What are your favourite soup recipes?

[ScrambledSmegs]

Not-quite 2yo DD2 has developed an obsession with soup. I'm happy to encourage it as it's a great way of getting lots of healthy food and different flavours into her, but I'm running out of ideas. Particularly as I'm limited to mainly thick, smooth blended soups as that's the texture she finds easiest to eat.

So far we've had done roast butternut squash with harissa (she likes spicy food), pea and mint, and assorted root veg with sage. All big hits. Carrot and coriander not so much although still ate it. Tomato and basil - adored it but a nightmare to clean her up afterwards. But I'm getting bored and would like to expand my repertoire, especially into more savoury flavours.

So what do you and/or your DCs like to eat in the way of soups?

Red pepper and tomato

Just diced onions and peppers sweated down, then add a tin of tomatoes and some veg stock. Cook for about 25 mins and blitz

Also like leek and potato.

Love this tomato and lentils one at the moment. We also like broccoli and cheese, but I don't have the recipe handy.

Lentil and bacon - my mum's recipe - soften chopped onions and carrots with some chopped bacon, add lentils and stock, cook gently until lentils are soft, blitz - delicious. Top up with boiling water if it is getting too thick whilst cooking.

Or my own spicy red thai lentil soup - start with the same onions and carrots, but some red thai curry paste instead of the bacon. Add the stock (less than for the other recipe) and lentils, cook until the lentils are soft, then blitz with some coconut milk - also lovely.

I have also recently made curried parsnip soup - soften chopped onions, add curry powder or paste (to taste), then add chopped parsnip and a chopped potato, and stock - cook until soft and blitz.

Ooh, these look good, thnk you. Love the idea of broccoli and cheese, I will give that a go first/

Unfortunately red peppers give me wind something awful, but it does sound nice! I've never tried lentils in a smooth soup but I think that would be a good idea.

STDG those are perfect - DD2 will love all of those soups. I'm dying to try the thai one, she loves spicy flavours.

Cream of celery soup is amazing. Something wonderful happens to celery when you cook it - the flavour is incredible. Quite different to how it is raw.

One tip - cut the celery into fairly thin slices (across its length, not vertically IYSWIM) before you cook it. You have to tackle the stringy bits that way as the blender doesn't have any effect on them, and you'll end up with stringy soup!

Thanks puntastic, that's another one for the list! Raw celery is the devil's sputum, but I like it cooked. Re: the stringiness, you can also peel it using a y peeler. Although you might lose some of the flavour if you're too efficient!

favourites for all our family
Leek, onion and potato , you can add shredded roast chicken on top for you if you like.
Minestrone - kids loved the tiny pasta I put in, and if you really cook well unit soft and mushy should work
Courgette and spinach has worked well for me- though you do need potato to thicken it up,
and definitely agree with broccoli /and or cauliflower with cheese- ( especially blue cheese! )

Butternut squash and red pepper

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775669/thai-pumpkin-soup

This is good can use butternut instead of pumpkin

"Lentil and bacon - my mum's recipe - soften chopped onions and carrots with some chopped bacon, add lentils and stock, cook gently until lentils are soft, blitz - delicious. Top up with boiling water if it is getting too thick whilst cooki"

Do you use red or green lentils?

salivating at the thought of delicious soups

Carrot and cumin is gorgeous.

We have this

www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&productId=214858

Shame it is out of stock, as it is amazing.

My 'off the top of my head' soups are curried parsnip; roasted squash & cumin; lentil [orange] and carrot; and 'swamp soup', which is made with green split peas, soaked overnight and cooked with bacon.

Red lentils, purplebumbo.

Green soup:

Sweat a finely chopped onion in butter
Add a few chopped potatoes and stock
Simmer until potatoes cooked
Add a bunch of watercress and anything else* green that's lurking in the fridge
Blitz

Can stir in a bit of cream

*if green lurking stuff needs a bit of cooking, eg celery, cabbage, add before watercress and simmer until cooked. Then watercress and blitz.

Mushroom Cappuccino

'tis lush.

I made lovely soup today - leftover roasted veg (sweet potato, carrots, onions, leeks) boiled in a cup of stock with some curry powder. It was delicious as the veg alone were too sweet without the curry powder.

Lol @"devil's sputum".

My sister used to eat cooked celery in sandwiches, but that's going a little far even for me. Thanks for the tip about peeling it. I had never thought to do that! I is village idiot.

Pumpkin soup (onions, stock, pumpkin and creme fresh)
Parsnip and potato soup (onions, fennel seeds, parsnips, potato for thickness, cumin seeds)

If she likes harissa, you could also make her a pancake with wholemeal flour, then spread (very thinly) harissa over it and some grated cheese (it's a Tunisian street food)-just for a change from the soup.

We all love this.

www.thescottishnutritionist.com/recipes-2/pea-mint-and-chilli-soup-with-feta/

(but is feta too salty for two year olds? Maybe use a different sort of cheese or leave it out)

nice served with warm strips of wholemeal pita

yellow split pea and ham is great

i like cullen skink....a traditional scottish affair...smoked haddock, potatoes and creamy base.

butternut squash does make amazing soup, add in some really smokey ham if you are not veggie, and serve with parmesan crisps ....just pile grated parmesan on a non stick tray- teaspoonfulsized blobs, and cook until melted and golden.

ribolitta, real beany tasty effort, bit like minestrone, but you could blend it.

Roasted squash
Carrot & ginger
Roasted red pepper & tomato
Chicken & noodle broth

Thanks everyone, some really good ideas here. Shall be referring back to this thread loads.

Don't know if I'll try her on unadulterated Harissa yet - might be one for YouTube when I do joking

Yum. Veggie broth or roasted curried bns-super easy & freezes really well.

Spicy red soup-1 carrot, onion, garlic, pepper, chilli-cook with stock & add pure oj at end before blitzing. Nom nom.

Ooh-looking at that pea one reminds me that I always add in juice & sometimes zest of a lemon or lime to every soup now.

Other things that I throw in-roasted & ground spices-coriander seeds esp, delicious but not particularly spicy. Also a Parmesan rind will melt & add lots of flavour. Experiment with a couple then when you get a favourite make a massive pot & freeze-I can only make pots of 20+ portions at a time now.

Ohhhh- that reminds me of a soup recipe I saw with a Parmesan rind stock, and I think the veg was kale. Sounded amazing. Think it was the Smitten Kitchen blog. I've been stockpiling rinds in my freezer ever since.

Thanks evelynj!