Vegtastic

Photo © Rob Jones

I blame MasterChef.

It’s no longer possible to have simple food. It has to be dressed up in a cavalcade of adjectives.

Tomato Soup? No, you have to have a broth made of Heritage Tomatoes, topped with Fennel dust and a spoonful of Crème Fraîche, with a side order of garlic and olive oil rubbed savoury biscotti.

Fish and Chips? Nope. Line caught sustainable Hake, sous vide with foraged Scandinavian herbs, with a necklace of Rope Grown Mussels drizzled in a Muscat Wine and Caper Jus, on a bed of Cornish Dulce.

Pie and chips? No chance. It’ll be a reverse-engineered Vegan Sausage poached in Cider, and encased in an open Herb Flaky Pastry, served with Lingonberry Pebbles.

Nice to listen to but. … with a palate like mine, a little superfluous.

I spotted some vegetables that needed a mission in life in the larder and thought, ‘let’s make a chunky vegetable soup.’

Method:

Base as always of chopped celery, garlic, onion and a scrape of ginger.in a 50/50 mix of butter and olive oil.

I microwaved some diced parsnip and potato and added them into the pan to take up the flavours.

Added a vegetable stock cube, boiling as we go to soften the root veg.

A generous squeeze of tomato paste.

Then a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of lentils.

Simmer vigorously until the potatoes and parsnips are al dente and it begins to thicken up.

Season with a little Miso Paste, cracked black pepper, but NO SALT.

Leave chunky, do not blitz. Serve with a hunk of buttered bread.

And there we have it…

A Quotidian amuse guele of caramelised onions, seasonally inherited julienned vegetables, oak poached in a fiery preserved tomato and lentil sauce, enhanced with Himalayan pepper.

Or just - Chunky Veg Soup. Tastes the same.

R