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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Last Friday we had a little trip to Murrurundi so Tim could work an extra shift there. From there it isn't too far to Scone so we headed down  to Paddock to Pantry for lunch. Soup of the week was Warming vegetable soup with caraway. YUM. So yum in fact that I emailed for a recipe but as is the way with most soups, the recipe is really more of a guideline than an actual recipe. I made my own version for us and had a delicious lunch in the vegetable garden today.
 

Roasting the vegetables adds a little richness to the soup but I'm sure if you were pressed for time, the vegetables could just be boiled in stock/ water without losing too much flavour. Anyway, this is how I made today's soup with what I had on hand. I also added a few mushrooms at the last minute because they were there and needed using today.

Possibly an even better way to prepare the vegetables would be to have a roast dinner and use any leftover vegetables or pop in some extras just for making soup.

 Roasted Vegetable Soup
 
Ingredients
1kg pumpkin, peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 carrots, chopped
500 grams potatoes, peeled and chopped
250 grams sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 capsicums, seeds removed and quartered (I peeled these after roasting)
3 tomatoes, halved
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 zucchini
4 cloves garlic
3 tbs olive oil
 
1.5 teaspoons caraway seeds,ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
 
 Vegetable stock/water
 
Method
Heat the oven to 220deg C.
Using a large roasting pan heat the olive oil for a few minutes in the oven. Then add the vegetables and cook until tender when tested with a knife and the outside of the vegies has some colour.
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a large pot and gently fry the ground spices for a minute.
Add the roasted vegetables and enough stock/water to just cover the vegetables.
Cook for about 10 minutes then puree. Adjust the seasoning to suit (I don't use salt at all so you might find my recipes lacking) and the thickness of the soup too. I prefer a thicker puree (kind of like baby food) but a little more stock and it will be more 'soupy'.
 
I just happened to have a couple of capsicum still hanging on in the garden despite the heavy frosts. If I had parsnips or turnips or even kohl rabi ready then I think they would also make a nice addition to the melange of vegies.


I'm yet to convince my son that this type of cooking is wonderful fare that he could add to his repertoire of cooking (if that is what I can call the three things he cooks when at uni- curry, chilli and pasta all from jars of sauces). It could be worse, he could be living on 2 minute noodles I suppose. I have noticed there have been no leftovers here the past two weeks he has been home.

Well that is our dinner sorted tonight so I have some spare time for sewing. That's a bonus. I'm making up a bag tonight using charm squares and a stitchery panel.

Tracy

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

yummy thankyou tracy for sharing your recipe with us and what a lovely view where you had your soup.xx

Janice said...

That sure looks scrummy. I might have to give it a whirl.

Lisa said...

Oh boy - even as I sit here on a muggy morning, that looks good!

Fiona said...

I love this time of year for casseroles and soups... every now and then I roast my pumpkin for pumpkin soup and love the different flavour the roasting adds...
Hugz

Jan said...

Another soup maker for many years. In fact, one son, then aged around five had a weekend meal at his great aunt's. Returning home, in all seriousness he asked me if I knew that soup could be bought in tins!

I ran a small canteen for some years at a tertiary college and even at 30° or more, I was asked for my soup.

Here's a use in soup for your capsicum.

I had made stock from two turkey shanks in slow cooker. These are cheap and make great stock with little fat. The meat can be made into a curry or similar after stock is finished. My $4 shanks made two curries for one person and the soup lasted a week. Not bad!

I had half a red capsicum and a whole large red bullhorn one. Also had a huge red sweet potato from vegetable box. These went into stock along with some onion and salt. When all was cooked, I blended it with stick blender. Soup was amazingly good, a beautiful red colour blend of the two main vegetables and a slightly spicy taste. I live by myself so this did me for lunch meals with homemade bread for almost a week.

Soup is just the best thing for odd bits and pieces and leftovers and it almost always tastes great. Economical, tasty and healthy. What more could anyone want?

It was great in the cold wet spell Sydney has just emerged from.

Kim said...

Sounds like a great place to eat ,Tracy. I used to teach in Scone many years ago...about 1.5hrs from where we are now.

Staci@LifeAtCobbleHillFarm said...

Yummmm.....I love roasted veg soup! I can't wait for fall so I can try your recipe!! {just too hot and humid these days :)}

Jeanette said...

Made the soup last night Tracy. it was delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Hugs,xx