Soup recipes for picnics

Hot soup for chilly days
easy picnic fare

If you are looking for iced soup for warm, sunny picnics, please go to cold soup recipes .

Here is a lovely warming soup - ideal for a winter picnic or evening alfresco meal:

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

• 700 g of pumpkin, once peeled and with seeds & stringy bits removed
• a medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• a litre of vegetable stock
• 120 ml of single cream
• 50 g butter
• chilli oil
• a teaspoon of ground tumeric
• half a teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
• quarter teaspoon of ground cumin seeds

Melt the butter and a splash or two of chilli oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic very gently until soft but not brown.

Chop the pumpkin flesh into small cubes and add to the onion mixture. Continue cooking gently until the pumpkin is starting to turn golden brown.

Add the spices and continue cooking gently for a few more minutes. Then add the stock. Bring to simmering point and cook gently until the pumpkin is tender (bit less than half an hour normally).

Cool and blitz in a food processor to a smooth pureé. Add the cream and salt/pepper if necessary.

Heat again in a pan until piping hot and pour into flasks for the picnic. Chunks of seeded (pumpkin of course!) bread are great served with this particular soup recipe for picnics.

If you’re serving straight away, use deep bowls and decorate with a swirl of chilli oil – or pumpkin oil.

Tomato soup is very versatile because it's equally tasty hot or cold.

Or make a Virgin Mary smoothie with tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, a little celery salt and a little or a lot of Tabasco - to taste! However, watch out because a little splash is very hot - don't pour half the bottle in like someone I know!

Another one to add to the versatile range is asparagus soup, which is a really easy one to make when asparagus is in season and plentiful.

And here are some more of my favourites in the "warm-me-up" category:

Stilton soup

Chicken soup

Fish soup with garlic

Artichoke soup

One of my American contacts, Sara, features more on her website, Easy Appetizer Recipes, so for more liquid inspiration, as well as lots of other appetizers, take a look at Sara's great site.

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