Soup is the synonymous with comfort food. It is recognized as a wonderful soul warming food filled with wholesome ingredients and fantastic flavours. Soups are quite versatile and ideal as appetizers or starters, as a side dish, or as a one-pot meal. They make a wonderful addition to any meal, and once you make a pot or two, you’ll discover it isn’t really that hard to make. Final adjustments can be made before the soup hits the table. Some soups are finished with special sauces and garnishes, allowing each guest to create a dish that suits their particular taste.
High-quality stock is the backbone of any soup recipe. Although not difficult to make, stock does require a couple hours of cooking time, but the flavourful result is well worth the effort. Making stock also is a great way to use up items that would otherwise be thrown out, such as bones, shells, celery leaves, and carrot tops.
Here is an easy recipe for vegetable stock for you to try. Simply visit any of our stores and pick up all the essential ingredients –
Makes about 1L of stock
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ onion, diced
- ½ leek, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, left whole and gently crushed
- 20 black peppercorns
- 8-10 button mushrooms
- 1 stick celery, diced
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 3-4 fresh parsley stalks, roughly torn
- 2 Bay Leaves
Method:
- To make the vegetable stock, add the olive oil to a heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat.
- Add the onion, leek and carrot and sweat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add enough cold water to generously cover the vegetables and turn up the heat to high.
- Add the garlic, peppercorns, mushrooms, celery, tomatoes, bay leaves and parsley and stir together. Bring to the boil and boil gently for 15 minutes.
- Pour the stock through a sieve. Discard the vegetable pieces or reserve for another use. The liquid stock is ready to be used. It can be stored in the fridge for up to three days or frozen in batches for future use.
Add this to any of your favourite savoury soups for a rich, intense flavour.
Godrej Nature’s Basket is celebrating the warming joy of soups from all over the world, all this month. Watch this space for loads of soupy tricks & recipes and be sure to follow us on facebook & twitter as well!
