🥘 One pot | 🍽 Serves 4-6 | 🛒 12 ingredients | ⏱ 45 minutes | €4

This classic soup is a great winter warmer. Use any vegetables and meat leftover from Sunday lunch, try it with sweet potato and Brussels sprouts. Stuffing and sausages are good too.

You will need one large pot

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 100g streaky bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, cut into rounds
• 2 sticks celery, roughly sliced
• 350g vegetable combination (swede, turnip, sweet potato, parsnip or celeriac, peeled and diced).
• 250g floury potatoes, sliced
• 1.5 litres chicken stock
• 1/2 a small Savoy cabbage cut into thin wedges
• 200g cooked chicken, cut into thin strips
• Salt and black pepper

Step by step:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and fry until its crisp and brown, then add all the vegetables except the cabbage.
2. Stir the vegetables for a couple of minutes over a high heat, then pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add the cabbage and cook for another 15 minutes. The potatoes will have broken up slightly and thickened the soup.
4. Finally add the cooked chicken and warm it through and serve right away.

Tips:

The main thing is to have fun with this sort of soup and use the recipe merely as a guide. Think pumpkin, leeks, cauliflower, kale and your favourite herbs, thyme, rosemary and parsley are great.

We used Kallo organic chicken stock (£1.79 in most supermarkets) with fabulous results.

If you are using a thermomix:

1. Roughly chop your vegetables
2. Place the bacon in the bowl and chop for 6 seconds, speed 6
3. Add the oil and cook for 3 minutes at 115 degrees C
4. Remove the bacon and add the cut vegetables to the bowl and chop for ten seconds at speed 4. Add back the bacon and stock and cook for 13 minutes at 90 degrees C
5. Add the chicken and cook for another three minutes at 95 degrees C
6. Serve in warmed bowls with a good grinding of black pepper or nutmeg

Tips

Don’t forget to use reverse enabled for cooking

Serve with basil and croutons, or a crusty baguette

How to make the perfect frittata…

Ingredients:

• 1 large white onion, or 6 spring onions
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 200g broad beans, podded and jackets removed
• 6 large eggs
• chopped herbs of your choice, dill, mint or parsley are all good
• 100g ricotta (sheep or cows milk) or 50g grated parmesan
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Step by step:

1. Thinly slice your onion. Use a medium size non stick frying pan to warm the oil. Add the onion and fry until very soft. Add the broad beans and cook for two minutes.

2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pour them over the vegetables.

3. Cook the frittata over a low heat. As the edges start to set pull them away from the side of the pan with a spatula.

4. When the base is set, get ready to flip your frittata. Place a plate upside down on your frittata, invert your pan and then slide the frittata back into the pan to finish cooking the other side.

Some people like their frittata slightly runny in the centre, a bit like an omelette. If you prefer it a little more well done just give it another few moments in the pan.

Note: Finish your frittata under the grill if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 3 rashers bacon – finely chopped
• 1/2 green cabbage (ideally Savoy) finely shredded
• 1 small white onion – finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic – finely chopped
• 1/2 litre milk
• 1/2 litre water
• 1 chicken stock cube
• Ground nutmeg
• Chopped parsley

Step by step:

1. Add the finely chopped bacon to the pan with 2 dessert spoonfuls of oil. Fry off for 3-5 minutes until the bacon is slightly crisp
2. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sautée for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle over 1 tbsp of plain flour and cook for another minute
3. Add the milk and stir thoroughly. Add pepper to taste and continue cooking and stirring occasionally. Add a good pinch of ground nutmeg. Add the water and chicken stock cube
4. Add the cabbage. Bring to the boil and continue cooking until the cabbage is soft (5-15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add some chopped parsley. Add more pepper to taste 

Serve in warmed bowls with croutons, crusty bread or crackers.

Tip…The soup will be quite creamy, just add boiling water before serving of you want a thinner soup

If you want to cook a little extra bacon at the beginning and save it, you can add that just before serving in a small stack in the soup bowls with extra parsley and nutmeg

This soup is quick and easy to make. Delicious lunch or evening, served as a starter or main meal. If you want to spice it up, add some ground cumin and fresh chopped coriander.

Ingredients

• 25g Butter
• 1 medium onion (or 2 shallots), chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 450g parsnips, chopped
• 250g dessert apples peeled, cored and chopped
• 1/2 tsp fresh parsley chopped
• 1.2 litres vegetable stock
• 70ml single cream
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Step by step:

1. Melt the butter in a large pan, then add the onion (or shallots) and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. 
2. Add the apples and parsnips and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add a tablespoon of plain flour. Stir through and cook for a couple of minutes. Add half the parsley and stir again
3. Pour in the stock, season well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, wait for it to cool then blend it in your food processor or use a stick blender, until almost smooth (but keeping a little texture).
4. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the cream and reheat gently, but don’t boil. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste.
5. Serve straight away in pre-heated bowls with a crusty loaf, or some garlic bread.

• Carole’s Parsnip and Pear Soup

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