Well, Summer what can I say? Wettest June on record, greyest too. I've been putting rugs on my horses as the temperature, wind and driving rain has been making them miserable. The garden has suffered, thank goodness for the greenhouse and polytunnel or there would be nothing to eat from the garden this year (slugs are doing well but I don't fancy eating them!).
To cheer myself up on another wet Monday I've made soup, I know it sounds odd and shouldn't make me feel cheerful - but it worked.
It's sort of based on a summer minestrone or soup au pistou but I just used what I had in the fridge and polytunnel.
You will need;
Olive oil (scant amount - 1 tablespoon?)
One onion, finely chopped
Two carrots - peeled and sliced
Three large celery sticks, chopped
Two courgettes (I had one yellow and one green - looks pretty)
Handful of flat leaved (Italian) parsley
Tin of ready chopped tomatoes (organic)
1 teaspoon of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillion powder
salt and pepper
Method
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| Saute onion, carrot and celery in olive oil for 5 minutes |
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| Courgettes and parsley from the greenhouse |
Add sliced courgettes to the vegetable mix and soften gently for about 5 minutes. Next add the tin of tomatoes, then fill the empty tin with water and rinse the leftover tomatoes and water into the pan as well.
Now I added my chopped parsley and the parsley stalks chopped very fine too. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Do not overcook otherwise the vegetables will lose their colour and crunch.
Serve topped with some shavings of a hard cheese (Parmesan, Pecorino, Cheddar etc, I used Manchego it was all I had in the fridge).
Other ideas to top it, a drizzle of basil or garlic infused oil, a swirl of pesto, some crumbled goats cheese, I tend to go with whatever I have.
So delicious, colourful and healthy - it almost makes up for our lack of summer (almost).
