Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Homemade mushroom soup is one of my absolute favourites, and when you can make it with wild mushrooms there is nothing better.  There's currently a green grocer stall in the outside section of Borough Market selling about 300g of woodland wild mushrooms for £3.50 so this week I took full advantage and have enjoyed this glorious soup for three days solid.

You can make it with any mushrooms though and it'll still be tasty so if you can't get the wild mushrooms, just use a mixture of what you can get hold of locally.

This is a completely vegetarian meal and if you wanted to adapt it to make it vegan, you could just omit from using the cream, or use a plant-based variety such as Elmlea Plant Double.

The below makes enough for x4 full portions.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Here's how:

• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 400g wild or mixed mushrooms
• x1 leek
• x1 red onion
• x1 clove of garlic
• x3 celery sticks
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Pinch black pepper
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp single cream

Firstly drizzle the oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan and place on a low heat. 

Now peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic, slice the leek finely and the celery and place into the pan to gently soften - this is your soup base. 

Now roughly chop the mushrooms and once everything is softened in the pan, add the mushrooms and allow them to get a good coating of the olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper now.

Add the dried thyme, which really complements mushrooms, and pour over the stock and bring to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

Now blitz the soup - I use my Nutribullet so I always allow the soup to cool a little first to avoid any explosions! 

Once blended, return to the heat and once warmed through remove from the heat and stir through the single cream. Add a tiny drizzle to each bowl once dished up as a pretty garnish.Enjoy!

If you're also making the most of soup season; here are a few other soup recipes you might like:
Restorative Green Soup
Alphabet and Hidden Veg Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Roasted Celeriac Soup

As it's January and we are enjoying plenty of lighter dishes; including soups.  I made this as an experiment for the first time today and it was absolutely delicious and I'll 100% be making it again soon.

It's completely vegetarian and vegan; so ideal if you are doing Veganuary or generally following a plant-based diet; but it's equally good for those who still enjoy a bit of everything too.

Celeriacs' can be a bit of a faff to prepare, but this recipe is well worth the initial effort and the rest of it is completely low maintenance too. The end result is a thick and creamy tasting soup - really hearty but super healthy too.

The below serves x4 portions with each portion approximately 200 calories.

Roasted Celeriac Soup

Here's how:

• x1 celeriac (approx 600g)
• x2 large garlic cloves
• x1 large white onion
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Firstly whack the oven onto 180 degrees. 

Now to prepare the celeriac, firstly use a vegetable peeler to remove the outside, dark, gnarly bits of skin. There may be a slightly green tinge underneath, as a posed to the white and creamy depths of the celeriac - it's fine to leave these green bits so you don't lose too much of the celeriac.

Once peeled, carefully slice into 3-4 large slices, and then chop into about 2cm pieces and place into a roasting tin.

Now peel the onion and remove the ends then roughly chop, again into about 2cm sized pieces.

Peel the garlic cloves and throw into the roasting tin with the onion.

Drizzle with the vegetable oil and then season and place into the oven for 35 minutes.

When you remove from the oven, the onion should be charred and have a lovely, smokey flavour which will add to the soup, and the celeriac should have bits that are slightly browning.

Now remove everything and place into a large saucepan and pour over the vegetable stock. 

Use a blender to blitz till thick, smooth and creamy. 

Now gently heat on the hob until warmed through. Enjoy!

Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup

I love a hearty soup and am a huge fan of lentil soups as they are super filling and nutritious too - my Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup is one of our family favourites and especially with thick, crusty bread. 

This soup is an ideal January recipe - it's cheap to make using mostly store cupboard items that are undoubtedly already sitting in your cupboards; plus if you're on any kind of new year diet or detox, soups are always on side and this one is around 300 calories, even with tasty fried chorizo in tow. 

Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup

The below serves a family of four as a main course.

Here's how:

• 140g cooking chorizo
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 carrot
• 320g red split lentils
• 2 roasted red peppers (I use the jarred variety from Lidl)
• 1x tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1.5 pints chicken stock (I used homemade but Knorr Chicken Stock Pots are great)
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Firstly place a heavy bottomed pan  on a low heat on the hob.

