Recipe Template: Pureed Vegetable Soup

Long ago, I curated the following recipe to make soup with basically any vegetable. I fancied myself quite clever for reducing a zillion recipes into one catch-all. The essence is that any pureed vegetable soup requires some oil or butter, a pungent flavour base, a spice, a broth, a vegetable and a blender. That's really it. Ultimately, it requires the user to understand that nutmeg goes well with green vegetables and curry is well-suited to carrots or cauliflower, but you can't really do any wrong. Add a potato, remove a potato. The world is your soup pot. Be adventurous.

Aromatics: 1 cooking onion/ 2 leeks/ 4 shallots (or any combination of all)

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2 cloves of garlic/ 1 thumb sized piece of ginger (optional)

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1 tsp of the spice of your choice: nutmeg/ thyme/ curry

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1 russet potato, chopped (optional)

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3 cups of vegetable, chopped (carrot, broccoli, mushroom, cauliflower, celery, etc.)

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3 or so cups of chicken/vegetable/beef broth (enough to cover)

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1 cup of 2% milk/ evaporated milk/ coconut milk/ cream (optional)

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dollop of sour cream/ grated parmigiano-reggiano/ hot sauce

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sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper

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1/2 cup of chives/ parsley/ cilantro

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, add onions (or other aromatics.) Cook until softened (7 minutes.) Add garlic and spices; cook 1 minute until you can smell the aroma.
2. Add vegetables and soup broth. Increase heat until gently boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3. Puree mixture in a blender. (Strain if desired, but I hardly ever do.)
4. Add milk, cream or coconut milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with freshly chopped herbs.

Serves 2.