Leftover soup muffins recipe

This is based on a recipe I saw in a French issue of Elle magazine, and it really does work. The soup serves as the liquid for the batter but also delivers lots of extra flavour. And it’s a great way to use up bits of cheese. Use any soup – or even stock – but if it’s chunky, blitz to a purée first in a blender or food processor.

The amount of soup you need to add depends on how thick yours is. Stir in just enough to make a thick batter that falls easily off the end of a spoon. If you have more than specified in the recipe, just scale up the rest of the ingredients. Or freeze the extra soup for another time.

Timings

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Makes

4 large muffins

Ingredients

• 120g plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• about 120ml leftover soup (more or less, as needed)

• 50g strong cheese (cheddar, Comté, Gouda), grated

• a small handful of fresh herbs, chopped (optional)

• 1 spring onion, finely

• chopped (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 and line 4 holes of a large muffin tray with paper cases or baking paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and garlic powder (if using) together with a fork, along with ¼ tsp fine sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

3. Add the oil and egg, and stir. Then add enough of the soup to make a fairly thick batter.

4. Stir in the cheese and, if using, the herbs and spring onion. Add a splash more soup if the batter is too thick.

5. Distribute between the muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes, until golden. These are delicious served warm.

Try…

Adding a small handful of seeds – sunflower, nigella or poppy seeds work beautifully – to the batter with the cheese.

Whisking a teaspoonful of spice into the flour mixture, such as cumin, paprika, curry powder or garam masala.

Other ideas...

You can use leftover stock in the muffins. I’ve even used a wine and tomato braising liquid left over from slow cooking a shoulder of lamb, with excellent results.

Recipe from Second Helpings by Sue Quinn (Quadrille, £18.99)

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