Pumpkin Soup with Wakame

 

Very easy  recipe to make with fresh pumpkin, some organic vegetable stock, wakame. I used dried wakame flakes from Festalgue.  This leafy sea vegetable is naturally packed with a wide range of essential vitamins and minerals including potassium, iron, calcium, iodine and magnesium.  Wakame is also high in antioxidants, and a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. 

Ingredients
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 slice of fresh pumpkin, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
-4 cups organic vegetable stock
-1 to 2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or less if desired)
-water
-salt and pepper
-wakame


In a large  pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the cubed pumpkin and sautee for 2-3 minutes or until they start to get some caramelizing color.  Add the chicken stock and thyme and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook, covered for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.   puree the soup in  a food processor or blender, let the soup cool a bit before processing.
Garnish as desired with dried wakame

Leek and Smoked Paprika Soup with Elbow Macaroni

This soup captured my tastebuds. It's no secret I love smoked paprika so when I came across this recipe from Thierry Thorens who wrote an encyclopedia on spices I had to give it a try!

Ingredients:

-2 leeks trimmed and chopped
-chopped cabbage
-1 cup elbow macaroni
-1 carrot
-1 onion
-1 tbsp tomato paste
-2 tbsp smoked paprika or paprika
-2 cloves
-salt
-1tsp sechouan pepper

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add vegetables and cook on low heat until wilted.Add about 6 cups of water ,onion and spices, tomato paste and seasoning. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add elbow macaroni and cook .Serve when al dente.


Pour les français:
-2 poireaux
-1 laitue
-250 g de coquillettes
-1 carotte
-1 oignon entier
-1 cuillère à soupe de concentré de tomates
-2 cuillères à soupe de paprika fumé ou paprika
-2 clous de girofle
-sel
-1 cuillère à café de poivre de Sichouan

Couper les legumes et faites les suer à l'huile dans une cocotte. Verser 1,5l d'eau environ puis ajouter les épices,l'oignon le concentré et l'assaisonnement. Faites cuire à couvert. En fin de cuisson ajouter les coquillettes et servez quand elles sont al dente.

Spring-Fresh Gazpacho with Leek and Peas

A terrific starter with the most harmonious ingredients together:leek and peas!

Ingredients
- 2 small leeks,washed and finely chopped
- 250 g of peas
- 1 onion,diced
- vegetable stock
- Xeres vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- olive oil
- 1/2 cucumber
Sauté leek and onion and for 5 minutes.Add vegetable stock,peas and garlic.
Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.Purée in a blender once vegetables are cool.
Add raw cucumber.Season to taste with salt,pepper,Xeres vinegar and olive oil.
Cool for 1 hour at least.

Late contribution :Soup's On /Exotic Sweet Potato Soup

I missed the deadline...Too busy! Here's my contribution anyway...

Ingredients for 4 servings:

-1kg peeled and sliced sweet potatoes
-1 ts olive oil
-2 TS of fresh ginger
-2 ts cumin
- 1 ts curry
-60 cl vegetable stock
-40 cl coconut milk
-1 ts brown sugar
- fresh coriander
- "piment d'espelette"

Steam sweet potatoes until soft.Throw out the water. Heat oil in wok.Add ginger,cumin,curry. Put all the ingredients in blender until smooth.Heat in a pot with stock,coconut milk, and sugar.Serve with coriander and "piment d'espelette".

Bortsch

Beet a passionate,festive delightful color!Got it's original name Beta because of it's ressemblance to the second letter of the alphabet according to Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, one of the world's first food writers.It's a good source of pottassium,vitamine C & A.
This wonderful "Bortsch" recipe is adapted from Cafe Pouchkine in Moskow.

Ingredients

-1 tablespoon olive oil
-2 medium size beets,peeled,chopped
-one carrot,peeled,chopped
-garlic
-onion
-1 tablespoon of pureed tomato
-vegetable broth (4 cups)
- 2 apples
-cider vinegar
-cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Heat oil in large pot with a pinch of allspice.Sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes.Add carrot , beets,tomato and broth.Cook on medium low for about 40 min.In a pan with a little butter sauté sliced apples for a few minutes.Add vinegar,sugar,cinnamon.When apples have a nice color,stop.Serve soup with apples and some "magret de canard fumé".Enjoy!

Chesnut,Fennel and Arugula Soup

I'm very fond of experiencing different recipes.So,here's the result today
by using what I found in my fridge:chestnuts,fennel,arugula,unsweetened condensed milk.
Cook on moderate heat:1 garlic clove, 1 fennel bulb cut in pieces for 5 minutes.Add the jar of peeled chesnuts,vegetable broth,pepper and cook for another 15 min.Wait a few minutes till the soup cools down.Add some fresh arugula.Then blend the soup,adding 1/4 cup of condensed unsweetened milk.Serve with a pinch of "piment d'espelette".