Minestrone Soup - Heinz

It's Lunchtime! Which means it's soup time!
I'm actually really looking forward to having soup today seeing as my routine was rudely interrupted by work trying to better my skills. I'm not bitter, I thoroughly enjoyed my training in the big smoke. I just missed having my warm bowl of soup, and the 20 minutes of typing a poorly written blog.
Today I have chosen one of the Heinz classic variety, minestrone soup. I do like a good minestrone soup, although, I can say I have never tried the Heinz variety, so I will be able to compare it mentally to ones I have had in the past.
Minestrone to me is something people either love or hate. When I first asked a friend what they thought about minestrone they said it was a watery, bland soup that really isn't worth wasting time over... This point was soon proven wrong.
I moved house roughly a year ago near to a village called Hartley Wintney, it was here that I realised minestrone doesn't have to be the way my friend described. The local Italian restaurant (Bellini) serve minestrone as the house soup, and its absolutely delicious! Its a wonderfully lightly spiced soup full of vegetables, beans, and tiny pieces of cute looking pasta all in a perfectly seasoned broth.
I never usually order soup in restaurants, I save them for the working week. But on this occasion something inside me said "try the soup, try a true Italian soup". One of the best decisions I ever made.

The verdict:

I think I am going to stick to either making my own minestrone soup, or ordering it from my local Italian. It was an acceptable tasting soup, nothing truly awful about it. It just didn't wow me, and to be honest it didn't feel satisfying. 

The consistency is very runny, not watery, but runny. It felt like there was no real bite to it unless you got a piece of veg or a bean. Granted it was full of 'bits', but these bits were not very appealing, nor did they look it. The soup tasted like someone had mixed a can of baked beans with a can of tomato spaghetti, then threw in a handful of cheap frozen mixed veg. Oh and a hand full of old dried out mixed herb leaves. It just isn't comparable to the minestrone's I've had in the past, whether that be from a restaurant or a fresh tub from the supermarket.

Souper rating: 2.5 out of 5 - I'm not really sure this should be called a minestrone soup, but who am I? I'm not part of the soup police, I'll leave it up to the experts to name a soup so I can just approve or criticise.  

Cream Of Tomato Soup - Heinz

So I've missed a few Souper days... I was busy with work and venturing into the big smoke for a work related event. I was then easily swayed away from soup due to the millions of eateries that line the streets of London. But i'm back in the office today and back on the soup!
Today's soup treat is the classic Heinz cream of tomato, this soup is truly a classic, I would go as far to say its an ole reliable. This has definitely been a staple throughout my life, I can relate to a Heinz Tomato soup. Its been there for me in my time of need, when I have been ill and want nothing more than that creamy velvet texture in my tum to make the illness go away. And not to mention the amazing combination this soup and some cheese on toast!! Its just epic!! A perfect way to lift any mood swings that may be occurring.

The verdict:

Just as I anticipated, winner winner chicken dinner!! This soup is the simply classically the BEST! The flavour of creamy sweet tomatoes are exquisite. I cant fault this soup. The whole can is a perfect portion, its really fulfilling and hits the spot. I think some people may find a purely tomato soup boring and a bit too much of the same thing, which I can totally understand. But that's why I think this is a soup that can only be eaten when your feeling low or not very well. As if I had to eat this soup everyday or on a regular basis I think I would end up hating it. 

Souper rating: 5 out of 5 - This is in my top 5, its always a winner, it never fails to make my tummy smile, and its just beautifully simple. Its a bowl full of emotion therapy suitable for anyone struggling to get through the working day.

Tuscan Style Bean, Bacon & Pecorino Soup - Baxters

Woo hoo! It's Friday and I am definitely ready for the weekend, it's been one of those weeks...

Lunchtime! And I am ravished, I really cant wait for lunch today, I had an absolute disaster of a dinner last night. For some reason I thought I would be clever and multi task, I put together an array of fresh vegetables, seasoned them and popped them in the oven. I obviously thought my job was done as I went off to have a shower, do the laundry, play with and feed the dog. I thought my evening was falling into place quite smoothly, but that was until I saw smoke coming from the kitchen. I burnt the dinner. Lesson learnt. 

So I'm super hungry and have chosen to go with a Tuscan Style Bean, Bacon & Pecorino Soup from the new Baxters hearty range. I can't say I have ever tried a Baxters soup before, so i'm a Baxters virgin this Friday lunchtime! 

The packaging has a very rustic feel to it, making the hearty words feel very intriguing. I love lentils and beans so I have high hopes for this one.

The verdict:

Well this is definitely a hearty soup, but I would go a step further and say it is more of a heartburn soup... 

When I first opened the can, I thought, wow this could be really good, there's lots of beans, peppers and even slices of courgette, never seen them in a soup before. This nice surprise was soon on the decline one spoon at a time. It reminded me of a cheap ready made bolognese sauce that has way too much oregano in it. This flavour is just way to over powering and takes over any other entity in the soup. As for the Pecorino, where has that got to? I just couldn't find it or taste it, yet its in the title of the soup, along with bacon, which I can only assume has been used as a salty seasoning to compliment the oregano. 

Going back to the heart burn, the beans, I love beans, but these beans were really not soft enough. It's almost as though they needed soaking for an extra 24 hours. 

The soup overall was edible and was OK. As I didn't have any real expectations i'm not disappointed. In fact the soup provided me with some nostalgia, taking me back to my university days when I had no proper interest in food and would buy a microwavable spaghetti bolognese for a quick fix before a night of drinking commenced. 

Souper rating: 2 out of 5 - If you love oregano this is the soup for you. It hasn't done the great bean variety any justice, but it's heart was in the right place. Not bad, but not great. 

Carrot & Coriander Soup - Waitrose

On today's menu I have chosen to go for a carrot & coriander soup. I wouldn't usually go for this particular flavour but today I felt like trying a can for the greater good, and to see if I can be swayed into liking carrot & coriander soup.
Instead of the usual lunchtime fitness walk I headed into town with a friend/colleague, where the luscious green lights of Waitrose shine. Seeing as Waitrose pride them selves on quality produce I thought this may be my best chance to get a can that wont disappoint.

The verdict:

Hmm, well, its easy to say I am not impressed, not disappointed just not impressed. At first glance the contents of the can had a delightful sunshine feel to it, but then I poured, the pouring was the beginning of the end. The soup flowed out like water does from a lime scaly tap. 

Its a rather confusing texture, its incredibly runny but then has some sporadic tiny chunks of carrot floating among flakes of tasteless coriander. It is an edible soup but definitely opens the debate of whether soup is food or drink. I will always say it is a food but can see why people think otherwise, this is a good example for a non food believe to use in a justification battle.

Souper rating: 1.5 out of 5 - It just didn't cut the mustard for me. It was well seasoned and had an OK flavour to it, but it was borderline seasoned water so not really one I would want to waste valuable lunchtime time on. 

Chunky Vegetable soup with red split lentils - New Covent Garden Soup Co

Today is Wednesday hump day, and i'm feeling like I've caught the hump, but I think i'm just hungry to be honest. I really fancy a soup that is not only factually healthy, but one that tastes it when sipping and biting.

I have chosen a Covent Garden soup, I never buy these soups as I have always thought they are over priced for what they are (£2, that's 2 whole pounds for 600g of soup, that's 2 very small portions of soup or one huge one that's too much). I usually consider them more style over substance, but today I have been sucked in by the pretty milk carton packaging, and the fact this vegetable soup has sweetcorn in it!? I absolutely love sweetcorn, some would say its not a healthy love, but frankly, I just don't give a dam. Plus you never see sweetcorn in a vegetable soup, its usually paired with chicken or something Thai.

The verdict:

Its not hot, its not spicy, its just extremely peppery! woah! This soup has pepper in it, that's clearly evident from the first taste. Aside from this it is a very tasty soup, the chunky vegetables have a perfect texture, with a satisfying bite to the carrots and ever so soft parsnips and swede. The sweetcorn is a massive curve ball with this soup, its almost not right. For me to say that is a statement seeing as I have declared my love for them on the world wide web. The small bursts are delicious alone, but when mixed with sweet parsnip and a ton of pepper, it just does click for me. 

Having got past the pepperiness, I can say I am full and satisfied. 

Even though I said previously I thought this soup was rather expensive, I may have to take this back. How much should a fresh soup cost? Especially a fresh soup that contains fresh ingredients and no crazy words that I don't understand. It's a tasty soup, it did its job, and I am nearly over the hump for the day, so its helped really.

Souper rating: 3.5 out of 5 - Even if my breath smells like I've been sucking on peppercorns, its a good one, Covent Garden can have my business back again.