swiss Marigold or a chicken stock cube. Cook fast, pretty much a boil until veg are ONLY JUST done, usually about 3-4 mins. Then puree with a handheld blender. Seriously never fails to be delicious.

I love soup! There is a fantastic tomato soup recipe in the most recent Smitten Kitchen book - made with canned tomatoes which you drain and then bake in the oven for 30 mins before doing all the usual soup stuff. Absolutely gorgeous and a regular at our table. There is a version of the recipe here: http://wegottaeat.com/janice.cook/recipes/smitten-kitchen-roasted-tomato-soup-with-broiled-cheddar

@Twigletaddict , which Soup Book do you use...I can see 2 books by the same name on Amazon. Thanks!

The red Sophie Grigson soil association one, here Carpe.

Thanks!