Winter Warmer: Vegetable & Bacon Hock Soup

This hearty soup recipe is a tried and tested favourite that's great for those chilly winter nights. A LOT of good vegetables and nutrients are packed into this healthy dinner powerhouse and is great for keeping your immune system high over the flu season.
Read on to learn how to make this soup at home easy.

Ingredients

• 1 bacon hock
• 210g vegetable soup mix
• 1 can lentils - drained
• 2 carrots
• 2 parsnip - grated
• 2 kumura - grated
• 2 potato - grated
• 400g pumpkin – grated
• 1 stick celery
• 1 handful of parsley
• 1 tsp curry powder
• pepper to season

Method

1. Add the bacon hock and the soup mix to a slow cooker.  Fill the slower cooker with water until ¾ of the cooker is full.
2. Add curry powder, grated vegetables and lentils to the cooker.
3. Season with pepper and cover. Leave slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Serve with crusty bread or toasted pita pocket wedges.
5. Enjoy!

Notes

• You can use a butter-kin or butternut instead of pumpkin.
• To make soup vegetarian only, leave out the bacon hock.
• Also can be made in a heavy based stockpot. Use the same method but bring to the boil for 1 hour and then simmer, lid on, for 2 hours.