Carrot and Ginger Soup

It's been unusually cold here in Manchester. It looks like mid May outside, beautiful and green and fresh, but temperature-wise it feels more like March. Therefore soup is definitely still featuring on the menu regularly.

I was making books in Lucy's studio, while she was engaged in skill sharing excercises with M and as a thank you for letting me use her space and time I brought along Carrot and Ginger Soup for lunch. We all needed it as it was decidely brass monkeys in the studio and it helped to warm our bellies and the cockles of our hearts.



Carrot and Ginger Soup (serves 4)

2 onions, peeled and chopped
a large knob of butter
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
6 carrots, cleaned and chopped
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped very finely
1 litre vegetable stock
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper, optional

Melt the butter in a large stock pot and sweat the onions over low heat until softend, but not browned for about 15 minutes.

Add the potatoes, carrots, ginger and stock and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Blitz in a food processor or with a stick blender until you have a smooth, creamy consistency.

Add this point I like to add a pinch of cayenne for a little extra heat, but that's entirely optional.

Serve hot with crusty bread.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

On Friday night, L and H came round for pre-cinema dinner, before going to watch Io sono l'amore. (One of the best films I have seen in a long time by the way, so if you haven't seen it yet, do!)

I felt like all I'd been feeding them the last few times they'd been round was roast vegetables with couscous, so I wanted to do something different. My problem was that I'd left my purse in the bookbindery and only had a few coppers in the penny jar, so I had to make something that didn't involve much shopping. I checked my cupboards and found that they contained most of the ingredients needed to make a chili. All I had to go and buy was a courgette and a red pepper and there was enough change for those. Perfect.



Vegetarian Chili (serves 3-4)

olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 onions, diced
3 cm ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 red peppers, diced
1 courgette, diced
1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1/2 can canned chopped tomatoes (with jalapenos)
1 can kidney beans, 400g
1 small can sweet corn
pinch salt and black pepper

In the oil in a large frying pan and add the onions. Sweat for a few minutes until they begin to soften.

Add the garlic and the grated ginger, together with the cumin and the paprika.

Fry for another couple of minutes, before adding the tomato puree. Stir well and fry a little longer (the tomato puree should turn dark reddish brown), before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with rice, as a topping for a jacket potato, or just in a bowl with some torillas or nachos.

Enjoy!