Best soup or stew

[MissMinestrone]

Please share your favourite soup or stew recipe. I crave a lovely minestrone but haven't made on in over a decade so not sure what to put in it.

I love chicken soup. Boil chicken in water with ginger and half a squeezed lemon for about an hour, take it out and add potatoes and carrots to the broth, when nearly boiled add peas and chicken pieces. Make mini pasta such as alphabet or star and mix in soup. Amazing, easy and so healthy.

I have beef casserole tonight... onions, beef, oxo, cornflour and topped with atora suet dumplings, just like mum used to make. Rich and delicious.

Oh, and my favourite soup is carrot and yellow pepper... fry together onions, yellow peppers, carrots, potato, then boil with either chicken or veg stock. Then all blitzed with a stick blender.

I no longer eat meat, but recently discovered that the Osem brand chicken stock powder is 'accidentally' vegetarian, and have been using it for EVERYTHING - so much more flavoursome than veg stock or bouillon.

For me, it's all about lentil soup at this time of year: sometimes adding some roasted parsnips or turnips with curry spices (ground cumin, coriander and turmeric) to turn it into a kind of soupy dahl.

I use Jamie's minestrone recipe but put in a couple of cubes of frozen spinach instead of kale or cabbage. I also keep my Parmesan rinds and if I have one, chuck it in. (Just remember to fish it out before serving)

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/soup-recipes/minestrone-soup/

Just made leek and potato soup tonight. Simple, delicious and filling. 1 onion, 2 leeks, butter, chopped up potatoes, 1 veg stock cube, dried thyme, salt and pepper.

One of my favourite soups is this roasted potato and garlic one, I love garlic so I put a bit more in than the recipe says.

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/15078/roasted-garlic-and-potato-soup.aspx

River Cottage / Hugh F-WTurkish Red Lentil soup, somtimes add chopped up chorizo or sausages as main meal. Also his Pearl Barley Broth

Spicy tomato soup

Onions
Ginger
Garlic
Cook it all down

Add salt, pepper, ground cumin, coriander powder and mix masala

Add a mix of chopped fresh large and cherry tomatoes, cook it all down

Add water and boil

Blend everything and bring to the boil, simmer to desired thickness.

So tasty and gives such a lovely warmth to the belly on these colder days.

Yellow pea soup is nice. Onion, carrots, yellow peas and ham stock cubes. Soak the peas overnight first.

My favourite soup is roasted veg (butternut squash, carrots, red onions, peppers, chillies) with red lentils and coriander. Roasting the veg first makes so much difference to the flavour.

Any sinewey meat such as stewing steak, beef cheeks, oxtail, pork cheeks or game offcuts - chopped into chunks. Brown in a little olive oil in a large heavy-based pot until dark but not burnt. Add smoked bacon lardons, one sliced onion, four sliced carrots, two bay leaves, a sprig of rosemary. (If you like, you can add button mushrooms too, and/or halved chestnuts)
Lower heat, and soften veg & lardons for a few minutes; then deglaze pan with a big glass or two of red wine. Add stock or water to just cover the meat, cover and simmer on a very low heat for at least 4 hours. Meat should be tender and falling apart (if using oxtail, pick out the bones at this point). Season to taste. Lots of chopped parsley to serve. I usually serve the next day, as the flavours develop even more by then.

I have so many lovely soup recipes but my most recently made one was curried butternut squash, lentil and tomato.

Couple of tablespoons of oil
2 onions
2 - 6 cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like it.
1 peeled and diced (1cm cubes) butternut squash
1 cup red lentils
300 ml carton of passata
2 heaped desert spoons of curry paste (whichever one you like)
Veg stock of some description
Water to achieve desired consistency

Sautee onions and garlic in oil for a few minutes, add butternut squash and fry for a few minutes. Put lid on pan and leave on a low heat for 10 mins. Increase heat, add lentils and curry paste, stir until everything is coated in curry paste. Add passata, veg stock and some water. Put lid on and simmer until lentils and squash are tender. Add more more water if required, bring back to simmer and it's ready to serve.

Taco Soup
Onions, then add tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of kidney beans, white beans & sweetcorn, 1 tin of water. 1 pkt of taco seasoning 1 pkt of smokey fajita seasoning. Serve by adding tortilla chips to a bowl, ladle soup over, top with a few tortilla chips, dollop of crème fraiche, jalapeno peppers and grated cheese

Pho ga. in a pressure cooker. I use this recipe. It's so delicious www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-chicken-pho-soup-pho-ga/

Cajun bean stew.

Celery, onion, green pepper softened in oil. Then tomatoes, kidney beans, white beans, tabasco or cayenne, chicken stock. Sometimes I add some leftover bacon or chicken. Perfect for cold days.

Or old fashioned pea & ham.