Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

This soup is wonderful. On my top 5 soups I think!

The following will serve 4 to 6 people:

Ingredients:

25g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large leek, thinly sliced
55g plain flour
1.2 L vegetable stock
3-4 carrots, finely diced
4 celery sticks, finely diced
2 parsnips, finely diced
2-3 potatoes, finely diced
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
300 ml single cream
350g extra mature cheddar, grated
black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion and leek for 5 min, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 min. Add a little of the stock and keep stirring, then slowly add the rest of the stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan so that the flour does not stick.

3. Add the vegetables and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bayleaf.

4. Stir in the cream and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Do not boil.

5. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Season with plenty of black pepper.


There is no need to add salt as the soup will be salty enough with the stock and cheese.

Serve with a nice home-made bread!