Once a week I try to use up the left overs in the fridge and the best winter way to do this is a hearty, filling soup. This is great because it not only uses up the food that would otherwise end up in land fill but also because the left overs have been previously cooked the soup is ready and tasty in less than half an hour.
Obviously this recipe depends on your left overs but a few handy hints:
Meaty meals like spag. bol. give the soup extra depth and go great in tomato based soups,
Think of minestrone and add beans to left over veges or pasta.
Decide if you are going to blend your soup or not and if not make sure your food is in small pieces.
Potato, pumpkin and sweet potato help make a thick soup.
Don't be afraid of adding frozen foods.
Different stocks: chicken stock, vege stock, beef stock, tomato paste will suit different left overs.
Think of flavour blends and add a few herbs:
- Italian add basil and oregano
- Asian add lemon grass
- Moroccan add cumin
- Indian add curry
How I make the soup:
I like to start with fresh ingredients and usually fry up some garlic and onion first in olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes in the bottom of a large pot.
Then add some other fresh uncooked finely chopped veges like celery and carrots and cook a further 2 minutes.
Add the liquid: today I used a can of diced tomatoes and some pasta sauce and then filled the rest of the post with water.
Add salt and pepper and stir.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer while adding left overs.
I added green beans, sausages, noodles, 1 potato, and a piece of frozen roast beef straight into the pot.
After the beef had defrosted it was removed and chopped into small pieces and re added to soup.
Simmer for 15 minutes and serve with toast or crusty bread. It was delicious.
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