Home Made: Good, honest food made easy. Tana Ramsay
a slightly thinner texture, simply add a little more milk.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
500g/1lb 2oz frozen sweetcorn
400ml/14fl oz semi-skimmed milk
400ml tin of coconut milk
1 good-quality chicken stock cube
salt and black pepper
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
1 Choose a large saucepan with a lid. Heat the oil in the pan on a low-medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for 8-10 minutes, until softened but not coloured. Add the garlic and cayenne pepper and stir for a couple of minutes. Throw in the carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes more until just beginning to soften.
2 Add the sweetcorn. Pour in the milk and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Crumble in the stock cube and stir well, then reduce the heat so that the soup is just simmering. Pop on the lid and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
3 Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little, then liquidize in batches. Return to the saucepan, season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat gently. Serve in warm bowls.
WHY NOT TRY …
Garnishing with chopped chives before serving.
One of the most wonderfully comforting things about home, for me, has always been its predictability; there’s a real sense of security in knowing what to expect. This is a feeling I grew up with and one that I try to give my children, too.
When I was growing up, Monday was always soup day. I’d rush home and I’d smell the delicious aroma of the soup even before I could see the big bubbling pot on the dark green aga. This was my favourite meal of the week, and I would eat loads of it. The soup would last for a few good meals and would be added to and reheated over and over again until it was all gone.
I think soup is even better when it has been reheated, perhaps because this is the way we always ate it at home, but also because the flavours develop more every time it is cooked. I always prepare soup in advance, and it’s a brilliantly easy supper if the kids are coming in at different times – on those nights I’m very happy to be reheating and eating my dinner when everyone else has had theirs and gone to bed!
One of the best things about making soup is that it doesn’t need a lot of planning. No two soups are ever the same in our house – they’ll usually be made from whatever odds and ends are in the fridge and cupboards; but even if you do use a recipe, you can easily swap certain ingredients you haven’t got for others that you have. You can’t go wrong with a bit of invention, and you can always get a good meal seemingly from out of nowhere.
Spicy lentil and cannellini bean soup
This is a fantastic winter soup, perfect for popping in a flask and taking on a bracing walk.
2 rashers of unsmoked streaky bacon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
150g/5oz red lentils
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained through a sieve and then rinsed
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 litre/13/4 pints hot water
2 good-quality chicken stock cubes
1/2 tsp sugar
zest of 1 lemon
salt and black pepper
4 tbsp plain yoghurt to serve
coriander leaves, roughly chopped, to garnish
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: about 1 hour
1 Choose a large saucepan with a lid. Cut the bacon into short strips. Heat the oil in the pan on a medium heat, add the bacon and fry until lightly coloured. Add the onion and carrots and fry for 8-10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, garam masala and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute or so. Stir in the red lentils.
2 Add the tomatoes, cannellini beans, tomato purée and water. Crumble in the stock cubes and stir well. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, stirring all the time so that the lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and pop the lid on the saucepan. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the lentils and carrots are tender.
3 Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit, then add the sugar and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
4 Serve in warm bowls. Add a dollop of yoghurt in the middle of each bowl and sprinkle with the coriander.
This is a really hearty minestrone without the predictable tomato offering, which keeps it looking fresh. The slight crunch of chickpeas gives it a little more bite.
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
120g pack of prosciutto (or pancetta), cut into chunks
2 sticks of celery, cut into 5mm/1/4 inch slices
400g tin each of cannellini beans and chickpeas, drained through a sieve and then rinsed
3 bay leaves
750ml/11/4 pints chicken stock
125g/4oz dried spaghetti
3 baby courgettes, cut into 5mm/1/4 inch slices
100g/31/2oz green beans
125g/4oz fine asparagus
1 large handful of spinach, washed
fresh basil, roughly torn
salt and black pepper