potato, coriander & chilli soup

Well, the summer is finally starting to leave us here in Ireland (most of us question if we even had one this year!), and so it's time to bring out the comfort food. Last night was decidedly nippy, so I made this lovely belly-warming soup, plonked myself firmly on the sofa and focussed on warming my cockles.

This is a great soup for vegetarians too, and the vegans amongst you can simply replace the milk and crème fraîche with soy milk and soy sour cream respectively. The total cooking time, including chopping is around half an hour. Simple eh?! Oh and last (but not least), make sure you have a few chunks of crusty bread for dipping and mopping purposes...

Ingredients

• 60g (2oz) butter
• 450g (16oz) potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 litre (1¾ pints) chicken or vegetable stock
• 120ml (4 fl oz) whole milk
• 2 good handfuls fresh coriander, roughly chopped (stalks & leaves)
• 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes (depending on your level of fire resistance)
• 2 tbs crème fraîche
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to foam (a slight boil).
2. Add the potatoes and onion, and stir, ensuring they get well coated in the butter.
3. Add a couple of pinches of salt and a few good twists of black pepper, stir again to coat, place the lid on the pan and sweat for 10 minutes or so. Don't remove the lid, don't stir; the occasional shake of the pan will do!
4. After this time, remove the lid and stir in most of the coriander - leave a small amount to one side to use as a garnish.
5. Add the chilli flakes and stir in to ensure an even spread.
6. Bring the stock to the boil in a separate saucepan then add all of it to the vegetables, stir once more and cook gently with the lid off for around 15 minutes.
7. Stir in the milk and warm through, then add the dollops of crème fraîche, and stir those in too.
8. Purée the soup with a hand blender or transfer to a liquidiser & give it a blast.
9. Check the seasoning and serve in warm bowls, garnished with some of the reserved coriander for that final oh-so-posh look.

Serves 4.