Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Chicken Soup

7 Soups for Winter

It’s that time of year when all I want to do is curl up on the sofa in a toasty blanket with a delicious bowl of soup, and forget all about the wind and rain hurling itself around outside (and generally everything else!) So, let’s all get cosy while I bring you a batch of my favourite soups to warm up those winter months.

1. Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

Let’s kick off with a restorative bowl of Slow Cooker Chicken Soup, a Polish recipe I got from my mother. It’s a clear broth that uses a whole chicken cooked ultra gently in the slow cooker, so it requires very little fuss. It’s usually served with homemade egg noodles or dumplings and makes for a really decent meal.

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2. Chickpea, Chicken and Chorizo Soup

Chicken & Chorizo Soup

For a hearty meal in a bowl, try my Chickpea, Chicken and Chorizo Soup on for size. It’s packed with both texture and flavour, plus it’s a great way to use up any leftovers lurking in your fridge. I can totally recommend serving it up with some chunky slices of garlic bread for dunking. Here, I’ve used giant cous cous, but you could make this with brown rice, or a grain such as kasza, and don’t forget to add plenty of chopped kale or spinach for extra nutrients.

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3. Beetroot and Kale Soup

Beetroot and Kale Soup

If you’re on the hunt for a super healthy and nutritious meal idea, then take a look at this vivid Beetroot and Kale Soup with tasty Almond Crumble topper. As well as being ridiculously good for you, it’s also absolutely gorgeous to look at so makes for a pretty starter if you’ve got guests round for lunch.

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4. Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

Pizza Pasta Soup

My kids made up the name of this soup Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup when I served up a quick family meal stretching out some bolognese leftovers, plenty of Parmesan and fresh basil. It makes a change from the usual after-school Spag Bol and is oh-so-warming. If you’re got a gaggle of kids to feed, this is the one to bring to the table.

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5. Polish Wild Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

Another absolute winner. When I’m feeling poorly I crave either Chicken Soup or a bowl of Mushroom Soup which reminds me of home. This simple recipe really makes the most of the strong, earthy flavours of the mushrooms, with fresh cream for extra comfort.

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6. Chicken Soup Two Ways

coconut-courgetti-chicken-soup

A classic chicken soup is a thing of beauty, because once you’ve got it cracked you can customise it to your heart’s content. I love changing it up by adding things like coconut milk and courgetti or giving it a bit more bulk with some basmatic brown rice and spinach.

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7. Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup on feedingboys.co.uk

And finally, my favourite soup from around the web is this little number from Katie Bryson at Feeding Boys. It’s a thick, creamy and intensely flavoured soup using roasted cauliflower and garlic cloves blitzed up with stock and parmesan cheese. We all love cauliflower soup in our house, and roasting it adds a wonderful depth of flavour to this soup.

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What’s your favourite soup for the winter? Do you have a classic recipe you always turn to when you’re feeling under the weather? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Also, I’ll be pulling some more round ups together over the coming week so do let me know if there is anything you’d like to see.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

A cold winter’s day really only demands one thing – a warming bowl of chicken soup. My favourite word this week when describing soup was ‘restorative’ – exactly what this soup is. This is my mother’s Polish recipe for a soup called Rosół z Kury, a clear soup, usually served with homemade egg noodles or dumplings. It can be made on the stove, in which case it just needs to simmer very, very gently for up to two hours, but I discovered this week that it’s even easier to make slow cooker chicken soup, which needs hardly any babysitting at all. The trick to making a very clear stock soup is to never  let it boil rapidly, which is why it works so well in the calm and consistent heat of a slow cooker. Usually I make my own plain, poured noodles, or Lane Kluski, but this week I tried it with some tiny egg gnocchetti, similar to Spatzle, I found in the fresh pasta section of the shops.

Chicken Soup

[recipe id=”12904″]

Chicken Soup

Lots of you have been getting in touch to say that you’ve been trying my recipes – the Chorizo, Chicken and Chickpea Soup was a big hit, as was the Slow Cooked Beef Brisket. Keep letting me know how you’re getting on. I’d love to see you photos on my facebook page, too.

Happy slow cooking.

Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

A really big thank you to everyone who entered the Forman and Field/Knorr Giveaway towards the end of last week here on Fabulicious Food! It was a fantastic response to a lovely prize and there were some really interesting ideas for what to do with the Oak Smoked Trout and the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the Gourmet Hamper Box was Phil Simpson in Inverness – your box is on its way to you!
I was quite eager to get stuck in to the contents of my box, which included some lovely fresh seasonal vegetables, lamb neck fillet from Allens of Mayfair, as well as the smoked salmon and trout from Forman and Field.  I was also eager to try the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots. The stock pots should be available in the shops soon.
I decided to use up the vegetables first and give the Herb Infusion Stock Pots a go and came up with a recipe (below) for a Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables, using some leftover chicken. I have to say, since I made this soup in less than ten minutes, I was very impressed with the flavour so the stock pots were a definitely a hit! The kids really enjoyed it too.
My trick was to cook the vegetables in the Herb Infusion Stock Pot, adding a knob of butter and to gently pan-fry the (cooked) chicken breast pieces in a separate pan to give them a little colour before adding it all together. Using fresh seasonal vegetables (spring onion, carrots and fresh peas) and adding a touch of butter to the herby stock pot gave a lovely sweet tasting soup – nothing else at all was needed.
I’m yet to have a go at the Quick Lamb Stew recipe created by Marco Pierre White for Knorr and I will share that with you as soon as I’ve road-tested it along with a recipe using the salmon or trout from Forman and Field.
My favourite idea from among those suggested in the competition was to make a smoked trout pâté. My own idea would be to make a quick and easy Hollandaise sauce to go with the trout…so watch this space! 
Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

 

Ingredients:

1 Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot (contains vegetable stock, bay, thyme and parsley)
500ml boiling water
25g butter
4 spring onions, washed and trimmed
8 baby carrots, peeled
250g fresh peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Pre-cooked chicken breasts (sliced) or left-over roast chicken

Method:

1. Mix the Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot with 500ml of boiling water. Stir until dissolved and add it to a saucepan.
2. Bring the stock pot back the the boil and add in your spring onions, baby carrots, fresh peas and butter. Boil for 7 minutes.
3. In the meantime, while the vegetables are boiling, heat a separate frying pan and add in the olive oil. Gently fry the sliced chicken breast pieces until golden then flip over and fry on the other side.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the vegetables and stock.
5. Serve at once.