Winter is a time for warm comfort food and cosy dinner parties with friends. When it comes to soup, it’s easy to slip into the old habits of your usual favourite dishes, so read on for a few new ones that you may not have tried this season.

Try this hearty French onion soup, adapted from FineCooking.com, on a cold evening or as a starter for a Sunday roast.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 60g butter
• 4 medium – large brown onions, thinly sliced
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1 bay leaf

Method

Melt the butter in a medium-sized pot on medium heat. Stir in the onions and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft but not falling apart (40 – 50 minutes). Remove the lid and raise the heat to medium-high to boil off the excess water. Stir in the sugar to begin caramelisation, cook until the onions begin to brown (10 – 15 minutes). Add the broth and bay leaf and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavours. Discard the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in these stylish soup bowl and plate sets with fresh bread or croûtes (slices of baguettes covered in cheese and grilled until toasted). This recipe can be made the day before and heated up for your guests when they arrive.

This roasted gem squash, leek and barley soup from Sarah Graham is a great way to get in your veggie servings for the day and it’s a delicious option for meat-free Monday too.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 gem squash, halved
• 1 medium-large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter & 1 tbsp olive oil
• About 250g leeks, trimmed & roughly chopped
• 2 cups chicken/ vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup pearled barley, rinsed briefly under running water
• Fresh parsley, roughly chopped, to serve
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Fill a large pot with hot water, bring to the boil and add the 8 gem squash halves. Leave to simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large heavy-based pot, heat the butter and olive oil and brown the onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the leeks and garlic and fry for a further 3 minutes. Then add the stock and barley, season with salt and pepper, stir and leave to simmer. Drain the gem squash, de-seed and then scoop out the pulp with a spoon, adding it to the onion and leek soup stock. After a further 5 minutes, stir and check the barley is cooked (should be al dente or just past that), season and serve with fresh parsley. For a smoother mouth-feel, blend the soup in the pot before serving with a stick blender.

Get your family to eat their greens with this quick and simple broccoli soup sourced from Jamie Oliver. Great for a weeknight when time is limited and you need your health-fix.

Ingredients (serves 3)

• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
• 400g broccoli, roughly chopped
• Fresh mint
• Olive oil
• 2 cups of organic chicken/ vegetable stock
• Ricotta cheese

Method

Heat a splash of oil in a medium-sized pot and soften the garlic and celery for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and stock and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Blitz the soup with a handful of finely chopped mint in a food processor or blender. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a crumble of ricotta over the top and few small mint leaves.

Lastly, try out this super quick recipe in the new Nutribullet Rx, its smart technology heating cycle means you can have a hot soup ready to go in just 7-minutes.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 5 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• ¼ garlic clove
• ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked 4-8 hours and drained
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 cups plain, unsweetened almond milk

Method

Add all your ingredients to the SouperBlast Pitcher and extract on a 7-minute heated cycle. Get your Nutribullet Rx today for easy and delicious soups on the go.

Which other soup recipes have you tried? Comment below and tell us what you’re serving up this winter.