Eating produce that's in season is a great way to save money and be more creative in the kitchen.
From carrots to spinach and mushrooms, there are a lot of amazing dishes you can create, and with autumn here, a comforting soup is just the thing.
Whether you want a smoky chickpea soup or something completely unexpected like a gingery soup, these autumn soup recipes will inspire and delight your whole family.
Smoky chickpea and veg soup
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
30ml olive oil
125g streaky bacon, roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
5ml chopped garlic
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 sticks of celery, chopped
3 courgettes, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1.5 litres of vegetable stock
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
200g baby spinach
125ml grated Parmesan
Method
Heat half the oil in a saucepan, add the bacon, and cook for a few minutes until starting to brown.
Add the remaining oil and fry the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, courgettes, and potatoes for 10 minutes. Add the stock, chickpeas, tomatoes, salt and pepper.
Bring the soup to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes, until wilted. Add Parmesan and serve.
Recipe by Angela Day.
Carrot and ginger soup
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 tbs olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 inches of ginger, peeled and grated
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
For the pesto
100g fresh flat-leaf parsley
50g hazelnuts, toasted
50g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
150ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over low heat. Next stir in the onion, garlic, potato, ginger and carrots. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the carrots are tender.
Remove the lid and pour in the hot stock, stirring well, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Pour the soup into a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency.
Next, make the pesto by placing all the ingredients into a food processor and blitzing for a few seconds, the pesto should be chunky and not too blended.
To serve, pour the soup into bowls and garnish with the pesto.
Recipe by Clodagh McKenna.
Tasty vegetable soup
This recipe is provided by Yebo Fresh.
Sauté chopped onions or sliced leeks in a bit of oil until they are slightly yellow and look see-through. For a good-sized pot of soup, use at least one large onion or two sliced leeks. (Leeks must be washed very thoroughly before use as there is often sand caught in their green leaves.)
Add enough water to cover all the vegetables you will add to the pot. Peel two or three carrots. You can either cut them into small pieces or leave them whole and mash them with a fork once they are soft. Put the carrots into the pot, together with any other vegetables like turnips (peeled and cut into smaller pieces), beans, broccoli, cauliflower, baby marrows, tomatoes, cabbage, or celery . All the vegetables must be washed and cut up before going into the pot.
Do not use potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut, or pumpkin for this sort of soup.
Bring the vegetables to a boil. Turn the heat down and let the soup simmer until all the vegetables are soft.
Add two stock cubes (vegetable, beef, or chicken cubes are fine) and a packet or tin of tomato paste. Add more water; the amount depends on how thick or thin you like your soup to be. Add salt and pepper to taste. Taste the soup before serving. If you think it should be stronger, add the stock cube.
For variations, this could become a bean soup if you add a tin of baked beans or butter beans. Or add some lentils or pasta. (Note that the dry beans and dry lentils may be more cost-effective than the tinned items.) Using these ideas will give you several different types of soup to make throughout the cold season.