Seeing how it’s blasting down outside I thought we’d do something seasonal. Actually just pausing on that a second, how come the weather was so reluctant to accept the arrival of Summer a few months back but has been more than happy to slip straight into Autumn?
It’s because England is stuck on the edge of the Atlantic and there’s lots of water around. Also we tend to get the back-end of America’s hurricanes – typical, even our weather is just the left-overs from somewhere else!
Anyway this soup comes with lots of certificates of healthiness so I decided to ruin that by serving it with olive oil-drenched toast filled with cheese and creamy mushrooms.
Soup Ingredients
- Assorted seasonal (and unseasonal, if you so fancy) vegetables e.g. courgettes, leeks, onion, carrot, squash, parsnips
- Fresh herbs e.g. sage, thyme, basil etc
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Hot stock (about a litre)
First job – the veg; chop and put in a bowl, then add herbs. Liberally drizzle with oil and give it a good stir. Then put on a baking tray and pop in the oven until the vegetables are softened and starting to brown a bit:
Get a big saucepan, add the vegetables to it and then pour in enough stock to just below the surface of the contents:
Let it simmer and bubble for 10 or so minutes, then take off the heat and get the blender out:
Blitz the veg to your desired consistency:
Now cover the pan and get cracking with the toasts. For this you’ll need:
- Baguette
- Mushrooms (a punnet)
- Cream (half a cup)
- Fresh chives
- Olive oil
- Mushroom Ketchup
- Shaved parmesan
First, cut the baguette in half horizontally. Then pull the bread-guts out to leave two empty shells:
Brush the inside of both halves with olive oil:
Pop the bread under the grill for a couple of minutes to crisp it up a bit. Then remove from the heat, set aside and get the filling ready.
Put some cream in a small pan and heat. Add the chopped up mushrooms and mushroom ketchup and simmer until the mushrooms have shrunk and the liquid has reduced.
Add the chopped chives and stir:
Now get the toasted baguette and fill with the mushrooms. Pop in a warm oven for 10 minutes to get everything heated up a bit.
Serve the soup in warmed bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche and a half baguette sprinkled with shaved parmesan:
But wait a minute what does that label say?
Julie Walters? She’s the one in ‘Mamma Mia’ – British actress. Comedian. But many years ago she was on a UK sketch show and did a skit about a waitress serving soup. She is a British institution! And my other half loved this sketch:
That mushroom filling looks divine- mushroom ketchup though? Seriously?
Absolutely love those soup bowls!!!
Well the mushroom ketchup is more like worcestershire sauce really – I don’t know why they call it ketchup
Yay, olive oil and cheese toast! I can’t wait to try this soup. Temps have dipped down to 93 here in South Texas!
Stop it all of you – we are shivering and damp over here!!!
Would you like America to send a full fledged, bona fide hurricane instead of the tired and weary leftovers?
Why not – just get it over and done with
It’s sunny & 24-7C here in Portland, OR, but that looks delicious. Mmm, creamy cheesy mushroom stuffed baguette!
24 degrees centigrade? We didn’t even get that in August here in dank Surrey!
Wow! That looks really good, especially the mushroom toasts. Definitely going to try that.
By the way, I loved the scenery shot. Who is that standing next to the sign post?
Yes i do like the random photos – i dont know who that poor soul is – but i cant believe they dont know what they’re doing!
That looks like the perfect meal for our rainy, chilly, raw weather we’ve been having here – so sorry about sending the hurricanes. The soup and baguettes sound great & you really did an outstanding job on presentation there.
thanks for that – we’ve had a bit of a respite these last couple of days but its on its way back apparently
Lovely soup, and love the sketch! Julie Walters is just brilliant! Is it your birthday?
We do like Julie Walters – it was my birthday a while ago these posts kind of stack up though!
looks really good, i wanna try it
Hope you do!
the soup looks really great, and I love the way you decorate your dish ^^
Yes its the finishing touches that turn something simple into something that looks good too!
Two soups! Love it! I made the fish stew from this blog and the family loved it!
Its v flattering when someone actually uses one of these recipes – hope it went well!
What a lovely plate of comfort food!
Yes especially good on a cold Sunday night!