The Perfect Vegetable Soup

A heartening bowl of vegetable soup will set you up for the coldest of times. Here8217;s how to liquidise your assets

Truth be told, the leek had seen happier days. But hey ho, the bowl of stock from Thursday8217;s chicken seemed fresh enough and the coarse outer leaves of the cabbage were bright as a button. I had barely 15 minutes to shred the leeks and soften them in a little olive oil, pour over the stock, season with salt, pepper, bay leaves and then leave it to simmer while I washed and shredded the cabbage. There is much pleasure to be had in washing a petrol-blue cabbage leaf under a running cold tap, the water forming dancing beads in the wrinkles, like morning dew.

Shredded as fine as fettucine, the cabbage got a brief dunking in the hot stock before everything was ladled into deep bowls and accompanied by a slice of sourdough toast glistening with olive oil. So heartening and full of let8217;s-pretend-we8217;re-peasants goodness was it that we wrapped up and ate it at the table outside. It was difficult to recall a makeshift bowl of soup so life enhancing.

Earlier in the week I had discovered a surfeit of potatoes in the vegetable rack and decided on a spud soup. The frugality was pleasing and the ivory blandness as calming as a dose of kava kava. A spot of savoury interest was added in the form of sliced black pudding, briefly dipped inboiling water to firm it up, then tossed in a pan to crisp its cut edges, its extreme rusticity brightened with masses of fresh flat-leaf parsley.

This is a far cry from my knee-jerk supper of miso soup and mushrooms that I can make even when I am too tired, or drunk, to stand. It is simply a question of pouring boiling water on yellow miso paste, bringing the liquid to the boil, then sharpening it with lemon juice and white pepper.

Mushrooms are a favourite addition, as are bits of greenery 8212; kale torn into rough pieces, spinach left whole, broccoli in dinky florets. Parsley is welcome, as is a handful of coriander.

Anything of a long-life nature 8212; red cabbage, swedes, beetroot 8212; that arrives in the organic box tends to get put aside for another day. Which is probably how I ended up last week with five squashes grinning at me from the depths of the larder. The orange-fleshed varieties make a vibrantly coloured soup whose sweetness falls on the palate like sugar syrup. It needs a hot or spicy note in the form of chilli or a mixture of warm spices, such as cumin, cinnamon and coriander, to lift it. After great success with snippets of crisp bacon I used some chorizo to startling effect. Tossing it with skinned and toasted almonds introduced a further change of step.

Making a bowl of soup more substantial by adding a handful of something meaty or perhaps bread-based has become a bit of a habit. Current favourites are thickly sliced tomatoes or courgettes fried in crumbs; lumps of pearl-freckled salami; mushrooms grilled and tossed with parsley; toasted ciabatta spread with chopped olives and lemon; nests of ribbon pasta with garlic and basil. Assembled in minutes and capable of turning a quick bowl of soup into supper.

CHICKPEA SOUP WITH FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Serves 4, generously

30g butter

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlica walnut-sized lump of ginger

2 medium chillies

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2 tsp cumin seeds 400g cooked chickpeas a litre of stock or water juice of a lemon, to taste

4 green or under-ripe tomatoes a little beaten egg

3 tbsp cornmeal polenta

Melt the butter in a heavy pan. Peel and chop the onions and let them cook slowly in the butter till soft and golden. Peel and slice the garlic and ginger and stir them in. Add the cumin seed and finely chopped chillies to the pan then, when the cumin has toasted, add the chickpeas and pour in the stock, season and bring to the boil.

Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes. Blitz the soup in a blender, but stop while it still has a nubbly texture. Correct the seasoning with lemon juice, salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped mint and coriander, then return to the heat at a very low simmer.

Slice the tomatoes and dip them in the beaten egg and cornmeal. Fry them and set aside for draining on kitchen paper.

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Pour the soup into bowls, add the fried tomatoes and serve.