Gordon Ramsay's Soup Recipes _ Part One | Agatha nh

Soups can be light and delicate or rich and gutsy. They're versatile, practical, and easy to make. And for my ultimate hearty lunch, I'm making one of my childhood favorites, roasted tomato soup. Beautiful vine tomatoes. The riper the tomatoes, the better the soup. Take the core out. Get your thumb and place it half a centimeter underneath the tip of your knife, place it in, and then just twist around. That's the only part of the tomato that we're not using. Red onion and garlic. Red onion because it's sweeter than a white onion. Slice your onions and your garlic. Nice and fine. Traditionally, we make it in a pot. It's so much better to start it off on top of the stove, searing the tomatoes and the garlic. When it goes in the oven, you actually roast the tomatoes, and they don't stew, and there's a big difference in flavor. Be quite generous with the olive oil. It makes the soup nice and glossy, shiny. Salt, pepper, and then a little teaspoon of cayenne. Just gives it that heat, but it's not as fierce as chili. Take your tomatoes and just slice them in half. And then a little touch of sugar. That's going to help intensify the sweetness. A little sprinkle of aged balsamic vinegar gives that nice, dark, rich acidity to the soup. Into the oven, 20, 25 minutes, 180. To make my soup even more irresistible, I'm going to make a punchy, sun-dried tomato pesto to drizzle over the top. Now, I'm making this in a pestle and mortar because you feel so much more in control. And you're not depending on a blade that's whizzing around at 1,000 miles an hour. Next, in a dry pan, toast off some pine nuts. Toast them to the absolute max, and then in. The smell in there is incredible. Parmesan. Lightly grate that. And this is where it starts to become creamy. Extra virgin olive oil. It doesn't need salt because the Parmesan is going to season it for you. And just take a couple of tablespoons of the oil of the sun-dried tomatoes we're in. It really helps to make that stunning pesto. I can smell those roasted tomatoes. Want them out? Wow. Next, pour in a little vegetable stock or chicken stock so it sits halfway up the tomatoes. Put your spoon through those tomatoes. They break up instantly. Bring that up to the boil. Let it simmer for three or four minutes. Want to make it a little more creamy now. Cream in. Give that a little stir. You can keep it rustic and get your masher in. And you've got that nice, thick, rich, chunky tomato soup. Or get yourself a stick blender. Blitz it like that. You deglaze the bottom of the pan and you get all those amazing flavors from the bottom. That's delicious. To make my lunch extra hearty, I'm going to knock up a deliciously gutsy version of cheese on toast to go with my tomato soup. Welsh rabbit, an absolute classic. We're going to make a roux. 50 grams of butter, three nice tablespoons of flour. And that's all a roux is, basically. Traditionally, you would use flour, butter, and milk. But in Welsh rabbit, the milk is often cheekily substituted for a stiff slug of stout. Gives it that strong, gutsy flavor. I want it nice and thick. Make sure those lumps are out. A nice teaspoon of Dijon mustard. And then season it with a nice and spicy, moist-ish sauce. Gives it that delicious, intriguing flavor. Now, that smells amazing. Almost brings tears to your eyes. Beautiful. Now, Welsh rabbit wouldn't be a stunning Welsh rabbit without rich, mature cheese. So a great Montgomery cheddar goes well with beer. And drop that in. Really important to put this in while the roux is still nice and hot, because the cheese melts. Now, for the bread. I prefer a good, rustic country loaf that will stand up to my hardcore topping. I want that nice, crisp base to my Welsh rabbit. So toast it both sides. Spread that beautiful, cheesy, beer-y, spicy mixture. Just great. I'm going to blister and bubble and gratinate. A little splash of Lillian Perry. And back under the grill for 90 seconds. In. One delicious, creamy, roasted tomato soup. It's coming back to me all those days I had off school. I used to purposely lie about feeling ill just to get a bowl of my mother's tomato soup. How bad was that? But my god, it was worth it. Oh. Now, my Welsh rabbit. Mm. Look at those babies. That just takes cheese and toast to another level. Wow. Roasted, creamy tomato soup with a sun-dried tomato pesto served with the most amazing, delicious Welsh rabbit. I feel like ringing in sick. All over Southeast Asia, you find people cooking and eating the huge bowls of delicious noodle soups. It's a very simple dish, but the variations you get are extraordinary. Different meats, different fish, and even different dumplings. But what I love most about noodle soup is the fact that it's a complete meal. Carbs, protein, and vegetables in one big bowl of happiness. For my ultimate Southeast Asian lunch, I'm showing you one of my favorites. Spicy clam and noodle soup followed by sweet, moreish banana and coconut fritters for dessert. First up, my dessert, banana fritters. Take your bananas, and to get them really nice and soft, just rub the banana. Sift together flour and baking powder. Sugar into the flour. Then add coconut for texture, and a pinch of salt. Sounds strange in a dessert, but it works brilliantly, especially with the fritters. Makes the batter nice and crisp. Start crushing, and use the back of the fork, and just push it against the side of the bowl. And then once you've mixed that through, you're going to make that mix now slightly fragrant with some lime zest. Now, the lime just really elevates the sort of richness and the denseness of the banana. Cover with cling film so it doesn't get a skin on top. Sit that in the fridge for 15 minutes. As the banana fritter mixture rests, I'm getting on with my broth for the noodle and clam soup. Fish stock is the base. Bring that up to the boil. Now, let's take that broth to another level. In with chopped shallots, fresh ginger, and a whole