Veggie soup with homemade gnocchi - Meat free monday recipe

My mom has recently decided that meat free mondays is not a bad idea. So I was happy to discover when we went shopping that what she had in mind was a heart vegetable soup which we packed full with everything from peas, to spinach, baby corn and more (no potatoes).

Something didn't sit right with me and I was sure it was missing something but I just couldn't place my finger on it. Then, while browsing through Meeta's "What's for Lunch Honey" archives I came across this recipe. I immidiately called my mom and asked her to buy some gnocchi to add in. She agreed but first had to rush home so the domestic worker could go home and then she would go shopping. I got home shortly after her and while discussing things I decided that it would be quicker and tastier to make our own gnocchi.

This was the perfect opportunity to go to my list of "recipes I have to try" and one of them was JamieWhoSA's gnocchi recipe. I didn't have sweet potatoes but loads of lovely woolworths organic potatoes.

The soup was my mom's creation but its a basic vegetable soup, flavoured with louvage and parsley, below though is my slight variation on JamieWho's recipe. I was so lucky to have some really awesome ingredients on hand.

What you need:
6 small organic potatoes
1 jumbo free range egg
2 cups stone ground white bread flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt to taste (the stone ground flour has no salt in it)

What to do:
Peel the potatoes and boil in some salted water until soft. Mash well. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients until you get a warm soft dough.Cover with a tea towel and leave for 5 minutes. Roll the dough out into a sausage shape (I did it in batches), then with a sharp knif cut pices from the sausage. I then rolled them into blobs (very technical I know) and pressed them gently with a fork. In the meantime boil up some salted water and put the gnocchi in. When they are ready they float to the top.

To add a little edge to mine I grated parmesan on them as they came out of the water instead of adding it directly to the soup.

Vegetable Egg drop soup - a recipe

The problem with me and recipes is that I can NEVER follow them to a T. Thats why I find baking challenging as that could lead to a serious disaster. Either way I decided to do the free soup from weight watchers which turned into a not so free but very delicious winter warmer.

What you need:
Baby sweetcorn
Green beans
Carrots
Celery
Tin of mexican style tomatoes (if you dont get them where you are just used tin tomatoes, add some chilli and coriander/cilantro)
Onion
Olive oil
1 egg white
Paprika
Parsley
500ml Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar (optional)


What to do:
Chop up all your veg. Fry off the onions in a tiny bit of olive oil in a soup pot. Throw in the rest of the veg and toss a little. Add the tinned tomatoes and and the vegetable stock. Allow to cook until all the veggies are nice and soft and add you herbs and spices, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar to balance out any acidity. Once the soup is ready, whisk your egg white (or the whole egg if you are not watching your weight/cholesterol), take the soup off the heat and stir it, as you stir SLOWLY pour in your egg.


Either eat is as is or serve with a fresh, warm roll (I love the woolies heat and eat collection)  


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