Cream of Vegetable Soup Steve's
Cream of Vegetable Soup
Steve Lister
This is a real winner with friends and family but it does take a little bit of effort to get it all done. I usually make this as a starter when already using vegetables for the main course, so I can use up the bits as well.
Serves 5-10, depending upon whether served as a starter or main course.
Ingredients
For stage 1
Olive oil for frying
3 large carrots
3 medium onions
2 red peppers
3 large sticks of celery
Stalks of 2-3 large leaves of green cabbage (save the leaves for stage 2)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
Spices
1 heaped tsp. Sweet paprika powder
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. tomato puree
2 tsp. garlic puree
Stage 2
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup frozen or garden peas
Cabbage leaves (saved from step 1), finely chopped
1-2 handfuls of dried pasta
1 cup of milk (for healthier option) or cream (for tastier option) for serving
2 litres of water + 2-3 vegetable stock cubes (or 2 litre stock)
Instructions
Stage 1:
Heat olive oil in pan and soften the onions, carrots, peppers, celery and any of the chopped up stalks of cabbage (plus the stalks of any other vegetable you might be using like broccoli, cauliflower etc.).
Once softened, puree the whole lot (I find using a stick blender directly in the pan is easiest).
Return the pan to the stove and add the spices, tomato puree and garlic.
Allow to cook for a minute then add the tins of chopped tomatoes and puree again.
Stage 2
Add the vinegar and all the diced vegetables (carrots, potato etc) and the finely chopped cabbage leaves (the stalks were used up in stage 1 ) and peas. Top up with water (or vegetable stock if you like even more flavour) and allow to cook for about 45 minutes on simmer so everything softens.
Add the pasta about 20 minutes before serving, so it has time to cook.
5 minutes before serving, turn heat down to low and add the milk or cream and stir in well.
I rarely use salt during cooking so you may want to add a pinch or two, to suit your own taste.
For main course, serve with plenty of fresh bread.
Also see Soup Selection.
Notes
Stage 1 makes the bulk of the soup but you can add any extra vegetables that you are using in stage 2. Just dice them up or cut into similar sized pieces.
Adding milk gives it that creamy look ( I use semi-skimmed milk without any problems).
If the tomatoes are a little sharp you might want to add a teaspoon of sugar during stage 2.
