Soups for the soul

Ingredients for 4 servings:

250 g fresh brown mushrooms

2 onions

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons Flour

1 l vegetable stock

100 ml Cream

Salt & pepper

Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve (optional)

Clean and slice the mushrooms. Put a few to the side.

Peel and dice the onions. Heat 2 tbsp butter in a pan and sauté the onions. Add the mushrooms and briefly sauté. Dust with flour, briefly sauté, then deglaze with the stock and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add the cream and purée the soup finely with a hand blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining butter in a pan and fry the leftover mushrooms until brown. Mix in parsley and garnish the soup with the mushrooms. Serve warm. Goes well with baguette.

Carrot, Ginger & Turmeric Soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

750 g carrots, roughly chopped

2 sticks celery, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

5 cm piece ginger, finely sliced

2 tsp turmeric

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 l vegetable stock

For the garnish:

handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped

4 spring onions, sliced

1 green chilli, diced

4 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp lime juice

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger, turmeric and garlic. Mix well and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour over the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, and then simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are tender. Remove the bay leaf. Allow the soup to cool a little and then blitz (in batches in a food processor or using a stick blender) until completely smooth. Return to the heat and warm through.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the garnish. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a little of the coriander garnish. Serve immediately.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1.2 kg pumpkin (any type)

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

750 ml vegetable or chicken broth/stock

250 ml water

Salt & pepper

Finishes:

Sunflower seeds

Walnut oil

Cut the pumpkin into 3 cm slices. Cut the skin off and scrape seeds out. Cut into 4 cm chunks.

Place the pumpkin, onion, garlic, broth and water in a pot – liquid won't quite cover all the pumpkin. Bring to a boil, uncovered, then reduce heat and let simmer rapidly until pumpkin is tender (check with butter knife) – about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and use a stick blender to blend until smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls or soup plates, drizzle over a bit of walnut oil, sprinkle with sunflower seeds if desired. Serve with crusty bread.