I think I'm currently going a bit Jamie crazy! I do love most of the recipes of his that I've tried - and after writing about the June 2013 Jamie Magazine on Friday I was inspired to have a go at one of the recipes over the weekend. I decided to try to make 'Tomato Soup with Orzo' (which appears on pg 119) as it uses storecupboard ingredients which I already owned. Plus, I had a box or orzo which has been sat in my cupboard unused for months (probably a year or so actually!) and I didn't really know what to do with it until now. It's basically pasta that looks like rice....
Recipe - Tomato Soup with Orzo
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp dried mint
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
750ml chickent or vegetable stock (I used chicken)
100g orzo pasta
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a big saucepan and add the onion, garlic, mint and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook over a medium high heat until the onions soften.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to blitz the soup until smooth.
3. Add the stock and the orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the orzo is tender.
4. Serve! I added a couple of roughly torn fresh basil leaves too on serving, just because I love the tomato/basil combo.
A quick and easy recipe to make a filling and tasty soup!
Lisa x
On Monday I wrote about my busy morning of soup-making. After preparing my soups (and having some for lunch!) I first wrote about the celery and potato soup I made - the recipe for this can be found here: http://foodloverlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/celery-and-potato-soup-recipe.html
Today I will continue by telling you about my recipe for the roasted pepper and tomato soup that I also made on Monday and enjoyed for my lunch yesterday. I only wanted to use up what I had in the house, so finished off the red and orange peppers I had left over following the BBQ my friends and I had at the weekend. I didn't actually have any fresh tomatoes, but had plenty of tins of plum tomatoes so I decided to try using those - and the soup turned out great. This soup was so straightforward to make but had lots of flavour!
Recipe - Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 red pepper
1 orange or yellow pepper
1 onion (I used a red onion)
2 x 400g tins of plum or chopped tomatoes
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Dollop of creme fraiche (optional)
A few roughly torn basil leaves (to garnish)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Chop the peppers into strips, ensuring the stalk and seeds have been removed first.
- Peel and roughly chop the onion into chunks.
- Place the onion and peppers into a roasting tin with a couple of glugs of olive oil and roast for 20-25 minutes. I love the smell of roasting veggies!
- Once roasted, tip the vegetables into a large pan, add the 2 tins of tomatoes and 500ml of stock (I used chicken stock). Bring to the boil, then pop the lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Blend the soup until completely smooth - I used a hand-held stick blender as I find this the easiest & most straightforward method. Season the soup to taste.
- Serve with a little creme fraiche stirred through if desired, and a little torn basil to garnish.
I actually found this my favourite of the two soups, and have divided the leftovers (of both soups) into individual
portions in tupperware boxes and frozen to re-heat in the microwave for
future meals.
Lisa x
My friends and I were determined to make the most of the sun this bank holiday and decided to throw a BBQ yesterday, while the sunshine lasted! A group of us all gathered at my friend Flo's house in sunny Surrey, each of us bringing some food which we had quickly negotiated in advance. I was in charge of bringing crisps, dips and veg sticks, (or the 'crudité' as my mum would say!).
I popped into Sainsbury's in the morning and bought some carrots, celery and red & orange peppers and took a big tupperware box full of veg as there were 18 mouths to feed. But I went a bit overboard with the amounts purchased and afterwards I realised I still had quite a lot left over... and when I have lots of veg I love to make soup! I'll have some for my lunch, then freeze the rest to eat in future (when I'm lazy and want something healthy but can't be bothered to prepare anything).
So I actually made a couple of batches of soup this morning with some of the leftover veg, the first being a celery and potato soup to use up the remainder of the celery. Very healthy and delicious!
Recipe - Celery and Potato Soup
Ingredients:
Large knob of butter
1 leek, chopped
6 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped
800ml chicken or vegetable stock (I used vegetable bouillon)
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to season
Method:
- Roughly chop the leek, celery and potatoes (they don't need to be perfect as they will be blended later).
- Melt the knob of butter in a large pan and add the chopped leek and celery. Cook on a medium heat until softened; about 5-10minutes.
- Add the potatoes, stock and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Keep the lid on the pan during this time.
- Remember to remove the bay leaf before blending!
- Remove the soup from the heat and blend it - I used a stick blender as I find this the most straightforward method. You can buy stick/hand blenders in Argos for about £10 and they are great for blending soups.
- Reheat the soup for a few minutes if necessary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- I didn't have any croutons, and so garnished my soup with a few crispy bacon bits.
So this was the first soup I made and enjoyed for my lunch today. The second soup I cooked was a roasted pepper and tomato soup which I will be heating up for my lunch tomorrow! More on that to come...
Lisa x
