Italian mushroom soup

This is definitely a special-occasion soup, calling as it does for mixed mushrooms and French bread. No prizes for guessing that I love mushrooms! Try finding ceps and oyster mushrooms Even if you can’t find anything particularly exotic, this is still a delicious soup, served in an attractive manner.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
6 cups mixed mushrooms
1¼ cups milk
3¾ cups water
8 slices rustic or French bread
3 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup finely grated cheese preferably Swiss (See notes) 

salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the chopped onion for a few minutes until softened.
• Roughly chop the mushrooms.
• Add them to the pan, stirring so that they’re all covered with oil.
• Add the milk and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 5 mins.
• Stir in the water and bring up to simmering point.
• Toast the bread.
• Mix the garlic and butter together and spread on the toast.
• Put two pieces of toast in the bottom of each bowl and pour the hot soup over.
• Top with the grated cheese and serve at once.

Notes:

• I can give no suggestions for a vegan equivalent of Swiss cheese, unless you happen to be in a very large town, or somewhere sufficiently cosmopolitan to have a wide range of good, vegan cheeses. This is very unlikely, I’m afraid.

Onion soup

This is an old standby, always popular and can be used either as a filling, main-course soup or as a lighter starter, depending on how thick you make it. I give the main course version as standard.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 2 as a main course

Ingredients

 

3 large onions

salt

2 tbsp olive oil OR butter

2 tbsp flour

1 litre water

1 tsp Marmite

pepper

Method:

• Slice the onions and heat the oil. Add about 1/4 tsp salt, which speeds up the browning. Cook the onions until they’re just on the edge of burning. The richness and flavour of this soup comes from this stage, so don’t be impatient. If you cover the pan, it speeds things up, but stir them frequently so that they don’t actually burn.
• Pour in the water and then add the Marmite, if you’re using it. This adds extra colour and flavour to the soup, but isn’t necessary. (Use Bovril instead – as Conor O’Brien recommends, in Across Three Oceans, but ensure it’s the vegetarian one; or any other yeast extract paste which doesn’t contain sugar.)
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for at least 20 minutes or pressure cook for 5 minutes.
• When the soup is about cooked, taste and season with more salt if it needs it, and generous amounts of black pepper. It can take a lot.
  
• Serve with plenty of bread.

Note:

• If you want to make this soup less substantial, use 1 less onion and leave out the flour.
• To make the soup gluten free, use 2 tbsp gram flour
  

Variations:

• Add a generous measure of brandy or sherry to the bowl when serving.
• Serve with grated (vegan) cheese.
• In France and Italy, the soup often has a slice of bread put on top and cheese grated over this.
• Add 1 cup grated (vegan) cheese and 1/4 cup (vegan) Parmesan cheese to the soup, just before serving. In this case, don’t add salt until the last minute, because the cheese will make it saltier; and don’t reboil – this could make the cheese go stringy.
• Substitute Dijon mustard for the Marmite.

Split pea soup

Split peas are more a cool climate food because for some reason, they don’t keep well in the tropics: after being on board for about a year, they completely refuse to soften, even with pre-soaking and cooked in a pressure cooker. Chana or toor dal might keep better, but I’ve never tried.   However, they would work well in this recipe, which, while pretty much the same as lentil soup, tastes completely different and makes a pleasant change when you’re eating a lot of soup.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 4 to 6 as a starter, 2 for a main course 

 

Ingredients

 

1 tbsp olive oil OR butter

1 onion

1 cup split peas

4 cups water

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan or pressure cooker. Chop the onion and cook it for about 5 minutes until it has started to brown.
• Stir in the split peas. Add the water and bring to the boil. If you’re using the pressure cooker, cook for 5 minutes; if cooking conventionally, simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Reduce pressure naturally. Using a potato masher, or stick blender, purée the soup. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Serve very hot, with warm bread and butter.

Variations:

• Dal Soup is a warming alternative. Chop 1 garlic clove and some fresh ginger and fry it with the onion. Stir in 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp coriander and 1 tsp cumin. Add 1/4-1/2 tsp chilli, if you want a soup with a bit of zing. Cook as above. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice just before serving with bread or chapatis.

Potato soup

Potato soup is a favourite of mine. It’s very quick to make, cheap, warming and filling, as well as being excellent cold weather food and delicious with herb bread. Although it’s a simple recipe, it’s full of good things: iron, protein, vitamin B6, potassium, and vitamin C. Potatoes are seriously underrated food. Unfortunately, especially in the tropics, they’re often not the easiest of vegetables to come by, nor the cheapest.   If you want to eat soup in the tropics, however, there are plenty of other recipes about!

