Irish Farmhouse Vegetable Soup with Rosemary Croutons

This is a real bowl of comfort, particularly if you choose to add the seriously good rosemary croutons - they keep well in an airtight container and are also lovely added to a salad for flavour and crunch. This soup is perfect for freezing: Allow to cool completely before transferring to a sturdy freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 6 months.

Serves: 6

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1 leeks, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 25g butter
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 400g floury potatoes, diced
• 600ml vegetable stock
• 120g frozen peas
• Good drizzle of double cream, plus extra for serving
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the croutons:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 20g butter
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2-3 slices of white or sourdough bread, diced into large cubes

1. Heat the butter in a large pan. Add the carrots, celery, leek and onion with some seasoning, cooking for 10 minutes until softened down.
2. Add the rest of the veggies and cook for a few minutes more, then pour in the stock. Season well and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes until the veggies are all tender, adding the peas for the last few minutes. Spoon out one-third of the veggies with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Blitz the rest of the soup with a stick blender until smooth, then remove from the heat. Stir in the reserved whole veggies with a good drizzle of double cream.
4. To make the croutons, heat the oil and butter with the rosemary sprigs in a large pan. When hot, add the cubes of bread, toss well then cook for 5-6 minutes until golden and crisp on all sides. Season with sea salt.
5. Serve the soup into bowls with some cream on top, seasoning and rosemary croutons.