Leftovers Soup

When I was a child, I used to really look forward to having turkey soup a the end of the Christmas celebrations.  My Mum used to make stock from the bones and it would just taste fantastic.  I never realised she was being thrifty.  I tend to have my leftovers soup a little earlier in the Christmas period but it is still just as delicious.

I've included chestnut stuffing in mine but you could include any sausagemeat based stuffing or miss it out completely.  Of course you could go the whole hog (sorry, bad pun) and use leftover vegetables as well.  I don't because leftover vegetables aren't quite so nutritious and if there is any soup left they won't be pleasant after another reheating.

Chestnut and Mushroom Soup

I'd recently bought some cooked vacuum packed chestnuts and I had some chestnut mushrooms in my increasingly dwindling fridge stocks so an idea came to life to combine these most seasonal of ingredients.

The flavour of mushrooms is great but the slippery texture in a soup isn't ideal unless you combine it with something starchy.  I'm not a fan of potato in soups but I love using other vegetables to thicken soups and stews and why not chestnuts?

Chestnuts are a bit of a faff to prepare from raw which is why I used pre cooked ones here but they are bang in season and make this delicious, filling and thick soup which is a delight of wintery flavours and also smooth as silk.

Eat Your Greens Soup

Even with the addition of bacon, this soup is far too green to not be doing you some good.  This was an invention to use up a pack of spinach and baby kale which was approaching its use by date.

And a delicious invention it was!  Normally in spinach soups people add potato for some body but the only body and thickness in this lovely soup comes from the huge amount of leaves blended up.

Chorizo and Butterbean Soup

Soup season is definitely here.  When I get home at night in the dark a bowl of thick, hearty soup is definitely top of my list.  What's great about using pulses in soup is they naturally break down slightly as the soup cooks thickening it beautifully.

I've used butterbeans here but haricots would also be good.  All in all this takes about 20 minutes to cook, great when you need something quick after a hard day.

Fish Soup with Gurnard, Mussels and Chunky Summer Vegetables

It feels so wrong to just call this "fish soup".  This is an awesome fish soup, a soup delicately flavoured with thyme, a touch of spice from chorizo and chunks of delicious fish and shellfish.  I'd had a hard day when I came up with this recipe.  A day where I needed to cook for myself something really good, something which would really make myself feel loved!

My idea started at the fish counter where there were a few mussels left at the end of the day.  Some fantastically fresh looking gurnard and an idea was born.

Salmon Ramen

I don't mean ramen as in those packs of instant cup noodles or the packets so many students live on, this is an attempt to make lovely ramen soup at home but with delicious and healthy salmon.

In a moment of inspiration I bought a jar of miso paste a few months back, then forgot about it.  I have no idea why because it really adds depth to a soup, it's definitely going back on my shopping list again.

I've used ramen noodles here (as in the dried proper ramen noodle not the pack with the sachet of MSG filled flavouring) but if you can't get them, try egg noodles.  Not quite the same but close enough.

Pasta Soup

I've struggled for an idea of what to call this but it's a mix up of minestrone with filled pasta.  There is a great selection of filled pastas available commercially nowadays but it's not always cheap.  This is a fantastic way to use it.

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is something I've played around with recipe wise for a few years, trying to get the best combination.  This is the best version I've done so far.  It's the first time I've included bread and now I'm never going to exclude it again.  The combination of fresh tomatoes and the (slightly cheating) passata helps the colour and flavour with the early season tomatoes but do buy a decent variety for the fresh or it will be lacking the vibrance and depth of flavour.

Leftover Thai Chicken and Mushroom Soup

A roast is not something I'd normally cook on a weekend but a roast chicken can do so many different meals as leftovers so it's not as daft an idea to cook for one, two or a small family as you might think.

Celeriac and bacon soup

Celeriac is something I've never tried to cook with before.  With just over half the calories of potato yet a similar texture enabling it to be mashed, roasted, fried, it also makes the most wonderfully thick soup.

I saw somewhere, no idea if it's true that blended soups are great for filling your stomach and making you feel sated.  It's like water would pass straight through a piece of cloth but thick soup wouldn't,  Well that's my theory and it sounds a bit mad written down but anyway, it does fill you up.

Ok.  It looks rubbish.  My reheated leftovers for lunch was described by my colleagues as looking "like baby..." ok, I will stop there.  But then they smelled it reheating and said "that smells really nice" and they weren't laughing any more and were starting to look a bit jealous, so give it a go.

Tomato and Basil soup

I used to make tomato soup with pesto.  Unfortunately my son has recently been diagnosed with nut, peanut and coconut allergies so I'm trying to not have any in my house. Most commercial pestos contain cashew nuts (or may contain) rather than traditional pine nuts.  So this is the new version which is also now vegetarian and vegan.

The great thing about using passata and chopped tomatoes is you get the mixture of textures which really adds interest.  It's also pretty good as a store cupboard staple.

Chowder

Chowder is often made with fish and corn.  I wanted something warming for me and my son when I made this.  It had got to 12:30 and the frost still hadn't melted off the car.  What can satisfy apart from soup in the circumstances?

I would prefer to make chowder from smoked fish but knowing I didn't have any in and knowing bacon chowder is also a 'thing' I decided to go completely off piste and combine the too.  Why not?

Pollock is a great fish to use; not only is it cheap but it's also a source of Omega 3, cod isn't.

Thai Yellow Salmon Curry

Thai yellow curry, why not?  This is a fantastically quick meal to make once you've made the paste (see below.)

I love eating oily fish like Salmon, it makes me feel right from the inside somehow.

Moroccan Chicken Soup

Soup, it HAS to be soup.  Autumn seemed to be months away and then it came in with a roar.  The heating has gone on and (central) heating of soup is in order.

This is a gently warming soup, inspired by Moroccan flavours.  I have no doubt this is inauthentic but I like to think of this as something inspired by Moroccan flavours combined with the joy of autumnal British weather.

Thai Style Prawn Soup

Thai Style prawn soup is my go to dish when I'm feeling a bit stodgy, like when you've eaten masses of pasta for days and you feel sluggish and tired by it all.

It might not 'officially' be soup season yet but there is something about Thai soups which are light, tasty and refreshing.  The chilli and lime gives you such zing and energy.  This is a dish to have in the evening after a heavy few days; feel good about life and go to bed feeling happy and healthy.

If you often happen to have home made unsalted fish or chicken stock, I would use that in preference to the water, however, I don't often do so.  Never use stock cubes, they'd be too salty.