Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 337 kcal | 96 kcal |
| Protein | 19.4 g | 5.5 g |
| Fat | 1.8 g | 0.5 g |
| saturated | 0.4 g | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 43.3 g | 12.3 g |
| sugars | 17 g | 4.8 g |
| Fibre | 21.6 g | 6.1 g |
| Sodium | 19 mg | 5 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup dehydrated mixed vegetable flakes (peas, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery etc.)
- 1 tablespoon linguine or spaghetti pasta, broken
- 1 tablespoon bulgur wheat
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- Pinch onion powder
- Pinch garlic powder
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 2 cups boiling broth (beef or chicken)
Instructions
- Blitz the vegetable flakes until the pieces are about the size of a small pea. Larger flakes are still leathery when the bulgur is ready, and dust turns the soup cloudy — pea-sized is the compromise.
- Break the pasta into short lengths over the pan rather than snapping it inside the packet. A long strand stands out of a mug above the liquid and dries rather than softening.
- Combine the vegetables, pasta, bulgur, basil, parsley, onion powder and garlic powder and stir them together while everything is still dry. The herbs coat the starch this way; added after the liquid they clump and float.
- Hold the salt and pepper back until the very end. The bouillon in the broth is already salty and there is no taking it out again.
- Pour the boiling broth over and keep it on a low heat for ten minutes, stirring now and then so the bulgur does not settle and catch on the base.
- Take it off the heat, cover it, and leave it standing for twenty minutes. The pasta and the bulgur are both still drinking at this point, and the soup thickens noticeably while it waits.
- Loosen it with more hot broth if it has gone stodgy. Dried vegetables vary enormously in how much they take up, and a mix is far easier to thin than to rescue.
- Assembled dry and kept sealed in a jar, the mix is good for six months, or longer vacuum-sealed. The pasta is what goes first — it picks up stale cupboard flavours before the vegetables lose anything.
