Puréed Soups
Puréeing ingredients that have been cooked in stock, water or milk and then enriching the purée with cream or eggs or both is a simple method of making soup. It can be applied to almost any combination of ingredients, even fruit, and is a useful way of using up leftover vegetables.
MAKING PUREED VEGETABLE SOUPS
These are made with one vegetable, such as the carrots here, or with several. Leeks or onions are usually added for flavour. The technique is to cook the vegetables until very soft for easy puréeing.
1. Sweat diced vegetables in butter over a moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes until they soften.
2. Add stock or water to cover, and seasonings to taste. Simmer until very soft, about 20 minutes.
3. Purée in a blender, then reheat in a clean pan. Check both the seasonings and the consistency.
FRUIT SOUPS
The puréeing method is ideal for fruit soups. Replace the stock with wine or fruit juices. Pair complementary fruits enhanced with fresh herbs or spices to make refreshing summer soups to serve chilled. Try the following:
• Sour cherry and nectarine.
• Raspberry, strawberry, cinnamon and nectarine.
• Strawberry and rhubarb.
• Melon, mango and basil.
• Apple, pear and cinnamon.
• White peach, apricot and cardamom.
• Papaya, peach and mint.
ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF PUREEING
Vegetable mixtures can be puréed in a number of ways depending on the ingredients they contain. Stringy vegetables, such as green beans and celery, and those with coarse skins like peppers and broad beans, need to be blended and sieved after cooking but before adding stock.
FOOD PROCESSOR
Can be used as an alternative to a blender, but softened vegetables must be puréed without liquid in order to prevent splashing.
HAND BLENDER
For blending small amounts of soup quickly. For hot soups, blend in the pan; for cold soups, decant into a large bowl.
FOOD MILL
Good for coarse-textured vegetables because the fibres are left behind in the mill. Drain vegetables from cooking liquid before milling.
FINE SIEVE
Essential for vegetables with skins such as the roasted yellow peppers shown here. Rub flesh through sieve, then discard skins from sieve.