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 2 as a main meal, 4 – 6 as a starter

 

Ingredients

1 onion
1 tbsp olive oil OR 2 tbsp butter
4 potatoes, preferably floury ones
3 cups water
1 cup (vegan) milk
Annie's seasoned salt and (cracked black) pepper
freshly grated nutmeg

Method:

• Dice the onion and put it in a pressure cooker, or saucepan, with the olive oil or butter. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
• Peel the potatoes, if you want to (I don't usually bother, because I like potato skins) – the soup will look more elegant without the skins – and dice them. Add to the pan and stir for a couple of minutes.
• Pour in the water, bring to the boil and pressure cook for 5 minutes OR cook for a further 20 minutes.
• Mash the potatoes thoroughly, to produce a creamy purée. You’ll still have bits of onion (and maybe potato peel) floating around, but that’s the way it goes in low-tech living. If you have a stick blender, you can combine it all a lot more effectively.
• Add the milk and reheat to nearly boiling. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Ideally, potato soup should be a creamy-white purée, but I don’t usually peel my potatoes, so don’t mind the ‛bits’ from the salt and pepper.
• Put into bowls and grate nutmeg over each.

Variations:

• If you have any fresh herbs, add them with the milk.
• Dried thyme and/or rosemary are also nice additions, but will detract from a white soup. 
• Mix in some cream just before serving.

Spinach soup

The basic recipe is one of Rose Elliot’s, somewhat altered to suit the realities of the sailing life. Spinach is a great and versatile vegetable, when you can get hold of it. Its close relatives, such as Swiss chard or curly kale, can nearly always be substituted for the Real Thing. Sometimes the stalks are a bit tough – the easiest way to test this is to bite a piece off and see how stringy it is when raw. If they seem too much of a good thing, cut them out and just use the leaves. Not infrequently, spinach is sold in large packs and unless you happen to be somewhere cool, it will not keep for more than two or three days. This soup is a good way to finish off spinach, because as with most soups, more or less of one ingredient does not ruin the overall dish.

 

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 2 as a main meal, 4 – 6 as a starter

 

 Ingredients

 

1 tbsp butter OR olive oil

1 large potato, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

A bunch of spinach – about 450 g (1 lb)

4 cups of water

1 tbsp lime or lemon juice

salt and pepper

nutmeg

 

Method: 

• Peel and chop the potato; chop the onion and garlic. 
• Heat the butter or oil in a large pan and add the potato and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, but don’t let them brown. 
• Meanwhile, coarsely chop the spinach. Throw this into the pan and turn it with the other vegetables. Pour in the water and bring to the boil. 
• Reduce the heat until the mixture is just simmering; cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes. 
• Take out a piece of potato and check that it’s thoroughly cooked. If it’s of a floury type, it should be crumbling away. 
• When the potato is thoroughly softened, mash the soup with a potato masher , until it’s thickened. You will be left with bits of onion and spinach floating around, but that’s all right. If you prefer use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  
• Season carefully with salt and pepper; add a very generous grating of nutmeg and stir in the lime juice before serving. 

Variations: 

• This soup’s character can be completely transformed by adding a 400 g /14 oz tin of tomatoes, 1/2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp coriander. 
• If potatoes are unavailable, a sweet potato could be substituted. 
• Instead of a potato, use one or two plantains and stir in a tbsp of curry powder/paste. 
• Use canned spinach.
  
• Try serving with a dollop of yoghurt – especially if you’ve made the elegant, liquidised version 
  
  

 

Sweet potato/kumara soup

This is a pretty soup, with a West Indian feel to it.  I prefer to make it with orange or yellow sweet potato or kumara.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

 

Serves 2 for a main course, 4 for a starter 

 

Ingredients 

 

2 large or 1 very large sweet potato/kumara

1 onion

2 tbsp olive oil

2 red peppers

1 litre water

2 tbsp cream of coconut

salt and pepper

lime or lemon juice

Method:

• Peel and dice the sweet potatoes, dice the onion.
• Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and cook the kumara and onion over a medium heat, for about 10 minutes.
• Heat the peppers over a flame until the skins bubble and then peel them. Chop them and add the to the other vegetables and mix well.
• Add the water, bring to the boil and pressure cook for 10 minutes. When the pressure has reduced, mash with a potato masher or stick blender, until the vegetables are reduced to a purée.
• Return to the heat and stir in the cream of coconut. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add lime or lemon juice.

 Variation:

• Add some chilli if you want a spicier soup.