6 tips for the perfect winter soup

By
Jo Scanlan
July 11, 2018
Photo: iStock

I reckon the best soup experiences enter sensual memory. Just before winter hits, I find myself craving my favourites. It eases the cool-weather blues to know that such treats await.

The best thing about making soup is that it can be a fine design or a pot luck surprise. As my brother-in-law (a great cook) says, “There’s nothing like a pantry dive and fridge scrape for a great soup.” You know what he means. Chop, chuck, heat. Eat.

Photo: iStock
Photo: iStock

There are some easy tricks to ensure deliciousness:

  • Some good stock.
  • Some veg that softens right down to thicken the soup and intensify flavours – pumpkin is my favourite for this.
  • In a vegie soup, especially one with a tomato base, I find that a tablespoon or two of pesto works a treat. Yes, basil is a summer crop but you can make pesto with winter greens such as parsley, kale and rocket.
  • A splash of cream or yoghurt on top of your soup adds a rich contrast.
  • And then there’s cheese. Cauliflower soup with onion, celery and potato, served with grated cheese and golden croutons on top. My kids’ all-time favourite.
  • But the piece de resistance of soupie secrets is surely ham hock (or hough if you’re my Scottish friend Chris), a cut that requires long cooking to tenderise.

Chris knocked me over the first day I met her with a red lentil and vegetable soup that had such moreish, satisfying flavour that I had to accost her for the recipe.

Photo: iStock
Photo: iStock

Before getting down to detail Chris told me that “it’s all about the hough”. It was too, although red lentils are another stellar ingredient, texture-wise, for soups.

Chris removes the hock after at least two hours of cooking, discards the bone and skin, and adds the chopped meat back into the soup. Truly memorable.

Jo Scanlan is a home economist, a writer and an editor. She has written many resources for teachers of home economics and VCE Food Studies.

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