Widow's soup (soppa tal-armla)

A simple, delicious soup made from fresh vegetables including kohlrabi, peas and broad beans. It’s healthy and low fat. If you can find soft gbejniet cheese (available from selected delis and cheese makers), pop it into the hot soup for a few minutes before serving and you’ll enjoy the beautiful taste of molten cheese too.

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion, diced 
• 3–4 garlic cloves, crushed 
• ⅔ cup chopped parsley 
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped 
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 
• 1 kohlrabi, peeled and chopped 
• 2 celery stalks, sliced 
• 1 cup podded broad beans (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup podded peas (fresh or frozen) 
• ½ large or 1 small cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces 
• 1½ tbsp tomato paste 
• vegetable or chicken stock 
• salt and pepper 
• 6 soft gbejniet (small Maltese cheeses)

Instructions

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic and most of the parsley. Sauté until soft. Add the vegetables, tomato paste and enough stock to cover. Stir well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until the vegetables are just cooked.

Add the gbejniet and press down lightly to submerge. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes to heat the cheese. Add the remaining parsley to the soup and stir through.

Ladle the soup into bowls, topping each with a round of gbejniet.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.