Credit Crunch Recipes (2): Root Vegetable Soup

It was definitely a day for soup today - there's something about a blast of cold weather that makes a bowl of soup at lunch time seem absolutely essential. I guess the majority of soups make reasonably cheap meals, especially if you make use of seasonal ingredients. And, of course, using good fresh seasonal veg also makes your soup incredibly tasty and nutritious.

A root vegetable soup is pretty flexible - you can use what you have available (it's great for using random bits left over in your winter veg box for example), but this recipe makes a good starting point. It's up to you whether you blend/process it - sometimes we do, sometimes we just mash it a bit in the pan (that's much more common since our hand blender died). I think a good stock is important - I like to use homemade chicken stock if I have any in the freezer, if not, I use Marigold Bullion powder (as recommended by Delia & Nigella...), but you can use water if you really are stuck.

Root Vegetable Soup

1 onion, chopped small
1 large floury potato, peeled & chopped
1/2 large swede, peeled & chopped
1 large parsnip, peeled & chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped (or 3-4 sprigs of lovage finely chopped)
large knob of butter or a couple tbsp oil
about a litre of stock
1 bay leaf
1 large sprig thyme
a couple of tbsp of cream (optional!)
a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg

You'll need a large pan with a lid (or a plate that will cover the pan) for this.

Heat the butter in a large pan then throw in the veg. Give it a stir so that all the veg has a covering of fat then put on the lid & leave it for about 10 minutes on a very low heat. Check it & stir a couple of times to make sure the veg at the bottom of the pan isn't catching.

Add the stock, bay leaf, thyme, add a little salt & pepper & bring the whole lot up to the boil, then allow it to simmer for at least 20 minutes (it could take longer!), until all the veg is tender. Then process it however you like, & add a little cream if you are feeling like splashing out. A scrape or 2 of nutmeg is also very good.

This should serve 4 with no problems. It's delicious with some bread & cheese.