Soup methodology.

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Right, I'm outing myself as a soup numpty!

I think I'm an adequate-ish cook, but I've never been able to make a good soup.

Please can I have some tips for making great vegetable soup?

For both starting from scratch and also using leftover vegetables?

i always sweat leaks in butter, then parsnips, carrots, potatoe, stock, red lentils.
very nice

i follow delia religously

The first and last time I made soup it tasted great but ended up with the consistency of baby food.

So my tip is to make sure you add enough liquid.

And follow the recipe carefully rather than just guessing quantities.

Veg soup can be insipid. Basic lentil soup - soften a ton of onions in a splash of olive oil, add a couple of carrots chopped smallish, then lob in a load of red lentils. Add ham stock (or stock cube) and boiling water and shedloads of fresh black pepper, boil hard for ten minutes then simmer for another half an hour. Blitz if so desired.

You can substitute lentils with tatties, yellow split peas etc. But that basic recipe will make you a much tastier soup than the ingredient list would ever suggest, especially if you use real stock. I make a pot at least once a week and it does DP's meals at work and several lunches.

I don't use leftover cooked vegetables in soup, if that's what you mean?

If you are making a mixed vegetable soup be prepared to add the vegetables at different stages according to how long it will take them to cook.

A typical winter veg soup I might make would be

A v large onion
Stick of celery
Couple of carrots
Couple of potatoes
Handful of green beans
Cauliflower or broccoli
Dark green cabbage
Peas

Cook the onion slowly in a generous amount of butter, then celery, then carrots, then potatoes. Add couple of pints of stock (made with one Knorr chicken stock cube to a pint of water, otherwise it is too salty) and simmer for at least half an hour, pref longer, until the potatoes are getting soft. Then add beans, cauli, brocc, peas and cabbage and cook for at least another 10 minutes.

I wouldn't blend this but I might mash it around a bit. I'd add pepper and a teaspoon of marmite if I thought it was lacking a certain something.

Agree don't use pre cooked veg. I prefer my soup to taste of one veg rather than loads, so I tend to keep it simple. You can add depth of flavour with a very small amount of onion and celery, which I add to most soups, and then appropriate spices and herbs. If you want creamy, then creme fraiche or cream at the end.

My current faves are spiced roasted butternut squash and carrot and thyme.

For the carrot and thyme, I sweat onion, garlic and celery for 5 mins in butter and olive oil. Then add chopped carrots and sweat for a further 20 minutes. Then add veg stock, if you like quite a thick soup, add just a little, or if you like a thinner soup, add more. Add chopped fresh thyme. Some people like coriander, if so, add ground coriander when cooking onions, and then chopped fresh coriander right at the end. Or cumin goes well, again add this with onions. Depends what herbs/spices you like.I use Marigold Bouillon as the stock. Simmer for 10 mins or until carrots very soft. Blitz with hand blender, add seasoning as required, more thyme, and add more stock if you want it thinner.

I think leftover-veg soup always tastes bland, I only ever make recipe soups. My favourites are things like spicy butternut squash or carrot & corriander.

With a mixed veg soup I will often give it a bit of body by taking out some of the veg and liquid once cooked, blending and then returning it to the pan.

Try different stock cubes/liquids/powders until you find one you like - some have a very distinctive overpowereing flavour. Also I agree with biubbity about the saltiness and I always use much less than they suggest on the pack (half a cube maybe).

butternut squash soup is brilliant if you use about 200ml of orange juice and maybe half a teaspoon of powdered ginger.

OJ sounds interesting. I also think the key with BNS soup is to roast it before you add it to the soup. It deepens the flavour very considerably.

If you have veg to use up it's fine to use them in soup, but you will need to use good stock (a cube IS fine!) and start with what them chefs call a Mirepoix, olive oil, onion, carrot, garlic and celery (even if you don't like celery, it is a great base flavour). Add the leftover veg, stock and seasoning, simmer to heat through and blend.

What are the leftovers in question? Some work better than others.

Agree that roast B'nut or sweet pot work well. Roast parsnips are good too, or sauté leeks. I'm sure soups were invented to use up leftovers!

Stuffing mix can add a nice flavour to a chicken based soup or can add to "leftover" or "fridge" soup

If it's too thick add some milk (or wine) and heat through

Soy sauce & worcestershire sauce can add bite

Thanks everyone.

I think I was trying to find method for leftover vegetables as well as "identifiable" soups.

I'll definitely be given the butternut squash soup a try thanks.

And that marmite tip sounds good, thanks bbh.

My soups are always of a "chuck it all in the pot and see what happens" variety and they are always yummy!
My advice is to use minimal stock to start with (ie. just to cover the veg). You can add more if needed, even after it's blended if it looks too thick.
I'd add leftover veggies at the end, just before blending. I did this at the weekend with a carrot and butternut squash soup and just added some leftover cooked squash at the end to warm though, then blended.

today I discovered turmeric does not go in parsnip and celeriac soup.

Simple and delicious courgette soup.

1 oz butter
1 lb courgettes
1 onion
750ml veg stock

Melt the butter
Chop and add the onions
Cook onions until soft, but not brown
Chop and add the courgettes
Stir a few times
Add the veg stock
Simmer for 15 - 20 mins until courgettes are soft
Blend until smooth

Absolutely delicious. It tastes really creamy, but is just vegetables!

The sweating method and loads of onions makes the difference between a tasty soup and a weak one IME i use olive oil and still get good results.

I agree - every soup I make, starts with lots of onions!

Easy tomato soup

Basic veg soup can be tarted up no end by adding any or all the following to the onion frying bit at the beginning:

• chili (dried flakes or chopped fresh ones)
• ginger (chopped/grated fresh)
• fennel seeds

Dried porcini mushrooms are good once the stock (or other liquid) has been added - it's almost a stock in itself.

Veg order:
I usually sweat off onions first, then 'hard veg' chopped into chunks (eg swede, parsnip, butternut squash, fennel, celery).

When they have all softened, add the stock (or just water) and simmer. Add the rest of the veg towards the end of the cooking time (eg carrots, mushrooms, courgette). Simmer till all veg cooked.

I don't usually blend - I like to leave the chunks so it's almost like a stew.

Top with pretty much anything you fancy - I like chunks of blue cheese/brie/stilton, peanuts, toasted pumpkin seeds, or torn up deli meats like pastrami.

littlefish- I work in a restaurant and my favorite soup.is courgette but we make ours by adding fresh basil and a dash of cream before blending. you should try it sometime, the basil works really well.

I don't use stock and I don't start with sweating onions either. I start with a large pot of water, add salt, a mix of vegetables (always onions, carrots and butternut squash, the other vary) and cook for 15-20min. 5 minutes before it's done I add 3-4 cloves of garlic and after it's done good quality olive oil (lots of it). I always blend.

Just an alternative way of making soup!

my fave soup to maake is random veg, but you do need a bit of chili or something as a backnote or it can be a bit bland.

Just to add, a great way to pep up a soup using leftover veg, is to add a few sliced of Chorizo.

I like making chorizo, with left over (raw) cabbage and butterbean or similar from the tin cupboard.