Category: Soups

Lovage soup

About time to post a new recipe. I was visiting Finland earlier this week and spring happens to be the season for lovage there. Lovage is perhaps a little less known plant; it’s perennial, its leaves are used as herbs, seeds as spices and roots as vegetables. The leaves make for a stunning soup.

Lovage Soup

Lovely summer soup with a slightly unusual flavours. Called lipstikkakeitto in Finnish.

Ingredients

  • 45 g fresh lovage leaves, chopped
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 2 medium floury potatoes, dized
  • 150 ml cream
  • butter
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 2-3 vegetable stock cubes
  • salt
  • pinch of white pepper
  • 1400 ml water

Method

  1. Fry the onions with a knob of butter until they start turning transparent. Don’t let them brown
  2. Add potatoes, lovage, cream and boiling water
  3. Add stock cubes and season to taste with salt and white pepper
  4. Mix plain flour with a little bit of water so it turns into a paste and add to your soup to thicken it
  5. Simmer under a lid for 30-40 minutes
  6. Check seasoning and serve

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4-6

Fresh and Sweet Pea Soup

Pea soup is a traditional Thursday food in Finland. The tradition goes back all the way to the 15th Century when Finland used to be Catholic. People used to fast on Fridays so it was important to eat something nutritious and filling the day before. Although Finland became Lutheran in the 16th Century, the tradition lived on. Today many schools and the Army serve pea soup on a Thursday. For the same reasons, pea soup is also eaten on Shrove Tuesday, day before the fast begins.

Most pea soup eaten in modern day Finland is made with dried peas and is sold in 400 gram tins. As my corner shop doesn’t carry any dried peas, I decided to make up the recipe with fresh ones. Better for it. The soup turned out lovely, fresh but also sweet and filling. I’ve not added any ham to keep this vegetarian but if you feel like it, throw in a couple of handfuls of diced ham about a minute before taking it off the heat.

Fresh Pea Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 500 g fresh frozen peas
  • 500 ml vegetable stock
  • knob of butter
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • salt
  • 1/3 tsp white pepper
  • egg

Method

  1. Sauté the chopped onions with the butter for about four minutes
  2. Meanwhile, place the egg in boiling water for 10 minutes
  3. Add the stock, peas, a pinch of salt, white pepper and the mustard
  4. Bring it back to boil and once it does, leave it to simmer for another four minutes
  5. Blitz with a hand mixer until almost smooth
  6. Serve with half a hard boiled egg
  7. Garnish with small basil or mint leave but don’t use olive oil as I did. It just doesn’t go with it

Quick notes

I’ve tagged this as vegan which it obviously isn’t. But if you substitute butter with vegetable oil and leave the egg out, the pea soup suddenly become suitable for vegan diets. This recipe serves two as a main or four as a starter.

Preparation time: 2 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Gherkin Soup with Dill

Last summer, we had a lovely dinner at Fishers in the City, a very nice fish restaurant in Edinburgh. I can’t remember what I had but Darina’s starter was much more memorable; gherkin soup. I had never heard of such soup before and apart from few recipes online, it’s not well know. Perhaps that’s because gherkins aren’t as popular in much of English speaking world as they are in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

This recipe is a sort of a combination of the few I could find, taking the best bits and keeping it very simple. Unlike many vegetarian soups I think the gherkins bring a bit more body and distinct flavour.

We had this as the soup course on our Christmas meal this year. It’s great as it’s easy to make, I’ll make mine in the morning and heat it up for serving.

Polish Gherkin Soup with Dill

Ingredients

  • 120 g diced onions
  • 150 g diced potatoes
  • 150 g diced carrots
  • 150 g gherkin, sliced into strips
  • 5 tbsp cream
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
  • gherkin brine
  • 1/2 tbsp dill
  • Flour
  • Butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Method

  1. Heat butter in a small sauce pan and lightly fry the onions in it for 3 minutes or until soft. Be careful not to brown them
  2. Add potatoes and carrots, and generously cover with water
  3. Bring to boil and let it simmer till carrots are almost cooked
  4. In a small bowl, dust the sliced gherkins with flour so they’re covered and then add to the pan
  5. Add cream, stock and seasoning to taste. Omit dill if gherkins are preserved with it. You can also use a splash of gherkin brine to enhance the flavour
  6. You can also add a little bit of finely chopped red chillies to add warmth
  7. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4