Chop the cooking chorizo into small pieces and add to the pan. Gently toss every minute or so until some become nicely charred and use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked chorizo and set aside for now.

Now peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic and add to the pan in the chorizo juices.

Peel and dice the carrot and add to the pan.  Allow to gently saute and add the cayenne pepper at this point. 

Now place the red split lentils (I usually give a very quick rinse first) into the pan and allow to be coated in the oils. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with a pinch of salt and the white pepper.

Roughly chop the roasted red pepper and add to the pan and finally cover with the chicken stock.

Allow to cook through for 20 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. 

Blitz in a blender, Nutribullet or use a hand blender and return to the heat to warm through. 

When hot enough dish up and divide the cooked chorizo between portions and scatter on top as a delicious, meaty garnish. 

If you're looking for more soup inspiration this month here are a few of our other favourite family soups,

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Restorative Green Soup
Mexican Mushroom Soup
Alphabet and Hidden Vegetable Soup
Mediterranean Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Mediterranean Soup

I love a good soup year round but this particular one which relies on ripe and flavourful tomatoes is just a bowlful of summer - it's divine. I guarantee if you make it you'll want to make it again, and soon.

Mediterranean Soup

Here's how:

• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 2 red peppers
• 600g ripe tomatoes
• 100g olives
• Olive oil
• 900ml chicken or vegetable stock
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper to taste
• Handful of basil leaves and stalks
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Grana Padana to taste (optional)

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. 

Cut the tomatoes and the red peppers in half and place into a baking tray or dish and drizzle generously with olive oil. Season and add the oregano and then place into the oven for 30 minutes.

In the meantime make the base of the soup by finely dicing the onion and crushing the garlic and adding to a saucepan with a little olive oil on a low heat.

Finely slice the celery and add to the mix. 

Peel and finely dice the carrot and roughly chop the olives and add to the soup base.

Take the basil leaves away from the stalks and finely chop the stalks - add these to the mix.

Once the tomatoes and red peppers have cooked for 30 minutes and are beginning to char, remove from the oven and place into the soup saucepan - including any juices left behind in the tray.

Make up the stock and pour into the saucepan. Season to taste and at this point add the basil leaves - keeping a couple back to garnish the soup.

Cook for twenty minutes and then remove from the heat. Once cooled, blitz and return to the heat to warm through.

Add a few shavings of Grana Padana or even Cheddar if you like and a basil leaf or two and serve with fresh crusty bread. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may like:

Restorative Green Soup
Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup
Mexican Mushroom Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Leek, Potato and Cauliflower Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Smoky Tomato Soup

Smoky Tomato Soup

I love a good, homemade soup and tomato is up there with my favourites - I often make Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup in the summer months, when tomatoes are ripe and full of flavour, but this version is something else entirely.

It has the background sweetness of a normal tomato soup but the roasted, charred flavour mixed with the paprika and the heat from a red chilli makes it smoky. spicy and completely moreish.

It's completely vegetarian too so great for serving to veggie guests - if you omit the cheese at the end it can also be vegan or plant-based.

The below makes three portions of soup and each bowl is around 240 calories when dressed with a little Grana Padano. 

Smoky Tomato Soup

Here's how:

• 600g tomatoes
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chilli
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 vegetable stock pot made up to around 750-800ml
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Few shavings of Grana Padano

Firstly place onto a high heat of 200 degrees. 

Roughly chop the tomatoes into quarters and throw onto a baking tray. Season generously and pour over the olive oil. Place into the oven for 20 minutes, or until just beginning to char.

In the meantime prepare the base of the soup by finely dicing an onion, mincing a clove of garlic and slicing a chilli and gently frying in a drizzle of olive oil. 

Once the onion mixture is soft, add the paprika and oregano. 

Once the tomatoes are ready, pop them into the pot with the onions and mix through. 

Pour over the vegetable stock and give another seasoning of black pepper and allow to cook away for fifteen minutes.

Blitz the soup off the heat, return to the pan to warm through and serve with a couple of shavings of the Grana Padano. Enjoy!

