Soup Weather, and Why a Big Pot Is Worth It

There is a particular kind of winter afternoon when the light goes flat at half past three and nothing appeals quite like a bowl of something thick, savoury and made from what is already in the cupboard. Soup is the most forgiving cooking there is. A pot made on a quiet Sunday costs very little, uses up the bendy carrots and the last of the celery, and hands you four lunches you do not have to think about.

The five soups below lean on roots, pulses, tins and grains rather than fresh herbs and fancy stock. Two habits make all the difference. Season in layers as you go, then taste and correct at the end, because reducing soup concentrates salt. And keep the texture varied: blitz part of a pot, never all of it, so there is something to chew.

All five freeze well and all five travel. To carry soup on a walk, preheat a wide-mouthed flask with boiling water for two minutes, tip it out, fill to the brim and screw the lid down firmly. It will stay properly hot for four or five hours. Take a spoon, a chunk of bread and a wedge of cheese, and you have a lunch that beats anything in a paper bag.

Root Vegetable and Thyme Broth

The cheapest of the five and the most adaptable. Any combination of roots works, so use what the veg box or the market stall gives you.

• 1 large onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, half a swede
• 2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 litres stock, 4 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf
• A splash of cider vinegar, salt and black pepper

Soften the chopped onion and celery in the oil for eight minutes without colouring them. Add the roots cut to roughly equal chunks, the stock and the herbs. Simmer for 25 minutes, until a knife slides through a piece of swede with no resistance. Blitz half the pot, stir it back in, then add the vinegar and season. That vinegar is not optional: it lifts the sweetness of the roots and makes the whole bowl taste brighter. Cool within 90 minutes, portion into containers leaving a centimetre of headspace, and freeze for up to three months.

Red Lentil and Kale

This is the one that thickens as it stands, so make it a little looser than you think it needs to be.

• 2 tbsp oil, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 200g red lentils, rinsed; 1 tin chopped tomatoes; 1.2 litres stock
• 100g curly kale, stalks removed; juice of half a lemon

Fry the onion until soft, add the garlic and spices for a minute, then the lentils, tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then because lentils catch on the base of the pan. Add the shredded kale for the last five minutes, then finish with lemon and salt. If you plan to freeze it, do so before the kale goes in and add fresh greens when you reheat, otherwise it turns drab.

Leek, Potato and Cheddar

Creamy, faintly Welsh and deeply comforting. Use floury potatoes, not waxy ones, or you will end up with soup full of firm cubes.

• 50g butter, 3 leeks sliced and washed thoroughly
• 700g floury potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1.2 litres stock, 100g mature cheddar, 1 tsp English mustard

Sweat the leeks in butter for ten minutes with the lid on, and do not let them brown. Add the potatoes and stock, simmer for 20 minutes, then mash roughly with a potato masher for a rustic texture. Take the pan off the heat before stirring in the grated cheddar and the mustard, and never boil it hard afterwards or the cheese will split. Freeze the base without the cheese and add it as you reheat, which keeps the texture silky.

Smoky Bean and Tomato

Ten minutes of work and a cupboard raid, and it tastes as though it simmered all day.

• 2 tbsp oil, 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tins beans, drained; 2 tins chopped tomatoes; 700ml stock
• A splash of red wine vinegar

Cook the onion and pepper until soft, add the garlic and spices, then everything else except the vinegar. Simmer for 25 minutes, blitz about a third of the pot and stir it back through. Finish with vinegar, salt and plenty of pepper. This freezes better than any of the others, so it is worth making a double batch and stashing four portions for the weeks when cooking feels like too much effort.

Pearl Barley, Mushroom and Ale

The heartiest of the five, almost a stew, and the best thing to come back to after a long, cold walk.

• 25g dried porcini, soaked, liquid reserved; 3 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, 2 carrots, 400g chestnut mushrooms, 3 garlic cloves
• 100g pearl barley, 1 tbsp plain flour, 150ml ale, 1.2 litres stock
• 3 thyme sprigs, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Brown the mushrooms hard in a dry pan first, in batches, so they colour rather than steam. Set aside, then soften the onion and carrot, add the garlic and flour, and pour in the ale to cook off for a minute. Add the barley, stock, porcini and their strained liquid, and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes until the barley is tender. Return the mushrooms, add the Worcestershire sauce and thyme, and season. Barley keeps drinking liquid, so loosen leftovers with a little stock. Freeze in portions for up to three months and reheat until steaming.