Lettuce & potato soup
Quite a different take on soup here. It’s especially great if you have lettuce (I prefer Ice-berg), heading for the dustbin. A lovely way is also to caramelize the onions and adding it before serving. It gives a nice chunky texture and good flavour.
Serves 4 – 6
30 ml (Tbsp) cooking oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium potatoes
3 (about 600 g) Ice-berg lettuce, cut into large pieces
1½ litre (6 cups) vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
15 ml (1 Tbsp) chopped fresh thyme or 5 ml (1 tsp) dried
2 ml (½ tsp) peri-peri, optional
1. Heat oil in a heavy-based pot. Add onions and sauté for a few minutes until soft. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. Peel potatoes and cut in cubes. Add to pot and boil for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the lettuce, stock, seasoning, thyme and peri-peri. Boil for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add half of onions to pot. Liquidise half of soup in a blender or food processor and return to pot, leaving some of the soup chunky. Add more stock if preferred. Add remaining onions, heat and serve warm with bread of choice.
Variations
– Add cream or unflavoured yoghurt to make a creamy soup.
– For a spicy flavour, add chopped chillies or ground peri-peri.
Making stock
It’s great to make a large pot of stock, made from chicken bones, etc…..and then freeze in ice cube containers. Store frozen in plastic bags and use as needed.