Souper bowls

Italian-style veggie broth with cheesy garlic bread croutons

Everyone warned us about them. The bugs little people catch during the first few weeks of nursery. Supposedly great for their immune systems, but not so great when you’re stuck at home with a grouchy almost-one-year-old.

One week in to the work/nursery/life juggle, we all succumbed, and spent this weekend holed up at home watching endless episodes of Bluey.

This soup was borne out of necessity. With nobody feeling up to venturing out for supplies, it was the result of the last dregs left in the vegetable drawer, a bit of stale bread and some almost-past-its-best parmesan rind.

The resulting bowl – a slow-cooked soffritto (thank god for the pre-chopped soffritto mix I had stashed in the freezer), hearty with beans and lentils, packed with greens – was the kind of bolstering, nourishing dish we all needed. That stale bread became cheesy, golden, garlicky croutons, half of which were scattered on top, the other half eaten straight from the baking tray later that afternoon. As cold and flu season steps up a gear, I suspect a lot of you are also in need of nourishing soups like this one. I hope it helps you fight the winter chill.

Vegetable broth with cheesy garlic bread croutons

Serves 4

• 2 handfuls broth mix

• Pinch bicarbonate of soda

• 200g frozen soffritto base, or 1 finely diced white onion, carrot and celery stick

• 1 red pepper, finely diced

• ¼ white cabbage, finely chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• ½ tsp red chilli flakes

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• Rind of 1 parmesan

• 200ml passata

• A handful of flat leaf parsley, leaves picked

• 2 big handfuls cavolo nero, curly leaf kale or a mixture, stalks removed, roughly torn

For the croutons

• 2 cloves garlic

• Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 20g parmesan, grated

• 4 slices stale bread, such as sourdough

1. Soak the broth mix with the bicarb for an hour or two, or overnight, if you can (if you don’t have time, don’t worry – it will just take a little longer to cook).

2. Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large, deep pan over a medium heat and add the soffritto mix or carrot, onion and celery along with the diced pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until completely soft, before adding the garlic, chilli and cabbage. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.

3. Add the stock cube, soaked broth mix and parmesan rind along with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the broth is tender, adding more water if it looks too dry. The time it takes to cook depends on the age and variety of the pulses used, but it should be done in around 1 hour. Add the passata and simmer for a further 10 minutes while you make the croutons.

4. For the croutons, preheat the oven to 180C fan. Finely chop the garlic along with a sprinkling of sea salt before chopping in the parsley. Combine in a large bowl with the olive oil and parmesan. Chop the bread into 2cm pieces then toss with the garlic mix, ensuring it’s evenly coated. Sread onto a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, turning halfway, until golden brown.

5. Once the croutons are nearly done, stir the kale and parsley into the soup and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Serve the soup with the garlicky croutons on top.

The baby step

After step 2, transfer a couple of spoonfuls of the cooked soffritto to another small pan. Add a splash of water and cook until tender before adding a little passata. Crush with the back of a spoon to reach the right consistency for your little one. Grate over a little parmesan. Serve as is, or with cooked pasta – small shapes like macaroni work well.

Switch it up

• Use whatever veg you have in your fridge – diced courgettes, aubergine, swede, parsnip or celeriac would be great along with the soffritto.

• For a quicker version swap the broth mix for tinned beans.

• Don’t fancy making the croutons? Add the bread towards the end of cooking time instead, to thicken the soup.

Use it up

• The garlic bread croutons are addictive – spoon over pasta or salads, or just eat as a snack with a glass of wine.

• Heat leftover soup with a couple of handfuls of small pasta (such as orecchiette) for a sort of minestrone. Finish with a spoonful of pesto.