Whats your BEST ever Vegetable soup recipe please?

andrea09, May 25, 11:46pm
I havent quite yet perfected the art of soup making.

davidt4, May 26, 12:06am
This is my favourite soup of all time. It is vegan and everybody loves it. I leave the bread out.

Olla Gitana (Spanish Gypsy Soup)

serves 4

250g chick peas, soaked 24 hours
2.5 litre water
250g green beans (sliced) or broad beans
150g pumpkin flesh in 2 cm cubes
3 pears peeled, diced
salt and pepper
100 ml olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sweet paprika (not smoked)
2 ripe tomatoes chopped
1 slice bread, crusts removed and diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
12 almonds
pinch saffron threads
2 tab white wine vinegar

Drain chick peas, put in large saucepan with water, bring to boil, skim, simmer 1 hour.
Add beans, pumpkin and pears, salt and pepper, continue to simmer 1 - 2 hours until everything is very soft.

Picada: Soak saffron in a tab. of boiling water. Heat 50 ml oil in a frying pan and fry almonds over medium heat until golden. Remove almonds and retain oil in pan. Add bread and garlic to pan and fry until dark gold. Put almonds, bread and garlic in mortar or small food processer & pound to a coarse paste. Add saffron and water and pound again. Add vinegar.

Sofrito: In same frying pan fry onion in 50 ml oil until golden, add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.

5 minutes before serving add sofrito to soup and stir a few minutes. Add picada and stir to combine well.

Check seasoning, serve hot with good bread.

holly-rocks, May 26, 12:33am
davidt4 you always post such interesting recipes :)

andrea09, May 26, 12:36am
sounds yum-thanks!

Any Mushroom soup recipes welcomed too.

lythande1, May 26, 2:36am
Minestone.
Tomatoes, onion, leeks, cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin, swede, canned beans, stock, salt and pepper, herbs to taste, pasta (small), really whatever veges you like to eat. And lots of them.

elliehen, May 26, 2:54am
MOROCCAN LENTIL SOUP

Cook in 2 Tablespoons oil gently till soft:
1 finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
2 finely diced stalks of celery
DO NOT BROWN

Add 1 tsp each of:
turmeric
cumin
ginger
and a good grind of black pepper
plus half teaspoon cinnamon

Add:
1 can of brown lentils in brine (undrained)
1 can chickpeas in brine (undrained)
1 can crushed tomatoes (can be flavoured with roast capsicum or garlic)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dried red lentils
2 cups of water (can add a little more later if it looks too thick)

Simmer gently until veg and red lentils are cooked - about 20 mins (no crunchy celery please!)

Salt to taste, although the brine with the pulses may be salty enough

Use stick blender to mush it, and add the juice of one lemon

Serve with a garnish of very thin slices of lemon :)

jaybee6, May 26, 4:08am
My own Meal in a Soup.
In a pot put.
3/4 grated carrots
1 grated parsnip.
1 whole onion choped finely.
2 slices of finely chopped beef. Any type you like. About a cupful.schnitel(sp)
is what i use.
A good handful of pasta shells or twists.
2 spuds cubed up
1 kumera cubed up.
A good lashing of dark soya sauce.
A good lashing of tomatoe sauce.
Beef stock if you have it.
Salt and pepper.
If you want other things then fire away. This is what I use though and everyone loves it.
Fill pot with water to cover all veg and let simmer for a good hour or until cooked.
DELISHEasy and a meal on its own.

rainrain1, May 26, 6:29am
make soup with a whole small boiling chicken, along with grated carrot, chopped onion, potato etc etc, whatever veg you like really (I don't like to overload my varieties of veg) add rice at the beginning instead of barley etc to this concoction. Make sure to taste for salt. Leave in the pot to dish out lovely big chunks of meat in their bowls, bones and all.although they will part from the meat entirely and you can remove them if you like.

