One of the things I love most about winter is getting cozy and warm inside…and if I can enjoy this coziness with a bowl of hot soup I am happy!
This last weekend it finally got a bit colder here in Manchester, the time before it was quite warm but very wet. I clearly prefer cold days to rainy ones – this weather is perfect for soups! So I had a look at the New Covent Garden Food cook book “A Soup for every day” which I got for Christmas. It has sooooo many recipes and they all look really, really good. We finally decided on one recipe and loved the soup so much that I really want to share the recipe for this Artichoke Hearts & Pancetta soup with you.

For 4 servings you will need:
– 1 small onion, diced
– 1 medium potato, diced
– 1 stick celery, diced
– 160g cooked cannellini beans
– 25g Pancetta
– 550ml water
– 1x 400g tin artichoke hearts, quartered
– 1tbsp white wine
– small bunch parsley, chopped
– pinch of ground turmeric
– 5tbsp double cream
– salt and pepper

Place the onion, potato, celery, cannellini beans, pancetta and water into a saucepan, then bring to the boil.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Blend until smooth.
Return to the pan, add the artichoke hearts, white wine and parsley, then cook gently for a further 10 minutes.
Add the turmeric and cream, then season to taste. Reheat gently, then serve.

I can really recommend this book! It has 365 recipes and I am determined to try out a new one every week during winter and spring.
I also have to say that I would never have picked this book myself due to the lack of pictures in it. If you’re a little picture-addict like I am I can reassure you though that you won’t regret buying it!

Now have a lovely weekend!
I am going to make some soup :), bake a cake, relax and go for a meal to a German restaurant here in Manchester. I am looking forward to it!