Sweetheart Soup

13 June 2011

sweetheart-soup

Sweetheart Soup With Shallots, Streaky Bacon And Sage

This is a wonderful, healthy soup to make with a wide range of year round vegetables. This soup is perfect for lunch, served piping hot with garlic bread or cheesy croutons. As a dinner party starter you could add some rice to the soup as it boils, and serve it in small cups with breadsticks and pass round a bowl with freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

You’ll need:
Extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, trimmed and finely chopped
1 stick of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 slices of streaky bacon or pancetta, sliced into small cubes
1 Sweetheart cabbage, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 litre of vegetable stock
Sea salt and pepper
Fresh shavings of Parmiggiano Reggiano

What to do:
1.Heat some olive oil in a heavy soup pot, and add the finely chopped shallots, carrot, celery, garlic and bacon. Mix the vegetables well, and season with salt and pepper. Sweat the vegetables until soft, adding a little water to help create steam. Make sure the vegetables do not crisp and burn by adding a little additional water, and stirring.

2.When the vegetables are soft, add the cabbage slices and the sage. Mix well. Add the stock, bring the soup to the boil and then lower the heat. Within five minutes the soup will be ready.

3.Pour the soup into warm serving bowls and then sprinkle fresh Parmiggiano reggiano shavings on top.