My toddler loves all sorts of soups: creamy Western-style soups and clear Asian-style broths.
I have found three easy ways to cook creamy soups for him. So, I have three recipes and each recipe features one way of cooking a bowl of hearty, creamy soup.
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By the way, I've also blogged about 7 wholesome meals for my 21-month toddler for the past month. He's turning 22 months old soon!
Don't forget to view the full list of baby/toddler meals and soups on my Baby & toddler menu page too!
Don't miss my latest blog posts by connecting with me on fb.com/joycescapade :)
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Okay, back to the creamy soups. :)
Menu #1:
Creamy Mushrooms & Leek Soup
(served with Elbow Pasta)
I use 5 types of Asian mushrooms in this soup: fresh shiitake, dry shiitake, enoki, shimeiji, and bunashimeiji. For the leek, I only use the pale green or white section. I love cream when I make creamy soups, so I use cooking cream.
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion, chopped
2-inch leek (pale green / white section), thinly sliced
1 cup mixed mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup pasta water (reserved from boiling elbow pasta)
1/4 cup cooking cream* (I used Emborg)
Grated Cheddar cheese, for topping
* Cooking cream is used in this recipe.
How to:
Heat up butter in a deep saucepan. Cook red onions and leek until soft. Stir in mushrooms and cook until soft.
Add pasta water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 8 minutes. Stir in cooking cream and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Stir well.
Remove from heat and let the soup cool down for about 8-10 minutes. Then, pour the soup into a blender. Pulse until you get the creamy consistency that you want.
Top with grated Cheddar cheese.
Toss cooked elbow pasta with some extra virgin olive oil before serving.
Menu #2:
Creamy Peas, Leek & Spinach Soup
(served with Short Tube Pasta)
In this green soup, the main ingredients are frozen spinach and frozen peas. Fresh spinach and peas can be used as well but you will need extra time washing and blanching the spinach, and peeling peas from their pods. So, I use the frozen ones instead to save time.
Potatoes are used as the thickening agent in this soup. There will be no cream added.
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion, chopped
2-inch leek (pale green / white section), thinly sliced
1/2 medium Russet potato*, chopped
A handful frozen peas, thawed
A handful frozen spinach, thawed
1 cup pasta water (reserved from boiling short tube pasta)
* Russet potato is used in this recipe.
How to:
Heat up butter in a deep saucepan. Cook red onions and leek until soft. Stir in potatoes. Add pasta water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
When the potatoes are almost fork-tender, stir in peas and spinach. Simmer for another 5-8 minutes.
Remove from heat and let the soup cool down for about 8-10 minutes. Then, pour the soup into a blender. Pulse until you get the creamy consistency that you want.
Toss cooked short tube pasta with some extra virgin olive oil before serving.
Menu #3:
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
(served with Spaghetti)
Pumpkin and cherry tomatoes are the main ingredients. I have added some meat for more protein. Rolled oats are used in this soup as the thickening agent without the need of adding cream.
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion, chopped
1/4 slice of 1 small pumpkin, chopped
5 cherry tomatoes
Some minced meat
1/4 cup organic rolled oats*, uncooked
1 cup pasta water (reserved from boiling spaghetti)
* Rolled oats is used in this recipe.
How to:
Heat up butter in a deep saucepan. Cook red onions until soft. Stir in minced meat and cook until it changes color. Then, add pumpkins. Cook for about 4-5 minutes.
Add pasta water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
When the pumpkins are fork-tender, add in rolled oats and simmer until the oats are almost dissolved and the mixture looks creamy. Add in cherry tomatoes. Stir well.
Remove from heat and let the soup cool down for about 8-10 minutes. Then, pour the soup into a blender. Pulse until you get the creamy consistency that you want.
Toss cooked spaghetti with some extra virgin olive oil before serving.
I hope you like all these recipes. Happy cooking!