In Magic Soup, the ultimate soup cookbook, Nicole Pisani and Kate Adamsoffer over 100 fresh and original soups that are utterly delicious and fabulously nutritious.
Nicole Pisani is a chef who has worked at Yotam Ottolenghi’s Soho restaurant NOPI and Anna Hansen’s The Modern Pantry in London. She recently became the chef of the Gayhurst Community School in Hackney, after meeting Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the fast food restaurant chain Leon and architect of the School Food Plan which came into force earlier this year, setting new, improved standards for all food served in schools.Kate Adams is the author of The Flat Tummy Club Diet and the founder of The Flat Tummy Club. Kate lost two and a half stones by eating recipes from The Magic Soup cookbook. Kate is a popular social media presence with over a thousand followers on Facebook and Twitter.
White Asparagus Soup with Shaved Asparagus & Pecorino
Ingredients
- 250g white asparagus
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 600ml hot chicken stock
- 1 tbsp mascarpone
- A handful of green asparagus
- Flaky sea salt and freshly
- Ground black pepper
- 6–8 green asparagus, to serve
- Pecorino cheese, to serve
White and purple asparagus is only around for a short time in spring, but do treat yourself if you spot it. This soup works just as well with green asparagus, but there’s something quite astonishing about the flavour of white asparagus. There’s hardly anything to do when making this soup; the ingredients sing for themselves. This soup isparticularly good served chilled but also works well warm.
Method
Snap off and discard the woody parts of the white asparagus and chop into 2.5cm pieces. Melt the butter in a pan, add the asparagus and sauté for 2 minutes before adding enough stock to cover.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the asparagus are tender, which will be slightly different each time but should only take a few minutes. Process in a blender until smooth. Add the mascarpone, taste and season with salt and pepper and process again. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Divide between 2 serving bowls.
Use a vegetable peeler to create shavings of raw green asparagus and pecorino cheese and scatter them on top to serve.
Italian Wedding Soup
For the meatballs:
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
- 400g turkey or chicken mince
- 40g dried breadcrumbs or
- Panko crumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp light olive oil
- Flaky sea salt and freshly
- Ground black pepper
For the soup:
- 800ml chicken stock
- 40g oregano leaves, plus extra
- To garnish
- 1 head radicchio, shredded
- 2 eggs
- Grated Parmesan cheese to serve
You may not find soup being served at too many Italian weddings these days, but we like the idea of it! We think of soups as meals that bring friends and families together, sharing food and stories across the table.
To make the meatballs, combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Roll into small balls approximately 2.5cm in diameter. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the meatballs in batches and fry until brown on all sides, then remove and set aside.
In a large pan, bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add the meatballs and simmer for 20 minutes, or until cooked through, before adding the oregano and radicchio. Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Stir the soup in a circular motion and while stirring, pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream. Use a fork to gently create ribbons with the egg. Serve immediately with extra oregano leaves and grated Parmesan cheese.
MAGIC SOUP by Nicole Pisani & Kate Adams is published in hardback by Orion in February 2015.For more details, go towww.orionbooks.co.uk