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Green soup - Potage Verde

Ingredients - serves 4

- 1 handful of spinach
- 50g parsley
- 2 leeks
- 2 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
- 500g potatoes, sliced
- 30g butter
- Salt

Method

1. Wash the vegetables, fry a little butter and add leeks, spinach and parsley, chopped; add sliced potatoes and coarsely chopped celery.
2. Pour the ingredients into the boiling water, add salt and cook for 1 hour.
3. Sieve the soup (or mix it with a blender), and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Serve hot, accompanied with toasted bread.

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Low Calorie Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients - serves 4

- 250g red lentils
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes, skin removed and chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 sticks of celery, washed and chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- some freshly grated ginger (optional)
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Add the lentils to cold water and bring to the boil, skimming off the foam.
2. Cook gently for 15 minutes and put aside.
3. In the meantime boil all the vegetable together for 20 minutes in stock or water.
4. Add lentils to the vegetables.
5. Blend them all together and add more stock if needed.
6. Season to taste.

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Richy's Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

- 200g potatoes, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stick, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced,
- 1 cup red lentils
- 750ml chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/4 cup tomato passata
- 30g butter

Method

1. Add all ingredients to the pan except butter and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaves and add butter.
3. Blend until smooth and return to pan.
4. Reheat and serve with crusty bread.

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Spinach & Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients - serves 4

- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, halved, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1.25L (5 cups) vegetable stock
- 420g (2 cups) red lentils, rinsed
- 1 bunch English spinach, ends trimmed, washed, dried, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 white bread rolls, to serve- 2 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped

Method

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook,
stirring for 30 seconds or until aromatic.
2. Add the stock and lentils to the pan. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until lentils are very soft.
3. Add spinach to lentil mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Stir in lemon juice. Taste and season with pepper. Ladle soup among bowls and serve with bread rolls.

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Wild mushroom soup

Ingredients - serves 4

- 25g dried porcini mushrooms
- 2tsp olive oil
- 2 leeks thinly sliced
- 2 shallots roughly chopped
- 225g fresh wild mushrooms
- about 1.2 lt vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2tbsp single (light) cream
- salt and pepper
- fresh thyme springs, to garnish

Method

1. Put the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl, add 250ml warm water and leave to soak for 20-30 minutes.
2. Lift the mushrooms out of the liquid and squeeze over the bowl to remove as much liquid as possible. Strain all the liquid and reserve to use later. Finely chop the porcini and set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick pan. Add the leeks, shallots and garlic and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring the mixture frequently, until softened but not coloured.
4. Chop or slice the fresh mushrooms and add to the pan. Stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until the begin to soften. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Add the chopped porcini, reserved soaking liquid, dried thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat, half-cover the pan and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Pour about three-quarters of the soup into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Return to the soup left in the pan, stir in the cream and heat through gently, stirring. Check the consistency and add more hot stock if the soup is too thick. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
6. Serve hot garnished with fresh thyme springs.

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