Before Placing Finely Chopped Highly Seasoned Raw Beef on Its Menu an Operation Must

Turkey meatballs are a good alternative to pork or beef meatballs (in my mind) so here's a good recipe you can use. It can use a few tweaks and improvements and came out a little dry for me, but here's another basic meatballs recipe you can try.

Taken from Food.com

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground turkey

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup of onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup of parsley, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup of dry breadcrumbs

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients and shape into 30 meatballs approximately 1″ across. Spray a nonstick pan lightly with veggie oil. Cook the meatballs for 5-6 minutes or until cooked through and nicely browned on the outside You will likely have to repeat the process for a second batch unless you have one big frying pan!

This is a soup I've been curious to try for awhile, and it was very good but could probably use some improvements (for instance, adding Brandy helps with the flavor). Nonetheless, I can share a very basic recipe that can definitely be enhanced however you would like it.

Recipe is taken from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup of margarine (I used butter)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)

1 cup light cream (I used sour cream)

salt and pepper to taste

1 sprig fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the mushroom caps, discarding the stalks.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan and cook the spring onion, garlic and lemon thyme, stirring, for 1 minute, or until the garlic is golden. Add the mushroom and salt and white pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mushroom just softens. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
3. Remove from the heat and add the stock, stirring continuously. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Whisk the cream into the soup, then reheat gently, stirring. Do not allow the soup to boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with the chopped chives and thyme.

Note: I blended my soup so that I wouldn't have chunks of mushroom – just a preference though 🙂

This is a dish that will instantly be one of your favorites. It's quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. The ingredients are minimal and it's also something that's very seasonal.

Recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook (which I highly recommend buying).

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

-1 and 3/4 pounds of leeks

-2 cloves of garlic

-butter

-olive oil

-6 sprigs of fresh thyme

-1 cup of Cheddar cheese

-salt

-pepper

-1 cup of heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Get yourself 1 and 3/4 pounds of leeks, peel back the scruffy outer leaves, trim the ends and discard, then quarter the leeks lengthways and roughly chop them.

Put them into a colander, give them a really good wash to get rid of any dirt, and drain. Peel and finely slice 2 cloves of garlic. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add 2 pats of butter, a lug of olive oil, and the garlic.

Pick the leaves off 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, discarding the stalks. Just as the garlic begins to take on the smallest amount of color, add all the leeks and thyme leaves and give them a stir. Turn the heat up and cook for about 10 minutes, until the leeks have softened.

Meanwhile, grate 1 cup of Cheddar cheese. Remove the pan of leeks from the heat and season with a couple of good pinches of salt and pepper. Add just under a cup of heavy cream and half the grated cheese. Mix everything up and transfer into an earthenware dish that will give you a layer of leeks about 1 inch thick. Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

Vegetarians…look away. This is one of those meals that I really crave. Steak. Guacamole. Sauteed veggies. Wrapped in a tortilla. Can't get any better than that.

There you have it. And guess what? It's so easy to make. Recipe is from SimplyRecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb of flank steak, skirt steak or carne asada
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced with the grain, not against the grain as one would normally slice an onion. Slice first in half, and then slice off sections a half inch wide at widest point.
• 2-3 bell peppers of various colors, stemmed, seeded, de-ribbed, sliced lengthwise into strips
• Salt

Marinade:

• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 fresh Jalapeño pepper, seeded, ribs removed, finely chopped (be careful not to touch your eyes or anywhere near your eyes after handling a Jalapeño pepper!)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, including stems

METHOD

Mix all marinade ingredients. Coat the steak with the marinade and let it sit at room temperature for an hour, or longer in the fridge. Before you cook the meat, wipe off most of the marinade and sprinkle the steak with salt.

So I know it's been a loooong time since I've posted anything as of yet, (and Happy New Year, by the way) but it's been a busy winter! What with going home for the holidays and eating home-cooked food, I didn't really have anything to make! As I've now settled into a new year and a new job opportunity, getting a chance to post something on my blog has been a little tricky. But fear not! I am back with a delicious "must-try" recipe that you're going to love.

This is the end product in all its glorious-ness. The puff pastry used over the pie was also made from scratch and if you're interested in trying it out, I will post it below. Fyi, the process will take about 2 hours. Also, before delving into the recipe, major props go to my boyfriend for making this pie. I just took the pictures. 🙂

This was another of Jamie Oliver's recipes and the recipe originally was called "British Beef and Onion Pie" but since we bought some turkey meat from the Farmer's Market, we just thought of substituting the beef with turkey. In all honesty, the turkey was superb and we didn't miss the beef one bit (and the bf is a beef-lover!)

