Tuesday 29 March 2016

Dad's Tomato Soup ... in the Soup Maker!

We had this Morphy Richards soup maker from some good friends as a Christmas gift.

If I'm totally honest, our initial reaction was ... "Why would anyone need a soup maker? After all, what's wrong with a big pan?" This thought was swiftly followed by ... "Oh no! Another kitchen gadget to find a home for."

We couldn't see ourselves using it and imagined it would languish at the back of the cupboard with the steamer, the ice cream maker and the bread maker.

Being given it as a gift did spur us to clear out all of the kitchen cupboards in order to at least find a home for it and we decided to just give it a try to see what it was like.

One of our favourite soups and the first we tried was Dad's tomato soup. I'm not sure where he originally had the recipe from but it's our 'go to' recipe for tomato soup.

It's dead simple to make, uses lots of lovely veggies and turns out perfect every time. And what's more, it has no syns in it all if you're following the Slimming World way of eating.

Ingredients
1 red pepper
1 sweet potato
2 sticks of celery
1 onion
Frylight
Pinch of chilli flakes
600g ripe tomatoes
1 pint vegetable stock
Worcestershire sauce
Basil

Start by chopping the red pepper, sweet potato, celery and onion.




Switch the soup maker on to the sauté setting and spray with Frylight. It only takes a few seconds to heat up. Throw in the chopped veg with the pinch of chilli flakes and sauté for a maximum if 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.






In the meantime chop the tomatoes and prepare your stock.




Throw the tomatoes into the soup maker add the stock, basil and as much Worcestershire sauce as you fancy and add the lid.

We like our soup smooth and creamy so we set the programme to smooth, but there is the option to set for a chunkier soup if you prefer it this way.





That is basically it. The timer shows how long it will take to make the soup and you can see it counting down. I think it starts at just over 20 minutes. Just enough time to put the kitchen back together and load the dish washer.

The first time we made the soup we got the fright of our lives as part way through the programme the motor started up to blend the soup.

When the programme is finished, all you need to do is turn off the soup maker and remove the lid. So far we have had a perfectly smooth and creamy soup every time. We've made quite a variety and each one has turned out really well.

At maximum capacity the soup maker makes enough soup for 4 decent sized portions, which surprised us as it didn't seem very big and the fill level is quite low, to account for the space that the blender part takes up.

I pour mine into takeaway containers ready for freezing, have a quick taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. At this point you need to make sure you have a plate or something to rest the lid and motor part on as, if you don't, soup will drip everywhere which could be a bit of a pain.

All that is then left to do is to clean the soup maker, which can be a bit of a faff but is fairly straightforward. I just tend to swill out the jug straight away with hot water and then just run the blender part under the tap. Give both parts a quick wipe over and it's ready to go away for next time.

I do believe you can get soup makers with a self cleaning function, which would be good.

So ... Our verdict on the soup maker, now that we've given it a good test run ...

We like ...

  • how easy it is to use
  • the sauté function
  • the quantity it makes
  • the fact that once it's started off you can just leave it
  • the consistency of quality of the soups we've made so far

It would be even better if ...

  • it had a self clean function
  • it made an even greater quantity

Overall, I think we can safely say it was a pretty decent pressie and we will get lots of use from it, so thank you Jo, Steve, Hannah and Megan!

10 comments:

  1. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting? I'm pleased I discovered it though, ill be checking back soon to find out what additional posts you include. morphy richards soup maker

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  2. I love my morphy Richards soup maker. It’s the best 👍I make soup and freeze it.its there when I need it. It takes atleast28-30mins to do. Throw all the veg ect in and off you go. No hassle 👍

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    1. We are still getting plenty of use from ours ... it’s great having a freezer full of soup ready for lunches 😃

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  3. Excellent recipe. I have used it many times now. Some tomato soups are too sweet and others too tomatoey. This is perfect with the sweet potato. Love it!

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    1. Thank you ... it is still definitely one of our favourites 😃

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    2. PS ... if I’m feeling really lazy I use two tins of plum tomatoes instead of fresh and it still works out well 😃

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  4. The Husband has just asked if I can find a tomato soup recipe to use our homegrown tomatoes up. Like you we have the MR Sauté and Soup maker and it's one of those kitchen gadgets that I do use a lot. Tried a number of sites before I found your recipe so guess what I'll be doing this afternoon before settling down to catch up on the ironing!!! I have a favourite recipe for root veg soup which you might like to try - an onion, a leek, a couple of carrots, a parsnip, a small sweet potato, adding a veg stock pot and a veg cube, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp cumin and salt and pepper, then pour boiling water to max line and stir well. I set it on smooth as not too fond of chunky soup, then wait for lunch. Delicious with a warm bread roll. Thanks for your recipe, will check out your site again and let you know how the soup goes down!

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    1. Oooh thank you for that Jacquie, I will give it a go. We have grown broccoli this year and have just had a go at a broccoli leaf and bacon soup which was a real treat. There is so much of the plant left after you’ve used the spears that it seemed a real waste to just put it all in the compost. 😃

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  5. Cannot live without my Morphy Richards soup maker every Saturday night. I will have a go at following your recipe .

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    1. It really is a winner ... if I’m feeling a bit lazy I just use two tins of chopped tomatoes and it still works out a treat. I think I will be making my first autumn batch this weekend too 😃

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