Grocery List is a monthly list of things we have been cooking, buying and suggestions for when you are lacking inspiration. Usually this will be part of my subscription section but this month I am sharing with everyone.
My education in soups and stews didn’t really start until I was in my twenties. Growing up we never had them, probably because it wasn’t something my parents liked very much. I remember very clearly the first time I was served minestrone at my childhood best friends house and I was horrified that they had given me a bowl full of liquid. Ten years later, living out of home and cooking for myself, I was finally experimenting with the dreaded soup. I can understand the aversion for alot of people, a thin soup can often fall into the watery category and everyone has had a flavourless soup or one that goes cold too quickly. I really wanted to like them though. Having a big bowl of warm, nourishing soup sounded great! I just wasn’t sure how to get there.
After lots of trial and error I have come to find the style of soup or stew that I personally love. I like big flavours, spice, a certain amount of richness (whether that be from caramelising the vegetables or adding something fried in there) but most importantly it needs to have a bit of texture. No shade to anyone who loves a chicken noodle soup but thats not what we have here.
Here are some recipes that I love and hope can make an appearance in your kitchen. They are great for weeknights, autumn and batching for lunches. Alot of them are vegetarian and all of them are full of flavour.
You may be familiar with cook, gardener, farmer and now author, Julius Roberts. His recipe for a hearty sausage stew might be my favourite. It is so full of flavour and incredibly nourishing. Its the kind of dish that begs for big chunks of bread and lots of butter. I like to put this on while I eat a bowl of it on the couch (no comments please).
The stew that started a career. Alison Roman has a bunch of fantastically approachable recipes and the infamous Dilly Bean Stew is a winner. Make note of her description of ‘frizzled’ onions as I think its a real trick to getting some serious flavour into the base of this stew. My own white bean stew plays with some different flavours with turmeric and curry, but the frizzled onions would work well in an adaption of my White Bean and Fennel Stew.
Can you believe it's been five years since everyone was gifted the cookbook with the big yellow lemon?? Ottolenghi’s 2018 cookbook ‘Simple’ must have been under everyones tree that year, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have a copy. This stew from the book is made from simmering fragrant herbs in oil before adding eggplant, tomato and lentils to stew low and slow. Finished with chilli flakes and pepper to kick it up a notch, it is then served with creme fraiche, a decadent touch.
Carter Were needs little introduction with her perfectly approachable cookbooks and newsletter. This Tortilla Chip Soup is on heavy rotation in our house, so full of flavour it hits the spot every time we make it. I like to add some quick pickled red onion on top, even some crispy shallots to bring back some crunch as the tortilla chips are deliciously soggy.
It goes without saying that almost all of these can be made in advance, doubled up in batches and frozen or kept in portions in the fridge. It makes lunches around here very easy especially in this kind of weather. Please send me any recipes you have for chunky braises and stews that you love, I am always looking for more!