British Turkey and Onion Pie (Serves 4)

Ingredients

3 medium onions

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 pound good-quality ground beef (we substituted ground turkey)

1 teaspoon English mustard

optional: 1 teaspoon Marmite

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, such as Lea & Perrins

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting (we used white whole wheat flour, which worked a charm)

1 quart beef-broth, preferably organic (you can use any kind of broth here; we used vegetable because we didn't have chicken or beef on hand)

2 X 9 inch pie crusts **(If making your own puff pastry, see below)**

1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic, or a splash of milk

To make your turkey filling

Peel and roughly chop your onions, carrots, and celery – don't worry about technique, just chop away until fine. Remove the rosemary leaves from the woody stalks and chop finely. Place a large casserole-type pan on a high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, all the vegetables, the rosemary, and the bay leaves. Stir every minute for around 10 minutes or until the veggies have softened and lightly colored. Stir in the ground turkey, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon. Add the mustard, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 teaspoons of flour. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid lightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it from sticking on the pan.

To make your pie

Fill a large baking dish with the beef filling and allow it to cool down. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator 10 minutes before you need to roll it out. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Dust a clean work surface and your rolling pin with some flour and lay the pie crusts one on top of the other, then fold in half and roll out the pastry to 1/8 inch thick. Once it's large enough to cover your serving dish easily, wind the pastry around the rolling pin and unroll it over the dish (don't worry if it breaks or tears, just patch it up). Run a knife around the edge of the dish to trim  off any excess pastry. Using a fork, press down around the edge of the pastry to "crimp it". Make a hole in the middle of the pastry using the tip of a knife. Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg or a little milk. Bake on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp.

To serve your pie

Place the pie in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. It's best served with some simply steamed greens like broccoli or peas tossed in a little butter.

** How to make homemade puff pastry **

From AllRecipes.com

Makes 3 1/2 pounds

Ingredients

5 cups bread flour (I used white whole wheat flour)

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups water, or as needed

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer that is fitted with a dough hook. Gradually stir in water until the dough holds together enough to clean the sides of the bowl. You may not need the full amount of water. Shape into a flat ball, and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
2. Place the butter between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound into a flat disc using a rolling pin or other heavy object. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Place the disc of chilled butter in the center and fold the two ends over it so that it is completely encased in dough. Roll out the dough again, taking care not to let the butter break through the dough, to about 1/2 inch thickness. Fold into thirds. This is the first "turn". Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangle again. Fold into thirds. By this time the butter is starting to warm up. Place the dough on a baking sheet and mark it with two pokes from your finger (two turns). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Repeat this rolling, folding and turning two more times, then refrigerate until firm. Repeat two more times for a total of 6 "turns". Wrap and refrigerate. The dough is now ready to roll out and use in any recipe calling for puff pastry. Roll the dough out as thin as 1/4 inch to make pastries. Bake in a preheated oven of at least 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) to get the maximum puff from your pastry.

We halved the recipe to make enough dough for 2 (9 inch) pie crusts.

Although it takes a lot of time and effort to make homemade puff pastry and the pie, if you are planning to make this recipe I would recommend making the puff pastry ahead of time (or making it a few days early and freezing it). Make sure, though, that the dough is put in the fridge before you use it (not the freezer) otherwise it will be too frozen to roll.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. It was our first time making puff pastry and making a pie so if we can do it, so can you. Enjoy!

So I'm basically giving the whole Food Revolution cookbook away but I made another (comfort food) recipe of Jamie Oliver's that was delish. It's especially important to have warm foods like chili or soup when the weather's not so good. So this is what I had.

with some

Boy, this was a really tasty dinner. Here's what you need.

Good Old Chili Con Carne (Serves 6)

Ingredients

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium carrots

2 celery stalks

2 red bell peppers

olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon chili powder

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 X 15-ounce can garbanzo beans

1 X 15-ounce can of red kidney beans

2 X 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes

1 pound good-quality ground beef

1 small bunch of fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 cups basmati rice

2 cups natural yogurt

1 cup guacamole

1 lime

To Make Your Chili

Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Halve the bell peppers, remove the stalks and seeds, and roughly chop. Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables. Add the chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly colored. Add the drained garbanzo beans, drained kidney beans, and the canned tomatoes. Add the ground beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon. Fill one of the empty tomato cans with water and pour this into the pan. Pick the cilantro leaves and place them in the refrigerator. Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in. Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with the lid slightly askew for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it as it cooks, and if you think it's starting to dry out, add a splash of water.

To Serve Your Chili

This is fantastic served with fluffy rice. Just divide the rice and chili into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves. If you don't fancy rice it's equally good with a nice hunk of crusty bread, over a baked potato, or with couscous. Put a small bowl of natural yogurt, some guacamole, and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chili with the cilantro leaves.

