Scotch Broth

Hearty and wholesome! Scotch Broth soup is one of those traditional Scottish soups that's up there with Lentil & Bacon. It's lovely on a cold winters day but equally as nice at any time of year.

The traditional recipe uses mutton or lamb but if I'm honest, with the exception of something like Lentil & Bacon, I rarely add meat to a soup. I like the simplicity and ease of making that comes with combining veggies in a pot and having a hearty lunch ready without too much effort.

The only stable ingredients for me in a Scotch Broth soup is the Scotch Broth dried mix, with pearl barley, peas and lentils. Now, its worth reminding you that the dried broth mix will need soaked in water, usually for 8 - 12 hours. I quite often forget and usually end up making the soup the day after I intended to because I have forgotten to do this!

Once I have my broth mix ready, I'll add any or all of the following depending on what I have and all of which are considered 'traditional' ingredients; carrots, swede, celery and onion. Carrot and swede are my go to choice more often than not so that's what I've included in the recipe but do feel free to add chopped onion or celery. Also, don't shy away from frozen veg. As much as I love swede its not my favourite thing to chop up nice and small for soup. I almost always have a bag of frozen diced swede in the freezer so will quite often use that for soups.

For the stock I always go with a 50/50 mix of chicken and veg stock. If you can get a good lamb stock then you can use that. Again though, go with what you have and what you like. It will change the flavour profile a little but it will still taste lovely, and that's the main thing!

Recipe

Approx. 8 - 10 servings

• 200g dried scotch broth mix

• 200g diced swede (rutabaga)

• 250g grated or diced carrot

• 1 litre chicken stock

• 1 litre vegetable stock

Directions

1. Soak the broth mix according to the packet instructions. Once ready rinse and add to your soup pot with the stock. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes.

2. Add your diced swede, carrot (and other veggies if using).

3. Bring back to the boil then cover and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes until all the veggies are cooked and soft.

4. If you find some of the dried veggies are not fully soft then continue cooking on a low simmer until they are. This may take some time so be patient and add more water or stock as you need to.

5. This will make quite a thick soup so add more stock if you would like a thinner soup.