How to make chunky winter soups

This week, as part of a new series in collaboration with the BBC Good Food Show, we are bringing you recipes from James Martin, Tom Kitchin and the Hairy Bikers. Over the coming weeks, look forward to more BBC recipes from Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood and John Torode

British seaside chowder with saffron

Whenever I visit the seaside I’m a sucker for cockles and whelks, but the idea of turning them into a chowder is from farther afield. This is such a quick and simple soup when you have the seafood to hand. Use whatever local shellfish you can get your hands on as long as you stick to the same amounts, but this is a good traditional version.

Serves 4

2 tomatoes
300ml white wine
1kg mixed shellfish: cockles, clams, mussels, winkles, soaked in cold water
50g unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
½ leek, white part only, finely chopped
250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm pieces
2 pinches of saffron strands
1 star anise
500ml chicken stock
175ml double cream
75g samphire, trimmed
12 shelled cooked whelks
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
handful of celery leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, skin and deseed the tomatoes: bring a saucepan of water to the boil, take out the stalk of the tomatoes and make crosses on the bases. Drop the tomatoes into the water and simmer for 10–15 seconds until the skin starts to peel away. Lift straight out into a bowl of iced water and peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds, then finely chop the flesh.

Heat a sauté pan until hot, add the wine and the shellfish, cover and cook for three to five minutes until just cooked through. Strain into a colander over a bowl, reserving the cooking liquor, and allow to cool slightly before picking the meat out of the shells. Wipe out the sauté pan, then add the butter, shallot and garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the fennel, leek, potatoes, saffron and star anise and cook for another minute.

Add the reserved cooking liquor and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for three to four minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Add the cream and samphire then simmer for another couple of minutes until just thickened. Reduce the heat then add the tomatoes and all the shellfish, including the whelks, and gently warm through. Add the chives and celery leaves and season to taste (you probably won’t need much salt). Serve straight away.

Recipe by James Martin who will be demonstrating live at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at Birmingham NEC on 24-27 November

Chicken and winter vegetable broth

This hearty broth is ideal for a quick weekday supper or sustaining lunch. I often make it in the depths of winter, but it is easily transformed into a spring or summer soup with lighter seasonal vegetables, such as courgette, peas and beans in place of leeks and celeriac. The hint of ginger gives a lovely warm, fresh fragrance.

Serves 4

olive oil for cooking
2 carrots, peeled and diced
½ celeriac, peeled and chopped
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped root ginger
2 free-range boneless chicken breasts, about 170g each, skinned and diced
750ml chicken stock
1 bouquet garni
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g medium egg noodles
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat and add 1–2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the carrots and celeriac and sweat gently for 2–3 minutes, then add the leeks, fennel, garlic and ginger and sweat for a further 2–3 minutes. Now add the diced chicken and stir to combine with the vegetables. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the bouquet garni and some salt and pepper. Simmer the broth gently for 12 minutes. Drop the egg noodles into the stock and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Scatter the chopped parsley and sliced spring onions over the broth to serve. If you’ve had roast chicken for Sunday lunch and have some meat left over, this is an ideal recipe to prepare for lunch early on in the week. Strip the meat from the carcass, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate until ready to prepare the soup. Use the carcass to make chicken stock. When you make the soup, dice the leftover chicken and add it with the noodles, just to heat through.

Recipe by Tom Kitchin. Your favourite celebrity chefs will be cooking live at BBC Good Food Show Winter at Birmingham NEC 24-27 November

Peruvian chicken soup with quinoa

Peruvian food is on trend at the moment and super delicious. Even Paddington would have given up his marmalade sandwiches for this tasty soup. When poaching the chicken it’s well worth straining the broth as we suggest. This gets rid of the starchy gunk and gives you a fresher-tasting soup.

Serves 4 - 6

1.5 litres chicken stock
4 chicken thighs or 2 chicken breasts, skin on, bone in
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
100g quinoa, rinsed and soaked for 5 minutes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Amarillo chilli sauce, or similar mild chilli sauce
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh oregano
1 large sweet potato, diced
large bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
lime wedges, to serve
sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper

Pour the chicken stock into a large saucepan and bring it to the boil, then add the chicken. Turn the heat down low and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface, then remove the chicken and set it aside. Strain the chicken broth through a sieve lined with a double layer of muslin or cheesecloth into a bowl, then pour it back into the saucepan.

Heat the olive oil in the same pan and add the onion, celery and red pepper. Cook them over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, just to start the softening process, then add the quinoa. Continue to toast the quinoa until it starts to smell nutty, then add the garlic and chilli sauce. Cook for another minute or so.

Pour the chicken stock back into the saucepan, then add the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the sweet potato and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Remove the skin and bone from the chicken and cut the flesh into slices. Add them to the soup and simmer for a few minutes to warm through. Taste for seasoning and add more if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and oregano, then stir in the chopped coriander. Serve in bowls with lime wedges on the side.

Recipe by The Hairy Bikers who will be demonstrating live at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at Birmingham NEC on 24-27 November