We had almost 1000 entries into our soup recipe competition in Issue #36, and the Good kitchen has been working overtime! We finally managed to whittle it down to three favourites – here are the recipes for you to try at home.
Winner: Kumara Soup with a Coconut Twist
By Pip Lodge, Auckland
This soup had a smooth texture, nice consistency, and a pretty colour. It was creamy, comforting, and child friendly – add chopped coriander for zing. A great Sunday afternoon family soup.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, medium, chopped
2 teaspoons grated ginger (optional)
1 kg orange sweet potato (kumara), peeled and roughly chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
coriander to garnish
Pip’s method:
“Saute onion and ginger, add kumera and mix, cook in stock for 15 to 20 minutes, puree, add coconut milk, bring to boil and simmer.
Add lemon juice and coriander and season. Voila, and yum!”
Honourable mentions
Chickpea and Chorizo Soup
by Anne-Laure Bernollin, New Plymouth
We found this soup to be a blend of complex flavours, which needs a good quality stock base to work well. The chorizo and whole chickpeas give the soup an interesting, hearty texture.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion thinly sliced
1 carrot diced
1 large potato peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp each ground turmeric and smoked paprika
2 x 400g cooked chickpea (1 cup aside for topping)
5 cups chicken or veg stock
1 tbsp lemon juice
seasalt and freshly ground pepper
Topping: Olive oil, 1 cured chorizo, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
Anne- Laure’s method:
Heat olive oil and add onion, carrot, potato, garlic, rosemary and season generously.
Cover and cook until they are tender, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of water if potato starts to catch on the bottom of the saucepan.
Add spices and chickpea, cook for 1 min. Add stock, season and simmer for 10 min. Let the soup cool a little bit, then blend until smooth. Reheat before serving. Topping: heat olive oil and cook the chorizo, paprika and the reserved chickpeas until lightly golden. Add parsley. Stir lemon juice.
“Bon appetit!”
Carrot and Corriander Soup with Crushed Orange
By Katrina Wedde – Parapaparumu
This is a thick and comforting soup perfect for a winter’s day. Enough spice from the cumin and coriander to satisfy the adventurous, with an interesting sweetness from the citrus.
2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 onion finely chopped
10 medium sized carrots diced
2 cups of stock, vegetable or chicken.
Zest and juice of one orange
1 bunch of fresh coriander
Katrina says: “I’m a really big fan of my Grandma’s classic Carrot and Coriander soup. The secret is to add the juice and zest of an orange and fry some coriander seeds at the beginning. Yum!”
Heat your coriander seeds in oil and butter on a medium to high heat (Only oil or butter is fine, I like to use both for flavour). Once they start to pop and give off that wonderful aromatic flavour take your pan off the heat and remove the seeds.
Return your coriander oil back to your heat and fry your onions till golden brown.
Now add your carrots and let them get a bit golden too. Sprinkle your cumin powder.
Add some chopped stalks off the coriander bunch, orange juice and zest. Simmer for a minute before adding your stock. If you need to add more water to cover the carrots do so. Bring it all to the boil and simmer till the carrots are soft.
Throw all the soup into your new Vitamix blender and whiz with the fresh chopped coriander bunch. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in your favourite bowls with a garnish of finely chopped coriander and some crusty bread.
