Recipe Info
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 35 mins
- Servings: 4 people
This dish is inspired by a recipe from Melissa Hemsley, featured in her cookbook Feel Good. This soup is the perfect combination of chunky, smooth and creamy with that extra special topping. Created as a quick and easy meal for days when you just want to spoon some comforting goodness.
Ingredients
- 1½ tbsp olive oil, ghee or butter
- 1 medium onion, diced, or I big leek, trimmed and chopped
- 1 celery stick, diced, or 1 handful of diced fennel
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or sliced
- ½ tsp dried thyme or oregano
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- 500g pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 900ml Take Stock vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 × 400g tins of beans (such as borlotti), drained and rinsed
- 200g cabbage, kale or cavolo nero, finely sliced
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil, ghee or butter
- Around 12 large sage leaves
- 4 heaped tbsp ricotta
- 1 tbsp lemon juice and a little grated zest
- A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 big handful of grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Heat up the 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan and then fry the whole sage leaves for 30 seconds on each side until golden-edged, then transfer to a corner of your chopping board.
- Put the pan back on the heat, add the 1½ tablespoons of olive oil and gently fry the onion and celery on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, while you finish preparing the rest of the veg.
- Add the garlic, dried herbs, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper and fry for another minute.
- Tip in the pumpkin or squash and the stock, pop a lid on the pan and bring to the boil, then immediately turn down to a medium simmer and cook for 12 minutes.
- Stir in the beans and the cabbage, kale or cavolo nero, pop the lid back on and simmer for another 5 minutes (adding another splash of water if needed).
- By now the pumpkin should be tender when you test it with afork. If not, let it simmer for another few minutes, then take off the heat and season to taste.
- While the soup is simmering, mix the ricotta in a bowl with the lemon juice and zest, season with salt and top with the fried sage leaves.
Serve up each bowl of soup, letting everyone help themselves to the ricotta mix, olive oil and grated Parmesan.
