I read a shocking statistic from the South African National Food Consumption Survey this weekend: “One in five children in South Africa under the age of nine suffers from stunted growth as a result of malnutrition”. It’s a difficult fact to swallow, especially with winter creeping in on us and food being a warm comfort from the cold. But according to the World Giving Survey, South Africans rank amongst the top 100 most giving countries in the world so there is hope for the hungry of our rainbow nation.
I urge you all to celebrate by cooking up your favourite soup recipe. Butternut, minestrone, chicken or mushroom – make a double batch and drop a pot off at a shelter in your neighbourhood. If simmering soup isn’t your thing, then you can always cheat and buy the tinned kind – we won’t judge you! Denny will donate 50c worth of soup to FoodBank SA for each can of Denny Soup sold during May and June. So, if you’re simply stocking up on ready-made soups or going to the effort of brewing an extra big pot of your own winter favourite to share with the hungry, either way you’ll be warming someone’s heart this winter!
Here is a recipe for one of my favourites:
2 kg ripe tomatoes, halved
8 garlic cloves
8 red peppers
2 onions, chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
4 Tbsp chopped basil
2 Tbsp chopped oregano
¼ cup tomato paste
salt and pepper, to taste
croutons, to serve
Roast the tomatoes and garlic at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until soft. Grill the red peppers until blackened, place in a bowl, cover with clingwrap and allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing the skins and seeds. Saute the onion until soft and add the roasted tomatoes, garlic, peppers and stock. Bring to the boil before pureeing until smooth. Stir in the herbs, tomato paste and season to taste. Serve with croutons or crispy capers*.
*To make crispy capers, simply dip caper berries in milk then flour and deep-fry until crisp.
