How a big bowl of warm, chunky soup can chase away the autumn chill

Now it's late autumn and the weather is turning decidedly cooler, it is time to start cooking slightly heavier food that creates warmth from within. A large hot bowl of soup is ideal. I actually cook very little at home – I'm usually too exhausted from cooking in the restaurant – so instead, I just make big vats of broth. They are a great way to incorporate hearty carbohydrates such as pulses and grains. They also call out for seasonal, woody, earthbound winter herbs such as sage, rosemary, thyme and bay.

Dried chilli is a good spice to use, too – added early on, it creates a base note that underpins autumn dishes beautifully. Chunky, big soups are a meal in themselves and are so easy to make. Here are a few of my favourites.

Skye Gyngell is head chef at Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Richmond, Surrey, tel: 020 8605 3627. Her book 'A Year in My Kitchen' (Quadrille) is the 2007 Guild of Food Writers' Cookery Book of the Year

Chicken stock

A good home-made chicken stock is imperative when making soup

3kg/6lb chicken bones (ask your butcher)
6 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 yellow onions, roughly chopped
3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
A little olive oil
20 black peppercorns
4 bay leaves, preferably fresh
Small bunch of thyme
Bunch of curly or flat-leaf parsley
4 litres/7 pints of water

Heat the oven to 200C/400f/Gas6. Lay the chicken bones in a baking tray and roast on the top shelf for 15 minutes. Sweat the carrots, onions and celery in some olive oil in a pan. Add the bones and peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme and parsley.

Pour in the water, bring to the boil and turn the heat down and cook gently for 11/2 hours, skimming the surface occasionally to remove impurities. Do not add salt and do not boil during cooking. At the end of the cooking time, you should have a clean-tasting stock. Remove from the heat, strain through a sieve and use as required.

Pearl barley and squash soup

Pearl barley is filling, comforting and has the added bonus of being good for you. Almost anything can be added or omitted to this; sometimes I add diced potatoes, or a little ham hock or leftover roast chicken

Serves 4

1 red onion, peeled
1 leek, washed and trimmed
2 sticks celery
2tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 dried chilli
2 fresh bay leaves
1tbsp fennel seeds
200g/7oz pearl barley
1 onion squash or butternut squash, seeds removed, chopped into generous chunks
1 litre/13/4 pints chicken stock
200g/7oz washed, young spinach
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Dice the onion, leek and celery. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the vegetables and sweat gently for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, dried chilli, bay leaves and fennel seeds and continue to sweat for a further five minutes.

Rinse the barley thoroughly under cold running water until the water runs clear. Shake dry and add to the softened vegetables. Add the chopped squash and stir once or twice. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat, place a lid on the pan and cook for 20 minutes or so, or until the barley is soft. Check on the soup from time to time – if the barley has absorbed much of the stock, top it up with either a little more stock or water. Once the barley is cooked, add the spinach, the parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Cook for a minute or two to wilt the greens, and check the seasoning; it will most likely need a very good pinch of salt and a little black pepper. Ladle into warm soup bowls and serve piping hot. '

Autumn pappa al pomodoro

I love any sort of soup that involves bread. Pappa almost means baby food in Italian – a purée or mush – and that is what this soup is, gentle in texture and deeply flavoursome and comforting

Serves 4

1kg/2lb ripe, end-of-season tomatoes or good-quality, jarred tomatoes, chopped
80ml/3fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
1 dried red chilli
4 cloves garlic, peeled, cut into fine slivers
1 small bunch of sage
1 small bunch of marjoram
Sea salt and black pepper
200g/7oz coarse, peasant style bread, such as ciabatta

Place a large, heavy based saucepan over a gentle heat. Add half of the olive oil to the pan, and when it is warm add the chopped tomatoes. Crumble the dried chilli between your fingers and add to the pan along with the slivers of garlic, the sage and marjoram, a good pinch of salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Cook over a low heat for an hour, stirring every now and then. It is important to cook this over a low heat for a long time in order for it to develop a rich, gentle taste.

Cut the crusts from the bread, and tear it into randomly sized pieces with your fingers. Add it to the soup along with the rest of the olive oil, stir very gently, making sure the bread and oil absorb the rich tomato base. Don't overly stir it, as it ruins the final texture. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary; it will more than likely need a little more salt.

Serve warm, just slightly above blood temperature but not piping hot. '

Pancetta, celeriac and Brussels sprouts soup

This soup is sweet, smoky and wintery. It comprises all the good late-autumn ingredients and is the perfect thing to eat if, like me, you are often tired and cold when you come in from work

Serves 4

80ml/3fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
1 leek, washed, outer leaves removed and chopped
8 slices pancetta (or smoked bacon), diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 dried red chilli
A pinch of salt
1 small bunch of sage
1 celeriac, peeled, cut into chunks
11/2 pints chicken stock
8 chestnuts, peeled and roughly chopped
300g/10oz Brussels sprouts
100g/31/2oz freshly grated Parmesan
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

Place a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients over a medium-to-low heat, add about a third of the olive oil and allow it to heat gently. Add the chopped leek and pancetta and sweat gently for five minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the garlic, dried chilli, salt and the sage. Stir and add the celeriac, stir once more to combine and pour in the chicken stock. Turn the heat up a little, add the chestnuts and place a lid on top and cook until the celeriac is tender – this should take about 15-20 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the sprouts. I like to cook them separately in plenty of well-salted boiling water for seven minutes, then refresh them under cold water – it helps keep their colour and allows them to retain a bite. Add them to the soup once the celeriac is almost beginning to fall apart. At the same time add the rest of the olive oil, the Parmesan, a pinch of salt, a little pepper and the flat-leaf parsley.

Ladle into soup bowls and serve with warm, crunchy bread.'

Mussel soup with crème fraîche and saffron

This is the perfect soup to share with friends on a special occasion

Serves 4

1kg/2lb live mussels
1 shallot, finely sliced
A sprig of thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
1 glass dry white wine
1tbsp unsalted butter
1 stick celery, washed and sliced
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut thinly on a bias
1 bulb of fennel, tough, fibrous outer leaves removed, and sliced
1tbsp saffron threads
` small dried chilli
1 small bunch marjoram, leaves only
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml/7fl oz crème fraîche
A few peppercorns
10 small cherry tomatoes

Clean the mussels thoroughly, removing their beards, and pull away any seaweed that has attached itself to the shell; wash well under cold running water. Add the shallot, thyme, bay leaves and white wine to a large pot and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels, turn up the heat slightly and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for three to four minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to help the mussels open. Once the mussels have opened, remove the pan from the heat and tip them into a colander set over a bowl to catch the cooking liquid. Set aside.

Wipe out the saucepan in which you have cooked the mussels and return it to a gentle heat. Add the butter and, once it has melted, add the celery, carrots and fennel. Cook for five to six minutes over a low heat, then add the saffron, dried chilli, marjoram and garlic. Season with a little salt, place a lid on the pan and cook over a gentle flame for 15 minutes.

Once the vegetables begin to soften, add the water in which the mussels have been cooked and the crème fraîche and bring to the boil. Simmer for one or two minutes, then add the mussels to warm through. Check the seasoning and ladle into warm bowls. Serve with grilled, crusty open-textured bread, rubbed gently with garlic. *