Winter warmer - spicy vegetable soup

Hallo 2013!

Here is a great winter recipe that never fails me!

Ingredients:

• Chicken or Veg Stock
• Smoked paprika
• Olive oil (best kind)
• Salt
• Coriander seeds
• Dried mixed Italian herbs
• Minced garlic 
• Dried chilly (I used bird's eye) (1)
• Carrots (3)
• Sweet potato (1)
• Leek (1)
• Swede (1/4)
• Can of diced tomatoes (1)

Serve with sour cream and fresh parsley.

1. Boil about 1,5l of water with chicken or veg stock.
2. Add generous amounts of smoked paprika, dash of olive oil (best kind), salt, coriander seeds, dried mixed Italian herbs, half-spoon of minced garlic and a dried chilly (I used one dried bird's eye).
3. Roughly shop up some peeled carrots (3), one large sweet potato, one leek and a quarter of a swede.
4. Boil for about 30 minutes.
5. Drain the veg, setting the boiling liquid aside for later.
6. Chuck the veg in the oven for 10 minutes on 200C (fan-forced) with an optional small drizzle of honey to caramelise.
7. Process small amounts of grilled veg in the food processor together with the boiling liquid, plus one can of diced tomatoes, until it's a smooth liquid. I prefer the soup a bit lumpy. A bit more rustic?
8. Return to heat up, but not boil.
9. Serve with sour cream and fresh parsley.

I have tried this with all sorts of variations. For example using Indian spices and pumpkin, using corn, coriander and cumin… anything is possible. A tip for success is to think of complimenting foods and I use a geographical food region as a reference - Italian, French, Latvian, Hungarian, Thai etc.

Enjoy! : )