Pumpkin, Saffron and Orange Soup for the Virtual Pumpkin Party / Sopa de Abóbora, Açafrão e Laranja, para a Festa Virtual da Abóbora.

It's Virtual Pumpkin Party Day 2018 and, I so love to cook with pumpkin, that I couldn't miss this day for anything in the world!

It's my 3rd year participating in this fabulous initiative and, here and here, you can check my previous contributions for this fabulous event.

This year, I've decided to make this amazing Ottolenghi soup. A recipe from his brand new, and absolutely FANTASTIC book "Simple".

This is a recipe for soup lovers and to be enjoyed now, that the days are getting cooler and cooler. Full of warmth and autumnal flavours, this soup is a must try!

Just in case you want to have a look and check all the fabulous bloggers that are celebrating this virtual day and all the fantastic delights they've cooked, check Sara's blog and enjoy the pumpkin feast.

Happy Virtual Pumpkin Party Day lovely people!!

Nina Olsson Jerusalem Artichokes Soup / A sopa de Girassol Batateiro da Nina Olsson.

Creamy velvety soup with Jerusalem artichokes that, as you know, I truly adore.

If you have a look under the "Jerusalem artichokes" label, you'll find a good amount of, not just soups featuring this amazing ingredient, but also a few other more "chefy" delicious recipes.

Actually, this was the 3rd time I've made this soup recipe and what I love about it is the addition of the Prosecco, which gives it a very interesting and delicious depth of flavour.

The recipe is from Nina Olsson "Bowls of Goodness" fabulous book and this time, I've decided to share it with you all.

Hope you enjoy it!

Spring Pea Soup with Roasted Radishes and Sweet and Salty Cashews / Sopa de Ervilhas com Rabanetes assados e Cajus agri-doces.

Around Christmas time, Kyle Books threw a "Advent Cookbook Quiz" on Instagram and I was the lucky winner.

I had to choose 3, from 7 available books and one of the books I chose was Rita Serano's "Vegan in 7".

A delightful book, full of delicious vegan recipes and very straightforward and unpretentious.

Recipes using only 7 or less ingredients, beautiful gorgeous photos and simple, but delightful, recipe introductions.

You all know I'm not vegan or even vegetarian, but you all also know that I love to have and make vegan and vegetarian meals whenever I want and that's one of the reasons I chose this book as one of the 3 books I had to choose from.

Honestly, I have a handful of vegan and vegetarian books but this one, is truly adorable and my favourite so far!

If you want to know more and win one copy of this gorgeous book, have a look at Kimberly's, The Little Plantation blog as, she is not just offering a copy of the book but, she's also sharing another delightful recipe from the book.

I've marked down several recipes to cook and share from the book but, as a soup lover, this soup had to be the first recipe to cook and share.

Try it and feel healthy and green!

Note: Rita suggests to serve the soup with an optional swirl of Cashew Cream, but I opted for a scatter of the sweet and salty cashews, for crunchiness.

Roasted Red Pepper, Squash and Sweet Potato Soup / Sopa de Pimentos Assados, Abóbora e Batata Doce.

Another beautiful and delicious soup, this one from "Comfort", Candice Brown debut cook book!!

Candice Brown, as you all might know, was the fabulous winner of the 2016 Great British Bake Off (GBBO)!

Candice began learning to bake at four with her grandmother and, apparently, she spent more than 12 hours a day practicing for the GBBO final.

I was very happy when her name was called out as the winner because, honestly, she has been my favourite contestant since day one!

The book is full of both, sweet and savoury, home comforting recipes, tips and gorgeous photos.

This recipe was my first choice, not just because I love soups (and you all know it), but also because it calls for sweet potatoes and, sweet potatoes, as I wrote here, are Marta's "ingredient of the month" so, I could't help but choose this utterly delicious recipe to make first.

Georgian Chicken Soup / Sopa de Galinha da Geórgia.

Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan.

Georgian cuisine often marries western techniques with eastern flavours and to find out more about its uniqueness, you should read this amazing and very interesting article.