lyl_guy, May 26, 8:20am
I made mine today. It's a beef/ vege soup so is like a meal. here's my 'recipe'.
Simmer a couple of 'shins of beef' for an hour or so, in some beef stock and water to cover.Add bay leaves.
Meanwhile chop veges.
I used 1 potato, 2 carrots, 2 onions, 1 parsnip, about a quarter of a pumpkin, 3 cloves garlic (chopped finely with some salt),2 long sticks celery, used the chopped leaves as well.
Add the veges to the meat/stock.
Add a packet of Kings' vege soup mix, and
1 tsp bisto (optional)
half pkt red lentils
half pkt barley
some herbs eg. basil, tarragon, thyme, chives. whatever you have on hand.I don't measure, just throw in about a tsp of each (It is a LARGE stock pot).
Add another couple of litres of water
I simmer for another hour or two.

When the meat is tender, I fish it out, and flake it off the bone, returning it to the soup.
Mine makes about 3 meals for 4 people, so I freeze it in large containers.I water it down when I defrost and reheat it, as it's so thick!

andrea09, May 26, 9:01am
awesome, some good ideas there people thanks!

Does anyone do a roast vege soup!
I know i can google for one but i prefer recipes tried and tested by people.

shellz213, May 26, 9:15am
I make the roasted vege soup that was made on the Good Morning show last year . it's really yum.Here's the link for the recipe.
http://tvnz.co.nz/good-morning/hot-roast-vegetable-salad-and-soup-4298285

bambi58, May 26, 10:38am
Easy as Vege & Bacon soup
1x large bacon hock
1 cup soup mix (I make my own, equal parts barley,split peas,lentils,etc)
3 - 4 carrotts
1xlarge onion
2-3 sticks celery (incl. head)
1x large parsnip
1x small swede
1x kumara
1x large potatoe
Into a large stock pot put bacon hock & soup mix. Add 2ltrs water. Cook for 1 1/2hr.
Dice all the veges, put into pot, simmer for aprox 1hr.
Serve with whatever takes your fancy; toast, scones etc.
Enjoy!

beaker59, May 26, 11:19am
Soup is all about the stock get that right and it all falls into place. Best stock is what you make yourself the cubes and powders are a poor imitation they do work but making your own is best. I have a large jug of chicken stock in the fridge at the moment made from half a dozen chicken frames saved up in the freezer. I roasted them first for 15 min in a hot oven then simmered in a couple of L of water with about 10 fresh bay leaves and some rosemary stalks for 2 hours then sieved into a jug giving about a L of stock. soups are then a simple matter of simmering a few vege in stock until tenderthen season and add apropriate spices etc.

bambi58, May 26, 11:44am
Forgot to add - a good grind of fresh pepper, and taste for salt, the bacon is salty, but you may want more, whatever fresh parsley, chives etc. there is around too. A blob of sour cream on top when served is yummy as well!

andrea09, May 26, 9:44pm
With veggie soups i have made in the past, after a day or sothey have started to ferment.is that the potato in them! or something else!

And thanks @shellz213 that looks awesome!

sarahb5, May 27, 12:53am
I don't have one - my vegetable soup if/when I make it is different every time depending on what vegetables I have available although it will always include celery and leek or onion and always exclude mushrooms

tramore, May 28, 1:31am
I made a very quick and simple sweet corn and bacon soup 2 days ago and it was Yum!
Place 1 tbsp butter/marg in bowl, add 1 diced onion and 1 bacon rasher chopped.Cook 4 mins on high.Add 1 tbsp flour, stir well and add 2 cups milk.Cook 4 mins, strirring twice.Add 1 can creamed corn.Cook 12 mins on high.Garnish to serve!

elliehen, May 28, 1:43am
Haven't ever come across a fermenting soup.Soups usually taste better on Day 2.But you should put it into the fridge and eat it within two or three days, or freeze it.

davidt4, May 28, 2:24am
A soup shouldn't ferment if you refrigerate it as soon as it's cool.You should be able to keep it two or three days.

I think one reason that some NZ cooks have problems with food going off is that a lot of our early food hygiene advice was from the UK, where "room temperature" was a great deal colder than it is here.Many food writers in NZ just reiterate the UK advice without thinking it through.