Mary’s kitchen garden soup

Caroline Eden shares a reviving soup, thick with bulgur, revitalising greens and summer herbs, served up at Green Stone Guesthouse in Armenia after a long and eventful day of hiking.

Mary’s kitchen garden soup. Credit: Ola O. Smit / Hardie Grant Books

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 60 g (2¼ oz) medium bulgur (burghul) wheat
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 capsicum (red bell pepper), chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1½ tbsp tomato purée (paste)
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp sweet paprika
• 200 g (7 oz) canned chopped tomatoes
• 700 ml (scant 3 cups) chicken stock
• ½ tsp red wine vinegar
• Generous handful of soft herbs (a mix of parsley, basil, dill, tarragon), chopped
• 200 g (7 oz) mixed leafy summery greens (spinach, sorrel, rocket (arugula), lovage)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Sumac (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the bulgur into a saucepan and pour over enough boiling water to cover by 1cm (½ in), then clamp on a lid, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Try a couple of grains to check if it is cooked – it should still have bite and texture. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole or saucepan over a medium heat and sauté the capsicum (red pepper) and onion, with salt and pepper, until soft, then add the garlic and stir until its pungency lessens. Add the tomato purée, stir well, then add the spices and cook for a couple of minutes. Next, add the chopped tomatoes, stock and vinegar and cook gently for 5 minutes.
3. Stir through the herbs, along with the greens and lemon juice, then check the seasoning and let the soup bubble for 5 minutes more.
4. Remove the soup from the heat, adding a little hot water if you find it too thick, and stir through the bulgur (only when ready to serve – it will go to mush if left in stock). Ladle into bowls and dust with sumac, if you wish.

This is an edited extract from Green Mountains by Caroline Eden, published by Quadrille. Photography by Caroline Eden, Ola O. Smit and others.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.