I was watching Master Chef once and this poor woman made a dish from potatoes and courgettes and one of the plonkers that presents the show was really negative about it before he even tasted it. Now, that's what he gets paid for, I know. One doesn't go far on British television nowadays without being rude and arrogant and insulting a few people on the way. It's what the public demand after all. But, what the guy said about potatoes and courgettes was just really lame. He reckoned that because courgettes were a southern kind of vegetable and potatoes were a northern one, they shouldn't be combined in a dish...
So, here we go. A Macbean recipe that combines courgettes and potatoes to what I believe is a very nice effect. I'm also going to chuck in an even more northern ingredient, which by the Master fellow's logic should really only be combined with field-frozen turnips - the Brussels sprout.
This soup only takes about half an hour to make from start to finish and the result is both warm and filling and at the same time fresh, green and crunchy. A combination of northern and southern qualities, you might say.
I had some stock left over from cooking cabbage and I used that in this recipe. Cauliflower or broccoli stock would also be good, but if you don't have any of these, just use a stock cube or instant stock powder. That's what I usually do.
This will make enough soup for six bowls.
2 or 3 potatoes
1 large courgette
300g of Brussels sprouts
1 tomato
1 onion
A few crushed black peppercorns
A couple of large pinches of dried basil
2 litres of cabbage stock or stock cubes/powder dissolved in 2l of water
A little salt
Olive oil
Grated parmesan cheese
Put the stock or water into a large pan and set it to heat. Peel the potato and chop it into small pieces. Add them to the pan. If you're going to add stock cubes or powder to the soup, do it as soon as the water comes to the boil. When it's boiling turn the heat down a little to just a simmer.
Slice the onion finely and fry in a generous amount of oil on a medium heat. Cut all the sprouts in half and chop up the courgette. Add them to the pan, along with a little salt, when the onions have been going for about five minutes and turn up the heat. Stir gently and fry all the vegetables together for another five minutes.
Add the fried vegetables to the soup pan along with the tomato, finely chopped. Simmer for about ten minutes and the soup is ready. Turn off the heat and stir in the black pepper and basil.
Serve in bowls with a little grated parmesan sprinkled on the top.