Soup with a story to tell

January is National Soup month and to mark this occasion Scotty Brand is celebrating by sharing a “Souper” Competition to search for the nation's favourite soup. With cold winter weather, a pandemic preventing travel and many of us working from home, this is the ideal time to "coorie in" at home with a bowl of hot soup.

Visit the Scotty Brand Sentimental Soups webpage: www.scottybrand.com/sentimental-soup and to pick your favourite Scotty Brand soup. Choose from their fresh soup range which includes Carrot & Coriander, Chicken & Rice, Cream of Tomato, Lentil, Scotch Broth & Vegetable.

Win dinner cooked by a professional chef

Once you have picked your favourite Scotty Brand soup, enter the competition for a chance to win dinner cooked by Scottish chef and restaurateur John Quigley. Cooked in the comfort of your home, John who is the owner and chef at Red Onion in Glasgow will cook for the winner and up to 7 guests. (NB Prize cannot be claimed until the Scottish Government guidelines related to COVID-19 permit gatherings of the relevant number of people/household)

Scotty Brand soups and soup mixes

If this has inspired you to get soupy, then Scotty Brand have you sorted with either of their easy-to-cook from scratch soup kits - vegetable & lentil or Scotch Broth soup mix even comes with a little sachet of barley. If that sounds like too much effort then their ready-made soup pots are available to buy from ASDA and Morrisons. They are ideal for a quick and easy lunch or dinner and healthy too! But if you do feel like getting crafty in the kitchen we have a recipe below for a vegan/vegetarian version of a family favourite, Scotch Broth.

There are many versions of Scotch Broth as there are grannies in Scotland, it seems like every family has their own recipe. Growing up in the 70s/80s soups at home consisted of either lentil or Scotch broth. That was it. Mind you that meant that there were two things that you could cook once you had left home!

Traditional Scotch Broth

Traditionally Scotch Broth is made with a neck of mutton. The mutton is used as stock for the broth, removed for a proper meal later or you could take the meat off the mutton and add back into the soup for a more substantial meal.

Being a 70's kid, cash was a bit sparse so growing up it was either a ham stock cube or a ham hough if flush! Just like you would do with the neck of mutton, the meat could be taken from the ham hough and added to the soup, or you would simply serve the ham alongside boiled potatoes making a basic but comforting meal.

Scotch Broth Ingredients

Broth Mix

There's no need to buy separate ingredients for the broth mix. Either a vegetable broth mix or a Scotch broth mix can be found in most supermarkets. These generally have pearl barley, split peas and lentils in them. Just remember to soak the broth mix as long as you can, I usually leave it overnight so that I can start the soup the next day. You don't have to soak broth mix, however, it will make the broth mix cook quicker. If you are in a rush, you can boil your broth mix for about 20-30mins in water then drain and add to your soup ingredients.

Vegetables

Traditionally onion, carrots, celery and kale are the vegetables used for Scotch broth but really you can use anything in your kitchen. Turnips, parsnips, swede, any sturdy and chunky root vegetable can be put to good use here.

Meat or Vegetarian or Vegan

Again traditionally a meaty soup, however, there is no need to miss out on a big comforting bowl of soup if you are vegan or vegetarian. This recipe doesn't use meat stock. If you are missing that meaty taste, add a ham or a lamb stock cube for taste.

Here are some more soup recipes you may enjoy

Pumpkin, Ginger and Apple Soup (Vegan)

Chicken and Rice Soup

Split Pea and Ham Soup

How to make Scotch Broth Soup

Ingredients

200g broth mix soaked overnight in plenty of cold water, drained and set aside
500g carrots, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
1 tablespoon oil
2.5 litres vegetable stock
200g chopped kale
Salt and Pepper

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan.
Add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes
Add the celery and carrots and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
Add the broth mix and stock.
Simmer the mixture for 30-40 mins until the broth mix is soft.
Add the kale and leave to simmer for about 10 mins.
Serve.