A few simple ingredients make a perhaps surprisingly good soup. Eat it hot or cold on its own or with added herbs and yoghurt or cream if you like.
For 8
50g butter
3 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
6 large carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into small pieces
4 sticks of celery, cleaned and sliced
600mls water
600mls milk
Salt, pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
Melt the butter in a large pan over very low heat.
Stir in the onions, carrots, potato and celery, cover the pan with a lid and let the vegetables cook gently in the butter until they are softened but not browned –
this should take about 30 minutes.
Remove the lid and stir in the water and the milk, raise the heat and bring the whole lot to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer gently until the vegetables are very soft – this should take about 20 minutes.
Blend the vegetables together with the water and milk to a smooth soup – you will need to do this in batches.
Taste the soup and season with the salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg, little by little until it tastes good.
Reheat the soup in a clean pan if you want to eat it hot. Whether you have it hot or cold you could stir in a spoonful of thick plain yoghurt or cream as well as some finely chopped parsley or mint or chives to each serving.
