Recipe #4 of NEWrecipes52 ...

A hearty, homemade soup ... you really can't beat it, especially when the weather is a bit chilly. I have a recipe book dedicated to all things soup, be it clear, crisp consume or wholesome, filling chowder. You name it, my soup book's got it! So this week, I plumped for roasted leek, garlic & bacon soup. The flavours appealed and the recipe looked pretty straight forward.

20g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks
2 courgettes
1 stick celery
2 rashers bacon
1 litre chicken stock
2 cloves garlic
15g fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
splash double cream

1. Melt the butter together with the olive oil over a low heat, add the chopped bacon and cook for a minute or two before adding the chopped leeks, celery, courgettes and garlic. Cook gently for a further 2-3 minutes before adding the bay leaves, covering with foil and transferring to a warm (140oC) oven to roast for 40 minutes ...

2. Transfer the veggies from the roasting tin to a large saucepan and add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Strain the veggies but don't discard the stock, keep it and return it to the saucepan. In the meantime, put the veggies into a blender, along with a ladle full of the stock and blitz ...

... to a smooth, velvety puree ...


4. Add the puree to the saucepan with the retained stock, add some freshly ground pepper, the parsley, a splash of double cream and heat through ...

5. Serve with croutons of crispy, grilled bacon ...

6. Enjoy!