Blog - Nursery Talk

Cooking with Children – Warming Soups

Little ones love to cook especially if it involves licking chocolate off a wooden spoon! It’s a fantastic way to spend time with your children – it’s fun, messy and in fact a great way for them to develop their confidence, learn about healthy food choices and develop a variety of skills including:

• Maths (weighing and measuring ingredients)
• Science (mixing ingredients and observing what happens, discussing the process and seeing the end result)
• Time
• Creativity
• Early Literacy and Communication (reading recipes and following instructions)

With winter in full swing our nursery chefs have listed their favourite soup recipes to keep you and your family warm this season.

Jackie’s Homemade Tomato Soup

A great way to use up bumper crops of home grown tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1kg ripe tomatoes / or 2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
1 large tablespoon tomato puree

Method

1. Sauté the chopped onion, carrots, celery and garlic until soft but not browned
2. Add tomato puree and cook for a couple for minutes
3. Add the chopped up tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes
4. Add hot vegetable stock and simmer for about 15 minutes
5. Blend and season to taste

Shillah’s Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:
1 ½ cloves of garlic
½ an onion
2 tablespoons tomato puree
4 tomatoes
1 can of tinned tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
1 ½ jugs of boiling water
1 ½ handfuls of soup pasta
1 pepper
Chopped coriander (to taste)

Method:

1. Fry onions and garlic
2. Add tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, peppers and tomato puree
3. Dissolve the stock cube in boiling water and add
4. Add chopped coriander to taste
5. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes
6. When vegetables are cooked through add the pasta and cook until the pasta is soft (should take a couple of minutes)

Clive’s Cream of Tomato and Chive Soup

Ingredients:
250g celery
1 leek
250g carrots
1 onion
1 bunch of spring onions
Olive oil
250g tomato puree
2 tins of tomatoes or 250g fresh ripe tomatoes
¼ pint of vinegar
100g sugar
2-3 pints of vegetable stock
A little flour and a little double cream

Method:

1. Sweat all the vegetables in the oil until cooked
2. Add the flour, tomato puree and tomatoes
3. Cook for a couple of minutes (until the flour is absorbed) and add the stock
4. Caramelise the vinegar by adding the sugar to the vinegar and reducing it down by cooking on a low heat and then add to the soup mixture.
5. Puree and blitz
6. Serve and sprinkle on top chopped chives and lace with a little cream

Janice’s Broccoli & Stilton Soup

Ingredients:
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 Knorr stock cubes (I like chicken and vegetable)
1500 ml water
100g Stilton
1 head of broccoli fresh or 500g frozen broccoli

Method:

1. Sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes in a little butter and oil
2. Add water, stock cubes and bring to the boil
3. Add the broccoli and cook for 10 minutes
4. Add cheese and simmer until it has melted
5. Simmer for 20 minutes and then blend