Soups make a great option for a winter picnic. PHOTOS: ANNABEL LANGBEIN MEDIAThe winter months provide a perfect opportunity to feed ourselves with warming, nourishing meals. Soups are such an easy way to get a hearty dose of nutrient-rich vegetables into your diet, which is especially important in the cooler months when your immune system needs extra support. They are also a great opportunity to cut down on costs with in-season vegetables and frozen produce. As soon as we are feeling run down, we make our nourishing green goodness soup. Loaded with greens and alliums, it’s so delicious and fabulously good for you, too. A great thing about this recipe is that you can easily riff off it and make it your own - we’ll often use silverbeet, kale and spinach to maximise the green goodness. You can use frozen spinach here too. You can easily make this vegan by using olive oil in place of butter and vegetable stock in place of chicken stock. We like to serve this with some hot (generously) buttered toast. Like a good hearty salad, the trick to a satisfying soup is to load it up with lots of robust vegetables, and cook everything out properly to maximise your depth of flavour. Our cosy roasted pumpkin soup is a lovely thing to make for yourself, your family, or a friend or neighbour in need of a pick-me-up. This fabulous recipe unlocks all the sweetness and flavour out of a handful of ingredients. We love using butternut pumpkin as it is wonderfully sweet; a crown pumpkin also works well here. This recipe also works with carrots or kūmara. We like to zhuzh the soup up with a garnish of crumbled feta and roasted pumpkin seeds, but you can skip these if preferred. Another great thing about soup is that it transports well. We love filling a Thermos with piping-hot soup and enjoying a warming winter picnic out in nature (ideally with a fire going). Soups also freeze well - you can make them in bulk and freeze them for another day; your future self will thank you! Happy soup season to you all. With love, Annabel & Rose xxx • Newsletter Annabel and Rose Langbein’s weekly newsletter, “What to Cook Tonight”. Sign up at: https://langbeinnewsletter.substack.com Roasted pumpkin soup Simple and comforting, this delicious soup is the perfect winter warmer. We love roasting the pumpkin to get a lovely depth of flavour, but if you’re tight for time you can skip this step - peel and dice pumpkin and add it in with the stock and cook until tender. Serves 2 generously Ready in 1 hr 15 min Suitable for DF, GF, RSF, V, VE Ingredients ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 large brown onion, diced 1 tsp thyme leaves 4 cloves garlic, smashed with the back of a knife, finely chopped 4 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock 1 sprig rosemary Roasted pumpkin 1 small butternut pumpkin 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper To serve Boutique extra-virgin olive oil 60g feta cheese (optional) ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds Thyme leaves Garlicky Toast 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 thick slices of sourdough 1 clove garlic, peeled Method For the roasted pumpkin, preheat your oven to 220°C fan bake. Cut your pumpkin in half lengthways and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Place pumpkin halves, cut side up on a baking tray, and drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup/honey. Season generously with salt and pepper and roast until golden and tender (45 minutes). Use a spoon (or your hands) to peel off the skin. Discard the skin, break up the pumpkin flesh, and set aside. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add diced onion, thyme, and a big pinch of salt, and cook until the onion is softened and completely translucent (8 minutes). Stir in chopped garlic and cook for a minute or two until softened and aromatic, without browning. Add in hot stock, rosemary sprig, and your roasted pumpkin flesh, using the back of a wooden spoon to break up the pumpkin. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, to infuse flavours. Turn off the heat, discard the rosemary sprig, and puree with a hand-held blender until smooth and creamy. Check seasoning and adjust to taste (it will depend on how salty your stock is). If the soup is too thick, blitz in a little more stock and cook for a couple of minutes to heat through. Cover and set aside while you make the toast. Heat oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat. Working two slices at a time, pan-fry your sourdough until golden on both sides (weigh down the toasts with a heavy pot or pan to give a denser texture and more even toasting). Remove from the heat and rub the garlic clove over one side of the hot bread to infuse the flavour. When you are ready to serve, reheat the soup (if it has cooled down) and distribute between serving bowls. Drizzle with olive oil, crumble over feta, if using and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme. Serve accompanied by your hot garlicky toast. Green goodness soup Fabulously green and delicious, this is the perfect thing to make when you’re feeling a little run-down. We like to garnish this with garlicky breadcrumbs, a little herb oil and chive flowers to make it even more beautiful, but you can serve it as is. Serves 4 Ready in 45 min Suitable for DF, GF, RSF, V, VE Ingredients 3 Tbsp butter or extra-virgin olive oil 1 large brown onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife and chopped 2 leeks, base and ends trimmed, cleaned, white part and a little of the green, thinly sliced 1 bay leaf 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried 4 small potatoes, peeled and halved 8 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock 12 silverbeet leaves, stalks and leaves separated, chopped 12 kale leaves, stripped from the stems, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper Method Heat the butter or olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onions, garlic, sliced leeks, bay leaf and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring from time to time, until lightly softened (15 minutes). Add potatoes, stock, and silver beet stalks. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in silver beet leaves and parsley, and cook an additional 2 minutes until soft. Blend coarsely with hand wand blender - it’s better slightly chunky, not pureed smooth. Note We like to garnish this with crispy breadcrumbs, herb oil and chive flowers. To make crispy breadcrumbs, heat 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium heat. Add ½ cup panko breadcrumbs, stirring to coat the crumbs in the oil. Toast, stirring often, until deep golden brown (5 minutes). Turn off the heat, sprinkle with some flaky salt, and set aside. To make herb oil, place a handful of rocket leaves and 2 handfuls of parsley leaves in a food processor and blitz with 1 cup of neutral oil (e.g. grape seed) and tsp of salt until smooth.
