I like people, but not on Sunday afternoons. By Sunday afternoons I'm done with the lot of you and I'd like you all to go away, please. However, I do love Sunday roasts and as we all know, it's impossible to cook one for less than 28 people. This combination of factors means we always have two or three containers of premium leftovers ready to become Monday Soup.
Just to manage expectations, this is more of an idea than a recipe; a wavering finger pointed in the general direction of Soup Town rather than an actual map.
It can't be a proper recipe because I don't know what kind of roast you made, do I?
This week, I had leftover chicken, potatoes, fennel, onions, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, kale and gravy. And because I'm the smug, sanctimonious type, I made my own chicken stock to soupify the leftovers.
But honestly, no one will judge you if you use store-bought stock, they'll be too busy praising you for your Christ-like powers of transformation.
Monday Soup
~ Between 2 and 24 servings ~
Ingredients
What have you got? The only essentials are the potatoes. Basically, this is potato soup with chopped up bits of roast dinner floating in it. (It's way better than it sounds.)
If you don't have enough potatoes, you can add a few uncooked ones - peeled and diced.
You'll need a litre of stock for every four cups of chopped leftovers - or thereabouts.
If you blitz it and it's too thin, add more cooked potato and blitz again. Too thick? More water or stock.
I also like to throw in some greens like kale or silverbeet at the end for colour, freshness and texture.
Method
Dice everything into more-or-less equal size pieces - the size you'd like on your spoon.
Put a large pot on a low heat with a splash of olive oil.
Add the potatoes and stir. Roast onion, parsnip, carrot, fennel and any other root veg can also go in now. Hold off on the green vegetables. They go in towards the end.
Once everything's had a chance to brown a little, add your leftover gravy and the stock, and bring it to a simmer for about 10 minutes. If you've added uncooked potato, test it to make sure it's softened.
Remove about half of the vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and set to one side.
Using a stick blender, whiz the remaining stock and vegetables until you have a creamy smooth soup base.
Now add the veg you just removed back into the blended soup base, plus the green vegetables, chicken and fresh greens if you're adding them. Bring it back up to a simmer for about five minutes and check the seasoning.
That's it. Serve to your awe-struck family.
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