Sophie Conran - Sophie Conran’s Soups and Stews

My wonderful and inspirational mother cooked many of these warming and nourishing dishes for our family from recipes she excavated from ancient crumbling manuscripts. Ever the explorer, she resurrected magnificent dishes from an era that had never heard of convenience food nor was obsessed with fads and fashions, but was bound by the seasons, accepting no less than exceptional quality. It is these amazing meals that have become the bedrock of my own culinary landscape and adventures. Within these pages you will also find recipes from some of my closest friends and family—cooks, chefs and food-writers of immense accomplishment—and I am extremely proud to be able to include them in this collection.

The recipes in this book come from around the world, with many well-known favourites, as well as other little gems that I have adapted to be easily made at home. You’ll also find some much-loved British classics—the soups and stews of my childhood, which remain my true loves. All have been tried and tested on my hungry family and friends over the years. I use weights and measurements as a guide, but each recipe is simply my own version, so feel free to adapt, add and omit ingredients at will. Some of these recipes are as ancient as the hills and have grown and changed as they have passed through the kitchens of generation after generation of loving cooks. It seems only right that they continue to stay alive.

I hope you will enjoy making these recipes yourself, the wonderful smells, the anticipation of the loveliness to come and, finally, the joy of eating them with those who you love and cherish. Good health and happy days.

BEEF SOUPS

BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP

HEARTY BEEF SOUP

OXTAIL SOUP

BROWN WINDSOR SOUP

BURGUNDY BEEF WITH MUSHROOMS

ARTICHOKE AND LEMON SOUP

SHABU-SHABU

PASTA IN BRODO

BEEF STEWS

MR PIANIM’S BEEF CURRY

BEEF, BEER AND MUSHROOM STEW WITH CHEESY DUMPLINGS

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

BOEUF EN DAUBE

Jeremy Lee’s

FEATHERBLADE

BOLLITO MISTO

Tom Conran’s

CRAZY HOMIES EXTERMINATOR CHILLI

CARBONNADE Á LA FLAMANDE

OSSO BUCCO AND RISOTTO MILANESE

I am immensely fond of barley. I find it a soothing and comforting ingredient as it has a soft nuttiness that makes this soup ideal for calming frayed nerves.

1 tbsp olive oil

100g/3 1/ 2oz bacon lardons

2 braising steaks about 300g/11oz each

1 large carrot peeled and diced

4 shallots peeled and diced

1 rib of celery cleaned, trimmed and finely chopped

150ml/5fl oz red wine

8 juniper berries crushed

2 large handfuls of pearl barley

1/ 2tbsp tomato purée

1 handful of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the lardons and cook until browned. Season the steaks with salt and pepper; add them to the pot and cook until browned on each side, then remove and set aside. Turn down the heat. Gently fry the vegetables with the bacon for about 5 minutes.

Return the steaks to the pot and lay them on top of the vegetables then pour over the wine. Sprinkle in the juniper berries and pearl barley, then stir in the tomato purée and cover with water. Leave to gently simmer for 2 hours, topping up with hot water if it looks like it is drying out.

Remove the steaks from the soup and stir in the parsley. Season to taste. Trim the fat from the steaks and chuck it in the bin. Slice the steaks into 1cm/ 1/ 2inch strips and divide between the bowls. Ladle in the soup and serve with warm rolls and butter.

This is a real crowd pleaser and filling to boot. One of the most satisfying soups I know.

1 tbsp olive oil

100g/3 1/ 2oz pancetta cut into 1cm/1/2 inch cubes

300g/11oz chuck steak cut into 1cm/1/2 inch sticks

2 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

1 handful of dried porcini mushrooms (ceps)

soaked in boiling water for 20 minutes

1 onion peeled and chopped

2 red peppers cored, seeded and cut into 1cm/1/2 inch strips

2 ribs of celery cleaned, trimmed and chopped

3 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped

1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves 1/ 2tsp harissa

300ml/10fl oz tomato passata

600ml/1 pint water

2 handfuls of Puy lentils sea salt

Heat the oil in a large pan with a lid. Drop in the pancetta and fry until it browns and the fat starts to run out. Remove from the pan and set aside. Meanwhile, dust the beef cubes with the flour and add them to the pan. Fry on all sides until browned, then remove from the pan and set aside with the pancetta.

Chop the porcini, reserving the soaking liquid as it is very flavourful, and add to the pan with the onion, red peppers and celery. Fry the vegetables gently until they are all soft—about 45 minutes. Keep an eye on them and give them a stir every now and again. Once the vegetables are really luscious, stir in the garlic, thyme and harissa and cook through for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the meat and the liquid from the mushrooms and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up anything that is stuck to the bottom of the pan into a sauce. Pour in the passata, water and lentils, stir through and season with a little salt. Bring to a gentle boil, cover with the lid and simmer for 2 hours, stirring every now and then. Add a little water if it starts to become dry.

Season to taste and serve with warm crusty rolls and plenty of butter.

This hearty soup brings back lovely warm childhood memories for me. Even when served at school, it was a more than palatable dish that would make an afternoon on the achingly cold, muddy playing field, being whacked by a lacrosse stick, more bearable. This is best made the day before so that you can scoop off the surface fat.

2 whole oxtails jointed and trimmed of fat (ask your butcher to do this)

plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

4 carrots peeled and trimmed

4 baby turnips peeled and trimmed (optional)

8 shallots peeled and trimmed

1 leek cleaned and trimmed

2 ribs of celery cleaned and trimmed 100g/3 1/ 2oz butter

1 bay leaf

1 small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/ 2tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/ 2tbsp tomato purée

1 tsp ground allspice

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toss the oxtail in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the oxtail and brown on all sides. Put half of the veg and the butter into the pan with the bay leaf and parsley. Cut the rest of the veg into cubes and keep aside for later. Fill the pan with water and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée and allspice. Allow to gently simmer for 2 hours.

Remove the vegetables and bay leaf from the pan and discard. Pop the reserved chopped vegetables into the pan, lightly season with salt and cook for a further 1 1/2 hours. Add more water if necessary to keep the pieces of meat covered with liquid and stir every now and then, making sure it has not burnt or stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Take the pan from the heat and remove the oxtail pieces from the soup and set aside to cool. Place the soup in the fridge until the fat on top has solidified so you can scoop it off and bin it. While still a little warm, separate the oxtail meat from the bones and wobbly bits, and discard the latter. Once the fat has been removed from the soup, whiz the soup in a blender to a purée. Return the meat to the soup and heat through. Season to taste. Serve with warm seeded rolls. It’s also great with a blob of horseradish sauce on top.