Spring vegetable stew

• 2 white spring onion
• 2 medium-sized bunches of carrots
• 2 sticks of spring celery
• 1/2 thin stalk of leek
• 1 courgette
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 3/4 litre of vegetable stock
• 1 peeled clove of garlic cut in half
• 1 slice of ginger (or 1 knife tip of powdered ginger or 1 stem of dried ginger)
• 2 tomatoes (or tinned peeled tomatoes)
• salt and cayenne pepper
• 200g Bergader Smoked Cheese Chilli
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Spring herbs like chervil, watercress, etc., for garnishing

Step 1
Peel the onions and carrots, thoroughly clean the celery and leek, then remove the stem base from the courgette. Cut all the assorted vegetables into cubes.

Step 2
Brown the onion cubes in olive oil in a saucepan until they are waxy. Add the carrots and celery, brown them with the onions briefly and pour the vegetable stock over them. Allow the contents to simmer rather than boil for about 15 minutes longer, then add the courgettes, leeks, garlic and ginger before allowing the contents to simmer for several minutes more.

Step 3
Blanch the tomatoes and remove the skins, cut them in quarters, de-core and cut into small cubes. Add the tomatoes to the soup and season with salt and cayenne pepper until spicy. Remove the garlic and ginger.

Step 4
Cut the cheese into small cubes and sprinkle them over the soup in the pre-warmed soup bowls. Grate a thin slice of nutmeg and distribute it over the soup. Garnish the soup with fresh spring herbs.