chili, seeds and all. I actually quite like it spicy. Just chop once, and into the broth. Bring it up to the boil, and let it simmer. Galangal, it's sort of almost like a softer version of ginger, slightly milder. You can use galangal paste, but I prefer the fresh stuff. The stems of the coriander. We'll finish the broth with the heads. And that's what endeared me to the Southeast Asian style of cooking. Across my travels there was there's no waste. In, lime leaves. For me, one of my favorites. Incredibly pungent, strong, full of flavor, very acidic, but gives a really nice aroma to the broth. Just tear them in. Now, the lemongrass. So the secret here, that's where all the flavor is, right at the very end. So you take the back of the knife, and you just bash the lemongrass. So all that flavor is going to run out in seconds. That's the base of the broth done. And the longer you leave it, the more intense it gets. Whilst the broth infuses, soak your rice noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes. Just enough time to fry your fritters. The batter now is ready. Use a metal spoon to drop the batter to the bottom of the pan. The minute they hit that oil, they puff up. That's why it's important to put your spoon into the oil so the mixture runs off and creates this lovely little fritter. Then gently fry. Get a slotted spoon, and nice and carefully turn them over. Smell of that lime is extraordinary. Fry for two to three minutes. As they start floating, it signifies the fact that they're cooked. Off with the gas, and just let them drain. Look at those beauties. Lovely. Sprinkling when they're hot with sugar actually sticks them. They're done, ready to go. The last job before serving, the clams. Never be scared of cooking shellfish. The most important rule is if they are slightly opened, a millimetre, discard it. Make sure muscles, clams, are always tight. Cook the clams for just three to five minutes or until they're all open. Bring that up to the boil, and this is where we finish the broth. Touch of fish sauce, a little sprinkle of sugar. Drain your noodles into the bowl. Add the texture, some delicious bean sprouts. Get your lime, fresh squeeze of lime juice in. Beautiful. Literally, as the stock comes up to the boil, the clams open automatically. So they cook beautifully. The flavour from inside the clam has enhanced the broth. Smell is incredible. The clams cooked, finished with fresh coriander, and serve. There you have a perfect lunch, a delicious spicy clam noodle with an amazing banana fritter. My spicy clam noodle soup and banana and coconut fritters made in minutes and proof. You only need to travel as far as your kitchen to get the taste of Southeast Asia. Lunch, spicy Mexican soup. It's hearty, delicious, robust, but served with some tortillas and a wonderful salsa. It's almost like a complete meal in one. Starting with some finely chopped red onions for my soup. Let's get some heat going early. These are chipotle, so they're smoky, rich. They don't come with any warning signal, and these are seriously hot. So be adventurous, but beware. A nice teaspoon of toasted cumin, oregano, dried. Now start frying off the spices, the heat. You'll see the chilies start swelling up delicious. Garlic, be quite generous on the oil, because that helps to blow out the chili. Right now, those onions and garlic are on fire. We're going to balance the sort of heat from the chipotle with sugar. Turn up the heat, and really start caramelizing that sugar and the chili. Gives off the most amazing aroma. Next, fry off a tablespoon of tomato puree. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, cooked kidney beans, and vegetable or chicken stock to cover. There's something quite exciting about big and bold flavors, because in the restaurants, you have to be somewhat controlled. You can't go crazy. So cooking these kind of dishes at home gives me that kind of release. Chilies, particularly when they're dried, continue to swell and release their heat as they're cooked. So the longer you cook your dish, the hotter it will be. But it's not as powerful as it needs to be yet. And every five, six, seven, eight minutes, that's going to get stronger, hotter, and more delicious. Bring that up to the boil, and cook that out for 15 minutes. Whilst I allow the chili heat to infuse, I'm going to crack on with quick, crunchy tortilla chips and a fabulously fresh and spicy tomato salsa, known in Mexico as pico de gallo. Start by finely dicing three ripe tomatoes, one or two deseeded fresh jalapeno peppers, and half a red onion. Then chop a good handful of fresh coriander. Add the juice from two limes, salt and pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. For the tortilla chips, rub a little olive oil onto six large, shop-bought wheat wraps. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, and gently massage in. Cut each wrap into triangles, and spread them onto a baking tray. Bake for three to four minutes in a preheated oven, 180 degrees, until golden brown, and leave to cool. To complete my Mexican lunch, I need to finish my deliciously fragrant spicy soup. The spice is there. It is absolutely spot on. Now for the cooling down process. The Mexicans are brilliant at building layer upon layer of flavor with delicious chilies and spices. But they're also experts at tempering their dishes with cooling ingredients, like avocado, sour cream, and cheese. That's why you can take that amount of chili, and you've got that spoon of richness, spice, and all of a sudden, avocado's almost like a little fire blanket over those chilies. To further counter the chili heat, Mexicans use a rich, tangy, crumbly cheese. But I'm sprinkling on Lancashire, which is a great British substitute. And last but not least, cooling fresh coriander. One delicious, spicy Mexican soup. Serve that with your tortilla chips and your pico de gallo salsa. A phenomenal blend of textures, and layers, and spice, and creaminess. Big, bold, and delicious.