Busy Mum's Magic Recipe

Home made soup.


Warming, filling, healthy, hearty, delicious.


Grab the bits and pieces, start them off, fill the house with tempting aromas, come back to yummy lunch.


First off - saving veg:
When I  dig up a whole load of veg all at once that'll never get eaten, I'm never sure how best to store it.  So I peel and chop and throw it in a freezer bag and into the freezer in the garage with a label.  I don't know how well the structure would survive defrosting, but when it comes time to make a soup or a stew I just head down to the garage and grab a handful of whatever I want - it means I always have home-grown veg to hand.  This is also a useful trick for when you see fruit or veg "reduced for quick sale" in the shop, just slightly past it's best.  Peel, chop, throw out any manky bits and freeze for purees, pies, stews or soups.

Now here are two soups I've made this week.


Roast butternut squash, sweet potato and red onion.

• Peel a butternut squash, a sweet potato and a red onion and chop into large chunks.
• Place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes at about 180C.
• Put into a blender in batches with a little stock and blitz.
• Transfer to a pan, stir in as much stock as you like for the consistency that you want and reheat to serve.
• Lovely with a swirl of creme fraiche or double cream.

Veg delight.

• Peel and chop half an onion or a couple of shallots (whatever you have lying around), and saute in a little oil.
• Throw in any bits of frozen root veg from your veg saving (see above) and add any bits from the bottom of your fridge or from your garden - today I used a handful of turnip and a handful of potato from the freezer, two carrots from the garden and half a butternut squash from the fridge.  Also add a small handful of lentils if you like.
• Pour on enough stock to cover the veg.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and leave to simmer for at least an hour.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.  Blitz with a hand blender (watch out because it will probably splash and may still be hot).  Add some more stock if required for the consistency. 
• Reheat to serve.

I love the way that these soups take hardly any effort, but I am creating something delicious, I know what's in it, and my children love it.

Little C dunks his bread in, leaves it on the plate to cool down and then tucks in.  Once the bread has finished he sets to work on the spoon.

Little Sis, still only seven and a half months can't get to grips with the spoon yet, so I just give her plenty of dunked bread, which she smears all over her face with gusto.