To create this chicken soup, Christopher Kimball was inspired by a traditional Georgian recipe called "Chikhirtma".

As we love (specially the kids) chicken soup here at home, this recipe was one of the first ones I've marked down to try from Christopher Kimball's "Milk Street - The New Home Cooking". The book of the month for the online #rainydaybitescookbookclub!

As soon as I started reading the recipe, a similar soup came up to my mind. The Greek Avgolemono soup. A soup that we loved a lot and that is also finished with eggs and lemon juice.

This Georgian soup I'm posting today is rich, full of flavour, creamy and so comforting for these cold days that, if you try it, I can assure you'll be making it over and over again.

Spanish Garlic Soup / Sopa de Alho Espanhola.

This month, Deborah chose Christopher Kimball's "Milk Street - The New Home Cooking" as the book of the month for the online #rainydaybitescookbookclub!

This cookbook features 125 recipes from all around the world where the focus is maximizing flavour using simple recipes where flavours are layered.

The recipes don't require long lists of ingredients, unusual appliances, or spending all day standing over the stove. The recipes are interesting, varied, and simple to make.

Kimball states that, "cooking and sharing food is central to the human condition" and he also dedicates this book "... to the notion that cooking is the universal language of the human spirit".

How inspiring are these sentences?

Last week, as the first recipe challenge of the month, we cooked this absolutely divine Cuban Style Pork Shoulder with Mojo Sauce, which was to die for and I'll post the recipe here, sometime soon.

I have lots of recipes marked down to be tried from the book but, this one (soup... you know I love soups right?), had to be the first one to be shared.

A soup that is super simple to make, calls for very humble ingredients and that is packed full of flavour.

According to the recipe book caption, this is an " 'end of month' recipe - the sort of meal to make quickly with whatever is on hand and when money is tight" and it is indeed!!

Red Curry, Ginger and Squash Soup / Sopa de Abóbora, Caril Vermelho Tailandês e Gengibre.

For this month's Rainydaybites Cookbook Club, we are cooking from Joanne Chang and Karen Akunowicz "Myers + Chang at Home" book.

This cookbook brings to the table dishes from the incredibly popular Boston restaurant. The recipes are Asian inspired and unique with a focus on flavour.

The perfect book to kick off the comfort food season and for me, nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of soup and that's why this was the first recipe I chose from the book.

Full of balanced flavours, this soup is perfect for lunch or dinner and it's so satisfying that, after having a warm bowl of it, you don't need anything else.

Thai Red Chicken Soup / Sopa de Frango com Caril Vermelho Tailandês.

Here it is, another Jamie Oliver, "5 Ingredients - Quick & Easy Food" recipe.

A fabulous Thai red soup with poached chicken, that made the delights of the family on a coolish Scottish day.

Easy and simple, like all the recipes in this book (as I wrote here), this recipe is a "must try" one!

Tomato and Red Pepper Soup / Sopa de Tomate e Pimento Vermelho.

This fabulous and very flavoursome soup is perfect for these (already), chilling Scottish days.

As I'm a soup lover, as soon as I saw this recipe on Kimberly's, The Little Plantation blog, I had to make it straightaway.

I adapted the cooking method by roasting all the vegetables in the oven with the olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and the paprika, adding the vegetable stock when blending the soup. However, if you want to follow the original method, you can find the original recipe here.

I served my soup with a dollop of crème fraîche (not vegan of course, but you can opt for a vegan topping as Kimberly did, or nothing at all), and a scatter of Furikake, which is a sesame seed seasoning.

Hope you give this soup a try because it's absolutely fantastic.

Fish Soup Basquaise / Sopa de Peixe Basca.

This month we are cooking from Paula Wolfert cook books for the Rainydaybites Cookbook Club.

The book Deborah chose was the "Unforgettable" but as it is a very difficult book to find, Deborah allowed us to cook from any of Paula's books.

I'm cooking from Paula Wolfert "The Cooking of South West France" book and this recipe is actually my first one for this month's cookbook club.

I can only compare Paula Wolfert book with Julia Child or Elizabeth David books, which, in my opinion, should be mandatory books for anyone that claims their love for cooking.

More than cooking books, they are reading books that show us their passion and deep knowledge for the cuisine and ingredients of the regions they're writing and cooking from.

To write this book, Paula Wolfert spent five years researching, investigating ingredients, origins of recipes and variations in techniques.

This recipe, a fish soup, not just is easy to make, but it's also fabulous and full of flavour.

According to the author, this soup is a modern interpretation of the classic onion and pepper fish soup of Bayonne.

Jerusalem artichoke and Chestnut Soup with Chorizo and Apple / Sopa de Girassol batateiro e Castanhas, com Chouriço e Maçã.

When you think you add all the possible Jerusalem artichoke soup combinations that can be, and that this kind of soup can't be improved anymore, here comes another fabulous combination that leaves you on your knees. Yes!! and I promise, I'm not exagerating.

Just check under the "soup" label here on the blog and you'll see how many Jerusalem artichoke soups I made already! Not just one, two or three but more than that and all of them, absolutely delicious!

As I had a bag of Jerusalem artichokes in the fridge, as soon as I saw this recipe in one of Chef Maria Elia books, the "Full of Flavour" book, of course, I couldn't hold myself but use them artichokes in this recipe.

No words!!! A true delight and that's another reason why I love this ingredient so much. Absolutely divine!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Croutons / Sopa de Abóbora com especiarias e Croutons.

Being myself a huge soup lover, I couldn't let October to come to an end, without preparing a pumpkin soup for Marta and her "ingredient of the month" which is the Pumpkin.

I'm so into Fika and Hygge (concepts that I wrote about in this post) and Scandinavian cooking that, as soon as I saw this soup in Trine Hahnemann fabulous "Scandinavian Comfort Food" book, I couldn't help it but make it straightaway.

Of course I don't need books or recipes to make soups because all of us can make soup right?
The thing is, I love different combinations and different flavours because, although I love soups, I hate boring and bland soups. Something that this soup is not at all. Neither boring nor bland.
Actually, it's a fabulous super flavoursome and tasteful soup and that's why I decided to share it with you all and publish it in time for Marta's "October - Pumpkin - Ingredient of the month".

Spinach soup with flowers / Sopa de espinafres com flores.

This fabulous and delicious soup is very easy to make and a real showstopper when it hits the table.

The recipe was adapted from the "Nettle soup with flowers" which is one of the magnificent soups from Nicole Pisani and Kate Adams, "Magic Soup"book". A book that you all know I very much adore and from which you can find the recipes I already tested under the labels "Soups" and/or "Magic Soup book".

Salmorejo.

Salmorejo is a Spanish dish from the region of Cordoba.

Similar to Gazpacho but thicker, It is served as a starter or first meal and must be chilled before eating.

It's accompanied with "las guarniciones" and, although the most common garnishes are serrano ham and crumbled hard boiled egg, there are some versions that are served with flaked tuna, chopped onion and/or chopped green pepper.

I confess that I made and tasted my first Salmorejo last week and now I'm almost addicted to it.

I made it twice, in less than two weeks and this second time, I made it with organic tomatoes that I picked from my friend B. garden and green house. Here, on my instagram account, you can see all the lovely organic vegetables that I picked from his garden this week.

This recipe is from our beloved Portuguese "pin up girl", Filipa Gomes and it's featured in a series of 6 recipe booklets that Filipa wrote, Maria Midões styled and photographed and that were recently distributed in Portugal with a well known and popular magazine.

Kind and gentle as she is, I have the booklets because Filipa sent them to me, which of course, was an honour.

While I was making the Salmorejo and being the tomato the main ingredient of this soup, I thought that it would be a shame not to make an effort to publish the recipe in time for Marta and her "ingredient of the month", which is precisely, the tomato.

Saying that, here it is the most delicious, easy and quick, chilled tomato soup... The Salmorejo!

Pea and mountain ham soup / Sopa de ervilhas com presunto.

Although I never posted the recipe here on the blog, this soup is one of my favourite soups and I make it every time I can get peas in their pods.

This soup is not just very tasteful and very easy to make, but it's also very beautiful and makes an impact at any table.

The recipe is from one of my favourite soup books. Magic Soup is its name and the authors are Nicole Pisani and Kate Adams.

All the recipes in the book are simply AMAZING and the book was photographed by the gorgeous Regula Ysewijn - that, as you all know, is the creator of the fabulous Miss Foodwise blog and the author of the fantastic book Pride and Pudding - and both, photos and styling are mouthwatering.

From the book, I already made this Watercress soup, this Carrot, cumin and miso soup and this Caldo Verde, which is a Portuguese inspired soup and all of them, without exception, were absolutely divine!

Risi and Bisi.

Risi and Bisi also known as Peas and Rice and the last recipe that I'm cooking for Marta this month.

This one, very simple and with clean flavours but nonetheless delicious as the previous ones.

Simplicity at its best, that's how I would define this suggestion.

Pea soup with squid and prawns / Sopa de ervilhas com lulas e camarão.

Another delicious soup that comes out of my kitchen and that goes directly to Marta's "ingredient of the month" table.

As I wrote here, Marta challenged us to cook with peas and as I love peas, I couldn't resist this fabulous initiative and I'm cooking with peas this April.

The combination of ingredients is amazing and the flavour is second to none.

The author suggests to discard the wings and tentacles of the squid but I used everything.

Celery, apple and salmon soup / Sopa de aipo, maçã e salmão.

This fabulous soup. is full of ingredients that I truly adore and the combination is so smart and unbelievable that I have to make it again.

The recipe is from Portuguese Chef - Henrique Sá Pessoa - and it's from his delightful book "A viagem do Salmão" - The salmon journey.

Try it and be amazed!!

The bowls are from Margarida Melo, an amazing Portuguese ceramist based in Lisbon.

ingredients (Serves 4):

45g unsalted butter

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

150g onion, chopped

500g celery, finely diced

160g potato, cut into small cubes

120g apple (Golden Delicious) cut into small cubes

sea salt flakes, to taste

100g salmon, cut into small cubes (skinless and boneless)

4 tbsp crème fraîche

4 tbsp Granny Smith apple, cut into small cubes

dill, to decorate

method:

Heat the butter and oil in a pan over medium heat.

Add the onion and celery and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until soft but not coloured.

Add the potato and enough water or vegetable stock (just enough to come up to about 2 fingers over the vegetables) and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

Add the Golden Delicious apple and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes.

Take the soup off the heat, blend until smooth and check the seasoning.

Season the salmon with salt and toss with a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve the soup warm, topped with the salmon, the cubed Granny Smith apple, a few dollops of crème fraîche and dill leaves.

__________________

Trago-vos hoje mais uma sopa maravilhosa!!

Uma combinação improvável, mas que resulta na perfeição e que é uma daquelas combinações que a mim, me deixam literalmente pasmada!

A receita, é do livro lindo que adoro, A Viagem do Salmão do Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa e é uma receita que já foi aqui, testada e aprovada pela Susana.

As taças, que já tiveram oportunidade de ver noutros posts, são da nossa fabulosa artista e ceramista, a Margarida Melo, que eu tive o privilégio de conhecer no seu atelier em Lisboa, em Dezembro passado e que faz peças lindas de morrer.

ingredientes (para 4 pessoas):

45gr de manteiga sem sal

2 colheres sopa de azeite

150gr de cebola, cortada em cubinhos

500gr de talos de aipo, sem fios e cortados em rodelas

160gr de batata, cortada em cubinhos

120gr de maçã Golden, cortada em cubos

flor ou flocos de sal, a gosto

100gr de salmão (Noruega), cortado em cubinhos

4 colheres sopa créme fraîche

4 colheres sopa de maçã Granny Smith, cortada em cubinhos

aneto, para decorar

preparação:
Num tacho aquecer o azeite e a manteiga.

Adicionar a cebola e o aipo, em lume brando, por cerca de 5 minutos.
Adicionar a batata e água ou caldo de legumes suficiente para cobrir os legumes. Deixar cozer em lume brando por cerca de 8 a 10 minutos ou até os legumes estarem macios.

Juntar a maçã Golden e cozer por mais 3 minutos.

Triturar a sopa no liquidificador ou robot de cozinha, até ficar bem cremosa.

Adicionar um pouco de água se achar necessário e rectificar temperos.
Temperar o salmão com um pouco de sal e azeite.
Servir a sopa decorada com o salmão, a maçã Granny Smith, o créme fraîche e folhinhas de aneto.

Recipe / Receita:

Creamy jerusalem artichoke soup with parmesan skins / Sopa cremosa de girasol batateiro, com cascas crocantes e parmesão.

The first and mainly thing that caught my attention in this recipe, was the using of not just the interior of the artichokes, but also the skins.

As I had a big batch of jerusalem artichokes at home, I made this salad, the soup that I'm leaving you today and with a few remaining artichokes left, I also made a batch of jerusalem artichoke crisps that I'll be publishing soon.

ingredients (serves 4):

juice of 1/2 lemon

500g jerusalem artichokes, washed and scrubbed

2 tsp vegetable oil

25g butter

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 floury potato (140g), roughly chopped

600ml vegetable stock

3 tbsp double cream, plus a little extra to serve

1 to 2 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese

leaves of 1 rosemary spring, finely chopped

method:

Half fill a large bowl with water and add the lemon juice.

Peel the artichokes, then toss the peelings with the vegetable oil in a bowl and set aside.

Chop the artichokes into rough chunks and put them in the lemony water.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion, potato and seasoning.

Drain the artichokes and stir them in.

Cover the pan and sweat gently for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Pour in the stock, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Whizz the soup until very smooth. Add the cream and season to taste.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC.

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Scatter the skins over and roast for 10 minutes.

Turn them over, scatter with the parmesan and rosemary and roast for another 5 minutes, or until they are crisp and dry.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve the soup with a swirl of cream and a scatter of the crispy skins.

__________________

Como podem ver nos arquivos do blogue, já fiz várias sopas com girassol batateiro.

Embora tivesse uma boa quantidade de girassol batateiro em casa (que utilizei nesta salada, na sopa que hoje vos trago e numas crisps magníficas que publicarei depois), não estava a pensar utilizá-lo noutra sopa.

Até que, ao ler esta receita, me chamou e cativou a atenção e interesse, o facto de, não só ser utilizado o interior do girassol batateiro, mas também as cascas.

Claro que a curiosidade falou mais alto e lá saiu mais uma sopa.

Magnífica, tenho de confessar...

ingredientes (para 4 pessoas):

sumo de 1/2 limão

500g girassol batateiro, bem lavado e esfregado

2 colheres chá de óleo vegetal

25g manteiga

1 cebola, picada grosseiramente

140g de batata, cortada em pedaços

600ml caldo de legumes

3 colheres sopa de natas para bater + extra para decorar a sopa

1 a 2 colheres sopa de queijo parmesão ralado

folhas de uma haste de alecrim, finamente picadas

preparação:

Colocar água numa taça e juntar-lhe o sumo do limão.

Descascar o girassol batateiro e colocar as cascas numa taça, misturando-as bem com o óleo vegetal.

Cortar o girassol batateiro em pedaços e colocá-los de imediato na água com o limão (para que não oxidem).

Derreter a manteiga num tacho ou panela.

Adicionar a cebola e a batata e temperar de sal e pimenta.

Escorrer o girassol batateiro e juntá-lo ao preparado anterior.

Tapar o tacho e cozinhar os legumes em lume brando por cerca de 15 minutos, mexendo de vez em quando.

Adicionar o caldo de legumes, voltar a tapar o tacho e deixar cozinhar por mais 10 ou 15 minutos, ou até os vegetais estarem macios.

Com a varinha mágica, ou no liquidificador, reduzir a sopa a um puré macio.

Adicionar as natas e temperar de sal e pimenta preta moída na altura, a gosto.

Entretanto, aquecer o forno a 220ºC e forrar um tabuleiro com papel vegetal.

Polvilhar as cascas sobre o papel vegetal e levar ao forno por 10 minutos.

Virá-las, adicionar o parmesão ralado e o alecrim picado e levar ao forno por mais 5 minutos, ou até as cascas estarem crocantes e sequinhas.

Temperar as cascas com sal e pimenta preta moída na altura, a gosto.

Servir a sopa decorada com um bocadinho de natas e polvilhada com as cascas crocantes.

Recipe / Receita: BBC GoodFood magazine - February 2016.

Sweet potato, sumac and pomegranate soup with roasted peanuts, coriander and lime / Sopa de batata doce, sumagre e romã, com coentros e lima.

I'm making and eating so many delicious soups lately, that I'm really thrilled to share with you, all the fantastic recipes I'm trying!

This soup is from a gorgeous new book called "Skinny Soups". The author is Kathryn Bruton and the book itself, is a real delight. Not to talk about all the fabulous soup recipes that I already marked down to try and that I'll share with you of course.

This one was the first recipe tested and approved and it's a perfect meal for a perfect meatless Monday!

ingredients (Serves 4):

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tsp sumac

1/2 tbsp coconut oil

400g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into 2cm cubes

3 or 4 vine tomatoes (approx. 300g), roughly chopped

850ml chicken or vegetable stock

1 1/2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

to garnish:

small bunch of fresh coriander leaves

30g roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

seeds from 1/2 pomegranate

a few pinches of sumac

1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

method:

Cook the onion, garlic, chilli and sumac in the coconut oil and 1 tbsp of water for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.

Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil.

Put the lid on and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Leave to cool a little and then stir in the pomegranate molasses.

Blend until silky smooth and season to taste.

Garnish the soup with coriander leaves, pomegranate seeds, chopped peanuts and a pinch of sumac and serve with the lime wedges.

__________________

Tenho feito tantas sopas magníficas que, sinceramente, poder partilhá-las convosco é um verdadeiro prazer!!

Esta é mais uma!! A primeira de um livro lindo, só de sopas, chamado "Skinny Soups".

A autora é a Kathryn Bruton e o livro - para os amantes de sopa como eu - é um verdadeiro deleite.

Escusado será dizer que o livro está quase, todo ele, repleto de "post its", mas para já, deixo-vos com esta sopa divina e que é perfeita para uma "Segunda-feira sem carne"!

ingredientes (para 4 pessoas):

1 cebola média, picada grosseiramente

2 dentes de alho, picados grosseiramente

1 malagueta vermelha, sem sementes e picada grosseiramente

1 colher chá de sumagre

1/2 colher sopa de óleo de coco

400g batata doce, descascada e cortada em cubos de ± 2cm.

3 ou 4 tomates (aprox. 300g), picados grosseiramente

850ml caldo de galinha ou de legumes

1 1/2 colheres sopa de melaço de romã

para decorar:

um ramo pequeno de folhas de coentros

30g amendoins salgados e torrados, picados grosseiramente

sementes de 1/2 romã

umas pitadas de sumagre

1 lima, cortada em quartos

preparação:

Num tacho, colocar a cebola, o alho, a malagueta, o sumagre, o óleo de coco e 1 colher de sopa de água.

Cozinhar por 5 minutos, ou até a cebola estar macia.

Adicionar a batata doce, os tomates e o caldo e deixar levantar fervura.

Tapar o tacho, baixar o lume e cozinhar por cerca de 20 minutos, ou até a batata estar macia.

Retirar do lume e deixar arrefecer um bocadinho, antes de adicionar o melaço de romã.

Com a varinha mágica ou no liquidificador, reduzir a sopa a um puré macio e rectificar os temperos.

Servir a sopa decorada com folhas de coentros, os amendoins picados, as sementes de romã e uma pitada de sumagre.

Colocar os quartos de lima na mesa, para que cada um se sirva à vontade, espremendo o sumo na sopa.

Recipe / Receita: