I have been making my own soup for several years, but it is only in the last year that I have really started to understand how to make vegetables taste delicious. In this blog post I will show you just how simple it is to transform a potato, an onion and a courgette (broccoli is perfect for this recipe too) into a tasty bowl of soup that you will be proud to serve to your family. I promise that by following my very easy steps, you will succeed in making your own soup and no longer will you have to buy soup that is not only flavourless but very expensive.
Meal for 4 for 45p per person
Serves 4 people
Courgette 85p
Potatoes 40p
White onion 35p
Vegetable stock cube (reduced salt) 20p
TOTAL: £1.80
Price comparison
A carton of leek & potato soup from the supermarket is £2.00 and would only serve 2. A tin of leek & potato soup is 57p and would serve one hungry person and two if you’re lucky! Plus, there isn’t a tin of soup in the land that will taste as good as your homemade version!!!
A great recipe for beginners
When I was first teaching myself how to cook over 18 years ago, I knew I needed to attempt something that didn’t have too many ingredients or a complicated method either. So, soup was just perfect for this. I taught myself lots of cookery skills by scouring through food magazines, cutting out the recipes and making a recipe scrapbook, which I still own and use today. In fact this recipe, is one of my original recipes and although I have tweaked it slightly, it brings back so many wonderful memories; the kitchen was my healing space, it brought me a sense of inner peace and was a sanctuary as I healed my broken body and mind. If you don’t cook and would like to learn then I strongly recommend this recipe and take the time to look out for other soup recipes that take your fancy. By experimenting with different recipes, you’ll find a recipe that you’ll go back to time and time again. This is mine, along with Leek & Potato – find the recipe here – (you’ll notice that my photography has improved!)
How to pack your soup with flavour.
Flavour is all about layers, especially when you are making a vegetable soup like this courgette and potato soup. Think of it like building a sandwich. When creating flavour in all recipes, the first layer of flavour that you create is the most important. It is really hard to add flavour at the end, unless you add a topping that provides the flavour.
Here’s how I add flavour to my vegetable and potato soups, whether you are using courgette, broccoli or leek. The principle is all the same. The potato and onion are the first elements to the soup and to give a great depth to your soup you absolutely must cook the potato and onion in rapeseed and butter.
Heat your oil and butter until it is sizzling. Add your potato and onion but keep you heat on a medium-high heat until the onion and potato are browning slightly. You might find that the onion and potato stick slightly but this is good; this is FLAVOUR. Just scrape it from the bottom of your pan with a wooden spoon and don’t worry when you add your stock, the crispy bits will lift from the bottom of your pan. Cook until the potato and onion is softened.
The end result should look something like this. There should be bits of potato sticking to the bottom of the pan with it going crispy and brown – this is the flavour and forms the backbone to a really good soup.
Time to add the vegetable and stock
Next, simply add the courgette and vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle simmer to cook the vegetables through. Finally, all that remains is for you to blend your soup with a stick blender or blender. This is one of the most useful pieces of equipment in the kitchen. It was one of the first pieces of equipment that I invested in and continues to serve me well.
Which one you choose to buy all depends on your budget. You could invest in something like this that won’t break the bank and you will be able to use every time you make your delicious soup –
https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/appliances/blenders-and-food-processing/hand-blenders/c:29942/
However, if you can afford a stainless steel stick blender, it will last you so much longer as the heat won’t deteriorate the blender and motor is designed to withstand a commercial kitchen so it won’t mind being used regularly. I have been using British manufacturer, Dualit, for many years now. It has blended soup and sauces on countless occasions, giving me a fantastic result every time –
https://www.dualit.com/products/700w-hand-blender
Season, season, season!
In the beginning, I thought that I didn’t need salt, so I didn’t use it. The outcome was a flavourLESS plate of food and even though my family was always very kind about my food but really they were thinking it tasted of NOTHING! I realised I wasn’t using enough seasoning and even when I started adding salt, it wasn’t enough. Gradually, as my cooking confidence increased, I increased the quantity of salt and pepper that I added to my food. Soup loves a bit of salt. So to make sure you have the right balance of seasoning versus the flavour of the ingredients, you have to keep tasting and adjusting until it’s just right. After a while, you will be able to season without doing too much tasting especially when you start to make the same dish repeatedly. As a rule of thumb, for this particular courgette and potato soup, I would go for about 1tsp of salt and maybe 3 grinds of black pepper.
So, season, season, season!
Get started today
There really isn’t an easier way to start on the journey of feeding yourself well than making soup. It will be the start of your fresh, homemade food journey and one that I just know you will love. The main thing in all of this, is to simply enjoy making yourself your own food. Try if you can to resist the temptation of buying a tin of soup when it all goes wrong or you don’t like the recipe. Try another recipe or just try the recipe again, after all practice makes perfect. When teaching yourself something new, you are never going to get it right the first time.
Here’s the recipe for my delicious Courgette & Potato Soup –
Happy cooking!
Laura x
