Vegetable Soup with Herb Dumplings
- For the soup
- 1kg vegetables: a mix of carrots, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, courgettes or anything else you wish to use up
- 2 small potatoes
- 1 celery stick
- 1 large onion
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1.5 litres vegetable stock
- For the dumplings
- 100g self-raising flour
- Pinch salt
- 50g vegetarian suet
- Pepper to taste
- Pinch each of dried thyme, sage, rosemary and tarragon
- About 4 tablespoons water to mix
Instructions:
Dumplings turn a soup into a hearty meal.They can be made very easily and dropped into a soup during the last 20 minutes of cooking, but note that they are not really suitable for creamy soups that cannot be simmered vigorously at the end.
- Cut all the vegetables into small pieces.
- Heat the butter in a large pan and fry the onion for a few minutes.
- Add all the vegetables and thyme, cover the pan and sweat the vegetables gently for 15 minutes.
- Add the stock and bring to the boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer the soup for 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Sift the flour and salt together and stir in the suet, seasoning and herbs. Mix in the water to make a soft but not too sticky dough. If the mixture is too sticky, simply sprinkle a little more flour over the dough and work it in lightly with your fingertips. Roll the dough into 12 small balls.
- After the 40 minutes of cooking time is up, make sure the soup is simmering vigorously and drop in the dumplings as quickly as you can. Replace the lid and leave for 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately. This will keep covered in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.