A few other soup recipes that you might like:

Chunky Lentil & Kale Soup

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Quick Pork Noodle Soup

Restorative Green Soup

Winter Vegetable Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Skinny Broccoli & Fennel Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

Curried Lentil Soup

This warming, comforting soup is the perfect pick-me-up when returning from work on a cold day.

It’s vegetarian and vegan friendly too so good if you are practising Meat Free Monday.

It relies on things you would mostly find in the stock cupboard too - so can be made at the last minute at very little cost, win, win.

The gentle spicing makes this almost a liquid curry soup and it’s great for warming you right through.

Curried Lentil Soup

The below serves four.

Here's how:
200g red split lentils
1 onion
2cm piece of ginger, peeled
1 large garlic clove
2 carrots
1.5 pints vegetable stock
1 drizzle olive oil or a Fry Light Spray
1 tsp medium curry powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala

Firstly drizzle the oil into a saucepan and place on a low heat.

Peel and roughly chop the onion and place in the pan.

Peel and mince or roughly chop the garlic and do the same with the ginger add to the pan.

Now allow these to soften a little before going in with the curry powder, cinnamon, turmeric and garam masala.

While these soften a little, rinse the lentils through with a sieve until the waters run clear.

Now place these into the pan and use a wooden spoon or spatula to move around a little and get a good coating of the spiced garlic, onion and ginger base.

Now pour over the soup and allow to slowly simmer for around 25 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through.

Remove from the heat and once cooled a little, blitz. I use a Nutribullet so I allow the soup to cool right down.

Once blended return to the pan and bring back to the heat and once warmed through dish up. Enjoy with crusty bread or naan.

Here are a few other vegetarian friendly soup recipes you might like:

Restorative Green Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Leek, Potato and Cauliflower Soup

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup

This is my final and favourite post from my 'Seven Days of Soup' challenge - the Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup was utterly delicious and a different version to the one I often make.

Keeping it chunky really made it feel more hearty and more of a meal than some of the more watery soups and it felt like a real, restorative, robust treat during my week long liquid diet. I've made it again since, and this will firmly be one of my staple soups going forward.

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup



Here's how:

• 2 rashers smoked bacon
• 250g red split lentils
• 1 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large carrot
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 litres chicken stock
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Handful bay leaves
• 1 pack kale
• Water to top up as necessary
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Firstly place the lentils into a sieve and give a very thorough rinse to remove any excess dirt or starch from the lentils. Keep running water pouring over if possible whilst you prepare the other parts of the soup.

Place the coconut oil into the pan and onto a low heat. Cut the bacon into small pieces and add to the pan to slowly cook through.

Peel and finely chop the onion, mince the garlic and finely dice the celery stick and add all the pan. Throw in the thyme and rosemary and season generously.

Peel and dice the carrot into small cubes and add to the pan with the lentils. Cook like this for five minutes.

Now pour over the stock and give a thorough stir through and up the heat to a medium. Add the bay leaves now too.

You will need to keep an eye on the soup throughout cooking and remove the 'cooking scum' or the weird bubbly mess that will rise to the top of the pan. Cook for a good 30-40 minutes, then remove the bay leaves.

Now remove about 2 ladle fulls of the soup and set aside. Once cooled, this will be blitzed then returned to the pan, so there is a real combination of textures. Taste at this point and add salt and or pepper as required.

Once the blitzed and chunky part of the soup are combined, return to the heat and add the washed kale and allow to cook for 7-8 more minutes before dishing up into deep bowls. Enjoy!

The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Vegetable Soup

Another one of the soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' challenge whereby I took on souping and juicing for one week, to shift some baby weight before our family holiday to Spain (7lbs in one week is not to be sniffed at).

This particular soup though is a fail safe, and can be adapted to whatever you may have in the fridge or larder. I make this regularly and batch cook so it makes a family dinner, but then the same again, which goes in the freezer for another week. Soup freezes really well!

Feel free to adapt to the ingredients you have to hand but I suggest always using either a white or sweet potato, a carrot or parsnip to make up the 'bulk' of the soup. This recipe is suitable for vegetarians too.

Vegetable Soup



Here's how:

• 1 white potato
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 leek
• cupful peas
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
• Handful bay leaves

Firstly pour in the olive oil into the pan and place on a gentle heat. Peel and dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan.

Slice the celery and leek and they can go into the pan too.

Peel the potato and wash thoroughly, add to the pan. Do the same with the carrot and parsnip.

Make up the vegetable stock and pour over. Give a stir and season accordingly with the salt, pepper and bay leaves.

Cook for 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft to touch with a fork.

Remove the bay leaves and allow to cool slightly. Then blitz with a hand blender or a Nutribullet or alternative blender, return to the pan and re-heat. Enjoy!


The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup

Asparagus Soup with Cripsy Bacon

This is a lovely soup recipe for a light summer meal - especially healthy if you are watching your weight - low on calories but packed full of fresh flavours. 

I enjoyed this soup as part of my self-coined 'Seven Days of Soup' a liquid diet I underwent for a week before my holiday in a bid to shift some stubborn baby weight (7lbs lost in a week). Glen and Bridget enjoyed the same dinner with some crusty bread.

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon



Here's how:

• Bunch asparagus
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• Salt
• Pepper
• Fresh chives
• 1 rasher smoked bacon per bowlful
• Drop of rapeseed or vegetable oil

Firstly pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed pan and place on a light heat. Peel and roughly dice the onion, mince the garlic and chop the celery and add to the pan to soften.

Break off the rough ends of the asparagus - you can usually find this by gently bending until it snaps off.

Once the onion, garlic and celery mixture is softened add the asparagus to fry for a moment and make up the stock in the meantime.

Pour the stock over and season - cook for 30 minutes.

Once the soup has been cooking for 20 minutes or so, you can grill the bacon. You want it to be crisp and deliciousness, crispy enough so you can snip off pieces and drop into the soup when cooked.

Take the soup of the heat and blitz to a smooth pulp (note if using a Nutribullet allow to cool first so it doesn't explode!)

Re-heat the blitzed soup and when cooked through and piping hot pour into bowls. Snip on the crispy bacon and a handful of fresh chives per person - use kitchen scissors rather than a knife.

Enjoy!

Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Following a lovely pumpkin-picking session at The Pumpkin Patch on Sunday, I made this delicious Thai-inspired Pumpkin Soup on Monday for me, Glen who was at home poorly, and Bridget, for a healthy, hearty and warming lunch.

It’s super simple to make, tastes great and you could make a huge batch of it if you so wished. After pumpkin season has passed, you could substitute the pumpkin for butternut squash; which is readily available throughout the year, or even sweet potatoes. But for a lovely, Halloween-inspired meal, this is a great choice – and it works for vegetarians too.

If you're catering for little ones or those without a heat tolerance - maybe tone down the chilli usage to just half a red chilli - we don't need to as Bridget loves a bit of spice and it's a great family meal.

Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Here’s how:

• 1 small roasted pumpkin, or half a larger one (roast for 40 minutes)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large white onion
• 1 red chilli
• 1 clove garlic
• Two thumb nail piece of fresh ginger
• Two sticks celery
• Handful fresh coriander
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 can coconut milk
• 150ml vegetable stock
• ½ Lime

I like to roast the pumpkin for 30-40 minutes first, then allow to cool, peel and chop into bite-sized chunks, discarding the centre seeds and pith, unless you are doing something with the seeds.

Place the coconut oil into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and place onto a medium heat.

Now peel and dice the onion and add to the saucepan to slowly sauté. Peel and mince the garlic and chop the chilli and add to the mix. Slice the celery and add to the saucepan, and peel and slice the ginger and again, add to the saucepan.

Add the pumpkin then pour over the pumpkin and vegetable stock, add the kaffir lime leaves and allow to cook down for 30 minutes or so, to allow the pumpkin to absorb all of the beautiful, fragrant flavours.

After 30 minutes, remove the kaffir lime leaves, add the coriander leaves and the juice of half a lime and allow to cool a little.

Once sufficiently cooled, use a hand blender or food processor to blitz to a fine soup consistency.

Return to the pot, and place on a medium heat to bring it back up to the required temperature. Serve with some delicious bread – enjoy!

Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup