Five soups to keep you warm this autumn

Ingredients: Serves 8

Knob of butter

500g of roasted peeled chestnuts (or cheat and use 500g of vacuum packed chestnuts.) plus three chestnuts, crumbled

2 cooking apples, peeled and chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tbsp calvados

1 ltr good vegetable stock

2 tbsp lightly whipped cream

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Method

1 Sauté the chestnuts in the butter along with the apples, celery, onion and garlic.

2 After a couple of minutes, cover the lightly sautéed mixture with parchment paper (tucking it around the sides of the pan) and allow the nuts and vegetables to steam gently for about 10 minutes until softened.

3 Remove the parchment paper and add the calvados - you can flame it at this stage if you like, but it’s not essential.

4 Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Blitz, taste for seasoning and add a little bit more vegetable stock if you like a slightly thinner soup.

Top with the whipped cream, pomegranate seeds and the crumbled chestnut.

2. Carrot and lentil soup with orange and coriander by Shirley Spear

Ingredients: Serves 8/12

750g carrots, weighed after topping, tailing and scraping

2 medium onions

2 fat cloves of garlic

50g salted Scottish butter

120g dried red lentils

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

2 rounded tsp ground coriander (or 1 large bunch fresh coriander, washed and finely chopped)

1 large orange, zest and juice (or 2 heaped tbsp homemade bitter-orange marmalade)

750ml vegetable or chicken stock, made with a cube or gel, or stock made with your own leftover chicken carcass

500ml fresh milk

4 tbsp fresh double cream (optional)

Sliced chorizo to garnish warmed in a little olive oil in a frying pan beforehand (optional)

Method

1. Slice the carrots approx 1cm thick.

2. Peel and chop onions into small pieces. Crush and chop garlic.

3. Melt butter in a thick-based, lidded saucepan. Add onions and garlic and stir well in the hot butter until soft and translucent.

4. Add the prepared carrots and stir well.

5. Rinse lentils in a sieve under cold running water until the water begins to run clear.

6. Add the lentils to the vegetables, stir well and season with salt and pepper.

7. If using ground coriander, fresh orange, or marmalade, add this now and stir well.

8. Pour in the prepared stock, bring to the boil and simmer for up to one-and-a-half hours.

9. Turn off heat, liquidise and return to the saucepan.

10. Add the milk and bring to boiling point.

11. Just before serving, if using fresh coriander, stir this through the soup.

12. Add a touch of double cream if using, stir well and garnish with the chopped chorizo.

3. Cream of Cauliflower Soup by Summer Harvest

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower (about 1.3kg/3lb), stalks discarded and florets chopped

1 large potato, peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 medium white onion, chopped

25g butter

2 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil

1.2l light chicken or vegetable stock

600ml full-fat milk

142ml carton double cream

1-2 tbsp finely snipped chives

Summer Harvest White Truffle Oil to finish

Method:

Put the cauliflower, potato and onion in a large saucepan with the butter and the oil. Gently heat the contents until they start to sizzle, then cover with a lid and sweat over a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables should be softened but not coloured.

Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then pour in the milk and return gently to a boil. This way, there will be no scum forming from the milk. Season to taste then simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Pour in half the cream.

Blend everything in a food processor or blender, in batches. For an extra creamy texture, push the purée through a sieve with the back of a ladle. Stir in the rest of the cream. (If preparing ahead cool, cover and chill for up to a day.)

Reheat the soup until piping hot. Check for seasoning and ladle into warmed bowls. Drizzle a few drops of Summer Harvest White Truffle Oil into each bowl and sprinkle with chives.

4. Soupe Lorraine by Shirley Spear 

Ingredients: Serves 8-12

1 family-sized chicken, preferably Scottish, reared free-range (alternatively, buy 2 small breasts of good quality chicken)

125g ground almonds

125g white breadcrumbs made from a Scottish plain loaf

4 eggs, just hard-boiled

50g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

½ medium bulb fresh fennel, finely chopped

2 large lemons, finely grated zest only

Freshly grated nutmeg, plus salt and pepper for seasoning

850ml good quality chicken stock, preferably homemade (NB you may need a little more stock to adjust the final thickness of the soup)

275ml fresh double cream

Method if using a whole chicken and making your own stock

1. Begin by roasting the chicken in the usual way. Once cooked and cooled, remove one whole breast plus the best of the leg meat. Remove all skin and chop finely. Set aside. Remove remaining meat from the chicken to use separately.

2. Place the chicken carcass in a large saucepan and make a stock using: one large onion, one large carrot, two celery sticks plus some leaves, white of one leek, half a medium fennel bulb plus any fronds, one lemon sliced, and fresh herbs such as parsley, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme. Add a few peppercorns and a sprinkling of sea salt, cover with cold water, plus 275ml dry white wine. Bring to boiling point, cover with a lid and simmer on a low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes minimum. Strain and reserve liquor for the soup.

Method if using chicken breasts, plus stock cube

1. Place 275ml ready-made chicken stock in a wide, shallow saucepan. Add one sliced lemon, plus half a small onion peeled and sliced, two bay leaves, three large sprigs of parsley with stalks, two sprigs of lemon thyme, fronds of fennel if available, plus a few celery leaves taken from the centre of the bunch. Bring to boiling point and turn down heat. Place the chicken breast in the gently simmering stock to poach slowly, for around 10-15 minutes, depending upon thickness of the meat.

2. Once cooked right through, remove chicken and set aside. Strain the poaching liquor through a sieve into a large measuring jug or bowl and keep for making the soup.

Method for making the soup

1. Place yolks from the just hard-boiled eggs, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and two tablespoons of chicken stock into a liquidiser or food processor and whizz to a thick paste. You may need to add a little more stock. Remove to a bowl and add a good grating of fresh nutmeg, some ground sea salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan and sauté the chopped vegetables until soft. Add ground almonds and mix well. Pour in chicken stock, bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add egg and breadcrumb paste. Stir again. Allow soup to simmer for a further five minutes before adding cooked chicken.

3. Stir in the double cream. Bring back to simmering point and cook very gently for a further five minutes or so. The soup will begin to thicken as the cream heats, but take care to ensure it does not boil and split. Check seasoning.

4. At this stage, the soup can be liquidised once more to make it smoother. This is not essential, but it will help to mince the chicken and vegetables more finely. The final soup should be adjusted with more stock or cream until the consistency is just right for immediate serving.

5. Reestit mutton and tattie soup by Martin Wishart 

Ingredients: Serves 8

600g reestit mutton on the bone
800g peeled Shetland black potatoes
4 medium carrots
1 medium yellow turnip
1 onion

Method: 

Place the mutton in a large pan and add enough water to cover.

Bring the water to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, then drain and discard the water (this process removes any excess salt from the mutton).

Peel all the vegetables then cut them into 4-5cm chunks.

Place the vegetables and blanched mutton into a large pot and add enough cold water to cover the vegetables by 10-15cm.

Place the pot on the stove and bring it to the boil, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

Turn down the heat so the water is gently boiling then leave to cook for 1.5 to 2 hours so the vegetables and mutton become tender. 

Serve the vegetables with a good amount of the stock in large, warm bowls.

Cut the mutton into small pieces and add it to the soup.