Hearty soups for winter from Hugo Arnold
Recipes serve 4
FISH SOUP AND GARLIC TOASTS
1 onion
1 carrot
1 leek
1 stick celery
6 button mushrooms
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
bunch parsley, stalks and leaves roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds
600ml light chicken stock
4 thin slices baguette
250ml olive oil
2 egg yolks
lemon juice to taste
200g monkfish
4 scallops, coral removed
200g sea bass
200g cod
Finely chop the first five ingredients and gently saute them in four tablespoons of olive oil for 15 minutes, without them colouring. Add half the garlic, parsley, bay and fennel seeds, stir to coat in the oil and cook for two to three minutes. Then add the chicken stock, bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pushing the vegetables through with a wooden spoon to extract as much of the juice as possible. Reheat.
Brush the bread with oil and bake at the top of a hot oven, heated to 200 degrees/gas six, for five or six minutes, or until golden brown.
Mash the remaining garlic with a teaspoon of salt in a pestle and mortar and grind to a smooth paste. Add the egg yolks and incorporate with the garlic paste. While continuing to stir, add the oil, drop by drop initially. As the mixture starts to thicken up you can increase the stream of oil to a steady trickle. As the mixture gets really thick, thin it with a little lemon juice. When all the oil is incorporated, adjust the seasoning and add more lemon juice if appropriate.
Cut the fish into three-centimetre chunks and season well with salt and pepper. Slide into the simmering stock, starting with the monkfish and ending with the cod. Simmer for three to four minutes, or until the fish is just cooked. Spoon into four bowls, top with a crouton and spoon the aioli over the top.
THAI-STYLE SOUP WITH SQUASH AND SPINACH
1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 leeks, green part and root trimmed and finely
sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, smashed
3cm piece of ginger, grated
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 litre vegetable stock
100ml coconut milk
250g spinach, tough stalks removed
bunch mint
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas six. Toss the butternut squash in half the oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until soft. Remove and set aside.
Heat a large pan over a moderate heat and when it is hot add the oil. Stir-fry the leeks, garlic, lemon grass and ginger for two minutes. Add the fish sauce, stock and coconut milk and simmer for five minutes. Add the spinach. Return the butternut squash to the pan, check seasoning and simmer for a further five minutes. Serve with mint leaves scattered over the top.
SPICED LENTIL SOUP, SCALLIONS AND YOGHURT
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
200g Puy lentils
half tsp turmeric
2cm lump of ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
1 tbsp finely sliced scallions
4 tbsp full fat yoghurt
Heat the vegetable oil in a casserole and gently saute the onion, without it colouring, for 15 minutes. Add the lentils and continue to cook in the oil for a further five minutes, taking care not to let the onion colour. Add the turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds, ginger, garlic and chilli. Stir once, allow the garlic to colour slightly and then add enough water to cover, plus one centimetre. Simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft, but still have a little bite. Remove from the heat and season with salt. You may need to add a little more water to get the correct consistency. Combine the parsley and scallions with the yoghurt. Reheat the soup, spoon into bowls and top with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture.