TOMATO AND RED PEPPER SOUP (soup maker recipe)

This recipe comes from an idea I spotted in a blog called "Liana's Kitchen".

I had a couple of red peppers in the fridge and roasting them with fresh tomatoes would have been a great idea.  However, I didn't have any fresh tomatoes and this was a lot quicker!  I used a tin of whole peeled tomatoes and added half a teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika which gave the soup an interesting smoky flavour.  

I had never tried using unsoaked red lentils in the soup maker before and my instincts told me it might lead to trouble (burnt bits in the machine and undercooked lentils) - but it worked!  It was a delicious soup, ready in less than thirty minutes from looking in the fridge to see what we could have for lunch today!  We ate it outdoors in the early spring/late winter sunshine - a rare treat with the very up and down weather we have had so far this year.

Ingredients

100g red lentils, well rinsed

2 red peppers, washed, seeds removed and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped 

1 tin whole peeled tomatoes including the juice

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

1 garlic and thyme or vegetable stock pot

salt and pepper

Method

Put all the above ingredients into the soup maker.  Add enough water to fill to the top line and give it a good stir.

Cook on smooth setting.

Makes 4 generous portions (or six small bowls as a starter).

ANOTHER SUNDAY DINNER SOUP (soup maker recipe)

We are fans of leftovers in this house and there were quite a few after having friends round for Sunday lunch.  The menu was coronation chicken cocktail (a mini coronation chicken salad served as you would serve prawn cocktail), roast pork with home made sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce, cauliflower cheese, broccoli and mashed potatoes.

The table set for Sunday lunch for ten people.

You can see my earlier Sunday Dinner Soup here.  The principle is the same but this time there were enough leftover veg without adding anything else at all so no preparation of extra onion and carrot.  The quickest and easiest soup yet!

I had made the coronation chicken to an easy BBC Good Food recipe you can see here and I poached the chicken for it as per the recipe I used here.  I kept the liquid used for the poaching as stock, along with the bits of carrot and celery, with the possibility that there might be soup in mind.

Everything went into the soup maker and it was delicious, just like Sunday dinner in a bowl!  I added an extra spoonful of warmed apple sauce just before serving.  Yum!

Ingredients 

Two thin slices of roast pork, chopped

Cooked mashed potato and broccoli

A spoonful of cauliflower cheese

A small spoonful of stuffing (there was not much left)

The carrot and celery from poaching the chicken (or use a stick of celery and a carrot, chopped)

A spoonful of gravy

A blob of apple sauce

The poaching liquid from the chicken (or use a chicken stock pot or cube and water)

Method 

Add enough meat, cooked veg and stuffing to fill the machine to the bottom line.  Add the gravy, applesauce and enough of the poaching liquid (or the chicken stock pot/cube and water) to fill to the top line.  Stir well.

Cook on smooth.

Add a spoonful of warmed apple sauce before serving.

Makes 4 generous portions.