Dressed Asparagus (Serves 4-6)

Put a saucepan of water on to boil. Get 1 pound of asparagus and bend the base of each stalk to click the woody ends off, leaving you with the tender tips. Add a teaspoon of salt to the saucepan, and all the asparagus. Place a lid on, bring back to a boil, and cook for 1 to 2 1/2 minutes, depending on how thick your asparagus spears are. Put 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drain the asparagus, place on a serving dish, and drizzle over the vinaigrette, making sure that all the spears are coated.

If you have any other winter recipes you'd like to share, please let me know in the "comments" section!

Love salads? If you do, this may just be a perfect side dish to try. I love a good salad every now and then, but I get bored of using the same salad mix from Trader Joe's with the same dressing I make (a little bit of apple cider vinegar mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper). So, once again, Jamie Oliver inspired me to elevate my salad. This time, I went to the Farmer's Market with the intention to buy some kind of lettuce. I had never bought just a stalk of lettuce before because I figured I wouldn't be able to use all of it before it withered away. I was wrong. I purchased some lovely Romaine lettuce, washed and dried it, and put it between some paper towels to keep in the fridge. As I was thinking of what to make, I found a recipe called "Evolution Green Salad" in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook. Believe me when I say that I'm no sponsor for Jamie Oliver's cookbook but his recipes truly stir something inside of me. I think it's because they are so easy to make and if I have most of the ingredients on hand, I might as well try it out! So I had my lettuce, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts (which I had previously bought to make a pesto sauce out of), and I had some bacon in the fridge. These are literally all the ingredients used for this tasty salad. Behold!

The best part about his salads is that even if you don't have all the ingredients, if you're planning to make a salad, improvise! If you have some other kind of cheese, use it! Don't have bacon or if you're vegetarian you can skip it or add something else (like veggies!). Also, this recipe calls for Butterhead lettuce which I clearly didn't have. I was perfectly happy using Romaine instead. Oh, and another great tip is that I used one of Oliver's jam jar dressings (which are super simple to make) so I'll provide that below too.

Evolution Green Salad (Serves 4)

1). Get yourself 1 Butterhead lettuce. Click the leaves off, discarding any limp or discolored outer ones. Wash the leaves and spin them dry. If ready to serve, put them into a bowl and lightly drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the Balsamic dressing. If you want to add more, move on to the next steps…

2). Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and add 4 slices of pancetta or smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic. Cook for a few minutes, turning a couple of times, until sizzling and golden. If you're taking your salad further, remove the slices from the pan and put to one side so they stay crispy until ready to serve. If you're ready to tuck in, just drape the warm slices over the lettuce and serve.

3). Carefully wipe the pan with a ball of paper towels and put it back on a medium heat. Add a handful of pine nuts and toast them for a couple of minutes, until just golden brown. Sprinkle them over the salad.

4). Get a small chunk of Parmesan cheese and use a speed peeler to carefully shave strips of it over the salad.

Jam Jar Dressings (Balsamic Dressing)

Put 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into a jam jar with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well.

It's been something that's been on my mind for awhile…baking with better ingredients. If I'm making pizza then I usually keep some all-purpose flour around my kitchen and use the rest of the flour up by making a bunch of different desserts. But lately I've heard how little nutrients (like zero!) you absorb from all-purpose white flour so I heard from a friend that she made oat flour scones for Thanksgiving. Using oat flour instead of all-purpose flour for baked goods means it's slightly healthier so you don't have to feel bad about eating more than one! This…I had to try.

The pictures above illustrate the process of making the scones. You don't need to buy oat flour but if you have rolled oats or old-fashioned oats, just put them in a food processor until they are ground up. They shouldn't be powdery but should have a slightly grainy texture. I combined two recipes to make these oat flour scones.

The first recipe was taken from the website CookinCanuck.com where they made Crystallized Ginger & Chocolate Scones with Homemade Oat Flour. Here's the recipe.

Crystallized Ginger & Chocolate Scones with Homemade Oat Flour
From the kitchen of Kristen Oxley

1 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats (to make 1 1/4 cup oat flour)
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 1/2 oz. crystallized ginger, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup 2% milk) plus 1 tbsp cream or milk for brushing scones
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To make the oat flour, place 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats in a food processor and process until finely ground, about 1 minute. Pour into a bowl and scoop 1 1/4 cups oat flour back into the processor. Reserve any remaining flour for another use. Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and baking powder to the processor. Pulse briefly to combine.

Add chilled butter to the processor and pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of a fine meal. Add the ginger to the processor and pulse to mix. Pour 3/4 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 cup 2 % milk) into the processor and pulse quickly until just mixed.

