Sophie Conran - Sophie Conran’s Soups and Stews

I adore this dish—it is the Italian equivalent of chicken noodle soup and soothes away life’s stresses and strains. I formed my attachment to this soup at the tender age of II, when my parents took a gastronomic tour of Italy. We whizzed around hairpin bends from Milan to Rome, eating on terraces overlooking fields of wild flowers, and in piazzas with gurgling fountains. Unfortunately, the speedy driving and rich meals took their toll. So I discovered the soothing qualities of pasta in broth and, to my poor father’s dismay, ate it for lunch and dinner for the rest of the trip, adoring every mouthful with its little parcels of loveliness.

1.5 litres/2 1/ 2pints excellent beef stock

(see page 184) made with the addition of 3 chicken drumsticks and a small piece of Parmesan rind (odd, but traditional)

250g/9oz tortellini

freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Reduce the stock by about one-third and season until it is nectar. Refrigerate the stock overnight. By the next day it will have set like jelly and the fat will have formed a crust on the top. This is beef dripping and can be used for frying, or binned if you don’t like the look of it and it makes you a bit queasy.

Ladle 1 litre/1 3/ 4pints of stock into a pan and bring to the boil, taste and season with salt. Drop in the tortellini and cook for the time stated on the packet. Serve with the Parmesan sprinkled on top if you wish.

Curry is a big part of the British culinary psyche and I have not been immune. I love grinding my own spices—there seems to be something very satisfying on a primitive level about pounding a few sticks and seeds together to produce some wonderful aromatic flavouring.

2 tbsp olive oil

600g/1lb 5oz chuck steak trimmed and cut into 3cm/11/4 inch cubes

50g/2oz butter

1 large Spanish onion peeled and sliced

1 walnut-sized piece of fresh root ginger peeled and chopped

300ml/10fl oz tomato passata

500ml-1 litre/18fl oz-1 3/ 4pints beef or chicken

stock (see pages 184 and 185) or water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the curry paste

1 medium-hot dried smoked chilli

3 cardamom pods crushed and with husks removed

1 heaped tsp coriander seeds

1/ 2tsp each ground turmeric and cumin

1 pinch of sea salt

3 cloves of garlic peeled and roughly chopped

1 pinch of dried curry leaves a few grinds of black pepper

Grind all the ingredients for the curry paste together in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Heat the oil in a large pan over a high heat. Season the steak with salt and pepper, drop into the pan and cook until browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Reduce the heat, drop the butter into the pan and gently fry the onion and ginger together until the onion is soft. Stir in the curry paste and fry for about 10 minutes, giving it a gentle poke and stir around from time to time.

Glug in the passata and 500ml/18fl oz of stock or water. Return the meat to the pan, stir through and leave to gently simmer for 2 hours. Check that it isn’t burning or sticking from time to time and add a little more stock or water if it looks like it is drying out.

I like to serve this curry with basmati rice cooked in stock and tossed with butter, and a dish of spinach that has been briefly boiled then tossed in a pan with cream and a little nutmeg.

My lovely mum is a fabulous cookery writer and as kids we were her happy guinea pigs. A couple of her books were on British cooking and I have the fondest memories of dumplings with lots of gravy. My version has the addition of baking powder to make them very light and fluffy; if you prefer a more solid dumpling, you can omit it from the recipe.

600g/1lb 5oz stewing steak cubed

2 tbsp plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil or beef dripping

50g/2oz butter

1 red onion peeled and chopped

2 ribs of celery cleaned, trimmed and chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

350g/12oz brown mushrooms trimmed, quartered

2 leeks cleaned, trimmed and chopped

1 tsp paprika

500ml/18fl oz light beer or lager freshly ground black pepper

For the dumplings

100g/4oz self-raising flour

50g/2oz prepared suet

1/ 4tsp baking powder

1 tsp mustard powder

75g/3oz strong grated Cheddar cheese

1 handful of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 egg beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Roll the meat in the seasoned flour until coated. Heat the oil or dripping in a large pot with a lid and brown the meat in two batches. Pop the meat in a bowl until needed. Reduce the heat and plop the butter into the pot, throw in all the vegetables, the paprika and a good grind of black pepper and give it a proper stir. Gently fry for about 25 minutes until soft, keeping an eye on them and stirring every few minutes, as you don’t want them to burn. Return the meat to the pot. Glug in the beer or lager and enough water to just cover the meat, stir through, pop the lid on the pot and place in the oven for 1 3/ 4hours.

Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using a fork, briskly mix in the egg and enough water to make a sticky dough but do not over-mix. Form into dumplings the size of walnuts and pop on top of the stew at the end of the cooking time, cover the pot and cook for a further 15 minutes. Serve with a salad on the side if you like, but it is a whole meal on its own.

Jane Grigson called boeuf à la bourguignon (beef in the Burgundy style), ‘The stew of stews.’ This rich, delicious dish is worthy of a good-quality red wine.

1.5kg/3lb 15oz chuck stewing or braising steak cut into 4cm/11/2 inch cubes

30g/1 1/ 4oz plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

4 tbsp olive oil

125g/4oz pancetta cut into little sticks

1/ 2bottle of full-bodied red wine such as Merlot or Burgundy

300ml/10fl oz beef stock (see page 184)

1 bouquet garni

20 pearl (or ‘button’) onions peeled and trimmed

225g/8oz button mushrooms

25g/1oz butter

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Coat the beef cubes thoroughly with the seasoned flour. Heat half the oil in a large ovenproof pan with a lid on a high heat. Fry the pancetta in the oil until browned, then remove it from the pan. Add the meat and fry, adding a little more oil if necessary. Fry the meat in batches, putting in just as many pieces as will cover the bottom of the pan, until browned. Set the meat aside with the pancetta.

Reduce the heat to medium to low, pour in half the wine and bring to the boil, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the gubbins that have stuck to the bottom. Return the meat and pancetta to the pan. Pour in the rest of the wine and just enough of the stock to leave the top halves of the uppermost pieces of meat showing above the liquid. Add the bouquet garni, stir and season with pepper. Pop the lid on the pan and simmer in the oven for 2 hours. Meanwhile, simmer the onions in a small pan in the remaining stock for 5 minutes. Remove the onions and discard the stock. Fry the onions and mushrooms gently in the rest of the oil and the butter for 10 minutes, and then set aside until needed.