Nearly 30 years on from the original Simply Delicious book and television series, Darina Allen brings together 100 of her timeless, tried and trusted recipes. To find out how to recreate her delicious swede and bacon soup, just keep on reading…
Serves 6–8
What you’ll need…
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 150g rindless streaky bacon, cut into 1cm dice
- 110g onions, chopped
- 110g potatoes, peeled and diced
- 350g swede, peeled and cut into 7mm dice
- 900ml homemade chicken stock
- cream or creamy milk, to taste salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the parsley oil…
- 50g freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
For the garnish…
- freshly ground black pepper
- fried diced bacon
- croutons
Method…
- First make the parsley oil. Whizz the parsley with the olive oil until smooth and green.
- Next make the soup. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the bacon and cook over a gentle heat until crisp and golden. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Toss the onions, potatoes and swede in the oil. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover with a paper lid to keep in the steam and sweat over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10–15 minutes until the vegetables are fully cooked. Liquidise, taste and add a little cream or creamy milk and some extra seasoning if necessary.
- Serve with a drizzle of parsley oil, a grind of black pepper and a mixture of crispy bacon and croutons sprinkled on top.
- VARIATION
For a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and omit the bacon. For a vegan option, omit the cream or creamy milk as well.
