Red cabbage cream soup with croutons

Serves four

• Red cabbage – 600 g
• 1 leek
• Potatoes – 120 g
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery
• 1 onion
  
  For the croutons:
• Fresh or stale bread – 200 g
• 1 clove garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil – 4 tbsp

Nutritional information
Per serving: 247 Kcal

Environmental Impact

Per serving: 
134 grams CO₂ equivalence - carbon footprint
262 litres - water footprint

This recipe’s environmental sustainability level is: Very high.

To eat sustainably at each meal, our advice is to keep within 1000 grams of CO₂ equivalence (carbon footprint) and 1000 litres of virtual water (water footprint). Remember that animal protein (meat, cheese, fish and eggs) have a greater impact than grains, beans, pulses and vegetables. Vegetable sides generally have a low environmental impact, equivalent to around 100 grams of CO₂, including dressing.

Method

Roughly chop the celery, carrot, leek and onion and put them into a large pan.

Add some water (200 ml) and 2 tbsp of olive oil and simmer. 

Thinly slice the potato and add it to the pan. Turn up the heat and cook for roughly 15 minutes.

Add water as needed.

In the meantime, wash (no need to dry) and thinly slice the red cabbage.

Add the red cabbage to the other ingredients, cover the pan and cook at a medium heat for about one hour.

If the soup begins to dry, add a ladleful of water now and again.

Once the cabbage has softened, remove from the heat and blend with a hand blender into a smooth, lump-free cream.

For the croutons, pre-heat the oven to 180° C and put the olive oil and chopped garlic into a bowl. Break or cut the bread into pieces (1/2 cm for fresh bread, 1 cm for stale bread), arrange on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and brush with the oil and garlic mix. Salt to taste. 

Cook it in the oven for 15 minutes until the bread is golden in colour.

Top the soup with croutons and a drizzle of olive oil before serving.

The Chef’s Advice

Add a bit of chilli to the potatoes as they’re cooking to further bring out the flavours of the cooked red cabbage. Chilli is a digestive aid and is good for the heart and lungs. 

Nutritional Advice

Red cabbage is packed with anthocyanins, antioxidants which give it its deep purple colour.

Environmental Advice

Avoid food waste by considering your portion size.

An easy way to reduce our environmental impact is to limit food waste by purchasing only what is needed and using up the leftovers. Using up stale bread in soups is just one of the creative ways you can stretch your leftovers and save money.