Farnham Allotments

I devised this soup this afternoon following a food gathering trip to my Shepherd and Flock allotment in Farnham. All of the vegetables came from my plot and this represents a successful attempt at devising something creative from the plot.This is a lovely, winter soup that is both warming and soothing, lovely as a starter or main meal at this time of year.

See what you can make with a box of winter veg. from the plot

Ingredients

• Parsnips (Gladiator) – 4 average size
• Potatoes (Maris Piper) – 3 average size
• Turnips (white) – 10 small white variety
• Jerusalem Artichokes 4 – average size
• 100ml double cream
• Chili (dried or fresh) to taste
• Curry Power
• Garam Masala
• Garlic – 4 good cloves
• Onions – 2 large onions (can’t recall the variety)
• Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Half Pint boiling water

I’m not particularly good with quantities – obviously the vegetables and spices can be altered to suit your taste. For my soup I had more parsnips than any other vegetable and I think this works best. Jerusalem artichokes have a very strong flavour so I would have fewer and the potatoes and turnips are there to bulk out the soup.

I used 4 dried, small chilies (prairie fire) which I grow each year and dry.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add a good desert spoon of Garam Masala. Then add a desert spoon of curry powder to taste. Fry the spices for 3 minutes in the hot oil making sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
2. Add the onions, garlic and chili,  frying together for 5 minutes until the onions brown and soften
3. Add all of the peeled vegetables and stir well. Good together for a couple of minutes to coat the vegetables in the onion and spicy mix
4. Add half a pint of boiling water. You need enough to steam the vegetables well but don’t cover them in water. The vegetables contain some water which will be released in the cooking process and the overall idea here is to produce a think and filling soup.
5. Add a generate helping of salt and pepper to taste and place the lid on the pan. Cook the vegetables on a good heat until the vegetables are soften and the potatoes starting to fall apart.
6. Transfer the mix to your blender (I had to do this in 2 jobs) and blend for 30 seconds until smooth. Return the smooth mixture to a pan.
7. At this point you can decide to add a little water if your soup is overly thick but this will be personal choice. Add your double cream, stir in well and then bring back to the boil slowly. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

Serve with some crusty bread.

This soup will keep well in the fridge for 4 or 5 days or alterntaively will feeeze well. We often make batches of these soups over the winter in order to provide a quick lunch in the week.

Filed under: Comment from the Sites, Seasonal Recipes, Shepherd & Flock Tagged: | Winter Allotment Soup