Soups

Hairy Bikers pear and Stilton tart is a crisp shortcrust case filled with browned pear slices, crumbled Stilton, walnuts and a sage custard. With figs on the side, their BBC Food version serves 8 in about 2¼ hours, at roughly 650 calories a slice by my count. Salty blue cheese, crunchy walnuts and sweet pears …

This Hairy Bikers cullen skink simmers smoked haddock in a wine, leek and fennel stock, then adds potatoes and double cream. And their BBC Food recipe serves 4 in 1 hour 30 minutes, with my own count at about 1,150 calories a bowl. Writing in One Pot Wonders, the pair look back on cullen skink …

Leftover roast chicken, 40g of basmati and a big knob of ginger are what make this Hairy Bikers chicken soup different from a broth. And it feeds 4 at 306 calories a bowl, from Make It Easy, in 45 minutes. Both books promise the spices and ginger give it a “lovely warming flavour”, and both …

Lamb shoulder on the bone is what separates this Hairy Bikers scotch broth from thinner versions, because it gives up collagen as it simmers. And it feeds 6 at around 425 calories a bowl, straight out of Meat Feasts, in two and a half hours. Meat Feasts records that they both “ate Scotch broth as …

This Hairy Bikers sausage rolls recipe spreads vindaloo paste under 500g of sausage meat, and it makes 24 at 125 calories each. Since Si and Dave put it in Brilliant Bakes, it has run on their own site too, and it needs 55 minutes. Si and Dave call these “the sausage roll but not as …

A whole can of coconut milk goes into Hairy Bikers pumpkin soup, and there is no stock at all. Mums Still Know Best builds it on pumpkin, ginger, thyme and half a Scotch bonnet, cooked in plain water. It serves four to six at around 205 calories a bowl. They did not write this one. …

Nobody peels the artichokes in Hairy Bikers Jerusalem artichoke soup, and that is deliberate. Eat Well Every Day publishes it as leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup, built on 500g of scrubbed artichokes with leeks, celery and a litre of stock. Four bowls come to 264 calories each. Leaving the skin on is why the book …

Hairy Bikers red lentil and harissa soup comes from Eat to Beat Type 2 Diabetes. It uses 200g of red lentils, a tin of tomatoes and one to two tablespoons of harissa paste, so the heat is your choice. Six bowls take about 35 minutes at 166 calories each. They write in the book that …

There is no stock in Hairy Bikers smoked haddock chowder, just 750ml of milk. One Pot Wonders publishes it as smoky fish chowder, built on 200g of smoked haddock and 300g of white fish with leeks, potatoes and sweetcorn. Four bowls take about 55 minutes at 475 calories each. They write that it came from …

An hour at the stove is the price of Hairy Bikers french onion soup, and there is no way round it. A kilo of onions sliced 3mm thin caramelise in butter, then sherry, sherry vinegar and stock go in. Ultimate Comfort Food serves it four at about 570 calories. They break with tradition on the …