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Lamb ‘Foodgasm’ Soup

Winter is well and truly here. I’m still wearing shorts religiously. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike wearing pants? I digress.

In humble Adelaide I’m freezing my little titties off!!! I know, Rachel, GET SOME PANTS! Again, I digress.

Anyhow, what better way to warm up than making some soup??? Rhetorical question – there is no better way, although hot showers come in at a close second.

As this week’s episode of “The Healthy Exception” is all about immunity, I figured I should post this recipe before it’s release on Friday. That and I haven’t written the recipe down anywhere and I thought I’d better get it up on here before I forget what I did.

This hearty pot of goodness is brimming with immune boosting ingredients; lamb broth, bone marrow, turmeric, garlic, tomato, carrot, cauliflower ‘rice’, onion, green peas and lots and lots of love (oh and coconut cream!!!). Mum has declared this to be her favourite soup ever and she is a very honest (albeit sometimes “too honest”) critic, so I figured I must be onto a winner.

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Lamb ‘Foodgasm’ Soup

  • Lamb bone left over from a lamb roast (don’t bother to get all the meat off, it will fall off by the time the soup is done cooking), plus some extra leftover roast lamb meat chopped into small chunks
  • The marrow from one lot of beef marrow bones (removed before broth making) – could substitute for lard, tallow, duck fat, ghee or coconut oil (about 1/4 cup) if you don’t have marrow on hand
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 carrots, finely chopped
  • 1 sachet of 100%, no added salt (or anything else) tomato paste (or homemade tomato paste if your Italian heritage is calling … this would take this soup to the next level I’m sure, but the packet stuff seemed to do the job just fine)
  • 2-3 cups of cauliflower “rice” (just finely chopped cauliflower pulsed in a food processor until it looks like rice)
  • As few or as many frozen green peas as your little heart desires (feel free to use fresh peas if you have them available and can be bothered shelling them) – could also sub for chopped kale, silver beet or spinach (I’m partial to adding a green element to nearly all my meals)
  • 1 teaspoon or a generous shake (I used the latter) each of ground turmeric powder, garlic powder and himalayan salt
  • A good drizzle (no I did not measure but I’d guess 2-4 Tablespoons) of coconut BBQ sauce (could also use coconut aminos, or a good quality tamari sauce)
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream, no additives (in a pinch just blend 1/3 cup shredded dried coconut with 1/4 cup water, no need to strain)
  • Filtered water to cover the ingredients

Method

Melt marrow (or substitute fat) in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and fry off onion, carrots, cauliflower rice and tomato paste until all ingredients are softish (it’s okay if the carrot is still a bit hard). Add lamb bone to pot, cover with water, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add turmeric, garlic, salt, BBQ sauce and coconut cream. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours and stir in green peas (or  green of choice).

Remove bone and strip all remaining lamb meat and connective tissue off, chop and add back to pot along with extra diced lamb (as much or as little as you like, depends on your families level of carnivorism … that’s a word right?). Also be sure to scoop the extra marrow out of the lamb bone and add to the pot (or suck it out of the bone right there on the spot – you’re the chef you earned it)

At this point, due to the fats from the simmering bone, the bone marrow and the coconut cream, there will be a ‘greasy’ layer on the top of the soup. No worries … scoop out the solid ingredients (meat and veggies) and chuck the liquid into a blender and blend on high until the fats have emulsified and dispersed themselves throughout the entire liquid. Add all ingredients back to the pot and either re-heat to serve immediately, or refridgerate for up to a week and heat up a bowl as required.

Enjoy lovely ones, and here’s to thriving immunity all winter long, big hugs xxx

Notes and Substitutions

  • You could easily use lamb shanks in this recipe, cooking for 3 hours instead of 1 1/2 hours and not worry about extra leftover roast meat (I imagine leftovers from a Goat leg roast would also be amazing if you have access to Goat)
  • Coconut cream can always be substituted for cashew cream if that’s what you have/prefer (keeping in mind that the recipe will no longer be nut free)
  • Omit the tomato paste and be sure to use coconut cream (no nuts) for an autoimmune paleo-friendly meal (you can use beetroot purée instead – yum)
  • Omit coconut cream, BBQ sauce and turmeric for GAPS intro stage 1-6 (stage 6 you can use turmeric and coconut cream) and once you’re full GAPS, feel free to use coconut BBQ sauce too
  • If you don’t have cauliflower leave it out or make broccoli “rice” instead. You could even use spiralized zucchini, affectionately known as “zoodles”. If you tolerate grains, you could even use actual rice. You could serve the rice in a bowl, serve the veggies and meat over the top and serve the soupy liquid in a mug on the side … come to think of it you could use broccoli or cauliflower rice in the same way for a “deconstructed soup”.

This recipe is flexy and I encourage you to use what you have and come up with your own combinations. Be intuitive, fearless and cook from the heart. I always do and it (mostly) works in my favour. For more soup, check out the links below.

Uh-MAZ-ing pumpkin soup (still my #1 fave)

Perhaps the best cauliflower soup in the entire world?

A rich and satisfying twist on a traditional cream of broccoli soup