Creamy Sweet-Corn Soup

Ingredients

• 1 stalk celery

• 1 medium onion

• olive oil

• ½ teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 tablespoon plain flour

• 840 ml semi-skimmed milk

• 1 medium potato , peeled and cut into little cubes

• 3 spring onions

• 175 g frozen corn

• ¼ cup fresh chives , chopped, or parsley

Method

Corn chowder is one of the ultimate comfort foods – I love it and it’s much easier than you think to make. You can adapt chowders and add all sorts of things from crab meat to smoked fish – the idea is really to be as hearty as possible. Pull the leaves from the celery stalks and set them aside. Chop your celery and onion. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the celery (not the leaves), onion, and thyme. Stir until the vegetables start to brown. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir for a few more minutes. Pour in the milk, add the potato and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time so the soup doesn’t stick to the pot. Cook until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy – this will take around 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the celery leaves, trim the ends off the spring onions and slice them thinly. When the potatoes are tender, stir in the corn, spring onion and celery leaves. Bring the soup back to the boil, then serve. This is delicious with a crusty brown roll or a Parmesan crisp.