Soup, Soup, Beautiful Soup

I love soup, both cooking and eating. It's so easy to make and freezes really well, so ideal for last-minute suppers and feeding the whole family. Also perfect for taking to work.

If like my sister all your previous attempts at homemade soup have resulted in browny-green sludge then give my basic soup recipe a try. It's foolproof!


Emily's Basic Vegetable & Yellow Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion
4 large carrots
3 leeks
1 bunch of celery
3 cloves garlic
500g bag dried yellow split peas
1.5 litres chick or vegetable stock
1.5 litres water
dried mixed herbs or any leftover fresh
salt and pepper
olive oil/fry light for cooking
your biggest saucepan




1. Trim vegetables and cut into small dice.
2. Put a dash of olive oil (or at least 6 sprays Fry Light which I'm addicted to) into the pan on a low heat. Add the onions and soften for five minutes or so.
3. Add all the other veg, herbs and garlic, stir together, them cook with the lid on for a few minutes.
4. Add the split peas and all the stock, plus some of the water (see notes below for how much). Cook with the lid on for 45-60 minutes until the split peas are cooked.
5. Blend all or part of the soup to achieve your desired consistency.
6. Season to taste - it will need more than you think!


Notes

* The amount of water you add will depend on how you want your finished soup to turn out and you will probably need to add more as you go along. If serving toddlers put less and keep a thicker, more stew-like consistency.

* Any root vegetables can be used for this, just be careful they're not all very sweet ones.

* The quantities are flexible so use whatever you have in the fridge, this is just a good base for any soup.

* You can also use any dried lentils in place of the split peas, I just love the taste these give and the nice yellow colour of the finished soup.

* This makes a big quantity (probably enough to feed 8 adults) but I think it's worth making in bulk and then freezing some.

* I usually blend about two thirds and leave some pieces of veg whole but it's good which ever way you do it! (for vegetable-phobic children - blend the whole thing super smooth!)

* Don't be shy with the seasoning, this quantity needs a lot. However if you're cooking for young children bear in mind that stock is already quite salty so you might prefer not to add any more.

* You will probably need to add a bit of extra water after freezing as it tends to thicken. Keeps for about 3 days in the fridge.

If you give this a try please comment below and let me know how it went! I've got all sorts of other great recipes just waiting to be shared. Happy Cooking!