Wrap up warm with winter soups
ANDREW SWAN
As the evenings draw in and the temperature drops, there are few things more comforting than wrapping your hands around a steaming bowl of soup. It’s cheap to make, endlessly adaptable, and a brilliant way to use odds and ends lingering in the fridge.
Robbie Kelly’s hearty mushroom soup
Here in Hastings and St Leonards we’re lucky to have a wealth of culinary talent on our doorstep, from chefs and bakers to growers and greengrocers, all with clever tricks for coaxing flavour out of simple, affordable ingredients. Below, we asked a selection of the professional local food community for their favourite thrifty tips to help elevate your next pot of soup, along with two recipes for inspiration.
Chef Alfie Foster at The Cove, Fairlight says: “Save your left over cheese rinds in the freezer. Add it to your soup stock for a creamy umami hit. You can even chop up your parmesan rind into small squares, then microwave them on high for a minute and they’ll puff up into crispy cheesy croutons to top your soup!”
Mark Edwards at Supernature hard boils his chicken carcass with leftover veg for a quick stock which becomes a carrot and coriander soup for effortless weekday lunches.
Nigel Akehurst at Indie Farmer recommends beef skirt for meat based soups: “It’s a traditional butcher’s cut but without the cost associated with ribeye or sirloin. Cook it hot and quick like a normal steak, let it rest and slice against the grain for melt-in-the-mouth results.” Perfect as a topping for ramen!
The chef team at the Crown of James and Jody suggest making flavoured oils like chilli or garlic to elevate your weeknight soup. James also notes that if you are peeling vegetables for your soup, retain the skins, give them a good wash and combine with some flour, egg and herb or spices of your choice to make a shallow fried crispy bhaji or fritter garnish. Jody recommends freezing mugs of soup if you have made too much – get them out of the freezer on a night where you don’t have time to cook and you’ve got instant, wholesome ‘cup-a-soup’ with no mess and no effort.
Jordan Rogers, development chef at Bill’s, says old sourdough bread can be used to make pangrattato or ‘poor man’s parmesan’ as it’s known in Italy. Take stale bread, cut into cubes, drizzle with good olive oil and toast in the oven at 120°c until crisp and fully dry. Crush it or blitz in a food processor until it forms crumbs. Use as a soup or pasta topping as an authentic Italian replacement for cheese. Because the crumbs are dehydrated, they will last for a long time in tupperware in your kitchen cupboard.
Jay at Carrolls Greengrocers says: “Always ask your greengrocer for broken carrots and any other class 2 fruit and veg”. They will be happy to move on imperfect stock for a very reasonable price.
Freelance baker and baking tutor Emmanuel Hadjiandreou recommends making bread soups with stale bread. They are popular all over Europe including Tuscan pappa al pomodoro, which is made by simmering breadcrumbs in a simple tomato sauce – cheap, filling and delicious.
Tad at Bunka, Bun by Bunka and the West Hill Kiosk keeps the dripping from joints of meat to add flavour to soups during the week. He also says that if he’s short on stock, he boosts flavour to his soup by adding acidity at the end of the cooking process with a little lemon juice or red wine vinegar.
Steve at EAT@ recommends keeping a tub of tomato tops and bottoms discarded when making salads over the summer. He has recently made a tomato, butterbean and chipotle soup – perfect for autumn weather.
For those inspired to go further than a simple broth, two local experts share warming noodle bowls built for winter evenings.
Kim Duke’s noodle soup
Spiced Peanut Noodle Soup, Kim Duke at Tonka
Ingredients, serves two
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely diced or roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
- 600 ml cold water
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce or kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter or Jimmy’s Satay Sauce
- A handful of dry roasted peanuts 1 egg, boiled 7 minutes (optional)
- 250g egg noodles (ramen noodles also work beautifully)
- A couple of handfuls of greens — cavolo nero, sprouts, mange tout, or whatever’s in the fridge
“This time of the year the heart yearns for noodle soup — this one is rich with peanut butter, lifted with chilli and ginger, and endlessly adaptable.”
Method
- In a large pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and add two cloves of garlic, a thumb of ginger, and two spring onions, all finely chopped. Sauté for a few minutes until lightly golden and fragrant. Add half a sliced red chilli, then stir through a tablespoon of peanut butter or satay sauce and two tablespoons of chicken bouillon powder — or use miso paste, vegetable stock, or whatever stock you have to hand, bone broth would be a lovely alternative.
- Pour in 600ml of cold water and let it simmer gently for 2–3 minutes. Add a tablespoon of dark soy or kecap manis, then drop in 250g of egg noodles (or ramen) and a couple of handfuls of greens — cavolo nero, sprouts, mange tout, anything that needs using up. Cook for 1–2 minutes, just until the noodles are tender and the greens are still bright.
- Serve with a seven-minute egg, a scattering of sliced chilli, and a handful of dry-roasted peanuts for a flavour boost. Comfort in a bowl — creamy, crunchy, and nourishing.
Mushroom noodle soup, Robbie Kelly, Basils Fungi Farm
Robbie Kelly swears by this quick recipe for a Japanese-inspired noodle soup. It’s hearty and filling and uses inexpensive ingredients.
“We used Velvet shank mushrooms – a native equivalent of the Enoki mushrooms that you’ll commonly find in supermarkets. You can buy Japanese-style broths in supermarkets (just add water) or endeavour to make your own from scratch!”
Ingredients, serves two.
- 1l broth/stock
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp white miso
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 100g noodles
- 100g velvet shank mushrooms
Method
- Peel and grate ginger and garlic, add it to a pan with your broth and soy sauce and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add the noodles to the simmering broth, we opted for rice noodles, but go for something chunkier if that’s your preference. Our noodles take 3 minutes to cook. In the final minute of cooking the noodles, add mushrooms to the pan.
- Meanwhile, ladle a small amount of broth out of the pan into a bowl and whisk miso into it. Pour back into the soup once noodles are cooked for a huge savoury kick.
- Finish by adding sesame oil and seasoning with extra soy sauce if necessary, and garnish with spring onions.
Soup may be one of the humblest dishes, but with a little imagination, it can also be one of the most satisfying. Whether you’re crisping stale bread into croutons, simmering a stock from leftovers, or adding a splash of citrus to brighten the bowl, small touches can transform everyday ingredients into something special.
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