Vegetable Soups and dumplings

Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.

- Wendy Moulton

A fresh mushroom soup with freshly picked herbs and a dollop of cream or a packed anything-goes soup with great flavour, harvested from the garden, will keep you warm during those chilly winter nights. Add dumplings and you have the proverbial icing on the cake so to speak.

What makes a good vegetable soup?

Layering flavours Start with the basics like onions, celery and carrots - the famous mirepoix of cookery school, and then build onto that with other vegetables, herbs and spices. Or start with one ingredient like potatoes for a potato soup and add onion and garlic, a little bacon (always a winner), chicken stock, cream, sour cream or yoghurt, salt and pepper and finish with some cheese, chives and Cajun seasoning.

Herbs and spices

Don't forget herbs and spices in a soup. They just add to the flavour and enhance the result. Try herbs like thyme, parsley, oregano, basil, and coriander and more unusual herbs like lovage and marjoram. Spices can include ground versions of cumin, chillies, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, coriander and more. Just be aware of using too many spices together or too much as they have a strong flavour.

Final touches

Take an ordinary soup to extraordinary levels by adding some final touches.

Try a squeeze of lemon juice, a dollop of cream or yoghurt, a layer of grated cheese, or a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

Even things like a little flaked salt or good olive oil can lift a soup and adding croutons or dumplings makes it all come together