Corn Chowder

From The Conscious Cook, Tal Ronnen, William Morrow, 2009.

When I decided to make this corn chowder I got out the cashews to make cashew cream but, to my dismay, all of the nuts seemed to have small white worms in them. They went into the bin.  I had some ricotta in the refrigerator so decided that I would puree this and use it instead. I know it would not now be a vegan dish but I am not vegan so I felt it did not matter.

The first stage of the dish was to add chopped onions, carrots, celery and a red capsicum to the frying pan. I also added a chipotle chilli. This mix was sautéed for about 10 minutes. Stock was added together with diced potatoes and a couple of thyme sprigs. This was all simmered for about 20 minutes until the potatoes were tender.

I now took a tablespoon and flattened some of the potatoes against the side of the pan. This thickened the soup a little. Now the corn was added and the pureed ricotta. It was all seasoned and simmered for a little longer, about 15 minutes.

To serve, the chipotle chilli was taken out as well as the thyme sprigs. For garnish I added some chopped tomato and chopped parsley.

This was a most enjoyable chowder. The chipotle added a wonderful smoky flavour that enhanced the vegetables. It was a thick soup to warm the cockles on a freezing evening. The ricotta was a mistake as it still had a slight graininess to it; I would have been better to have used cream.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