Root Vegetable and Bacon Soup

A delicious and simple soup, could be used as a basis for other soups, or just eaten as it is. I like chunky vegetables, but if you prefer smaller sized chunks then reduce the cooking time accordingly as small pieces cook faster.




3 medium sized carrots, roughly chopped
2 medium parsnips, roughly chopped
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 small (1/2 meduim) swede, chopped
3 small (2 meduim) potatoes, finely chopped
4 rashers streaky bacon, finely sliced
1 1/2 litres chicken stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small sprig rosemary
1 tbsp sunflower oil
salt and pepper to taste


Step 1
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and add the carrots, swede and onion and cook over a medium heat for five minutes while stirring. Add the garlic and parsnips, and cook for a futher minute before adding the stock and rosemary. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.

Step 2
Add the bacon and potatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a crusty roll.


This soup is a deliciously warming meal to have, and can be had at any time of the year. Adding different vegetables can make it more seasonal, as can adding different meats. For example, asparagus and mange tout could be added to give a more summery feel for the soup, while brussel sprouts and turkey could be added for a christmassy feel. It can also be made vegetarian by simply removing the bacon from the recipe.

Carrot and Parsnip Soup

This is a recipe I created for dinner one night.

3-4 medium sized carrots, quartered lengthways
3 large parsnips,quartered lengthways
3 medium onions, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
25g fresh ginger
25g chives
salt and pepper to season
1 handful croutons per person
1L vegetable stock


Step 1

Place the carrots, parsnip, onions and half the ginger into a roasting dish and coat with the oil and seasoning and place into an oven, pre-heated to 180°C, for 40 minutes. Once cookedplace into a blender with the chives, stock, rest of the ginger, and blend.

Step 2

Reheat and serve with the croutons sprinkled on top.



This is a very nice dish, the ginger adds a subtle warmth to it which makes it great to have any time of year. A really nice, simple soup.

Chicken Soup

Chicken soup, at its best it is a simple and really tasty way to make leftover roast chicken go further. It's one of the most comforting dishes, and this recipe is so simple a child could make it, under supervision of course.


250g-500g chicken
2 small, or 1 medium, onions, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 leeks,chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 small potatoes, chopped small
1small swede, chopped small
1.5l chicken stock
2tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to season


Step 1
Put the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat and add the onions, leek and carrot when hot. Reduce the heat to avoid browning the onions, and stir frequently. Add the stock and simmer.

Step 2
Add the swede and potatoes, and simmer until tender. Add the chicken, celery, and season to taste.Serve hot with a crunchy bread roll on the side.

This chicken soup recipe is really delicious just as it is, but if you want a little extra crunch in it you could add 150g of sweetcorn at the end with the chicken. You can also add more flavour by adding either chopped tarragon or thyme at the end of the cooking time, just before serving.

Minestrone Soup

This soup is an excellent dish to make if you have lots of different vegetables to use up and can be made with most cold meats, although ham is usually used. If you've made your own pasta with the Pasta Dough you can cut it into strips and then make small diamond shapes to put into the soup instead of the dried spaghetti or pasta shapes that the recipe calls for.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 carrots, chopped
2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
1L stock, chicken or vegetable
3 celery sticks, chopped
1/2 medium cabbage, shredded
3 medium potatoes, chopped
1 leek, chopped
120g frozen peas
120g pearl barley
100g  pasta shapes or small pieces of dried spaghetti
1 bay leaf
2-3 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper to season


Step 1
Prepare the pearl barley as instructed on the packet. In a large saucepan heat the oil then add the onion, garlic, leek, celery and carrot and cook for five minutes on a medium heat, stirring to prevent any browning.
Add the stock, tomatoes, cabbage, bay leaf, thyme and potatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Step 2
Add the pasta and pearl barley and season to taste before cooking for another 5 minutes. Add the peas and simmer for a final two minutes. Throughout the cooking stir to prevent the ingredients settling at the bottom and sticking.




This soup is a real winter-warmer. You don't have to use all the vegetables stated in the ingredients list, you can swap out some for others or even add some if you like. If you make this soup after christmas you could swap out the cabbage for brussel sprouts for example, and don't be afraid to add any vegetables. The main veg to make this dish are the ones down to celery, anything else you can change. If you'e made your own pasta I highly reccomend you use it in this dish, homemade pasta makes a difference you can taste.

Thick Vegetable Soup

This is a recipe that I made the other day and I made a few slight alterations to it which I shall represent in brackets.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
4 celery sticks, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 courgettes, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans tomatoes
1.2 litres (2 pints) hot vegetable stock
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
(choritzo chopped)
(wine)

Step 1
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat for 6-8 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Season with salt and black pepper then add garlic, rosemary, celery and carrots and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Step 2
Add the courgettes and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, and squash witht he back of a fork. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Season well with salt and black pepper, then stir through the parsley.

If you use the wine then substitute a large glass of wine, either white or red, for an equivilent amount of the stock. For the choritzo if it's uncooked then add it to the soup before the tomatoes, if cooked then add with the stock to enrich the flavour. Simmer the soup until the liquid is reduced to how you like it.


You can have this soup as it is, or if you prefer you can blend or liquidize it to make it a smooth soup. Have this soup with a good bread roll, and if having it as a smooth soup a crusty bread roll would go well.