This simple soup is a great way to use up stray vegetables. There’s no ‘proper’ recipe, just an outline – like with so many soups and stews.
The idea is to blanche green vegetables in a veg or chicken stock – or both. It’s really nice if you can afford the small vegetables supermarkets sell (sort of miniatures) but it is not necessary.
Simply take:
- An onion
- 2 gloves of garlic
- More than a litre of chicken or veg stock (or mix ‘em both together)
- A pour of olive oil
- (Optimally) some white wine – say a glass of something dry
- Some fresh chives, flat leaf parsley or both
- And a selection of vegetables like leeks, courgettes, peas, asparagus, new potatoes (halved after washing thoroughly), broad beans, snow peas, mange tout and (if you want it colourful) some carrots
- Parmesan cheese
Chop the onion and garlic thinly, and gently, very gently, stew it in a large pan in which you have poured some good olive oil. Meanwhile, boil a kettle and make the stock; make sure the onions are not browning, just stewing. Then add the potatoes and stir around. Then pour in the stock and white wine and stir about and simmer for five minutes. Then comes the only tricky bit – which is add the vegetables in the order that ensures when you serve it up – everything is cooked but not soggy. So carrots next, then say leeks, sliced up, then broad beans, etc. You get the idea. Let everything simmer. If you are worried it is drying out, put on a lid.
Before serving grate the cheese and chop the chives or parsley and put them in separate bowls.
Warm some bowls and then when everything is done – ladle soup in, add a small drop of olive oil to each bowl and serve. Let people put on their own chives and cheese. Simply lovely.
