Root Vegetable & Borlotti Bean Soup
I bloody love a soup and this soup has everything I love about a hot bowl of delightfulness.
It’s full of vegetables, hearty and has a creaminess to it that’s there because of milk and not cream.
As ever, the lovely Mr G is a big fan of this soup, as he is with most of the soups I make, but he especially loves the fact that it’s a great way of eating the seasons. Eating vegetables that are in season is something we both love, it somehow makes me feel a little virtuous.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Lots of bread with a bowl of soup, obviously.
What You Need
4 Large Carrots - Peeled and chopped into small cubes
4 Anchovies – Roughly Chopped
2 Celery Sticks – Washed and chopped into small cubes
2 Parsnips – Peeled and chopped into small cubes
2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme – Leaves picked – See Tip Box
2 Garlic Cloves - Minced
1 Large Leek – Roughly chopped and washed
1 Large Onion – Roughly Chopped
1 Small Swede – Peeled and chopped into rough cubes – See Tip Box
¼ White Cabbage – Chopped into rough pieces.
800ml Vegetable Stock Made from 2 Stock Cubes
500ml Milk – See Tip Box
300g Frozen Peas
1 x 400g Tin Borlotti Beans – Drained
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
Vegetable Oil for cooking – See Tip Box
Malden Salt
Black Pepper
Sweat ans soften all the vegetables.
How It’s Done
Place some vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pot and add the chopped anchovies.
On a low to medium heat, let the anchovies cook gently until they almost dissolve. Make sure to keep moving them around.
Add the leek, chopped onion, chopped parsnip, chopped carrots, chopped swede, and the chopped celery.
Add a good pinch of Malden salt and a good grind of black pepper, mix it all up.
On a medium heat, cook the mixture until the onion and leeks begin to soften and some of the vegetables start to soften around the edged – Don’t rush this stage, this is where some of the flavour will come from. Give it the occasional mix up.
Add the thyme and the minced garlic and let it cook for another 3 minutes.
Add the stock, the milk and the shredded cabbage to the pot and give it a mix up.
Add the stock and milk and simmer
On a medium heat, let it come to a very gently simmer before reducing the heat to low and letting it cook with a lid on.
Let it very gently cook until the root vegetables are almost soft but still have a bite to them.
Let the soup cool for 5 minutes before taking 2/3rds of the soups and blitzing it until smooth. - Use a food processor, hand blender or bullet machine to blitz until smooth.
Leave some of the vegetables whole.
Return the smooth soup to the pot and mixing it in with the un-blizted soup.
Add the borlotti beans, the frozen peas and the cider vinegar and let the soup cook for another 10 minutes.
Give it a taste and see if it needs a little more salt or pepper, if it does, only add a small amount at a time.
The soup is ready to eat.
Don’t heat the soup up to boiling point when ready to eat it, its best served just under boiling.
Add the borlotti beans and peas
Tip Box
Thyme – If no fresh thyme, replace with 1 tsp of dried thyme instead.
Milk – Semi skimmed is my first-choice bit if I have whole milk ill use that. Just be aware, whole milk, when it comes up to the boil will separate. Don’t panic. Just give it a really good mix together and it should be fine.
Vegetable Oil – How much vegetable oil to use will vary, use as much as you need, but in no way swamp the vegetables, just use enough to get the job done.
Swede – If you can’t get your hands in a swede, substitute it for a turnip. They both have a slight peppery flavour which adds a lot to the soup.
Full of winter goodness
