COURGETTE AND STILTON SOUP
Serves 6 people
This is another very easy to make yet delicious soup. The stilton gives a rich, intensity that perfectly complements the
freshness of the courgettes.
Ingredients
1 onion
I stick celery
Olive Oil
4 medium sized courgettes
750ml vegetable stock
200g stilton cheese
Salt and pepper to season
Method
Step 1:
Finely chop the onion and sweat gently in a little olive oil, taking care not to allow the onions to burn. Add the finely
chopped celery stick to the onions. Chop the courgettes into rounds about 5mm thick and add to the pan, stirring to
coat the courgettes with the onion and celery mix. Fry gently for a few minutes.
Step 2:
Add the vegetable stock, and a good few grinds of pepper. Do not add salt at this stage, as Stilton is a salty cheese.
If your celery stalk had any leaves on it, add those to the pan too as they add flavour. Bring to the boil and then simmer
for 20 minutes.
Step 3:
Remove the celery leaves from the soup, and using either a hand-held stick blender, or a liquidiser, whiz the soup to a
smooth consistency. If you used a liquidiser, return the soup to the pan. With the heat on low, crumble the stilton into
the soup and beat with a whisk or fork until the cheese has melted and is fully blended into the soup.
Step 4:
Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed.
CHICKEN PROVENCAL
Serves 6 people
This tasty recipe is intensely flavoured and delicious. Using a food processor to chop the vegetables makes this recipe
extremely quick to assemble. Herbes de Provence herb mixes are widely available, but if you don’t have it, mix up equal
quantities of Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram and Basil and use that instead. Also, if you prefer chicken breast to thigh, use
that instead, but reduce the cooking time, so that the breasts do not become dry. Serve with a green salad and fresh
bread, or with green beans.
Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
10 fresh plum tomatoes (or ordinary, well flavoured tomatoes)
Tomato Puree
Method
Step 1:
In a casserole dish, quickly brown the chicken thighs on all sides in a little olive oil and remove to a separate plate. Peel
and quarter the onion and place them in a food processor with the garlic cloves. Whiz until finally chopped. Add a little
more oil to the casserole dish and gently fry the onion, adding a little salt to prevent the onions from burning.
Step 2:
Remove the stalk and seeds from the red pepper, and halve the tomatoes. Place them in the food processor and whiz
them together until finely chopped also. Once the onions have started to soften and become translucent, add the
tomato and red pepper mixture to the casserole dish and squirt in the tomato puree. Stir to combine. Add in the Herbes
de Provence mix and season with a good grind of salt and pepper.
Step 3:
Place the chicken thighs in the tomato mixture and pour in enough chicken stock just to cover them. You are unlikely
to need all the chicken stock to do this, unless your pan is very large, but keep the spare chicken stock to hand, in case
you need to top up the pan.
Step 4:
Bring the mix to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer with the casserole lid on and leave to cook for 45 minutes,
returning to the pan half way through the cooking time to turn the thighs over, and stir the tomato mix, checking that it
is not getting dry. If it is, top up with more chicken stock, or a little boiling water.
Step 5:
At the end of the cooking time, squeeze in half a lemon, stir to combine and taste to check the seasoning. Add more
salt and pepper to your taste, and serve.
6 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
750mls Chicken stock
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
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