Irish Farmhouse Vegetable Soup with Rosemary Croutons
This is a real bowl of comfort, particularly if you choose to add the seriously good rosemary croutons – they keep well in an airtight container and are also lovely added to a salad for flavour and crunch. This soup is perfect for freezing: Allow to cool completely before transferring to a sturdy freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 6 months.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery sticks diced
- 1 leeks diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 25 g butter
- 1 large parsnip peeled and chopped
- 400 g floury potatoes diced
- 600 ml vegetable stock
- 120 g frozen peas
- Good drizzle of double cream plus extra for serving
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the croutons:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 20 g butter
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 2-3 slices of white or sourdough bread diced into large cubes
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large pan. Add the carrots, celery, leek and onion with some seasoning, cooking for 10 minutes until softened down.
- Add the rest of the veggies and cook for a few minutes more, then pour in the stock. Season well and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes until the veggies are all tender, adding the peas for the last few minutes. Spoon out one-third of the veggies with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Blitz the rest of the soup with a stick blender until smooth, then remove from the heat. Stir in the reserved whole veggies with a good drizzle of double cream.
- To make the croutons, heat the oil and butter with the rosemary sprigs in a large pan. When hot, add the cubes of bread, toss well then cook for 5-6 minutes until golden and crisp on all sides. Season with sea salt.
- Serve the soup into bowls with some cream on top, seasoning and rosemary croutons.