Culpeper House

Here Lives A Man with a Pan

Starters

Garlic Soup with Harissa

Toby

Ingredients

For the harissa

  • 1 red pepper
  • ½ tsp each coriander seeds, cumin seeds and caraway seeds
  • ½ tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 2 red chillies, seeded and chopped
  • ½ tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp coarse sea salt

For the soup

  • 40g butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 medium shallots, finely chopped
  • 3 celery sticks, finely diced
  • 25 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp coarse sea salt
  • 200ml white wine
  • 1 generous pinch saffron strands
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 litre good-quality liquid vegetable stock (not cubes)
  • 4 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped
  • Fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  • Greek yogurt (optional)

Method

  • First make the harissa: put the pepper under a very hot grill until blackened (15-20 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover with clingfilm, leave to cool, then peel and discard the skin and seeds. Place a dry frying pan on a low heat and toast the coriander, cumin and caraway for two minutes. Transfer to a mortar and grind to a powder. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, garlic and chillies over medium heat until dark and smoky – six to eight minutes – then blitz with all the paste ingredients.
  • For the soup, gently fry shallots and celery until soft and translucent (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for five minutes more. Stir in ginger and thyme, add salt, pour in the wine and leave to bubble for a few minutes. Add the saffron, bay leaves and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, add the parsley and blitz with a hand-held liquidiser. Do not over-process – keep some texture.
    • For the soup, gently fry shallots and celery until soft and translucent (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for five minutes more. Stir in ginger and thyme, add salt, pour in the wine and leave to bubble for a few minutes. Add the saffron, bay leaves and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, add the parsley and blitz with a hand-held liquidiser. Do not over-process – keep some texture.
    • Serve in shallow bowls. Swirl in some harissa, sprinkle over coriander and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, if you like.