Cosy Cooking: Spicy Tomato and Bulgur Wheat Soup
Song suggestions:
Time After Time - Mabel
My Little Love - Adele
Ingredients:
1 onion
2 celery sticks
70g carrots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tin chopped tomatoes
30g (2 tbsp) bulgur wheat
75g red lentils
750ml water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika (use hot smoked if you really like spice)
2 tbsp fresh thyme
pinch of chilli flakes
Recipe:
Dice the onion and celery sticks. Thoroughly wash the carrots (scrub with a soapless sponge) and dice them (keep the skin on).
Sweat the onion, celery and carrot in the olive oil until aromatic.
Add the herbs and spices, and sauté for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, water, bulgur wheat and lentils. Stir well and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the grains and pulses are cooked.
Serve with warm bread, garnish with more fresh thyme and enjoy.
A Bite Out of Life
Roasted chestnuts are something that, for me, are a Christmas essential. It’s common in Portuguese households to have what’s called a ‘patusca’ which is just like a mini plug-in oven that’s used for roasting chestnuts. My grandparents roast them as a team effort - Grandad scores them, Grandma salts them and roasts them. They’re delicious and even better eaten straight out of the mini oven doused in butter. Buttered chestnuts - if you don’t know… get to know! These photos are of the only chestnuts I’ve ever roasted at home in the UK. Wash them, score them, salt them and roast them. They don’t taste the same as Grandma’s… but that makes me look forward to hers all the more.
