Monday 30 April 2012

Heaven Scent

Just look at this amazing Moroccan vegetable soup from the latest issue of House & Leisure - can you resist it?
(We tried it, but replaced the fish sauce with tamarind paste. Wow!)

Ingredients
800 g mixed diced seasonal vegetables (I used carrots, butternut, leeks and celery)
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
2 x bay leaves
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups water
1/4 tsp fish sauce* (my secret ingredient)
2 tsp hot English mustard powder
1 salad onion snipped, to garnish
salt
1 tbsp olive oil
* Fish sauce may sound like an odd ingredient to add, but I find it adds wonderful depth of flavour to soups and stews. In this tiny quantity it does its job, without detection. Do mind it doesn’t get onto your fingers and if so you will want to wash well, immediately! If you omit the fish sauce, the soup is purely vegetarian.
Method
Fry onions in olive oil in a (teflon coated) saucepan or pot, wide and deep enough to make a soup in.
Add bay leaves and vegetables. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the salad onions.
Cook on medium heat until softened, for approximately 40 minutes. Replenish with water as needed. Remove from heat.
Remove bay leaves and blend with a stick blender or in a processor until smooth but with a hint of nubly character. Add more water to thin if necessary and adjust seasoning.
Serve with snipped salad onions sprinkled on top and crusty bread or naan.  I added creme fraiche, chopped bacon and parsley to this one- it’s purely optional.

Note from the Designers on Display editorial team:
This soup goes really well with the flat bread in the recipe here. Delish!


Find more at House and Leisure online.

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