Minestrone is all about the seasons. My initial intention had been to describe this as an “Autumn Minestrone” – unbeknownst to me, and somewhat embarrassingly, I’vealready written that recipe. So, what you have before you is to be referred to as a recipe for Kale and White Bean Minestrone. It is to be made between the months of September and November.
Say it. I know you’re thinking it; Jerusalem artichokes are gorgeous. Knobbly little root vegetables, coloured vibrantly in purple and punctuated with rings of almost pure white, they look like psychedelic ginger. Inside their fancy jackets, however, these “artichokes” are as plain as potatoes in all but one department; taste. Give this Jerusalem Artichoke and Spinach Soup a try and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
我喜欢tenderstem和紫色的萌芽broccoli, I find the average – usually plastic encased – variety often a bit of a let down. Perhaps this feeling is a hangover from those over-steamed florets of anaemic broccoli popped on the side of your plate as a child, never to be eaten. Things needn’t be this way; it doesn’t matter what state you find your brassicas in, simply chop them up and throw them in my Broccoli and Pea soup.
Garlic is one of the world’s best loved ingredients, its use almost universal. Though best handled with care, the flavour garlic is able to bestow on a dish is truly inimitable. However, due to the volatile nature of unadulterated garlic it usually finds itself consigned to the backstage arena of a dish, sacrificing itself for the greater good. Roasting garlic changes all that, removing its harsher notes and drawing out its sweetness. Truly, there is no better way of preparing garlic than this. So, bring this fantastic ingredient to the fore and sample my recipe forRoast Potato and Garlic Soup.
Thickened with chickpeas and packed with flavours reminiscent of Indian cuisine, this recipe forSpiced Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soupwill do its best to kick start your metabolism and help your body claw back some of those precious nutrients lost to the festive season. I don’t know about you, but all that has seemed to pass my lips over the past two weeks has been chocolate (primarily) and meat. As someone who is usually relatively healthy this now has me craving vegetables of any sort and there can be no finer way to achieve that than with this warming soup.