Recipe and styling by: Sarah Dall, Photographs by Henk Hattingh. Article from the July 2015 issue of Food and Home Entertaining Magazine.
Winter cravings for ladles of liquid goodness are sorted with these heart-warming bowls of comforting flavour
Seafood bisque
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main Easy 1 hr
The flavour combinations
15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil, 10 large prawns, peeled (reserve the shells) and deveined, 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped, 1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 bay leaf
1L (4 cups) water
125ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
60ml (1/4 cup) basmati rice
150g tomato paste
pinch saffron threads
375ml (11/2 cups) fish stock
10 mussels
100g salmon/trout, cut into cubes salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 sesame seed buns, insides removed
How to do it
1 Heat the olive oil in a medium-size casserole and fry the prawn shells over medium heat, 5 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and fry until the onion are soft and cooked through, 5 minutes. Add the bay leaf, water, wine, rice, tomato paste and saffron, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer gently until the rice has cooked through, 15 minutes.
2 Place the mixture in a blender and blitz until smooth. Strain and return to the pot. Add the fish stock, mussels, prawns and salmon or trout and poach, 5 minutes. Season to taste and serve in the hollowed-out bread rolls.
Sweet potato, orange and sage soup
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main Easy 1 hr 15 mins
The flavour combinations
200g sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs fresh sage + extra, to garnish
15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
zest and juice of 1/2 orange, salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
250ml (1 cup) vegetable stock
125ml (1/2cup) fresh cream
2 large oranges
zest of 1 orange, to garnish
How to do it
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the sweet potato, garlic, onion, sage, olive oil and orange zest and juice in a large roasting tray. Season and roast until the sweet potato is soft and cooked through, 30 minutes.
2 Remove the roasting tray from the oven (turn the oven to the grill setting) and place all of the ingredients in a blender, along with the stock and cream. Blitz until smooth, but do not over-blend.
3 Cut the oranges in half and scoop out the flesh. Fill each orange half with soup, season to taste and garnish with fresh sage leaves and orange zest to serve.
Roasted tomato and chorizo soup
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main Easy 1 hr
The flavour combination
700g Rosa tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, peeled, 2,5ml (1/2 tsp) smoked paprika, 45ml (3 tbsp) olive oil
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine, 1 chorizo, peeled and thinly sliced
4 red/yellow peppers, halved lengthways and seeded 15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
125ml (1/2 cup) fresh cream salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
200g vine tomatoes, roasted for 15 minutes at 180°C, to garnish
How to do it
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the Rosa tomatoes and garlic cloves in a roasting tray, add the paprika and the 45ml (3 tbsp) olive oil and toss to coat. Pour over the white wine and roast in the oven, 30 minutes.
2 While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the chorizo in a frying pan over medium heat until golden and crisp.
3 Place the peppers on a baking tray, drizzle over the 15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil, season to taste and bake in the oven, 15 minutes.
4 Remove the roasted Rosa tomatoes and peppers from the oven. Place the roasted Rosa tomatoes in a blender along with the cream and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture and fold in the crisp chorizo. Season to taste and pour the soup into the baked peppers. Garnish with roasted vine tomatoes and serve.
Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living. Louis P. De Gouy
Cauliflower and roasted garlic soup
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main Easy 1 hr 15 mins
The flavour combination
2 whole butternuts, halved and seeded
15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 15g butter
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets + extra, roasted, to garnish
300ml fresh cream 400ml vegetable stock
3 garlic cloves, roasted for 15 minutes at 180°C and peeled
chives, chopped, to garnish
How to do it
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the butternut halves on a roasting tray, drizzle with the olive oil and season to taste. Roast in the oven until cooked through, 45 minutes.
2 Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and saute until soft. Add the cauliflower florets, cream, stock and garlic cloves and simmer until the cauliflower is soft and cooked through, 10-15 minutes. Place the mixture in a blender and blitz until smooth. Season to taste and pour the warm soup into the prepared butternut halves. Serve garnished with roasted cauliflower florets and chopped chives.
Moroccan chicken and chickpea soup
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main Easy 1 hr 15 mins
The flavour combination
5ml (1 tsp) olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
5ml (1 tsp) fresh coriander
5ml (1 tsp) cumin
5ml (1 tsp) turmeric
5ml (1 tsp) paprika
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
400g chicken breast fillets
1 x 400g tin chickpeas
4 gem squash
15ml (1 tbsp) fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish
zest of 1 lemon, to garnish
How to do it
1 Preheat the oven to 140°C. Heat the olive oil in a casserole dish over low heat and sweat the onion until soft. Add the carrot, celery and garlic and saute for a further 5 minutes. Add the coriander and spices and fry for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken strips, cover and braise in the oven, 30 minutes.
2 While the soup is braising, steam the gem squash for 15 minutes over a pot of boiling water. Cut them in half and remove the seeds.
3 Serve the soup in the gem squash ‘bowls’ garnished with chopped parsley and lemon zest.
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