Warm your home and your soul with this spiced winter soup.
Function: Circo Roasting®
Potato & Leek Soup with Thai Spice
Ingredients
For the Spice paste
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Black peppercorns
1 x sml Red onion, roughly chopped
¼ cup Vegetable oil
5 x fresh Red chillis, roughly chopped
5 cloves Garlic
1 tsp Salt
4cm piece fresh Ginger, peeled, roughly sliced
3 stalks Lemongrass (white part only), roughly chopped
½ bunch fresh Coriander roots and stems (reserve the leaves to garnish the soup)
6 x Makrut lime leaves, centre spine removed and torn
1 tsp ground Turmeric
2 tsp Paprika
For the Soup
2 Red Capsicums, halved lengthways, seeds and stalks removed
1kg Potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm cubes
500g Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm cubes
1 tbsp Vegetable oil
1 large Leek (approx. 250g), washed thoroughly, halved lengthways, cut into 2cm slices
400ml Coconut Milk
800ml Vegetable stock
200g Silken tofu
Reserved Coriander leaves from the paste
Optional Garnish
1 x Red chili, finely sliced diagonally
2 tbsp dried Fried Onion
Method
To make the paste
In a dry frypan, add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns on Level 7 Induction/Flame Select Gas and gently fry until fragrant – around 2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Then add all the paste ingredients into a food processor and blitz until smooth.
The paste is now ready for use. You will need half this recipe for the soup. The remainder can be frozen for up to 6 months.
For the soup
Heat your Neff oven to CircoRoast 190° Line a universal tray with baking paper. Lightly spray the capsicum halves with cooking spray all over, season with a little salt, then place cut side down onto the tray. Place into the oven on Level 3 and roast for 25 minutes until the capsicum skin begins to blister and blacken.
While the capsicums are roasting, place the potatoes and sweet potatoes into a large saucepan – at least 4lt capacity. Cover with water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Simmer until the potatoes are very tender.
Take the tofu and blend in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a fry pan, add the leeks and saute on a low heat – Induction/Flame Select Gas Level 4-5. Add a pinch of salt and cook without colouring until the leeks are soft. Add half of the spice paste to the pan, increase the heat to Level 7 and fry for 1 minute until the mixture is fragrant.
When the potatoes are soft, drain and put back into the saucepan. Add the leek and spice paste mixture. Add the coconut milk and stock. Begin to gently heat the mixture over a medium heat – Induction/Flame Select Gas Level 7. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the capsicums from the oven and wrap in carefully wrap in a clean tea towel to cool. Set aside while you finish the soup.
Once the soup has simmered for five minutes, add to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return the blended soup back to the saucepan and place over a low heat – Induction/Flame Select Gas Level 2. Add half the blended tofu and stir gently to combine. If the soup looks too thick, add a little more stock or water to your liking. Keep the soup on the low heat.
Take the cooled capsicums and peel away the blacken skins. Slice them into ½ cm wide strips.
Check the soup for seasoning – adding a little salt if required. Ladle into 4 warmed wide coupe dishes. Spoon the remaining blended tofu over the soup and swirl to create a pattern on the surface. Top this with capsicum slices and garnish with the reserved coriander leaves.
Sprinkle with the optional garnish additions if you wish.
Notes
The spice paste recipe will make enough for 2 x the soup recipe. You can freeze the remainder for the next time.
This soup is Vegan friendly.
Authors Bio
Paula is an experienced chef, having trained at the renowned William Angliss College and also a qualified Food Technology teacher. Paula has owned and managed a number of food inspired businesses over her career. She is also a prize-winning scone baker!