Nothing beats a warming, nourishing bowl of broth on a winter’s day.
And this one certainly satisfies on that front. Full of delicious seasonal vegetables from the garden, along with a stock made from our own organic chicken, along with an extra flourish using little used chervil to make an interesting twist on a pesto.
Serves 2
Start by heating a suitable lidded pan over a low to medium heat. Add a little oil, and add the diced onion, leek, celery and carrot, along with a good pinch of salt. Sweat these for around 5-10 minutes in a covered pan. Then add the diced turnip and radish, chopped hard herbs and sliced mushrooms, again adding a little pinch of salt. They should soften, smell fantastic, but not really take on much colour, you want them to retain some body and not become mushy.
Make a version of pesto by blending the chervil and toasted seeds with enough oil to create a characteristic pesto consistency, adding salt and a squeeze of lemon to taste.
Add the stock to just cover the soup ingredients and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning at this point. Cook only for as long as is needed to finish the vegetables off. Add the shredded cavalo / swish chard for the final minute of the cooking.
Then pour into bowls and top with a spoon of the ‘pesto’ and a drizzle more olive oil.
For Alan Gleeson, autumn is one of the most rewarding times to experience the Cotswolds’ thriving food scene.
Long before they reach the plate, our tomatoes begin in the warm soil of the market garden, growing steadily beneath the shelter of our polytunnels as the days lengthen and summer settles in.
