9 crunchy soup toppings for velvet textured soup

I have started to like soup! It feels so much more like a real meal when doing creamy velvet textured soup. Using up those ingredients that soon expire is perfect for this kind of soup.

I usually experiment with root vegetables, pumpkin and fruit. Chop them up, fry a while on high heat, then add bouillon to merely cover the ingredients. Let it simmer until ingredients are softened then mix with a hand mixer until there are no chunks left. Add cream or coconut milk, season, stir and you are ready to serve. So delicious and even the favorite food of my 2 year old! But it does get a bit boring eating the same texture spoon after spoon so some crunchy soup toppings is a nice contrast.

Crunchy soup toppings to add texture to velvet textured soups:

1. Parmesan crisps
   • Grate parmesan cheese, heat up the oven to 175°C (350°F) , line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a tablespoon of cheese 3 cm (1 inch) apart on a lined baking sheet. Bake for around 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool to firm up before removing.
2. Croutons
   • Cut bread (preferably stale bread) in equal size chunks, fry in butter or oil and be careful not to burn them. Detailed tutorial here.
3. Parma/pancetta crisps
   • Bake in the oven until dried, let it cool then break in smaller pieces
4. Crumbled bacon
   • Fry until bacon becomes hard, cool on a paper towel, then break/crumble to smaller pieces
5. Crumbled and fried sausage
   • Start with removing the casing of the sausage, then crumble it and fry until crisp
6. Grilled halloumi bites
   • Cut halloumi to smaller cubes, then fry until golden
7. Toasted nuts and seeds
   • How to toast nuts tutorial
8. Crispy shallots
   • How to make crispy shallots
9. Fried or deep fried vegetables
   • Save some of the vegetables used in the soup. Chop thinly and fry until crisp. Or chop a little larger pieces if you deep fry it in oil.

Other soup toppings and garnishes:

1. Pickled vegetables
2. Minced olives
3. Olive oil
4. Fresh herbs
5. Pesto, chermoula, etc
6. Yoghurt, sour creme or crème fraiche
7. Crumbled feta cheese

Here are some more detailed ideas for soup toppings