Turn the mixture out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the dough. Lightly dust your hands with flour and gently knead to mix in the chips, and make into a ball. Using the palms of your hands, roll the dough into a log shape, about 14 inches long and 1 1/4 inches high). Using a spatula or scraper, press the dough down lightly on top and against each short end to flatten.

Cut the rectangle in triangles cutting at an angle, for a total of 12 to 14 scones.

Arrange the scones on the prepared baking sheet. Using about 1 tablespoon heavy cream (or 2% milk), lightly brush the tops of the scones. In a small bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon sugar and cinnamon. Lightly sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top of each scone.

Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until the surface of the scones crack and are golden brown. Cool on the tray or on a cooling rack. Serve.

(Make ahead: The scones can be made ahead and frozen. Place the raw scones on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place in the freezer uncovered. When the scones are completely frozen, place them in plastic freezer bags. Take them out a few at a time and bake for 17-21 minutes at 375 degrees F.)

Makes 12-14 scones.

I just halved the measurements to make 6 scones and didn't have any heavy cream on hand/didn't want to use heavy cream so I substituted about a 1/4 of a cup of milk with a little bit of melted butter (both should be cooled before getting added to the mixture). I also added chocolate chips and a dash of vanilla extract and nutmeg.

The recipe below is taken from All Recipes called "World's Best Scones! From Scotland to the Savoy to the U.S." I used this recipe (below) as a guideline to make 6 scones instead of 12-14.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or rubbing between your fingers until it is in pea sized lumps. Stir in the currants. Mix together 1/2 cup milk and sour cream in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended. Overworking the dough results in terrible scones!
3. With floured hands, pat scone dough into balls 2 to 3 inches across, depending on what size you want. Place onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten lightly. Let the scones barely touch each other. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Let them rest for about 10 minutes.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown. Break each scone apart, or slice in half. Serve with butter or clotted cream and a selection of jams – or even plain.

By the way…it's always good to have a scone with a nice cup of tea 🙂

Hey folks! Happy Thanksgiving! Instead of putting together a traditional turkey feast with all the fixins,' I decided to try something different. I made a whole roasted chicken, Jamie Oliver style! We also made homemade stuffing, mashed yams, an apple crisp, and had some pumpkin pies for dessert. In this post, I'm just going to show you the recipe for how to roast a whole chicken.
We got this chicken from a local Farmer's Market and were curious about how the taste would differ from a regular, store-bought chicken. I don't know if it was the veggies that gave it a nice flavor or whether the herbs were positioned correctly to perfume the chicken, but the flavor was excellent. Without using a syringe to inject flavor into the chicken, it was well seasoned, very juicy, and just all-around delicious. You could, however, lift the skin up and flavor the chicken directly onto the meat but I just followed Jamie Oliver's instructions.

Perfect Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 x approximately 3 1/2 pound chicken, preferably free-range, organic, or higher welfare

2 medium onions

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

1 bulb of garlic

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay, or sage, or a mixture

To Prepare Your Chicken

Take your chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. Pile all the vegetables and garlic into the middle of a large roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in there for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavor). Put the lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.

To Cook Your Chicken

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you're doing roasted potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them. Get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the vegetables look dry, add a splash of water to the pan to stop them from burning. When cooked, take the pan out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of aluminum foil and a kitchen towel and put aside while you make your gravy.

To Carve Your Chicken

Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavor). Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off. Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other. When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy, roasted veggies, and bread sauce.

Since it's finally fall, I thought I'd post another soup recipe to get into the spirit of things. I got this recipe from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook, and it's such a great book! It runs the gamut on all different types of foods (Indian, British, American classics) and incorporates some great ways to amplify your meals. Since I had some frozen peas leftover from my Beef Wellington, I thought I'd make this soup to use it up. It only requires a few simple ingredients and a blender to puree the soup.

The recipe is as follows (taken from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

1 3/4 quarts chicken or vegetable stock, preferably organic

olive oil

5 1/2 cups frozen peas

a small bunch of fresh mint

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

optional: 3/4 pound cooked ham, preferably free-range or organic

To Make Your Soup

Peel and roughly slice the carrots. Slice the celery. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel and slice the garlic. Put the broth in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients to the pan and mix together with a wooden spoon. Cook for around 10 to 15 minutes with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden. Add the boiling broth to the vegetables. Add your peas. Give the soup a good stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pick your mint leaves.

To Serve Your Soup

When the peas have softened, remove the pan from the heat. Season with salt and pepper and add the mint leaves. Using an immersion blender or liquidizer, pulse the soup until smooth. If using ham, chop it up and stir in. Heat through before dividing between your serving bowls. Really nice served with a toasted slice of ciabatta, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

weedenhunne1994.blogspot.com

Source: https://deliciousoutput.wordpress.com/

Share this post