Parsnip, carrot and mango chutney soup

Its official I am sad, yes very sad I cut out recipes and paste them in a scrap book and then on wet days, I stand at my kitchen counter and gently flick through the pages discovering inspiration for dishes to cook. This is one such recipe, inspired by a carrot and chutney soup recipe (this one contained rice as a thickener) I decided to rescue a few past their best carrots and parsnips from the vegetable rack and combine them with mango chutney in a sweet mildly spicy soup.

A perfect soup for a cool spring weekend lunch, sufficiently comforting without being too winter warming, I served this with some easy gluten free flat bread (recipe on separate post), any leftovers I plan to take to work in my trusty soup container.

The recipe would also work with other chutneys, caramelised onion would be good and its also very frugal too. What's not to like so why not give it a try.....

                                               

What you need

• 2 large carrots - peeled and chopped
• 2 large parsnips - peeled and chopped
• Vegetable stock ( I used Essential Cuisine)
• 1 tbsp mango chutney
• 1 brown onion - peeled and finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• A little rapeseed oil or olive oil or butter

What you do

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, carrots and parsnips and sweats for a few minutes without colouring.
• Add enough vegetable stock to the pan to cover the vegetables 
• Simmer until the vegetables are soft and add the mango chutney to the pan. 
• Blitz with a hand blender or in a liquidiser until you achieve a smooth velvety texture, add more vegetable stock if required.
• Return to the pan and bring back to simmer before serving.
• Delicious served with flat breads or artisan bread.
• This soup also freezes well

I am linking this post up to Farmers Girl's linky "Recipe Clippings" for April, as this recipe was inspired by a clipped recipe from my scrapbook.

                                           

I am also linking up to Credit crunch munch as I am using past their best vegetables which is just the sort of frugal meal I like. The challenge created by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab food for All and hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy

                                           

Also to #ExtraVeg created by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy and hosted this month by Jo's Kitchen.
                                                         

And to Souper Soup created and hosted over at Jo's Kitchen for soups.

                                                       


And to No Croutons required co hosted in rotation by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen, a challenge for veggie soups and salads.

                                                     

And finally to Simple and in Season hosted this month by Fuss Free Flavours for the lovely Ren Behan 

                                          

FATJAX chutneys and relishes

I have been really lucky to be given the opportunity to review some great local products from FATJAX Chutneys, who are literally a couple of miles down the road from me. Creating artisan cheeky chutneys, vinegars and  ravishing relishes produced by chefs in small batches to capture freshness of flavour. FATJAX chutneys also make addition to savoury dishes where you are looking to add that extra dimension of flavour, check out the  post for Courgettsakka.

So here goes, my delish samples (proper full sized jars mind you so I could have a good taste and share with friends too ),and its true what the say "The difference is in the taste".

Mediterranean Vegetable - A delightful vegetable chopped chutney, bit like ratatouille only nicer. I could see this being served as an alternative to a salsa or alongside fish, I think its would also make a great combo with tuna fish and mayo grilled as a toasty.

Onion and fennel seed - The outright favourite of everyone who has tried the chutneys, lovely with cheese of course and cooked meats too. A new flavour to the FATJAX stable and from the feedback I'll be giving hopefully a permanent addition to the range , its the contrasting aniseedy hum which combines superbly with the sweet onions that everyone loved.

Sweet Red Onion and  chilli - an ideal partner to meats, cold or hot with a little bit of a kick ( don't worry not too much). My brother loves it on a bacon butty ! Also I think this would be delicious stirred into a chilli to provide extra flavour depth.

Bengali Pineapple - apparently FATJAX best seller by a mile, think mango chutney but fresher and pineapply (of course), delicious with curries and poppadoms, I can see this in filo pastry with shredded cooked chicken a little creme fraiche, hey presto chicken korma parcels  !

The chutneys are available direct from FATJAX via their website or at one of the many local food markets they attend or in a number of carefully selected local food emporiums.

Thanks to the wonderful Synergy Monochrome for the great photography for this post 

Spiced Apple Chutney

My cake baking, hen keeping friend Susan, who I met as one of the organisers of the South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club, has launched her own cyber initiative #homemadeandwellpreserved. She has a lovely foodie blog called "A little bit of heaven on a plate".This initiative is for making preserves, either as additions to your store own cupboard or as a gift.

In recent weeks I have fighting a losing battle with fruit off the tree's in the garden. Apples and courgettes are mainly this years glut. As I really hate waste, I am in full blown jamming and preserving mode. This spicy apple chutney is a favourite way to use up some apples. Its an easy recipe and is lovely on a cheese sandwich or with a cold pork pie. 

Ingredients

• 225g Onions - chopped
• 900g Apples - cored and chopped
• 110g sultanas, raisins or chopped dates
• 15g ground coriander
• 15g paprika
• 15g mixed spice
• 15g salt
• 340g sugar
• 750ml vinegar - malt but you can use fruit vinegars as well

Method

Place all the ingredients into a large pan, slowly bring to the boil ensuring all the sugar has melted. Simmer for a couple of hours ( I can't be exact as it depends on the moisture level in your fruit), stirring from time to time to ensure the chutney doesn't stick and burn. Its ready when you can draw a spoon across and the channel does not fill with liquid. Pot into sterilised jars, seal and cool. Store in a dark cool cupboard for a couple of months for the full flavour to develop. Its not easy to be precise with how many jars either this recipe makes between 3 - 6 jam jars.